Theology Corner

Addressing commonly asked questions about Christianity from the perspective of a non-theologian

Theology Corner

1.)  AREN'T ALL RELIGIONS ESSENTIALLY THE SAME?

2.)  WHAT IS YOUR THEOLOGY?

3.)  WHAT ARE THE CORE BELIEFS OF CHRISTIANITY?

4.)  IS THE SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT THE ULTIMATE ACT OF LOVE?

5.)  WHAT IS THE GREATEST OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY?

6.)  IS THERE AN INTERMEDIATE PLACE?

7.)  WHAT ARE THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?

8.)  WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TO DO AFTER YOU DIE?

9.)  WHAT IS THE APOSTLES' CREED?

10.)  WHAT IS THE NICENE CREED?

11.)  WHAT ARE THE DECREES OF GOD?

12.)  WHAT WILL YOU DO IN THE INTERMEDIATE STATE?

13.)  WERE THE OT TEN COMMANDMENTS REPLACED BY THE NT GREAT COMMANDMENT?

14.)  WHEN DOES GOD MAKE HIS DECISION ABOUT YOUR FINAL DESTINATION?

15.)  WAS JESUS TEMPTED IN EVERY WAY?

16.)  SHOULD WE ASPIRE TO UNBROKEN COMMUNION WITH GOD?

17.)  WHAT WERE THE ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS DURING HIS INCARNATION?

18.)  WHAT IS THE MYSTERIOUS LAW OF RESERVE?

19.)  CAN CHRISTIANS DEFEND THE TRINITY AND THE INCARNATION?

20.)  WHY NOT CALVINISM?

21.)  WHO WAS JAMES ARMINIUS AND WHAT DID HE DO?

22.)  WHO WAS JOHN WESLEY AND WHAT DID HE DO?

23.)  IS JESUS CHRIST THEANTHROPIC?

24.)  WHAT IS THE SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST?

25.)  WHAT MIGHT A METHODIST THEOLOGIAN SAY ABOUT THE SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT?

26.)  WHAT MIGHT A METHODIST THEOLOGIAN SAY ABOUT THE TRINITY?

27.)  WHAT WERE THE ORIGINAL FIVE POINTS OF THE REMONSTRANTS?

28.)  DO INTELLECTUAL CHRISTIANS MINIMIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TRINITY?

29.)  DID JESUS DESCEND INTO HELL?

1.)  CAN GOD'S WILL BE THWARTED?

2.)  DID GOD ELECT ONLY A FEW FOR SALVATION WHILE CONDEMNING THE GREATER PART OF MANKIND TO HELL?

3.)  FAITH OR SALVATION: WHICH COMES FIRST?

4.)  DID GOD THE FATHER BEGET JESUS CHRIST?

5.)  WHAT ARE THE TWO NATURES OF CHRIST?

6.)  WHAT IS ANTINOMIANISM?

7.)  WHAT IS SABELLIANISM?

8.)  WHAT IS PELAGIANISM?

9.)  DOES LOVE REALLY WIN?

10.)  IS YOUR WILL REALLY YOUR WILL?

11.)  CAN TWO THEOLOGIES BE TESTED FOR COMPATIBILITY?

12.)  WHAT IS THE FRAUD OF FIDEISM?

13.)  IS CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY COMPATIBLE WITH JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES THEOLOGY?

14.)  IS CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY COMPATIBLE WITH CHRISTIAN SCIENCE THEOLOGY?

15.)  IS CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY COMPATIBLE WITH MORMON THEOLOGY?

16.)  IS CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY COMPATIBLE WITH UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS THEOLOGY?

17.)  IS CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY COMPATIBLE WITH SCIENTOLOGY THEOLOGY?

18.)  IS CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY COMPATIBLE WITH UNIFICATION CHURCH THEOLOGY?

19.)  IS CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY COMPATIBLE WITH THE WAY INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGY?

20.)  IS CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY COMPATIBLE WITH THE WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD THEOLOGY?

21.)  IS REPENTANCE REALLY NECESSARY?

22.)  WHAT ARE SOME MUSINGS OF A METHODIST THEOLOGIAN ON LIMITED ATONEMENT?

23.)  WHAT ARE SOME QUESTIONS FOR THOSE WHO TEACH A LIMITED ATONEMENT PROVIDED ONLY FOR THE ELECT OF GOD?

24.)  WHAT WERE CALVIN'S ACTUAL WORDS?

25.)  WHAT IS GNOSTICISM?

26.)  WHAT IS THE UNPARDONABLE SIN?

27.)  IS CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY COMPATIBLE WITH PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY?

28.)  CAN CALVINISM BE SENT TO THE DUST BIN?

29.)  IS YOUR FREE WILL AN ILLUSION?

1.)  IS CHRISTIANITY COMPATIBLE WITH POSITIVE TOLERANCE?

2.)  CAN WE HAVE A FORM OF GODLINESS, BUT DENY THE POWER THEREOF?

3.)  WHAT IS THE GREAT WAR?

4.)  SHOULD PRESIDENT TRUMP HAVE BEEN IMPEACHED FOR IMMORALITY?

5.)  WHO SAID MOSES WAS HUMBLE?

6.)  COULD CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE BENEFIT FROM WOKE REVISION?

7.)  DID EINSTEIN BELIEVE ALL CHRISTIANS WERE CALVINISTS?

8.)  WHY IS MARXISM A MAGNET?

9.)  WHAT IS TRUE SCIENCE?

10.)  CAN YOU LOSE YOUR SALVATION?

11.)  WHAT ARE THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS?

12.)  WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS?

13.)  WAS PAUL ENTIRELY SANCTIFIED?

14.)  ARE YOU LIVING IN A WORLD AT WAR?

15.)  WHAT IS THE DIRECT METHOD FOR PROVING A CONDITIONAL PROPOSITION IS TRUE?

16.)  WHAT IS THE CONTRAPOSITIVE METHOD FOR PROVING A CONDITIONAL PROPOSITION IS TRUE?

17.)  WHAT IS THE CONTRADICTION METHOD FOR PROVING A CONDITIONAL PROPOSITION IS TRUE?

18.)  WHAT MIGHT A METHODIST THEOLOGIAN SAY ABOUT PURGATORY?

19.)  WHICH BIBLE PASSAGES ELUCIDATE CORE ASPECTS OF CHRISTIANITY?

20.)  DO SELECTED NIV VERSES ELUCIDATE CORE ASPECTS OF CHRISTIANITY?

21.)  DO SELECTED AKJV VERSES ELUCIDATE CORE ASPECTS OF CHRISTIANITY?

22.)  DO SELECTED YLT VERSES ELUCIDATE CORE ASPECTS OF CHRISTIANITY?

23.)  DO SELECTED 'VOICE' VERSES ELUCIDATE CORE ASPECTS OF CHRISTIANITY?

24.)  COULD THE CONCEPT OF 'SALVATION ONLY FOR THE ELECT' HAVE BEEN ROOTED IN THE MIND OF AUGUSTINE BEFORE HE EMBRACED CHRISTIANITY?

25.)  DID AUGUSTINE RECEIVE PUSHBACK FOR HIS TEACHING OF 'SALVATION ONLY FOR THE ELECT' DURING HIS LIFETIME?

26.)  WHAT DOES REFORMED THEOLOGY MEAN BY PREDESTINATION; IS IT TRUE OR FALSE?

DOES YOUR CHURCH HAVE A VISION?

Vision includes both objectives and processes for meeting those objectives.  What is the vision embraced by your church; what are the objectives and what processes are being utilized?

Some Christian leaders suggest that traditional objectives are no longer appropriate:

 

  • God doesn’t need us to do anything. The battle between good and evil, if it ever existed, surely has been resolved.  Satan may have been nothing more than a figment of our imagination.  In any case, no such being presently holds sway on this earth.

 

  • God will ultimately make sure everyone goes to Heaven and He doesn’t need any help from us. We should turn our attention elsewhere and concentrate on more important issues such as the destruction of racism, patriarchy and heteronormativity using critical race theory, intersectionality and other tools of social justice.

 

  • The objectives defined by the Great Commandment (Mat 22:36-40), Great Commission (Mat 28:18-20) and Healing (Luke 9:2, 10:9) are anachronisms and should be relegated to the dust bin.

 

Other Christian leaders accept the Great Commandment and Great Commission as legitimate objectives but insist that the processes for meeting these objectives have already been defined by past generations:

 

  • For worship, congregations passively listen to clever messages mixed in with musical entertainment, announcements and ritual prayer.  The messages are carefully contrived to avoid causing anyone to think excessively or become uneasy; scary words like “SATAN” and “HELL” are generally avoided. 

 

  • We minister to our neighbors by paying them short visits during which we guard against too much involvement; this assuages our conscience while avoiding unpleasant entanglements in core problems. 

 

  • We sometimes evangelize by preaching and quoting Scripture to people we barely know.  We become self-appointed martyrs if our efforts are rebuffed; we tell God we were faithful even if we weren’t fruitful. 

 

  • We enlarge the fellowship by every sort of “Madison Avenue” huckstering within the limits of our imagination, of course telling God that whatever we do is for the “greater good.”

 

  • Discipleship is accomplished in Sunday School by re-reading the same baby-food lessons for decade after decade but never teaching exactly what Christians believe and why. 

 

The consequence of our man made processes for meeting objectives is the American church in death spiral.

 

Here is a novel idea.  Christian objectives were defined by Scripture 2000 years ago [Great Commandment (Mat 22:36-40); Great Commission (Mat 28:18-20); Healing (Luke 9:2, 10:9)].  Perhaps appropriate processes were also defined by Scripture.

 

Here are some possibilities.

 

UNITED CORPORATE PRAYER

A. Torrey summarizes the place of prayer as a Biblical process: “Prayer is God’s appointed way for obtaining things and the great secret of all lack in our experience, in our life and in our work is neglect of prayer…Those men whom God set forth as a pattern of what He expected Christians to be – the apostles – regarded prayer as the most important business of their lives…The words pray and prayer are used at least 25 times in connection with Jesus in the brief record of his life set forth in the four Gospels and His praying is also mentioned in places where the words are not used.” (Torrey, p 9-11)

Church prayer has become a tired ritual which is performed with no real expectation even though Scripture teaches the unlimited power of united corporate prayer.  Where there is real agreement, where the Holy Spirit brings believers into perfect harmony concerning that which they ask of God, where the Holy Spirit lays the same burden on all hearts, in such prayer there is great power.  What if all the church ritual prayer, musical entertainment and baby food lessons were replaced by congregational united corporate prayer from men and women yearning to be led by the Holy Spirit down a path of confession, remorse, repentance, faith, obedience, humility, forgiveness, sincerity, purity, persistence, restoration, truth and worship?  Could such prayer have an impact on Kingdom work?

 

RESTORATION

A. Boyd masterfully portrays the great war of the forces of God against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness: “Jesus’ entire ministry, as we have seen, reflects the belief that the world had been seized by a hostile, sinister lord. Jesus had come to take it back. Contrary to any view suggesting that everything has a divine purpose behind it, Jesus’ ministry indicated that God’s purposes for the world had to be fought for and won.  Jesus taught his disciples to pray that God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.  This presupposes that, to a significant extent at least, God’s will is not now being done on earth.” (Boyd, p 37-38)

The world, at every level, is at war.  We are on the front lines of this Great War whether we like it or not.  The substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ began a new phase of warfare.  God the Son began the process of taking back his creation.  The outcome of the war was decided completely by the substitutionary atonement but the process of repair, reconstruction, restoration and repossession of creation only began.  Jesus expects his people to engage the enemy and be soldiers in His army.

We are commanded in Chapters 9 and 10 of Luke to not only preach the kingdom of God but also to heal the sick.  This limited and localized form of restoration serves as a process to thwart the prince of darkness and the forces of evil.  Mainline Christian churches have all but abandoned the healing ministry.

 

TRUTH

Classical logic deals with propositions that are either true or false.  Historic Christianity stands on the beliefs that classical logic represents the truth of God and sound reason is the foundation of the Christian faith.  The Christian God is a God of absolutes and one of His attributes is truth.  God cannot lie (Heb 6:18; Titus 1:2; II Tim 2:13).  God’s truth is never personal, situational, relative or unknowable; it is absolute.

On contentious issues (e.g. Calvinism vs. Arminianism, abortion for convenience, homosexuality, etc.), some churches invoke the concept of Positive Tolerance.  This means that Christians not only have the right to disagree with one another, but all the various views must be regarded as equally valid by the yardstick of God’s truth.  Other churches simply ban the study and discussion of contentious issues.  Excessive knowledge invites division; an ignorant congregation is a manageable congregation.

But Jesus said:

 

  • “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

 

  • “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.” (John 17:17)

 

  • “You are right in saying I am a king.  In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37)

 

Furthermore …the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17).  If the church would go about the process of separating truth from lie, would that not honor God?

 

MAGNIFICATION

God does not need us to worship Him.  He is secure in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth without ego reinforcement from created beings.  But He knows we need to worship Him for our own good!  He knows we are born with a sin nature and embrace sinful behavior as soon as we are able.  He knows sin is like the great black hole at the center of our galaxy, ever drawing its neighbors closer to oblivion.  If I neglect asking the Holy Spirit to: (1) occupy and purify my heart, (2) help my will become aligned with the will of God, (3) help me discern the truth and (4) be Lord of my life, then I will gradually begin to spiral toward the black hole of evil.  I will be weighed down by my own 

 

  • Concupiscence
  • Bad judgment
  • Inconsistent will
  • Weariness caused by the constant struggle against temptation   

 

and, at the very least, become a soldier overwhelmed by the battle.  God initiates, advances and perfects everything that can be called good in man.  He leads the sinner from one step to another in proportion as He finds response in the heart and disposition to obedience.  We must constantly enlarge the influence of God in our lives and in our Church.  We must constantly engage in the process of magnifying the influence of God.

These four processes can be remembered by means of the recurrence mnemonic PRTM from the Hebrew “Mem Tav Reysh Pe” (Strong Number 6579) meaning most noble prince.  PRTM represents a mnemonic for:

 

  Prayer Restoration Truth Magnification
Prayer Praise Repentance Thanksgiving Mercy
Restoration Purification Regeneration Transformation Maintenance
Truth Precedent Reason Testament Manifold
Magnification Promise Revelation Trust Manifestation

 

The corresponding numerals are

 

P          80

R         200

T          400

M         40

 

which can be combined as

(PR)/(TM)  =  1

to serve as a reminder that the two concepts, “Prayer Supporting Restoration” and “Truth Supporting Magnification” are equally important and neither should be neglected.  If the weapon of prayer does not contribute to the restoration of God’s creation from the bondage of evil then it is like using a sword to admire your own reflection rather than to vanquish the enemy.  Similarly, if the declaration of truth does not contribute to the magnification of God, then it merely supports the worship of God’s creation rather than the creator.  (See also Section 13.2 of Theology Corner)