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Three Minutes In the History of Knowledge

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Three minutes in the history of thought: This is a prequel to another post that is coming soon. Here, I simply lay out the terms pre-modernism, modernism, and post-modernism. They are not terms a lot of folks are familiar with and it helps to understand a little of where they came from. So history is divided into three large sections of thinking and knowledge. There are other ways to break up history but this is the division that makes the most sense to me. The pre-modern era : This is all of history leading up to the reformation of the 16 th century. God was seen as the principle center who created us to know him and the world around us; which he also created. The thinking of man followed a line of reasoning: I believe, in order to understand. I believe in God and he grants me understanding in matters for which I would not have been able to comprehend before. In other words, truth is revealed to me by God and defined by God in his word. The enlightenment p
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The Will: Predestination & Free Will: Part 3

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Free Will? I recently watched as two outdoors men attempted to free an adult bull elk from a mud pit.   These are enormous animals.   His entire rear half was submerged and the mud was so think he had no hope of getting out.   This was going to be the bull’s final resting place. The men approached cautiously and began to try to free the huge animal.   However, as soon as they got close, the elk would swing his rack at them. The elk didn’t want them there, didn’t understand why they were there, and was actively attempting to defend himself with his antlers. The elk was simply operating freely according to his elk-ish nature. They are by nature wild animals and humans are an unwanted presence. The elk wanted to be freed from his muddy chains but he only wanted rescue on his own terms.   The men did not abide by the elk’s wishes but worked together using various implements until the elk was rescued from its pit of despair.   This was not according to the elk’s will but
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God's Sovereignty: Predestination & Free Will Part 2

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God's Sovereignty: Predestination & Free Will Part 2 Many begin the discussion of salvation through the 5 points of Arminianism or Calvinism with a discussion of man’s natural state.   However, I don’t think that’s the appropriate place to begin.   All theology begins and ends with God, not man.   That’s why we must begin with God and not just in a general sense but specifically with respect to His sovereignty. So once again the history behind how this discussion came into being is helpful in understanding the way that it developed. The Remonstrance, you’ll recall, was a protest against the Protestant church (which itself was a protest against the Roman Catholic Church).   The Protestants, up to that point, largely held to Augustinian (proto-Calvinist) theology.   The Remonstrance opposed this and said they believed that men were sinners but that they were not so spiritually dead that they could not respond to God spiritually. They believed that mankind was sick
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Predestination and Free Will - Part 1

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Every denomination has an explanation for predestination. However, they all fall into one of three categories: Pelagianism, Semi-Pelagianism, and Augustinianism.   Some today would object to those categories but they’re accurate in where they came from historically.   Today we call  Semi-Pelagianism  = Arminianism and we call Augustinianism = Calvinism. In the next few posts I will undertake the doctrine of biblical predestination/election, give some portion of its history through the NT church age, what it consists of and means, and why it matters.   This is by no means exhaustive. So, let’s begin with how the debate began. The church underwent a great many trials in the fourth century and the staunch defender of the faith who arose was Saint Augustine of Hippo in the fifth century. This was in Hippo Regius which was located in modern-day Annaba, Algeria. After some time, a British monk by the name of Pelagius was appalled by the moral laxity he observed among Christ
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Sola Scriptura: According to Scripture Alone

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At the outset of the Exodus story there’s a famous theophany of the burning bush, when God gives his servant Moses a command to go to the elders of Israel and to say, “The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.” Moses’ reply is, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’” Today, a great many Christians, are saying what Moses feared would be expressed by the elders of Israel.   We’re demanding that our churches revisit assertions that have been thoroughly dealt with by the finest theologians in all of history.   Why, you ask? Because the culture demands that the church change its beliefs. It’s becoming awfully uncomfortable to be a Christian these days who will stand up for all of the Biblical standards. Hebrews 1:1-3 tells us unequivocally that throughout time God has spoken in many ways but in these last days He has spoken thro
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Fully Known

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My daughter has a beautiful singing voice and recently attended a concert by Tauren Wells, former lead singer of the band Royal Tailor.   He’s a dynamite vocalist and can float through scales effortlessly.   In one of his songs “Known” he writes the following lyrics, “It's so unusual it's frightening - You see right through the mess inside me - And you call me out to pull me in - You tell me I can start again - And I don't need to keep on hiding - I'm fully known and loved by You .” I love the song and the words.   Without sounding like a dictionary, Wells defines what being known means – and that is something far more significant than knowing things about someone.   Celebrities and pro athletes have relayed the challenges of being famous, having millions of adoring fans, but feeling entirely alone.   This is evidenced further by the suicides of famous people like Heath Ledger, Chester Bennington, Chris Cornell, and many others who are surrounded by pe
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