August 12, 2002

Word sense
___A danger of talking about God is falling in love with our own formulas. If we do not seek their real religious meaning, we may talk nonsense, and that does God no service.
___Let's loo

E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

k at a couple:
___ Omnipotence. Though this is not a biblical word, it's a good one. But do we take it literally and thus deny reality to God's creation or true freedom to his creatures? Or do we really want to affirm that God's providential control can cope with any situation that the creatures bring about? Perhaps we should speak of God's omnicompetence.
___ Omniscience. The religious concern in this confession is that God can never lose control of his world. But do we really want to affirm a kind of divine future knowledge that renders free moral choice a myth? To say God foreknows free choices is to speak nonsense, no matter how often this phrase is repeated. God knows past and present in perfect detail, but he knows the future in the only way it can be known, as potential. And he alone knows every possibility and how to forgive and redeem it.
___What does it mean to say that time is unreal for God when he loves time creatures like us?
___As long as we indulge in words about the life of faith, let us not take refuge from difficulties in "the mystery of God." Words must make sense or why use them?
___Let's keep reminding ourselves God's providence is redemptive, not determinative.
___ C.W. Christian
___ Waco

Logic & theology
___Several recent letter writers have questioned the need for logic in theology. It is important to remember that all theology is man-made; theology is not God's word but human reflection on the meaning of God's word.
___Logic is an indispensable tool in theology. A sheer contradiction is a sure sign of error in theology as in any area of human thought. Fortunately, there is no need for theology to rely on contradictions, for there are none in God's word.
___Predestination and free will are both taught in Scripture, but they do not contradict each other. Contradiction only appears when we impose definitions of them that are alien to Scripture itself such as "unconditional election" (of individuals to heaven and hell) and "autonomous self-assertion" (natural spiritual freedom apart from God's grace).
___In Scripture, predestination is God's gracious election of a people for his name, and free will is grace-enabled freedom to accept election into God's people. Theology's task is to discern the unified divine truth behind humanly conceived apparent contradictions; to embrace sheer contradiction and impose it on Scripture is neither honoring to God nor necessary.
___ Roger E. Olson
___ Waco

Parallel rails
___How long are people going to try and figure out God regarding predestination vs. free will?
___No doubt, dialogue is always healthy, but who in their right mind can stand and say, "I've got this one figured out"?
___The passages regarding God's sovereignty and mankind's freedom to choose just don't add up. But neither does a virgin birth, a talking donkey or the parting of the Red Sea. When God said through the prophet Isaiah, "My ways are not your ways," he meant it.
___It is arrogant to think we can possibly understand this issue by virtue of mere human logic, reason and intellect.
___I had a professor at Hardin-Simmons University who had some real wisdom where this issue was concerned. He said, "Throughout Scripture, two abiding truths are told time and again: 1) God is in control (his sovereignty) and 2) people are responsible for their choices (free will). In high-level human logic, those two truths don't go together. But in Scripture, they do. I tell my classes that those truths are like the two rails on a railroad track. They are parallel and never touch, but you have to have both for the train to go anywhere."
___ Nick Watts
___ Lubbock

Coming influx
___Bob Campbell, elected leader of moderate Baptists in Texas, skewered Jerry Vines in particular and conservative Baptists in general (for allowing him to say it), for his comments on Mohammedanism (June 24).
___If I were to refute Campbell at every point to show the inroads of secular-political pluralism and Neo-Orthodox theology, the editor would reject my comments on the basis of length. If I were to demonstrate his misapplication of the term "evangelical" to those who agree with him, I would be disqualified on the basis of a critical and hateful spirit.
___George Whitefield's impact on the Great Awakening of the 1850s could be summed up in the message he preached: "You must be born again." Perhaps I will not be disqualified when I warn Texas Baptists of a coming influx of the unregenerate into church memberships because of our failure to preach the unqualified gospel of salvation.
___ Lain Teel
___ Waco

Can't find home
___I feel much like the prodigal son; I want very much to go home. My problem is I can't find home.
___I was born in the '20s. I was taken to Sunday School and church at three weeks of age and to every service after that. I learned Bible doctrines at my daddy's feet as he read the Bible and had prayer every night.
___I gave my heart to Jesus at age 10 and grew up under sound preaching. I learned in Vacation Bible School, Training Union and church camp.
___I always had knowledge of Southern Baptist Convention affairs. At age 15, I was impressed with the desire to do something in the Lord's work. My pastor called me aside at camp and said he thought I would marry a preacher. He had one piece of advice ­ "Make sure you marry a good one." I did, and we had 58 years in kingdom service.
___I believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, his atoning death and resurrection as he paid the penalty for my sin, salvation by grace through faith, the eternal security of the believer, the priesthood of the believer and the autonomy of the local church.
___My husband and I were conservative, but I cannot agree with the agenda of the fundamentalist leadership. Therefore we are labeled moderates, which is a misnomer. A friend and I agree we are old-fashioned Southern Baptists, of which there are not many left.
___So I am homesick! "Lead me gently home, Father."
___ Margaret Jordan
___ San Angelo

Blessed by God
___What a blessed man I am.
___When I moved my family from Fort Worth, I was in culture shock. I wondered if God knew what he was doing when he sent me to pastor Roganville Baptist Church, a small rural church. After all, I was a city boy.
___I have been so blessed by the Lord by pastoring this fine church. They have ministered to me much more than I have ministered to them.
___I recently came home after a month in the hospital for foot surgery and then heart surgery. I thank my church and the community for ministering to my family and me. I have been prayed for by friends who are part of virtually every denomination represented in our area.
___By the way, when you are lying in the hospital bed wondering if you will ever preach again, or even walk again, the fighting and bickering between the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptist Convention doesn't seem very important.
___Praise God from whom all blessings flow, and may God bless us all.
___ Denton Fluker
___ Kirbyville

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