Love and Foreknowledge
July 29, 2008 | 2 Comments
Joe,
As you know, last week my daughter Halle had her first birthday, and it was a time for us to recall the Lord’s abundant mercies over the past year. I have learned a lot about the Lord and myself during this year, and am grateful for these lessons. One of them that I’ve been pondering especially over the past couple of days is how my experience with Halle has helped me to understand that foreknowledge does not quench a deep, intimate love relationship.
Maybe that sounds pretty abstract; what kind of lesson is that to be learning from parenthood? Well, along with being a dad in the last year, I also have become a pastor full-time. And one of the things I am responsible for as a shepherd is to protect the flock from false doctrines.
One of the doctrines that has been infiltrating the contemporary church is the idea of open theism. Essentially open theism is a philosophy of God’s knowledge which says that God cannot and does not know the future choices of human beings. One of the common reasons why open theists insist that this must be so is that in order to have an authentic, dynamic relationship of love with His people, God cannot know everything that we are going to do in the future. If He did, then we would be mere robots, and we could not really experience the thrill of a relationship with Him.
For example, in Matthew 8 Jesus is amazed at the faith of a centurion. If God knew how this centurion would react from all eternity, He could not really be amazed at his expression of faith. Therefore, God does not know the future exhaustively. It is more complicated than that, but I am trying to keep this post relatively short!
Anyway, in interacting with Halle this year, I am seeing the shallowness of such an argument. Though I do not really have foreknowledge, to a certain extent it feels like I do. What I mean is, since the day Halle was born I ‘knew’ that the time would come when she would roll over, crawl, stand on her own, walk, etc. Of course you could say I did not know it for certain, because maybe she would be handicapped in some way. But for all intents and purposes, I think you’d agree that once a healthy baby is born, the fact that she will one day stand on her own is pretty certain.
Nevertheless, when Halle began standing on her own a week or two ago, I was thrilled. There is genuine delight and excitement in watching her do something which I have been pretty certain of happening for the last twelve months. Apparently when it comes to loving my daughter, foreknowledge is not a hindrance to genuine love and excitement. And if that is so for me with my daughter, why should it not be so for God?
For some time I have known that the Bible contradicts open theism. My precious daughter has taught me that human experience contradicts it too.
Larry
Apologies
July 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Sorry things have been quite slow on the blog lately. Tomorrow I am leaving for Maryland for the Worship God conference hosted by Sovereign Grace Ministries. I probably will not be blogging until early next week. Hopefully Joe can keep things going until then.
Larry
D’Souza’s Response to Hitchens
July 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Joe,
The other day I posted a challenging objection to the existence of God from Christopher Hitchens in a debate with Dinesh D’Souza. Yesterday you wrote that you hoped to interact with that one a bit later in the week, but if our past track record is any indication, that’s not likely to happen.
So here is how D’Souza responds to the objection (his response is immediately after the quote from Hitchens that I posted the other day). It is a great response!
Larry
Input Overload
July 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Lar,
Great post yesterday. I would like to interact a bit more with that post and look forward to you doing the same. For now, however, I wanted to offer two short articles/posts concerning our present-day technological inputs and there effects.
The first article might overstate the case a bit, but there are some good insights inside.
The second cites the first and gives 5 practical steps one family has implemented to resist the tide of input overload. I found this second one particularly helpful.
This is an area that I have found to be increasingly difficult. After all, we have so many channels through which we might read and learn and study, etc. It takes discipline to learn how to manage these inputs (email included!), so that we might redeem the time to the glory of God.
Pursuing faithfulness with you,
Joe
Sharpening our Apologetic Skills
July 22, 2008 | 1 Comment
In a debate with Dinesh D’Souza, well known atheist Christopher Hitchens posed a question about God’s existence that went something like this:
Homo sapiens has been on the planet for a long time, let’s say 100,000 years. Apparently for 95,000 years God sat idly by, watching and perhaps enjoying man’s horrible condition. After all, cave-man’s plight was a miserable one: infant mortality, brutal massacres, horrible toothaches, and an early death. Evidently God didn’t really care.
Then, a few thousand years ago, God said, “It’s time to get involved.” Even so God did not intervene in one of the civilized parts of the world. He didn’t bother with China or Egypt or India. Rather, he decided to get his message to a group of nomadic people in the middle of nowhere. It took another thousand years or more for this message to get to places like India and China.
Here is the thrust of Hitchens’ point: God seems to have been napping for 98 percent of human history, finally getting his act together only for the most recent 2 percent? What kind of a bizarre God acts like this?
So, Christian apologists: how do we answer such an objection to belief in our great and glorious God?
Striving to always be prepared to give a reason for my hope in Christ to anyone who asks (1 Peter 3:15),
Larry
Around the Blogosphere, 7/19
July 19, 2008 | 1 Comment
In his last sermon, John Piper gave five strands of evidence which point in the direction of church membership.
It’s always enjoyable to read or hear Randy Alcorn talk about heaven.
Faithful readers of the Seeking Him blog may not know about our good friend Gino’s blog. If you’ve never visited his site, this post is a great place to get started. Two points for creativity, Gino!
I saw this great post on the heart of Reformed Christians by Ray Ortlund on Justin Taylor’s blog, and couldn’t resist passing it on.
‘The Reverend’ Jesse Jackson’s most recent blow-up has Thabiti Anyabwile musing on whether the word ‘Reverend’ means anything at all anymore.
These are very helpful thoughts on how to minister to a grieving person, written by one who knows grief well.
God Did It, and God Does It
July 18, 2008 | 1 Comment
Here’s another quote from Noll’s Scandal of the Evangelical Mind:
“For a Christian, the mind is important because God is important. Who, after all, made the world of nature, and then made possible the development of sciences through which we find out more about nature? Who formed the universe of human interactions, and so provided the raw material of politics, economics, sociology and history? Who is the source of harmony, form, and narrative pattern, and so lies behind all artistic and literary possibilities? Who created the human mind in such a way that it could grasp the realities of nature, of human interactions, of beauty, and so made possible the theories on such matters by philosophers and psychologists? Who, moment by moment, sustains the natural world, the world of human interactions, and the harmonies of existence? Who, moment by moment, maintains the connections between what is in our minds and what is in the world beyond our minds? The answer in every case is the same. God did it, and God does it.”
Happy Birthday, Joe
July 18, 2008 | 1 Comment
Today is Joe’s birthday, and that made me a little nostalgic. Here’s a picture of what Joe looked like when we met 11 years ago:
And here’s where we got to know one another during our days at PSU (I think I can see a ball hidden in the stands that you kicked there after only making 24 three-pointers in a row after a four-hour practice):
Who would have thought back then that we would end up being neighbors, and that God would have blessed us with these (sorry, I couldn’t find a photo with Naomi, or our wives for that matter! We’ll have to get on that…):
Happy birthday, brother. The Lord has been good to you. May you take some time today to reflect on that goodness as it has been poured out in every area of your life.
Larry
(Again, it appears that I have some serious formatting issues with these pictures. Somebody please help!)
Worldly Saints
July 17, 2008 | 4 Comments
The rest of the week is looking quite busy for me, so I’ve got to stick with short posts.
While reading the first part of Mark Noll’s The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (see sidebar), I noticed a footnote for a book by Leland Ryken called, Worldly Saints: The Puritans as They Really Were. In light of the discussion earlier in the week regarding worldliness, I’m quite interested to check this one out.
The Church in Society
July 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I thought this quote from Harvie Conn was quite helpful in thinking through the Church’s role in the surrounding community:
“Perhaps the best analogy to describe all this is that of a model home. We are God’s demonstration community of the rule of Christ in the city. On a tract of earth’s land, purchased with the blood of Christ, Jesus the kingdom developer has begun building new housing. As a sample of what will be, he has erected a model home of what will eventually fill the urban neighborhood. He now invites the urban world into that model home to take a look at what will be. The church is the occupant of that model home, inviting neighbors into its open door to Christ. Evangelism is when the signs are up, saying ‘Come in and look around.’”
Anyone agree or disagree?
Citizenship
July 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Tim Keller, on Jeremiah 29:
Jesus lost the city that was, so that you and I could be citizens of the city that is to come, and that makes us salt and light in the city that is.
Wells On Worldliness
July 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Along the lines of the post I wrote yesterday on worldly pleasures, here’s a video clip (around 6 minutes) from a couple of years ago of David Wells speaking on the question, ‘What is worldliness?’
Suburban Ministry
July 16, 2008 | 3 Comments
Lar,
This looks like a good blog/ministry for you to check in regularly with. Also, the book by Al Hsu is one I would like for you to read and give a short review on. It’s been out for a few years, but I am sure it has some good insights.
Until later…
Joe
Praising the Rock of Ages
July 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.
Worldly Pleasures
July 15, 2008 | 5 Comments
Joe,
On Sunday morning we sang a very well-known hymn called ‘I Surrender All.’ As we sang, I was struck by this verse especially:
All to Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
In my estimation, there is great danger in professing that we have forsaken all worldly pleasures for Jesus’ sake. My guess is that the hymn-writer meant ’sinful’ with the word ‘worldly’, but I think that for believers, we can really get tripped up by singing words like this. Subtly, we begin to believe that all pleasures of this world (like eating, sex, sports, gardening, etc.) are evil and we should renounce them for Jesus’ sake.
This is, I believe, a great tragedy. For God has given us these good gifts as instruments through which we might enjoy and glorify Him.
4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4)
God richly provides us with everything to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17), even ‘worldly pleasures.’ Yes, these pleasures can become idolatrous and therefore God-belittling, but that is only the result of our sinful corruption of heart which tends to make God’s good gifts into ultimate gifts.
I believe that a life fully reflecting the glory of God ought to find joy in both the ’sacred’ acts like Bible-reading, prayer and corporate worship, and also plenty of ’secular’ pleasures, like the ones mentioned above.
Joe, I trust you see what I mean by all this. But I am interested to know what our readers think. Do you agree that there is a danger in singing words like the ones in I Surrender All?
Larry
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