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This is an interesting thread, but I do have some concerns about the way "being obviously true" is approached. It just seems that the prejudice of our post-enlightenment cognitive heritage is to...

Don't we all "see through a glass darkly?" We don't know what we will become---not yet. There are a lot of underlying assumptions on every front, as well as a lot of insecurity, IMHO.

What does it matter if so-called free will could or could not obtain in a robot, however composed? If a jelly donut had free will and could suffer such that moral categories could somehow apply to...

I remember Spinoza (affirmed by Schopenhauer) saying that, if a stone being thrown through the air had sentience, it would think it were flying by its own volition. We seem obsessed by defining our...

True. Nevertheless, I tend to think that a lot of our self-perceived "indignation" is a mere habitual response thrown up by the naked ego to hide its vulnerability. We do become "indignant" when...

In general, it would be extremely refreshing to be able to set ego aside, along with the attendant pride and fear and mutual disrespect that so often accompanies debates concerning religion and...

If you really don't know, then it would perhaps also be appropriate to confess that you don't know that his choice of you had nothing to do with who you are---perhaps it did. Yet, his choice becomes...

("Baaaaaaaaaaah" is simply the sound sheep make---at least according to see-and-say.)

Baaaaaaaaaaah!

Theonomy is more than an ideal or a single ethical pronouncement; it is a complex web---the completion of which begs for some kind of implementation. Its "truth" seems to require a program of some...

As far as theonomy is concerned, how might we go from theory to practice? Exactly who, in our day, is to enforce the law as has been proposed? It seems to me that we are very, very far from any...

Thanks for the kind words---I always appreciate what you have to say as well.



Maybe the supposed "inability" of God to "forgive without payment" relates only to his ordained power and not his...

How do you know that God sent atheism to reshape and purify theism? Granted, theists are sometimes overly prideful---but do not atheists suffer from the same illness?



Mutual humility is no...

Is it true that God cannot forgive without payment for some reason intrinsic to his character, or is it, perhaps rather that God chooses to set up the world in such a fashion? (Not that these two...

This thread has escaped my attention until now, but I have to say that there's something to it. I'm interested in where you want to take the insight of your OP; have you read Denys Turner, for...

I'd be curious to know precisely why you or your pastor might think that "some OVT's are probably not Christian in doctrine," GB. I've also heard the common Reformed critique of Dispensational...

I didn't mean to come across as "preaching" at you, C4H---not at all. Sorry if I sounded that way....



Exactly. One simply cannot legitimately dismiss Calvinism via the Servetus affair, for...

The emphasis should be on "was a highly regarded representative of." Of course, there are still some who champion him, even yet, but it seems plain that such are misguided---to put it charitably.
...

But why would being an Arminian or an OVT irk him? Michael would still be his brother, after all....

But Swaggart isn't characteristic of either Arminianism or Pentecostalism. Neither would hold him up as a moral example. But before his hypocrisy was exposed, he did "preach Christ" after a...

We could sometimes do better---no doubt about it. Some of our exchanges can be hilarious, though, and we could enjoy grace and humour with a little extra effort.

Uh, why can't we all just---get along?
(It's no doubt the fault of those cantankerous Calvinists! :wink: )

GB, You should tell your pastor to register here and engage this debate (and others) directly....

In my experience, what we call "doubt" is an indispensible part of our basic awareness of the world---together with all the conflicting points of view we human beings entertain. We are all aware of...

But---where is it???

Where does everyone live? I'm in Virginia....

We should have one. If we did it in the springtime, it would have to be sometime during my spring break. Summers are good---since I don't work then at all....

smaller,
I've always tended to read your posts with careful consideration, and I am often reluctant to criticize what you say, for various reasons. I for one do not revile you. I may well be one...

I'd like to sit down to dinner with everyone here one night and have some extended face to face conversations---to look into everyone's eyes. Face to face, we might be able to understand things...

I agree with this. This thread is replete with brilliantly devised ideas concerning the history of doctrine that, however interesting they may be as speculative associations, just don't seem to...

Most of our interaction with one another involves clashes over theological issues, but it is certainly biblical for theology to unify us as well. We are called to love one another, and this, too, is...

I just want to extend my warmest feelings to all of you here---and to let you all know that there seems to be a glitch in the matrix.

Please carry on.... :wink:

Who spiked the eggnog? :eek:

I'm beginning to piece it together, however imperfectly.



That question seems to require evaluative criteria for what constitutes "greatness," as well as a specific philosophical stance on...

Seer has a point of view, just as you have one. He has, at least partially, disclosed what his point of view entails---while your own point of view remains largely undisclosed. Neither one of you...

Is the "game" you're playing the common childhood tactic of repeating things over and over without any relevant cognitive involvement? Do you have anything substantive to say---such as the...

And your posts are strictly on topic???



Well, it's good to see you care....



I'm dazzled by the blazing glory of your humility.

You're apparently very good at making cryptic authoritarian pronouncements and putting on airs of superiority. If this kind of thing pleases you, I suppose it could be seen as an end in itself; you...

The Word and experience often complement one another. But everyone should beware the danger of excess---whether in experience or in knowledge of the Word. If we take the things God has given us and...

The "monster" allegation is part of a common script---a repeated polemical exchange. Most know that neither side believes God a "monster." Neither side believes God unjust. One has to get beyond...

"A Cow Poem"

Among lush grasses and swirling purple shadows
moving in sunlight, fixed and chewing
black and white and deepest brown
and swarms of winged' things surround
her unregarded beauty....

You know, GB, I think that the gospel is bigger than Calvinism or Arminianism, and the fellowship of the Spirit should transcend Fords and Chevys. Sometimes our preoccupation with doctrinal split...

Hey, GB.
I believe that all human efforts to encapsulate how divine sovereignty and human freedom intertwine become guessess at best. Then we dogmatize our guesswork---and we argue. Humility...

It'll be interesting to check out this book. But this will not be the first time the political problems surrounding Dordt have been explored. Besides, the fact that there was a huge political slant...

I don't believe that scripture ever answers this question directly or exhaustively in such a way that would settle contemporary debates. Both inclusivists and exclusivists often resort to...

Hey GB. My computer is ailing---a sick little "robot" if ever there was one. A few quick remarks before I go off to class... "Robots" and "programs" are still just technological metaphors, and...

Very true, Severus!

:ale:

I think GB needs to define very closely just what he means by "robot." He is using human technology as a metaphor for what we are, and this, though all too common in our discussions, remains...

I mean both moral acts and rules. You affirm that moral acts don't escape the matrix of determinism. As to rules, well, if they are necessary truths, one would think they find their origin in the...

:ale: