Great to know Christian is orthodox, which I suspected He was last J. I. Packer put an old man smackdown on him.

Christian and I will still need to debate out the “doubt” piece because of the idea of God failing to do something He intended to do. But that is somewhat of a peccadillo.

I rejoice that Christian is anti-kenotic in the classical German sense of the term.

I think him more the horse’s mouth than his self-ascribed donkey’s mouth, but self-deprecating humor is always appreciated.

I will have the book on my full read list though I am having to read Wild at Heart as part of an event I am committed to. Don’t even get me started on the “God as risk-taker” possiblity and open theism dodge (Ugggh..I feel another fever coming on). But I am being faithful to their process. Then a simmering in Godology and finally back to reading mostly dead guys (tons of them being puritan).

Jordan .. I’m still waiting on your response to Christian’s response … or did I miss it?

And please allow me to be the first to say …
I don’t comprehend half of the big theological terms you guys (Jordan, Mark, Mike) are throwing around. Scary, and I’m the Publisher of this e-zine … so don’t take that as a horrible thing, take it as my transparency to say I welcome WELCOME WELCOME this kind of conversation …

I desire for the content we publish to have sound doctrine, though I also realize that there are always issues where scholars differ … that being said, TWC wants to express content and ideas to help build us up as worshipers .. in all areas, and they are not written as “doctrinal fact”, (again though we want that as close as possible!), and are wide open to discussion.

I’m glad to see that we do all agree that Jesus was both God and Man …
FM

Blessings-
Christian

I’ll be like Jesus and bridge the gap. Christian, step out like a penitent sinner and email me at worshiptrench(atsign)gmail(-dot-)com. Mark can play the role of God the Father who doesn’t want his addressed sullied with spam. I can then forward you the document Mark wants to show you (all the while using both my human AND divine natures…hahahahah!)

I think I have something you’d be interested in, but I can’t think of how to get it to you without publicly handing out my email address. Not sure if the admin could facilitate getting my email address to you.

mark

I want to thank you for stopping by and weighing in on this discussion. This article has generated quite a bit of discussion, and it’s great to have you give your opinion on what has been said.

I fear I’m struggling put forth my point. I never meant to state that Christ “gave up” His divinity, and certainly it was His to claim. My statement was meant to indicate that He chose not to operate in it, instead relying on the Father as a model for us to rely on Him. With the exception of the resurrection and the transfiguration, the things Jesus did (including “knowing their thoughts” ) are things that we are all capable of, giving an annointing of the Holy Spirit, faith in God and a humble spirit. I speak of this from personal experience. It requires no divinity on our part to operate in the Spiritual gifts. How could Jesus tell us to do what He did, and in fact, tell us we would do greater things, if it required divinity to do it?

What’s important is that this was a willing action on Jesus’ part. He basically had a position of “Yes, I can do these things, but I will have faith in the Father instead of my self. This is so you can have faith in me, instead of yourself.” It’s splitting hairs, and we could be arguing semantics, but I believe there is a disctinction to be made.

Obviously, I enjoyed the book tremendously, and will likely have to re-read it to see what I might have missed. Thanks again.

I’m currently doing my thesis with Steve Holmes at St. Andrews, Scotland. I’m looking at the doctrine of God in the theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Spurgeon has, at least in the academic arena, been viewed primarily as a homiletician. I’m looking at him as a theologian, and holding his rhetoric up to that standard. What drew me to Spurgeon’s theology is the clear way he incarnates Puritan doctrines against the backdrop of a nineteenth-century, stagnated Victorian homiletic.

Spurgeon uses new ways and new words to communicate ancient truths–a passion that I resonate with also. Both in Sex, Sushi, and Salvation and Godology, I have tried to write about God and the Christian experience in fresh ways–ways that urge my readers to consider the seriousness and beauty of authentic faith.

Of course, doing a PhD on Spurgeon means that I have to read everything Spurgeon wrote. 63 volumes of sermons, dozens of books, etc, … it makes for a lot of words.

Anytime you’re in the Scottish area, let me know. I’ll treat you to some haggis. :)

Blessings,
Christian