Theology

What Role Does Natural Theology Have in Reformed Thinking? (A Review of Reforming Apologetics by J.V. Fesko)

May 5, 2019 by wagraham 1 Comment

Should Reformed Christians engage in natural theology? Or ought we to follow Karl Barth’s famous “nein” to natural theology and instead claim with Barth that all theology starts with Christ? The classical Reformed answer, according to J. V. Fesko, is to answer no to Barth and yes to natural theology.

He has a point. The Gallican Confession (1559), The Belgic Confession (1561), the Canons of Dort (1618–1619), and the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) affirm ideas like the book of nature, innate knowledge in terms of common notions, or the light of nature. And in particular, Anthony Burgess, a framer of the WCF, penned a work affirming natural theology (Vindiciae Legis) whose imprint appears in the WCF (So Fesko 2019: 40).

Fesko interprets these sources and gives a close reading to the WCF in particular. In so doing, He closely attends to the original sources and their plain meaning. For example, the Belgic Confession plainly states: “We know God by two means: First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book.” The book of nature reveals God.

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Why I Affirm Double Procession (the Spirit Proceeds from the Father and Son)

April 23, 2019 by wagraham 1 Comment

For some time, the single procession of the Spirit made good sense to me. In the monarchy of God, the right order seems to be: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is the sole principle who begets the Son and from whom the Spirit proceeds.

I found the phrase “the Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son” helpful because it mediated the two positions (single and double procession). Like single procession, the Spirit comes from the Father. And like double procession, the Spirit comes from the Father by coming through the Son.

I was satisfied. Then I read Thomas Aquinas and Gilles Emery. They forced me to reconsider what the Bible said and to re-reflect on my theology.

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What Does James Say about Sin, Temptation, And Desire?

April 16, 2019 by wagraham 1 Comment

Both Jesus and his brother James discuss how temptation turns into sin. For Jesus, hating or lusting mentally commits murder or adultery. James concurs with Jesus’ teaching and discusses how desire, temptation, and sin interrelate.

Since getting temptation, desire, and sin right matters so much for our personal growth, we need to get this right. And besides, current discussions on same-sex attraction revolve around these same subjects. So it is also a timely subject for discussion.

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How Should Christians Understand Same-Sex Attraction?

March 26, 2019 by wagraham 7 Comments

If you are coming here via social media, consider reading my article where I clarify my argument by clicking here.

According to Christian theology, God created humanity in his image as both male and female. And so humans live and marry according to these sexes: males marry females. The first marriage recorded in Scripture narrates such a relationship: Adam marries Eve. They cleaved together.

Yet some people romantically desire those of their same sex. And the reality is that many Christians today have experienced same-sex attraction, do experience it, or will experience it in the future. For this reason, believers should seek to understand those who experience same-sex attraction. That way, we can gain understanding in order to increase our ability to love and to support others.

By looking at Scripture and history, we can start to understand same-sex attraction through the biblical concept of desire. Scripture defines desire as a neutral organ that can either tend to vice or to virtue. The theologian Maximos (580–662) understood desires similarly and provides conceptual clarity on the matter of desire.

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Jesus Denied Pleasure in the Desert And Embraced Pain at the Cross for Our Sake

March 20, 2019 by wagraham Leave a Comment

Jesus denied pleasure in the desert and embraced pain at the cross for our sake. In each synoptic Gospel, Jesus begins his ministry after his baptism by his temptation in the wilderness. And in each Gospel, Jesus ends his sufferings at the cross. Jesus denies the pleasures of temptation in the wilderness and embraces the pain of death at the cross. He did both for our sake.

Maximos the Confessor (580–662) observed this twofold overcoming of temptation in his twenty-first reply to a bishop named Thalassios. And I think he is on to something (if not in whole, in part).

Here’s how I think it works. Jesus overcame the temptations of pleasure in the desert and pain at the cross in order to defeat demonic powers, disarming them, and providing us an example to walk in. While this does not describe the whole of Jesus’ redemptive work (e.g., penal substitution), it highlights the biblical theme of Christ our founder and perfecter of faith.

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