Category Archives: Theology

Practical Sovereignty

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Matt

Christians often hear that God has a plan for our lives, and rightfully so. Psalm 139 tells us, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” But what does this mean for us practically speaking? While it seems quite obvious that this reality should offer us comfort in the bad times and move us to gratitude in the good, Christians begin to step on shakier ground when they begin to evaluate whether they are indeed conforming to God’s plan for their lives. But does the latter logically proceed from the former? Continue reading →

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“But I Could Be Wrong”

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Matt

Those are the five words that this contributor to Fox News thinks will save the Church, and it seems to be a fairly common sentiment among the Emergent crowd. Different theological and moral beliefs are a frequent source of friction, … Continue reading →

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Paradoxology: Finale

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Matt

We spent a great deal of time on examining how paradox is mishandled—how pride in an ability to embrace paradox can itself damage the paradox that is to be embraced. But how can we resist such a temptation—particularly when so … Continue reading →

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Paradoxology Part 4: The Consequences of Rejecting Reason

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Matt

Last time, we saw that it is not reason that destroys a paradox; it is when we put reason in God’s place by allowing it to overrule God’s promises. And so paradox is not protected by rejecting reason, but by … Continue reading →

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Paradoxology Part 3: Lutherans Mishandling Paradox

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Matt

As we saw in Part 2, paradoxes are not contradictions and therefore accepting them does not necessitate rejecting reason. Nevertheless, paradox is difficult to accept primarily because our reason wants—nay, needs—to understand; understanding is, after all, the very thing our … Continue reading →

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Paradoxology Part 2: Refusing Paradox

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Matt

Scripture presents Christians with a number of paradoxes—places where unresolved tension exists between two or more teachings.  One of the thornier issues is the doctrine of predestination—that God Himself chooses who will be saved.  How is the Lutheran approach to … Continue reading →

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Paradoxology Part 1: What is a Paradox?

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Matt

What exactly is a paradox and why is it important to theology? Simply put, a paradox is a kind of riddle or puzzle that a person comes across—something that appears to be a contradiction, but really is not. Perhaps the … Continue reading →

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Paradoxology: An Introduction

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Matt

If you’ve ever argued over theological controversies with Lutherans, you’ve no doubt heard us boast of our comfort with paradox. We will often overtly embrace a set of Biblical teachings that just don’t seem to add up. For those of … Continue reading →

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Loosen Up? Rob Bell & Cries of “Pharisee!”

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Matt

One of the accusations that seems to be continually leveled against the critics of Rob Bell (the emergent church fellow who has recently made headlines for teaching universalism in his new book) is that they are being Pharisaical for holding … Continue reading →

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Incarnate Faith

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Matt

A great difficulty with which American Christians need to struggle is the separation of religion and “real life” into airtight compartments. Religion is accepted as a purely subjective idea, but is not considered either true or false in an objective, … Continue reading →

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