Comments for Occasional Thoughts on Christian Themes http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com Hopefully a little help along the way Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:15:25 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 Comment on When Worship Evangelism Doesn’t Worship- Or Evangelise by JAMES SASSE http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/57/#comment-660 JAMES SASSE Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:15:25 +0000 http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/57/#comment-660 WEB SITE; INDIAJESUSLOVESYOU.COM IS A GOSPEL TRACT IN OVER 50 LANGUAGES FOR EVANGELISM TO MUSLIMS, HINDUS AND SIKHS FOR JESUS CHRIST. THANKYOU. JAMES AND HAMSA. WEB SITE; INDIAJESUSLOVESYOU.COM IS A GOSPEL TRACT IN OVER 50 LANGUAGES FOR EVANGELISM TO MUSLIMS, HINDUS AND SIKHS FOR JESUS CHRIST. THANKYOU. JAMES AND HAMSA.

]]> Comment on Exemplary Theories of the Atonement by sibbesian http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/exemplary-theories-of-the-atonement/#comment-657 sibbesian Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:28:33 +0000 http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/?p=157#comment-657 Thanks for the comment Ron and the link to your blog. Thanks for the comment Ron and the link to your blog.

]]> Comment on Exemplary Theories of the Atonement by Ron Henzel http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/exemplary-theories-of-the-atonement/#comment-656 Ron Henzel Sat, 30 May 2009 14:34:53 +0000 http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/?p=157#comment-656 This is a great quote! I have posted my own thoughts on this subject in a blog post titled, <a href="http://midwestoutreach.org/blogs/the-lamb-that-was-slain" rel="nofollow">"The Lamb That Was Slain."</a> This is a great quote! I have posted my own thoughts on this subject in a blog post titled, “The Lamb That Was Slain.”

]]> Comment on A Cautionary Story by sibbesian http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/09/02/a-cautionary-story/#comment-651 sibbesian Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:04:53 +0000 http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/09/02/a-cautionary-story/#comment-651 Thanks Simeon for the comment. Sadly I suspect that Edwards' problems are not all intellectual but are also related to the show biz world that his celebrity has brought him into contact with. Thanks Simeon for the comment. Sadly I suspect that Edwards’ problems are not all intellectual but are also related to the show biz world that his celebrity has brought him into contact with.

]]> Comment on A Cautionary Story by Simeon http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/09/02/a-cautionary-story/#comment-650 Simeon Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:43:09 +0000 http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/09/02/a-cautionary-story/#comment-650 Great points! I've been reading J. Gresham Machen recently, now there was a man with a robust intellectual faith. Interestingly, as a young man he studied for a time in Germany and there was confronted by liberalism in all its pietistic glory - his faith was rattled for a decade! He would eventually become one of the leading figures in the fight against liberalism - let's hope and pray that Edward's life will follow a similar trajectory. Great points!

I’ve been reading J. Gresham Machen recently, now there was a man with a robust intellectual faith. Interestingly, as a young man he studied for a time in Germany and there was confronted by liberalism in all its pietistic glory – his faith was rattled for a decade! He would eventually become one of the leading figures in the fight against liberalism – let’s hope and pray that Edward’s life will follow a similar trajectory.

]]> Comment on Is the New Atheism the New Fundamentalism? by Jesse http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/is-the-new-atheism-the-new-fundamentalism/#comment-649 Jesse Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:03:14 +0000 http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/is-the-new-atheism-the-new-fundamentalism/#comment-649 Absolutely--Atheism has absolutes and universals of its own, though many deny it. The problem with a lot of emerging Atheists is that they refuse to acknowledge their own "faith," and as such they don't derive any of the unifying ethics and morals that Christians derive from their formulation of faith as a necessary consequence of its unavertable condition. Excellent conversation though--thanks much for discussing! Absolutely–Atheism has absolutes and universals of its own, though many deny it. The problem with a lot of emerging Atheists is that they refuse to acknowledge their own “faith,” and as such they don’t derive any of the unifying ethics and morals that Christians derive from their formulation of faith as a necessary consequence of its unavertable condition. Excellent conversation though–thanks much for discussing!

]]> Comment on Is the New Atheism the New Fundamentalism? by sibbesian http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/is-the-new-atheism-the-new-fundamentalism/#comment-648 sibbesian Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:45:16 +0000 http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/is-the-new-atheism-the-new-fundamentalism/#comment-648 Thanks for the question Jesse. At the heart of Christian belief is the idea that God is unknowable- unless He reveals Himself. Which we believe He does. He reveals Himself in the world that He has made, He reveals Himself through the people He has created, through the Word that He has given and ultimately through His Son whom He has sent into the world. For Christians anthropomorphism is not us projecting onto God but a necessary dimension of God's self-revelation. For this is how the infinite accommodates Himself to our finitude. I must admit that I have come to regard atheism as faith- faith in alternative theories which explain reality but which are themselves unprovable. Obviously I have come to the conclusion there are better reasons for believing in God than there are for not believing in God. Thanks for the question Jesse. At the heart of Christian belief is the idea that God is unknowable- unless He reveals Himself. Which we believe He does. He reveals Himself in the world that He has made, He reveals Himself through the people He has created, through the Word that He has given and ultimately through His Son whom He has sent into the world. For Christians anthropomorphism is not us projecting onto God but a necessary dimension of God’s self-revelation. For this is how the infinite accommodates Himself to our finitude.
I must admit that I have come to regard atheism as faith- faith in alternative theories which explain reality but which are themselves unprovable. Obviously I have come to the conclusion there are better reasons for believing in God than there are for not believing in God.

]]> Comment on Is the New Atheism the New Fundamentalism? by Jesse http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/is-the-new-atheism-the-new-fundamentalism/#comment-647 Jesse Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:25:23 +0000 http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/is-the-new-atheism-the-new-fundamentalism/#comment-647 I got ya. Yeah, no bad experiences! I saw "memory and experience" and thought maybe the context was something with epistemology. "That I have made up my mind doesn’t preclude me listening to others and entering into constructive dialogue." Evidently! And much thanks for that. How do you respond to the view that one can believe in God, but that God is either unknowable (extreme skepticism) or paralyzingly difficult to know without imposing self-reflective/human attributes on him/her/it? I'm not setting you up with the question. Just curious what degree of directness you see in one's relationship with God. My own feelings about the matter, and why I err toward Atheism/Agnosticism as a possibility, is that I think any such relationship seems highly indirect and indeterminate. This doesn't preclude "faith," really it just kind of buffers it. I got ya. Yeah, no bad experiences! I saw “memory and experience” and thought maybe the context was something with epistemology.

“That I have made up my mind doesn’t preclude me listening to others and entering into constructive dialogue.” Evidently! And much thanks for that. How do you respond to the view that one can believe in God, but that God is either unknowable (extreme skepticism) or paralyzingly difficult to know without imposing self-reflective/human attributes on him/her/it? I’m not setting you up with the question. Just curious what degree of directness you see in one’s relationship with God.

My own feelings about the matter, and why I err toward Atheism/Agnosticism as a possibility, is that I think any such relationship seems highly indirect and indeterminate. This doesn’t preclude “faith,” really it just kind of buffers it.

]]> Comment on Is the New Atheism the New Fundamentalism? by sibbesian http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/is-the-new-atheism-the-new-fundamentalism/#comment-646 sibbesian Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:20:22 +0000 http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/is-the-new-atheism-the-new-fundamentalism/#comment-646 Reasons of memory- I was just picking up on your comment “individual whose adolescence precludes him from making statements one way or another.” I assumed- perhaps wrongly- that you had a bad experience of religion at some point. As a Christian I would argue that if I believe God exists then that closes me off to the idea that atheism is correct. Yet I must also accept the possibility that someone may come along and give me reasonable grounds to change my mind. That I have made up my mind doesn't preclude me listening to others and entering into constructive dialogue. Reasons of memory- I was just picking up on your comment “individual whose adolescence precludes him from making statements one way or another.” I assumed- perhaps wrongly- that you had a bad experience of religion at some point.
As a Christian I would argue that if I believe God exists then that closes me off to the idea that atheism is correct. Yet I must also accept the possibility that someone may come along and give me reasonable grounds to change my mind. That I have made up my mind doesn’t preclude me listening to others and entering into constructive dialogue.

]]> Comment on Is the New Atheism the New Fundamentalism? by Jesse http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/is-the-new-atheism-the-new-fundamentalism/#comment-645 Jesse Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:49:14 +0000 http://abruisedreed.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/is-the-new-atheism-the-new-fundamentalism/#comment-645 Oh, whoops-- what did you mean by "reasons of memory and experience"? Oh, whoops– what did you mean by “reasons of memory and experience”?

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