Gary C. Gibson - Essays: faith

Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts

3/2/25

On Christology

Christology is not a simple subject. Even so I would say that making categories a,b,c, regarding what comprises a human or “a complete human” are not very satisfactory, much less applied to Christ. One can make a set of word to comprise a definition and invalidate that criteria with formal logical examination. One might define the parameters for an ostrich and if it includes fins then the criterion is wrong. One never gets anything more than words that are logically consistent with the criterion you built. Words are different than objects.

There is the additional problem of words as definite articles compounded, with those words individually difficult to define through reductionist procedures. One has trouble defining a spirit, a mind etc. especially as contingent objects. The divine nature and character cannot be defined exhaustively for that is not an object of human knowledge. How the Spirit of God indwells Christ as a human is not something that can definitely be known. neither is it simple to define what a soul is or how it is constructed; it could just be information or a record that God keeps of the data of a human life. If programmers can know the data that makes a program or an AI and recover it if hardware breaks down I am sure that God can do better than the best quantum computer would ever be able to do in order to capture the entirety of information that makes a human being, soul etc. what it is.

At end one can say that Christ was fully human and God. He is The Son and is Spirit as are the Father and the Holy Spirit. As a human physically he knew God the Father. One cannot satisfy the criterion of defining the proportions or composition of Jesus in regard to the other two members of the Triune God through physical means.

https://www.udio.com/songs/ppYMShLZBG91focYi1NUDe

1/28/25

Post-Tribulation End TImes With Jesus and YHWH

A Baptist minister said to me once that The Revelation was like a newspaper written for Christians of the time of John of Patmos. It needed to be slightly coded because Nero probably would have had John executed instead of just exiled if John had described Nero as the Beast. I like the partial preterist interpretation of John with the apocalypse occurring in the first century A.D. with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 and the terrible persecutions by the world government of the region that was Imperial Rome.

Post-tribulation interpretations differ from pre-tribulation interpretations popularized by Charles Ryrie. Remember that end times pre-tribbers have existed since the first century and they tend to be wrong- except for the one that Jesus said would occur and that did within that generation. Jesus will return some time yet it will be different from the pre-tribber version that some Christians have, comparable to that of Muslim Shi'ite 12ers that believe the hidden imam will return before Armageddon and Jesus will lead the Muslim troops. One might read He Shall Have Dominion by Kenneth Gentry to learn about post-millennialism.

I enjoy being reminded of Christian themes amid all the clutter. I took a two year graduate course in reformed theology on-line in theology and my mentor lost my work. I published my papers in three volumes free to download at my web page. I read people like Thomas Brooks and Shaff’s multi-volume History of the Christian Church (free to download at several sites) https://ccel.org/ccel/s/schaff/hcc8/cache/hcc8.pdf

The post on the meaning of the tetragrammaton was a timely and good topic that led me to learn a little more about it. I found an article on it at The Torah.com with a quote from that below. https://www.thetorah.com/article/yhwh-the-original-arabic-meaning-of-the-name#:~:text=God%20reveals%20his%20name%20to,%2C%20desire%2C%20or%20passion.%E2%80%9D

“God reveals his name to Moses as “I am,” from the Hebrew root ה.ו.י, “being.” The name YHWH, however, originates in Midian, and derives from the Arabic term for “love, desire, or passion.”

שמות ו:ב וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹהִים אֶל מֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֲנִי יְ־הוָה. ו:ג וָאֵרָא אֶל אַבְרָהָם אֶל יִצְחָק וְאֶל יַעֲקֹב בְּאֵל שַׁדָּי וּשְׁמִי יְ־הוָה לֹא נוֹדַעְתִּי לָהֶם.

Exod 6:2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am YHWH. 6:3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make Myself known to them by My name YHWH.

1/13/25

Saved by Faith, Not Works

Calvinists believe one is saved through faith alone (sola fide). Yet believe that if one is saved they shall do good works. Some say that if one doesn't show good works then they probably weren't saved. Calvinists believe scripture including that of James. The brother of Jesus said in chapter 2:"

14 "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?" 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"

Though Christians are saved through faith, they have an avocation in the world. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10 ""For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them".

Even good works are the result of grace

1/12/25

Context in Proverbs Chapter 3 Verse 5

One might want a little more context; “3 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:

2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

Trusting in God now is trusting in God; the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Faith in God does not require abandoning reason. Mind does not work that way. One may have faith that a barbeque shredded beef sandwich quality is healthful and give thanks to God at the same time.