Post # 6 The Doctrine of God - The Necessity for God to Reveal Himself To Us (With Insights From Dr. Francis Schaeffer)

Introduction:

    So far in our series, we've considered the following in our study of the doctrine of God,

1. We talked about where to begin with the study of God. We made mention of what I called "a map of the doctrine of God". By basing the map loosely off of Wayne Grudem's systematic theology, we noted how we start with God's existence. Whenever we consider the whole scope of the doctrine of God as typically presented in various presentations of the doctrine of God (a.k.a "theology proper"), what we have covered in posts leading up to today's posts represents only the beginning of our post series. Readers may review the first post in this series here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/07/post-1-doctrine-of-god-map-to-explore.html

2. In the second and third posts, we looked at the main names for God which translate as "God" and "LORD" in the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament. We noted how those names point us to understanding better God's nature as the One living and true God, as well as His identity as the Triune God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We noted three questions that can aid us in considering the doctrine of God,

    a. What kind of God is God? (this has to do with His Divine nature).

    b. How is it that God is God? (this deals with His perfections or Divine attributes).

    c. Who is God? (this handles His Triune identity and thus the doctrine of the Trinity). 

Readers may review the second and third posts here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/08/post-2-doctrine-of-god-gods-existence.html

and here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/08/post-3-doctrine-of-god-how-names-of-god.html

3. In the fourth post we talked about how all humanity possess an "inner awareness of God". We first considered how this inner awareness is due to our being made in God's image, along with our ability to detect God's existence in creation and our conscience. We discovered this is the primary and most common way people come to know about God. This fourth post is found here 

4. Then in our last post (post # 5), we once again looked more at mankind's inner awareness of God by understanding how we can show that God exists through various theistic arguments. This represents a second method of knowing about God or providing warrant for belief in God (the term "warrant" refers to the grounds for holding rationally to a certain belief). Interested readers may review the last post here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/08/post-5-doctrine-of-god-role-of.html

What we mean by revelation.

    To say "revelation" means "to make known what was previously unknown". We've discussed already in prior posts of the two sorts of revelation. There is general revelation in which we "know about God" in creation and the conscience (Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 1:18-20; 2:14-15). Then, there is "special revelation" that God has made known His will, His Personal identity, and plan of salvation in the Bible (Romans 15:4; 2 Peter 1:20-21). God by nature is the revelatory God (Exodus 3:14). 

    Even within the Trinity, the doctrine of eternal relations tells us of how the Persons of the Trinity are in a revelatory relationship to one another. The Father perpetually makes Himself knowable and relatable to the Son, the Son doing the same thing to the Father, and then the Holy Spirit reciprocating in like kind with the Father and Son and they with Him (see Matthew 11:27; Romans 11:33-35). Even before creation, God Himself in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was relating and inter-relating, making known and being known within Himself (Psalm 2; 110; Proverbs 30:4; John 14:10-11; 16:28). 

God's knowability through the revelation of Himself.

    So far in the first five posts, we have considered God's existence, and the ways mankind possess an inner awareness of Him through their natural innate awareness or by way of theistic arguments. What we are doing now is moving on to understanding how awareness of God is possible. Such a possibility is grounded in God being by nature the God of revelation. 

    In Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, his section on "The knowability of God" is outlined as follows,

A. The Necessity for God to reveal Himself to us.

B. We can never fully understand God. 

C. Yet we can know God truly.

    These three main points nicely frame the discussion, and so we will use them in helping us grasp what we mean when we talk of God as "The revealing God", and why that is crucial for the possibility of knowing anything about Him and ultimately coming to know Him in the truest sense. For this post we only have time to unpack the first point. 

The necessity for God to reveal Himself to us.

    The late author Francis Schaeffer wrote a trilogy of books in the early seventies that shaped the thinking of Bible-believing Christians for a generation: "The God who is there"; "Escape from Reason"; and "God is there, and He is not silent". 

    The first of these traced how Western culture changed its view about truth and crossed what Schaeffer called "the line of despair", a philosophical shift he detected in Europe beginning in 1890 and in the United States before 1935. 

    This so called "line of despair" had above it the possibility of knowing God, and he making Himself known in terms of truth, reason, and revelation. Then below this "line of despair" we see various disciplines that acquire knowledge of the world and (should at least) be able to infer knowledge about God in all He has made (philosophy, literature, art, music, theology). 

    As Schaeffer pointed out in his first book, Western man rejected what was above the line and through a steady progression, beginning with philosophy in the nineteenth century and progressing through the radical theologies of liberalism and "death of God" theologies of the twentieth century. In short, humanity came to believe in the impossibility of revelation.

    In Schaeffer's second book, "Escape from Reason", he traced in more detail this journey below the line of despair, beginning as I said with the philosophy of the enlightenment and the nineteenth century, through the disciplines of literature, art, music, and theology. 

    It is then in Schaeffer's third book, "God is there, and He is not silent" where we see the triology reach its ultimate conclusion (and which is relevant to the necessity of God's revelation). Schaeffer writes,

"We can say it another way, that the infinite Personal God, the God who is Trinity, He has spoken and He is not silent. There is no use having a silent God. We would not know anything about Him. He has spoken and told us what He is and that He existed before all else, and so we have the answer to the existence of what is. He is not silent." 

    The prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 41:21-23 writes of how the God of the Bible alone is, to imitate Schaeffer's point above, "the talking God",

“Present your case,” the Lord says. “Bring forward your strong arguments,” The King of Jacob says. 22 Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place; As for the former events, declare what they were, That we may consider them and know their outcome. Or announce to us what is coming; 23 Declare the things that are going to come afterward, That we may know that you are gods; Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together."

    The Psalmist in Psalm 115:2-9 writes further of the necessity of God needing to reveal Himself if we are to know anything about anything or about Him,

"But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see; 6 They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell; 7 They have hands, but they cannot feel; They have feet, but they cannot walk; They cannot make a sound with their throat. 8 Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them. 9 O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield."

    Unless the infinite, personal God has reached outside of Himself to our world and to us, as well as designed our world and ourselves with the capability of awareness of such revelation, we would not know anything about anything nor anything about God. This is why the Apostle Paul writes what he writes in 1 Corinthians 8:4-6,

"Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him."

    In our next post we shall consider that although we can never fully comprehend God, we can nonetheless truly know Him.

Post # 5 The Doctrine of God - The Role Of Arguments For Showing God's Existence, And Some Examples

Introduction:

    In our last post we looked at how mankind "knows about God's existence" by his inner awareness, being made in his image, and the inborn categories people have about our world that are revealed by God through general revelation. Readers may review the last post here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/08/post-4-doctrine-of-god-mans-inner.html

    As mankind observes the various phenomena of the physical creation, he can infer God's existence by how causes and their effects present the patterns of beginnings and their outcomes. How so? 

    As noted last time, mankind is made in God's image (Genesis 1:26-28), meaning He is designed in such a way that His mental faculties, when properly functioning, automatically apprehend God's general revelation. Solomon puts it this way in Ecclesiastes 3:11 

"He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end."

    As we also saw last time from Romans 1:18-20, sinful human beings suppress this inner awareness. In addition to the physical creation, general revelation is borne witness inside the seat of moral intutions - the conscience. Paul writes about this in Romans 2:14-15,

"For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them."

    The last post was concerned about pointing how how we "know" about God and His existence. In today's post, we will look at a second route that can raise one's awareness of God - various arguments for God's existence that "show" He exists. 

Some examples of theistic arguments for God's existence.

    Let me comment the value and limitation of theistic arguments, otherwise known as arguments or "proofs" for God's existence. These so-called arguments or proofs give us a way of showing God's existence. Now I bring this up because maybe some readers may well say: “if I remain unconvinced by arguments for God’s existence, does that mean I cannot believe in God?” Not at all! There are dozens, is not well over one-hundred arguments for God's existence. It could be that whichever arguments you have heard haven't yet overridden the intellectual objections. Also too, even if you've not heard even one argument, recall from the last post that God has placed in every person an inner awareness of His existence, Divine nature, power, and moral character to which each person is accountable. 

    All arguments for God's existence can do is show that God's existence is more probable than not (it is the Holy Spirit's inner working in concert with the Scripture that brings certainty and trust in God). Thus arguments for God's existence, on their own, cannot deliver "certainty", but only an increasing level of probability. 

    As I noted already, for other readers, perhaps you are not aware of such arguments. For example, I myself was not aware of theistic arguments for God until I had begun Bible College and Seminary. The vast majority of people come to know about God through what I wrote in the last post concerning our inner awareness of God and the Holy Spirit's working mentioned above. 

    The value of arguments for God, despite their limitations, are still useful for conversations with unbelievers and showing a second way for why belief in God's existence is most reasonable. They also raise the awareness of believers to appreciate God in His revelation in the world around us and in everyday experience. 

    Let me give you some examples of what I mean by such "arguments" or what are sometimes called "proofs". Keep in mind there are literally dozens upon dozens of such arguments, some better than others and some more clearer than others. For sake of space, I'll list below links to posts I've written over the years that feature arguments for God's existence for readers interested in wanting to read further.

1. The argument for God's existence from the origin of the universe is here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2016/02/p1-universe-had-beginning-beginning.html

    

2. The moral argument for God's existence is here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2015/11/how-objective-morality-and-duties-point.html

     

3. The argument for God being the best explanation for why anything exists is here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2016/02/p1-how-god-is-explanation-of-universe.html

4. The argument for the fine-tuning of the universe as best explained by God's existence is here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2019/03/how-remarkable-feature-of-universe-is.html

5. How Jesus' resurrection from the dead is proven historically and offers proof of God's existence here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2021/03/how-to-begin-to-talk-about-and-defend.html

6. Argument for God's existence from the problem of evil and suffering here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/03/part-one-gods-morally-sufficient.html and http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/03/part-two-gods-morally-sufficient.html

Arguments, evidence, and how someone goes from "knowing about God" to "knowing God".

    Even apart from arguments and evidences, a person is still rationally justified for holding to their belief in God's existence. Author A.W. Tozer writes in his book: “The Pursuit of God”:

“To most people, God is an inference, not a reality. These notions about God are many and varied, but those who hold them have one thing in common: They do not know God in personal experience.” 

Tozer then concludes: “While admitting His existence, they do not think of Him as knowable in the sense that we know things or people.” (pages 36-37)

The new birth in saving faith raises the inner awareness of God

    As a Christian, I don’t believe in the God of the Bible because He is a conclusion to a series of theistic arguments (as valuable as such arguments can be for removing intellectual obstacles). Granted, I find such arguments build a step-by-step case for rationally affirming why God's existence better explains reality and human experience than non-theism. With that said, I am a Christian because God was apprehended by me in a moment of trust He initiated when I was a ten-year-old boy. Wayne Grudem comments on how the new birth raises this inner awareness of God,

"In the life of the Christian this inner awareness of God becomes stronger and more distinct. We begin to know God as our loving Father in heaven (Romans 8:15), the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God (Romans 8:16), and we come to know Jesus Christ living within our hearts (Eph 3:17; Phil 3:8, 10; Col 1:27; John 14:23). The intensity of this awareness for the Christian is such that though we have not seen our Lord Jesus Christ, we indeed love Him (1 Peter 1:8)."

Closing thoughts

    In today's post and the last one, we have talked about God's existence and man's inner awareness. We have noted that God has made Himself known to all human beings through what is called "general revelation" in the physical creation and human conscience. Further, we explored this "inner awareness" of God through what is called "properly basic beliefs", that is, true knowledge that is rational to hold apart from arguments and evidence. 

    In addition to such things as knowledge of the external world and other people's minds, the inner awareness of God's existence is foundational, available to all people even if they've never heard of any argument for His existence or the evidence thereof. We gave some examples of theistic arguments for God's existence, noting their value, while recognizing they are secondary in comparison to the primary way of knowing God's existence through mankind's natural inner awareness and the Holy Spirit's supernatural working that leads to salvation.  

    The God of the Bible, revealed in Jesus, doesn’t want mere affirmation that He exists. God desires you to know Him in a personal relationship. I will close with two quotes: one from the prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament, Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart”; and the other from James in the New Testament, James 4:8a “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” 

Post #4 The Doctrine of God - Man's Inner Awareness of God And Why Everyone Knows About His Existence

Introduction: Three questions to ask in studying the doctrine of God.

    In our last two posts, we have introduced our study of "theology proper", otherwise known as "the doctrine of God". We noted three main points of God's nature: His power, His nature, and His identity. These three qualities were explored through key names of God revealed in the Bible. 

    Anytime we study God, we focus on His nature, attributes (such as His power), and His identity as the Triune God. Over the course of this series, we will find ourselves working through the study of God. I like to summarize these three main points through three questions we may ask.

1. What is God? (This question inquires to the nature of God). 

2. How does God exist? (This question inquires into the attributes of God through which He reveals Himself to us). 

3. Who is God? (This question deals with the doctrine of the Trinity. The Trinity is revealed in the Bible as One God by nature and attributes, and three Persons by identity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All three persons co-equally and co-eternal are each truly God by nature, being in their communion with one another the one true living God). 

    As we go along in this series, I'll reference these three questions.

God's general revelation of Himself to us is evidenced by our inner awareness of Him.

    What we want to do in this post is start with consideration of God's existence as manifested by man's inner awareness. Wayne Grudem writes the following in the 2nd edition of His Systematic Theology, page 169,

"How do we know that God exists? The answer can be given in two parts: First, all people have an inner sense of God. Second, we believe the evidence that is found in Scripture and in nature."

    When it comes to bringing awareness to the existence of God, there is the way of "knowing" God's existence and then the way of "showing" that God exists. Today's post will consider the first of these, namely how we "know God's existence" by way of inner awareness.

All human beings have a sense of the Divine nature of God.

    As Grudem has noted, the fact that all people have an inner sense that there is a God applies to the way of "knowing" He exists. The Protestant reformer John Calvin calls this inner sense of God's existence and reality "the sense of the Divine" (the Latin phrase he uses is "sensus divinititus", i.e "an awareness of God"). John 1:9 illustrates how the second Person of the Godhead is responsible for this inner awareness of human beings, "there was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man."

     Alvin Plantinga, a noted philosopher, formerly of the University of Notre Dame, has developed a detailed way of describing this "this of the Divine" (or mankind's inner-awarenes sof God) through what he calls “properly-basic belief”. Such “properly-basic beliefs” don’t require evidence to justify someone's rationality in holding to them. 

    For example, my belief that you as a reader is a thinking mind, rather than an android, or that my memories of the past were not implanted five-minutes ago with the appearance of age, or that I’m not a brain in a vat hooked to electrodes feeding me false memories, all of these are examples of properly basic beliefs. 

    Unless strong evidence to the contrary would come along to over-turn such beliefs, I’m completely rational in holding them.  According to Plantinga, for a person who possesses properly functioning mental faculties, beliefs about God are rational, since properly basic beliefs are formed in contexts which are designed to link the mind to the given reality. 

God's general revelation in mankind's awareness means no one can say they didn't know about God.   

      The Apostle Paul tells us that all human beings as bearers of God's image have this intuitive awareness that there is a God to whom they are accountable. This general awareness of God inside of man is made possible by what theologians call "general revelation". The late Dr. D. James Kennedy described this general awareness of God as involving certain "innate" or "inborn" understandings. 

    For example, we intuitively know there are "causes and effects", "space and time", "right and wrong", and a sense that there is some type of after-life, or what Solomon in Ecclesisates calls "eternity written on the heart". 

    When you look at those four areas, they all point us to God. "Cause and effect" leads us to conclude the concept of consequences for our actions - hence God as our judge. Then, the concepts of "space and time" point us to God our Creator and our dependance upon Him (even if we don't acknowledge Him). The moral categories of "right and wrong" shed light on the moral law of God written in our heart, speaking to our accountability to this God. Then, the innate concept of "eternity written on our heart" tells us that some day we will stand before God. 

    All these inborn intuitions point us to what we read of in Romans 1:18-20. Such inner awareness is general and universal. We call this "general revelation" because it is generally available and accessible. We find several truths about God in general revelation. A few observations from Romans 1:18-20 are in order to flesh this out (note the close correspondance to the inborn categories I noted earlier). 

    First, we find that God is the final judge to whom we are accountable, especially as seen in the opening words of Romans 1:18 "For the wrath of God is revealed..." (this corresponds to the "cause and effect" relationship). In addition, God's wrath (that is, His settled opposition against sin) reveals His moral nature, which corresponds to our inborn sense of right and wrong. Additionally, Roman 1:19 speaks of God as the Creator, with the universe being created by Him (this would remind us of those categories we know of as "space and time"). In Romans 1:20, we find emphasis on certain attributes of God, namely His divine power or omnipotence, which leads us to conclude God Himself is eternal, corresponding to why we inwardly sense there is an eternity.

    In the next post, we will continue further in noting a second way people's awareness of God's existence can be raised, namely through showing He exists by way of various arguments. 

    

   

    

  

Post #3 The Doctrine Of God - How The Names Of God Point To His Triune Nature

 

Introduction:

    In our last post http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/08/post-2-doctrine-of-god-gods-existence.html, we considered how the two main names referencing God in the Bible reveal His nature and power. Names in the Bible often speak to the nature of someone or particular acts or situations associated with their identity. 

    In the Old Testament, the general name "Elohim" (and its New Testament counterpart "Theos") give us access to God's power and introduction to His attributes such as "omnipotence". These names are translated by the general term "God". 

    The other set of names, translated "LORD", derive from the Hebrew name "Yahweh" in the Old Testament and its New Testament counterpart "Kurios". This set of names spoke of God's self-existence, transcendance, and thus His nature as the only being without need nor dependance. In today's post we will once again take a closer look at these two categories of God's names, noting how they point us to the doctrine of the Trinity. 

How the New Testament authors came to use the Old Testament names for God "Elohim" and "Yahweh".

    The underlying Greek word for "God" in the New Testament is "theos" (whence we get our word "theology" - i.e. "the study of God"). According to the Liddle and Scott Greek Dictionary, the noun "theos" derives from the Greek verb "tithemi" which means "to put, place, assign". Thus, God ("theos") speaks in similar terms of the Hebrew name "Elohim" to God's power establish creation, life, and salvation. 

    Here again we see reference to God's existence in how He uniquely can do things by His power that no other being could ever accomplish. Theologians refer to this contrast between God and everything else as the "Creator/creature divide", meaning there are things that only God can do and ways that only God can be in contrast to everything else. So much like what we saw with "Elohim", the Greek equivalent of "theos" speaks to us of God's unique power.

    Then of course we arrive at the second consideration of God's nature, already explored in the Old Testament Hebrew name "Yahweh" and found similarly in the New Testament name "Kurios"- i.e "LORD". This other common New Testament name for God, "Kurios", is a translation of the Old Testament name for God we've already considered - "Yahweh". The term "Kurios" was used to translate the Hebrew "Yahweh" in the Greek translation of the Old Testament - The Septuagint. Further, the New Testament authors would have had familiarity with the Septuagint, and thus when composing the inspired New Testament books, utilized this title as referring to the Divine nature of God Himself.

How the New Testament authors used "Kurios" and "Theos" to develop the doctrine of the Trinity

    As to the Triune identity of the Biblical God, it is interesting to note that these titles "God"(Theos) and "LORD" (Kurios) came to distinguish the Divine Persons of the Godhead, respectively the Father and the Son. The doctrine of the Trinity asserts three main ideas.

1. First, there is one God by nature.

2. Second, this One God exists as three interrelated Persons that are each truly God by nature, equal in glory, power, and attributes.

3. Thirdly, these three persons are distinguished by their personal properties that makes the Father "Father", the Son "Son", and the Holy Spirit "The Holy Spirit", all the while never eliminating the fact that all three in identity are One true God in being.

    As we consider the Trinity, the relationship between the Father and the Son is the starting point, and where these two names "theos"(God) and "kurios" (LORD) become relevant.

    We find this title "LORD", kurios, used some 400 times. It is the New Testament's way of distinguishing between Jesus and the Father in terms of their identity, while at the same time expressing their unity in nature and equality of glory within the Godhead. 1 Corinthians 8:6 is a prime example,

"yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him."

    As a final note, we must not neglect the the Person of the Holy Spirit. He is also designated in the Old Testament by the terms "Elohim", God (Genesis 1:2) and Yahweh "LORD" (Isaiah 63:11), along with the New Testament terms "Theos", God (Acts 5:4-5) and "Kurios", LORD, (2 Corinthians 3:16-17). These observations serve to show the equality of the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son in regards to His being, while distinguishing Him as a Divine Person in His own right from the Father and the Son.

    In our next post, we will consider further God's existence by how human beings possess an inner awareness of His existence.

Post #2 The Doctrine of God - God's Existence, Power and Nature Revealed By His Names

Introduction:

    In our last post we started exploring the doctrine of God by offering a map that helps readers see at a glance what such a study would look like here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/07/post-1-doctrine-of-god-map-to-explore.html. The Doctrine of God (also called "Theology Proper") studies, expounds, and puts in order God and His acts revealed generally in the creation and particularly in the Bible. Typically, theology in general includes the doctrines of God, Creation, Providence, Miracles, Humanity, Christ, Salvation, Christian Life, The Church, and Eschatology (or last things). 

    The Doctrine of God is at the head and center of all other doctrines, which is why theologians refer to the doctrine of God as "Theology Proper".

God's existence is assumed in the Bible

    As one reads the Bible, the overall sense is that God's existence is a given. We never find, as such, the Biblical authors going out of their way to prove God's existence. With that said, we nonetheless also find that the Biblical authors do engage in the task of Apologetics. "Apologetics" is that discipline that defends the truth claims of the Biblical worldview and offers reasons for why the follower of Christ believes what they believe. 

    So why did the Biblical authors aim to offer a defense of Biblical truth claims? In the Old and New Testaments, pagan worldviews and religions were all around the Jews and the Christians. Idolatry or worldliness was a constant temptation. A God-centered view of life was necessary to ground Biblical faith (see Hebrews 11:6).

    The Biblical authors had the task of announcing the reality of the true and living God over against the other supposed deities worshipped by the nations. For example, the prophet Isaiah writes in Isaiah 41:21-23,

“Present your case,” the Lord says. 'Bring forward your strong arguments,' The King of Jacob says. 22 Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place; As for the former events, declare what they were, That we may consider them and know their outcome. Or announce to us what is coming; 23 Declare the things that are going to come afterward, That we may know that you are gods; Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together."

    The LORD's "double-dog-dare-you" to the pagan nations does two things. First, the existence of God is presupposed. Second, the non-reality of the pagan deities is presupposed. The inability of the foreign deities and their religions to correctly describe the history of world and human origins, as well as to accurately predict future events via fulfilled prophecy, proved that the God of the Bible alone exists.

How the names of God give us clues into His power, nature, and identity.

    To say "God exists" expresses what is most fundamental in the very nature of God Himself, namely that by nature and definition, God must be real because of what He alone can do and by the kind of God He is in His being. When we consider the two most common names for God in the Old Testament, "Elohim" and "Yahweh", we are struck by the reality and non-negotiable truth of the existence of God.

    The name "Elohim" is plural in the Hebrew, with the "im" suffix signifying God's majestic power. Providing the name "Elohim" is attached to a singular verb (as we see in Genesis 1:1), the power of God is conveyed. Hebrew dictionaries define the Hebrew singular name "El" as meaning "Mighty One" or "Strong One". Thus God alone has the power to create something from nothing, bring forth life from death, and forgive sin - none of which any creature can perform.

    But there is a second point to note of this phrase "God exists", and that is in the name God reveals to be His Personal name - "Yahweh" or "Jehovah". In Exodus 3:14, we read of the following encounter between God and Moses,

"God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

    This unusual name is capitalized in our English Bibles as "LORD". The phrase "I AM WHO I AM" is one word in Hebrew - "Yahweh". The name "Yahweh" and the attending English translation "I AM WHO I AM" derive from the verb "hawa" which means "to be, to exist". 

    The way God expresses His name is by taking this verb and making it into a first person singular imperfect, which conveys a continual action, unending, as performed by the subject. The beauty of the imperfect verbal pattern in Hebrew is that in can often refer to ongoing action in the past, present, or future. In other words, God is saying that "I AM He who is, who always has been, and who will always be". The latter part of Revelation 1:8 gives us the best unpacking of this name "Yahweh", attributing all it means to the Son, Jesus Christ, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” 

    Yahweh presents the self-existing, self-sustaining nature of Almighty God. Therefore we can tell from these two common names that we have clues to the power (Elohim) and nature (Yahweh) of God.

    When we come to the New Testament, we find similar thoughts conveyed by the two leading names for God revealed there. In addition to similar ideas about God's power and nature, we get an introduction into considerations of His identity as the Triune God. In the next post we will dive into this point.

    

Post #1 The Doctrine Of God - A Map To Explore The Doctrine Of God

Introduction:

    In today's post, I begin a series of posts that will explore the doctrine of God, sometimes referred to as "Theology Proper". I'll admit that the prospect of studying the doctrine of God can be challenging, mind-expanding, and ultimately worshipful. The nineteenth century Baptist preacher C.H. Spurgeon began with these comments in a sermon he preaching on the doctrine of God in January of 1855,

"It has been said that “the proper study of mankind is man.” I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God’s elect is God; the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father."

Spurgeon continues,

"There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, “Behold I am wise.” 

    But when we come to this master science, finding that our plumbline cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass’s colt; and with solemn exclamation, “I am but of yesterday, and know nothing.” No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God....".

Where to start?

    The big question when approaching such a study is where to begin? In a recent interview hosted by Dr. Matthew Barrett, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Mid-Western Seminary, he, along with other scholars who specialize in the doctrine of the God (Dr. Scott Swain, Dr. Fred Sanders, and Dr. J.V. Fesko), commented on how there are various entry points into studying "The Doctrine of God". (Readers may access Dr. Barrett's informative conversation with these men here https://credomag.com/2023/03/the-credo-alliance-why-we-are-classical-theists/ )

1. God's nature. Some begin with the nature of God. The doctrine of God covers the being (nature) of God, His attributes, and His acts in creation, providence, and redemption. Some theologians have begun with God's nature. This starting point helps us to see what makes God different from everything else, and why He is worthy of our worship. Examples of theologians of the past who do this approach include Thomas Acquinas in His classic work "Summa Theologica".

2. Comparing human nature. Others will draw analogies from human nature or how human beings have a built-in awareness of God. Theologians such as Wayne Grudem in his "Systematic Theology" tend to begin with this approach.

3. Names of God. Still others will use the names of God as an entry point to studying the doctrine of God. One will notice how often God made known a name about Himself when making Himself known to His people throughout the Bible.

4. God's attributes. A fourth method or starting point for studying the doctrine of God is to begin with the attributes or perfections of God, and then work toward grasping the nature of God to which the perfections point. In Dr. Barrett's book "None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God", we find Him working through such attributes as God's self-sufficiency (a.k.a "Divine Aseity"), omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and other perfections. One thing we remind ourselves of is to note that though we can truly know God, we can never fully comprehend God (an attribute known as God's "incomprehensibility").

5. The Trinity. A fifth starting point, which the ancient church fathers commonly did, was to begin with the Trinity. Take for example the great creeds of the Christian church, such as the Apostle's Creed. It begins "I believe in God, the Father, Maker of Heaven and Earth". This opening line assumes a particular understanding of "God" in regards to His nature as the One truly and living God. What follows in the Creed are twelve points or truths that flow from the doctrine of the Trinity. In later creeds (such as the Nicene Creed) we see this pattern of beginning with the Trinity more unfolded.

6. Arguments for God's existence. One final starting point we can mention is what is more common among those thinkers who engage in Christian apologetics or "defense of the faith". Typically, one will notice how they labor to show what "God is not" by contrasting the Biblical doctrine of God with other worldviews and then supporting the Christian revelation of God through what are called arguments for God's existence.

    For our study over the course of these next several posts, I'll mainly use the outline of the Doctrine of God spelled out in Wayne Grudem's 2nd edition of his "Systematic Theology". I'll likely start by first noting the key names of God that point us to God's nature, attributes, and Triune identity. Grudem's outline serves as an example of what I call a "map" for exploring the doctrine of God. Any major systematic theology written over the centuries will arrange the study of the doctrine of God in its own distinct way. Grudem's outline represents a general order and method that has been followed by other writers throughout the history of the church. I'll comment briefly under each of the headings so as to help clarify the order of the "map" for exploring the doctrine of God.

I. The Existence of God.

    When we speak of God's existence, we are concerned with understanding how we know He exists by our inner awareness, as well as showing He exists through various arguments or "proofs". The 11th century theologian Anselm of Canterbury developed the followingway of expressing how God exists, "God is the greatest conceivable being, of which non-greater can be conceived". Scripturally, Hebrews 11:6 gives us this important principle that relates God's existence to Biblical faith "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."

II. The Knowability of God.

    God has made Himself knowable by way of revelation in creation and the conscience (called "general revelation") and through the Bible and Jesus ("special revelation").

III. P1 The Character of God: Incommunicable Attributes.

    In this point and the next, we come across a category of God's attributes known by theologians as "incommunicable attributes". The term "incommunicable" means that the attribute or perfection is unique to God. We often use the term "communicable" to describe, say, the common cold as a "communicable disease" or laughter as a "communicable" behavior. In other words, whatever trait or action someone has or is, that very thing is transferrable to another. The idea of incommunicable means that certain attributes of God (such as He being eternal, omnipresent, without beginning) are unique to Himself. These remarks apply to the next point (point "IV").

IV. P2 The Character of God: Incommunicable attributes.

V. The Character of God: Communicable Being Attributes

    What I noted in "point III" about communicable attributes is applicable here. Certain attributes of God, such as "love", "mercy", "goodness", are shared by God with us. We, in our creaturely way, being made in His image, have something in common with God. We could say that God's incommunicable attributes prompt worship of Him, whereas His communicable attributes make possible fellowship with Him - especially by His people who know Him by faith. These comments cover the points below (points "VI" through "IX").

VI. P1 The Character of God: Communicable Moral Attributes

VII. P2 The Character of God: Communicable Moral Attributes

VIII. The Character of God: Communicable Attributes of Purpose & Intellect

IX. The Character of God: Summary Attributes.

X. Introducing the Doctrine of the Trinity

    In the first nine points of our "map", we have noted the being and attributes of God. I sometimes summarize God's being as considering "what kind of God God is" and His attributes as concerning "how God is the kind of God He is". In this next major portion of the map of the doctrine of God, we go from consideration of God's being and attributes to that of His identity as the Trinity. I sometimes refer to this as "who God is".  

XI. Three statements that summarize the Biblical teaching of the Trinity.

A. God is Three Persons.
B. Each Person is fully God.
C. There is One God.

XII. Errors that have come in denial of the Trinity.

    In understanding what the Bible teaches about the Trinity, it is vital to understand what the doctrine of the Trinity does not teach. Errors about the Trinity, broadly speaking, will either deny the unity of His nature or the distinct identities of the members of the Godhead (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). 

XIII. What are the distinctions between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

    When we say "distinctions", we refer to the eternal relational distinctions that the Father has with the Son, the Son with the Father, and that the Holy Spirit has with the Father and the Son and they with Him. The Father's relationship with the Son is referred to by theologians as "eternal generation". The Holy Spirit's relationship with the Father through the Son is referred to as "eternal procession". This area of Trinitarian doctrine is called "the doctrine of processions", since we are interested in how the Father relates to the Son and the Spirit, and how they in turn related to Him and to one another. The beauty of the Trinitarian life comes forth in this area of the Doctrine of God.  

XIV. The different functions (or roles) of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are appropriate to their distinct identities.

    In the study of the doctrine of the Trinity, certain activities are appropriate to each of the Persons. For example, in creation, the Father is the planner, the Son is the provider, and the Holy Spirit is the applier. All three Persons together are the One Creator God. Theologians call this section of Trinitarian doctrine that deals with how each of the Divine persons handle areas of creation and redemption "the doctrine of appropriations". To keep in mind that the Persons of the Trinity never do anything without consideration of one another in unity as One God, a corresponding doctrine connected to this is what theologians refer to as "the doctrine of inseperable operations".  

XV. The Person of the Holy Spirit.

    This area of our map focuses attention on the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, an area of Bible doctrine called "pneumatology". 

XVI. Understanding and Applying the Doctrine of the Trinity.

    In our next post we will begin our approach to this study by considering God's power and nature by way of the key names used for Him in the Bible.

 

Conclusion: Twelve Points That Prove Christianity - Since Jesus Is God, Whatever He Teaches Is True, He Taught The Bible Is God's Word, Therefore The Bible Is God's Word

Introduction:

    In our last post we explored the claims, acts, and statements made by Jesus about Himself. We also considered the testimony of His miracles. In all, we noted five lines of evidence that provide the cummulative case for Christ's deity. For review, this is what we concluded in the last post

Premise #1 In the New Testament, Jesus claimed to be God.

A. Direct statements (Mark 14:61-62; John 8:58).

B. The titles He used for Himself (“Son of Man”, over 80x, only in the Gospels; Son of God; Lord). See for example Mark 14:62-63.

C. Equating Himself with the Father (John 5:25-29; 10:30)

Premise #2 Jesus is proved to be God.

D. His actions and claims (John 2:5-7).

E. His knowledge of the future (Mark 14:16).

F. His miracles attest His identity, teachings, and claims, see for example Matthew 11:1-6; John 5:36.

G. His fulfillment of prophecies (Matthew 21:5 and Zechariah 9:9)

Conclusion: Therefore Jesus is God.

    The premises and conclusion of the above argument correspond to points seven, eight, and nine in the twelve point argument we've explored in this series. In today's post we once again will combine three points, the final three points, since they give us another logical argument that brings the twelve points to their intended end. Let me lay out the three final points (points 10,11,12) below that we will cover in this post

Premise #1 Since Jesus is God, whatever He teaches is true.

Premise #2 He Taught The Bible Is God's Word.

Therefore: The Bible Is God's Word

    If the reader will note the two sets of points above, they give us a summary of how we get from the Biblical text being reliable to it being the Word of God in our overall presentation of the truth claims of Christianity. Jesus is central to this transition, since what He taught about the Biblical text and how he used it in His ministry sets the standard for how we ought to regard the Bible today.

    In a past post I have argued more in detail what I call "An argument to inerrancy" here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2019/02/what-jesus-taught-about-scripture.html. 

    In that post, I showed how Jesus' teaching about the Scriptures and the validation of His life through His resurrection from the dead bring us to conclude that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God. It goes without saying that we could also reach the same conclusion through a survey of fulfilled Bible prophecy or consideration of God's attributes. Together with Jesus Himself, these three approaches provide a three-corded strand of apologetic rope that is not easily broken (to borrow a phrase from Ecclesiastes 4:12). 

    What I like about centralizing our view of Scripture on Jesus' view is that the skeptic has to contend with Jesus, rather than just evidences or logical arguments. Arguments and evidences have their place. When it comes to the authority of Scripture, we must take it at face value by understanding what its central Actor had to say about it.

    What I'll present below are various phrases used by Jesus in the Gospels to describe the Biblical text. At the time Jesus would had taught these things, the Old Testament would had been the only portion of the Scriptures available. Since Jesus had commissioned His Apostles and since many of them would write the New Testament books, whatever statements Jesus made about the Old Testament would apply to the New Testament. 

    We find early on in Christianity following Jesus' ascension the equation of the New Testament with the Old Testament. Paul for example quotes from Deuteronomy and Luke in 1 Timothy 5:18, treating them as "Scripture". Further, Peter includes Paul's letters alongside the Scriptures of the Old Testament in his comments on them in 2 Peter 3:16. With those observations, lets look at what Jesus taught about the Scriptures.

A. Jesus and His use of the phrase "It is written"

    Jesus would sometimes use the phrase "it is written" to assert the Divine authority of the Old Testament (Matthew 4:4, 6, 7, 10; 11:10; 21:13; 26:24, 31 / Mark 1:2, 7:6, 9:12, 13; 11:17; 14:21, 27 / Luke 4:4, 8, 10, 17, 7:27; 10:26; 18:31; 19.46; 20.17, 22, 22:37; 24.44, 46 / John 6:31,45; 8:17; 10:34; 12:14, 16; 15:25; 19:19, 20, 22).

B. Jesus and His use of the term “Scripture”.

    Jesus used another closely associated term, "scripture", to describe the Old Testament (Matthew 21:42, 22:29, 26:54, 56/ Mark 12:24, 14:49 / Luke 24:27, 32, 45, John 5:39). In these instances, Jesus describes the scriptures as fulfilled, having Divine authority, without error or "inerrant" (Matthew 22:29) and incapable of failure or "infallible" (John 10:35).

C. Jesus and the term “fulfilled”.

    The third term used by Jesus in His teaching on scripture is His often used phrased it is fulfilled (Matthew 4:14;
5:17; 8:17; 12:1; 13:14,35; 21:4; 26:54, 56 / Mark 1:15; 14:49 / Luke 4:21; 21:22, 24 / John 12:38; 13:18, 25; 17:12).

D. Jesus and the phrases “truly, truly” (i.e. “verily, verily”) and “I say to you”.

    Jesus used the phrase "truly truly" in John 1:51; 3:3, 5, 11; 5:19, 24, 25; 6:26, 32, 47, 53; 8:34, 51, 58; 10:1, 7; 12:24; 13:16, 20, 21, 38; 14:12; 16:20, 23 and 21:18. We then find Jesus using the phrase "I say" with reference to his own Divine Authority in Matthew 5:18, 22, 22, 26, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44; 6:2, 5, 16, 25, 29, 8.10, 11; 10:15, 23, 29; 11:23, 24; 12:43; 13:30, 37: 14:9, 14, 18, 25, 30 / Luke 4:24 and Luke 5:24. In Luke 6:25, Jesus would use the phrase "but I say" to contrast himself to the Jewish traditions, as seen in Luke 7.9, 14, 26, 28, 47.10:12; 11:8, 9, 51; 12:5, 22, 27, 37, 44.

E. Jesus used the title “Word of God” to describe the Bible.

    This title “Word of God” entailed the books of the Bible as inerrant and infallible as originally given, with that same authority carrying down to the copies and translations. Thus, Jesus used this phrase "word of God" in places such as Matthew 4:4; 15:6 / Mark 7:13 / Luke 8:11, 21; 11:28 / John 3:34; 8:47 / John 10:35.

    Let the reader note the mountain of verses that give us a clear picture of Jesus' views on the Biblical text. His claims and demonstration of His deity, coupled with His death and resurrection from the dead, more than qualifies Jesus to be the authority to make claims about the authority of Scripture. It is for these reasons we can right conclude in the final point of our twelve point case for proving Christianity: 

Therefore, the Bible is the Word of God and anything opposed to it is false.