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I have learnt in my time that petty quibbling over every word posted, that only seeks to distract the reader's train of thought into endless irrelevance, and down blind alleyways, is never worth replying to.

IMO, the above cannot be indiscriminately applied in the temporal realm. It might be plausibly said of those with fair amounts of treasure stored up in heaven, but everyone is capable of making a fool of themselves, should they happen to let go of discipline for any reason. The Old Testament...

The Greek draws pertinent distinctions here, between settled anger, or a state of indignation, that is the property of the subject when an object is in view (ὀργή - noun, from ὀρέγομαι - verb [= middle/passive of ὀρέγω - stretch/reach out, yearn]), and anger that is expressed and directed in...

The one doesn't preclude the other. The point is this: the unfaithful amongst the Jews cannot say they weren't "called". "Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises." Rom 9:4. They threw it all away...

I find the above article to be extremist, misrepresentative, unobjective in that it falsifies the meaning of words, and unworthy of a Christian. "Evolution is both a fact and a theory. Evolution is widely observable in laboratory and natural populations as they change over time. The fact that...

Anger moves from the originator to the recipient, but may turn back again (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point). As the exact nuance of the Hebrew word is contextual to its usage, there is no necessity to posit where it goes to. Anger just disappears when it turns away...

"For many are called, but few are chosen." Matt 22:14. You need to revisit the Old Testament, to discover how the Israelites, who are called "God's people" were rejected by God. See especially Jeremiah. Jer 4:22 "For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and...

It is never incoherent to keep the jurisdictions of heaven and earth distinct in the bible. Creation days are defined only by reference to what God is doing in and from heaven.

As God never self-identifies as part of the creation he made, so His days of creation, which relate only to His work, and nothing else, are not to be taken from creation. A 6x24 hour creation would represent a pantheist view of God, where God and His creation aren't construed as divisible...

Where does the bible say that anyone merits election? Isn't the point of Rom 9:11 to suggest that election is of God's mercy and not of our merits? Although God does foreknow, what and how he foreknows or determines anything is unknown to man: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and...

Contradiction and incoherence always lead to issues. And TULIP doesn't appear to resolve them. I would also discount "I" as a contradiction of the biblical record: irresistable grace in some cannot mean grace isn't resistable in others. "T" is framed wrongly: the issue isn't about "men coming to...

I believe Calvin was a poor theologian, being more of a commentator on the theology of others than an original theologian. This is partly why he appears to contradict himself on key points, as also does Augustine, his hero. Sometimes Calvin appears as incoherent in the same paragraph, as he does...

Undoubtedly you also infer, and which IMO is preferable, " foreknowledge of a capacity for faith." For foreknowledge of faith infers election is somehow a reward for displaying faith, which can't be right, as election is an election to faith. All men are ultimately treated by God as having the...

Thanks for putting the OP in context. Two initial points: (a) be very careful of prepositional usage in Greek. What is not "from / out" of (ἐξ) could still be "through" (διὰ); (b) be very careful of the Pauline usage of "works" because if it is not grasped properly, there is a danger of seeing...

I would seek to distinguish, just because Eph 2:8 distinguishes. If the apostles, in general, determined it was necessary to make draw distinctions between salvation, grace, faith and justification, then it is incumbent on present-day Christians to maintain the distinctions as per the apostles...

The selection was "before the foundation of the world" Eph 1:4.

One question. If faith is a gift from God, how can it be distinguished from righteousness credited on account of faith, and from salavation which is productive of faith? Next question. If repentance is a gift from God, how can it be distinguished from mercy, which is productive of repentance...

The Greek exegetes will contest this interpretation just because of the form of the verb ἐκλέγω (eklegó: to choose, select, elect) and its position in respect of its qualifying clause. The ἐκ prefix (= out of, from) imposes the idea of separation from a former condition. It may well be that the...

Quote by Galileo Galilei (1564- 1642 in his open letter to the Dowager Grand Duchess: the bible shows the way to heaven, not the way the heaven go. "Ergo: The Bible is written in a different (non-scientific) language and has a different object (to science): it teaches us "how to go to heaven...

Creation days and earth days don't share a common referent. Creation days are spiritual metaphors. Genesis says God divided his work into days, and rested on the seventh. Creation follows the pattern determined by heaven. Man is the image of God. The earthly sanctuary was a pattern of heaven...