Jonathan Edwards and Freedom of the Will
I just finished reading Freedom of the Will by Jonathan Edwards. He is widely considered the greatest American philosopher and theologian, and this is widely considered his greatest work. As a result, as you might imagine, it was both powerful and difficult to process. I’m not sure I’ve fully grasped all of his arguments, but [...]
Growing in Intimacy with God: Psalm 63 and Philippians 3
Many Christians have a desire for what they call deeper relationship with God, intimacy with God, heartfelt worship, or loving and being loved by God. I do as well, but often it seems difficult to get there. But recently I’ve found tremendous help in Psalm 63 and Philippians 3. David wrote about seeking God while [...]
God loves me, but does He like me?
At Christmastime, my friend Paul wrote a two-part blog series entitled “God loves me, but does he like me?” I enjoyed them a lot–they raised great questions about how we think about our relationship with God and the theological basis for it. The problem they proposed is this: Premise 1: There is a distinction between God’s legal [...]
Faith Alone, And…
In the midst of the current Protestant disagreement over the role of works in salvation, it is natural to include the concept of justification by faith alone. It is a foundational concept for all of Protestantism, and especially for the Reformed branch. Interestingly, though, Reformed writings are the ones that seem to have the greatest [...]
Dangerous Duty of Delight Study Guide
For a long time, I’ve been trying to come up with ways to help small group members and people I know to grasp the idea of Christian hedonism (or delight in God, or religious affections, or Augustinianism, or rejoicing in the Lord). It’s not always an intuitive concept, and unfortunately Desiring God is a little [...]