4 responses

1. 

   Jez Bayes

   1 December 2010

   A: I love these quotes from Spurgeon:

   Firstly:

   “That God predestines, and that man is responsible, are two things that few can see.

   They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory; but they are not.

   It is just the fault of our weak judgment. Two truths cannot be contradictory to each other.

   If, then, I find taught in one place that everything is fore-ordained, that is true;

   and if I find in another place that man is responsible for all his actions, that is true;

   and it is my folly that leads me to imagine that two truths can ever contradict each other.

   These two truths, I do not believe, can ever be welded into one upon any human anvil, but one they shall be in eternity: they are two lines that are so nearly parallel, that the mind that shall pursue them farthest, will never discover that they converge; but they do converge, and they will meet somewhere in eternity, close to the throne of God, whence all truth doth spring.” (New Park Street Pulpit, 4:337)

   and Secondly:

   ‘Men who are morbidly anxious to possess a self-consistent creed, a creed which will put together and form a square like a Chinese puzzle, are very apt to narrow their souls.

   Those who will only believe what they can reconcile will necessarily disbelieve much of divine revelation.

   Those who receive by faith anything which they find in the Bible will receive two things, twenty things, ay, or twenty thousand things, though they cannot construct a theory which harmonizes them all.’ (“Faith,” Sword and Trowel, 1872)

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2. 

   Jez Bayes

   1 December 2010

   B:
   Similar recent Blog discussions outside the Newfrontiers fold are referenced here:

   http://julieclawson.com/2010/11/23/barna-and-the-new-calvinists/

   where I tried to comment on a misuse of the phrase HYPER-Calvinist, but after a brief dialogue the moderator stopped releasing my contributions, and I don’t think I was being too acerbic.

   I also commented here:
   http://christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2010-11/barna-and-new-calvinists

   where the first Blog is hosted, and was allowed in!

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3. 

   Jez Bayes

   1 December 2010

   C (and finally!)

   This whole topic is vital.

   I don’t want to be a ‘Calvinist’ I want to be a Disciple of Jesus, and to walk alongside other people exploring how to know Him better, and how to live this in a way that impacts our communities.

   I want to humbly acknowledge that I don’t understand all truth, and that my understanding changes through my lifetime.

   I want to walk with others who understand Gospel Truth differently, and allow us to sharpen each other and provoke each other to love and good works.

   Let’s unite to reach our world, rather divide into camps to debate theological understanding, and become disengaged with our culture, an irrelevance.

   Reply
   1. 

      Simplepastor

      1 December 2010

      Couldn’t agree more with this one Jez, well said

      Reply