God and the logically impossible

Last evening

2003 The Problem of Evil: Anglican and Baptist Perspectives: MPhil thesis, Bangor University 

For my MPhil surveys,

I received fifty each, completed of Anglicans and Baptists who have attended a post-secondary denominational college, University or seminary, or are members of one of those denominations who have studied religion at a post-secondary level.

Statement five: 

My fifth statement was another dealing with the logical nature of God. God cannot commit the logically impossible such as ceasing to exist. 

With Anglicans, 66% agreed with this point, while 22% were not certain, and 12% disagreed. With Baptists, 78% agreed with the statement’s concept, while 14% were not certain, and 8% disagreed.

My main consideration in creating this statement was to put across the idea that God is not a contradictory being. He is a being of consistency, in my view, and this means both that he could not manage to cease to exist or create another God equal to him. In the same way, he could not work against his own holy nature by sinning as he willed evil for the greater good. I think, instead, he wills it within his perfect character, realizing that in a fallen creation, evil and suffering will take place and that he can fulfill his good purposes by using evil within his holy plans.

August 23, 2019

2010 Theodicy and Practical Theology: PhD thesis, the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, Lampeter 

Within a theistic, Christian tradition and worldview, God is considered infinitely and eternally holy and perfectly good; logically, as it would be contradiction, God cannot be at the same time, considered infinitely and eternally unholy and imperfectly evil.

If God actually was infinitely and eternally evil, this would actually be what is good, and there would in reality be no distinction between good and evil. But based on the scripture, reasonable theology and reasonable philosophy of religion, that is not the case.

Also, as I discussed in both my PhD (2010) and on this website, God cannot ontologically have finite nature or finite attributes (God does not ride a skateboard, but could make a skateboard move as if ridden). God the Son, as second member of the Trinity, does at the incarnation, as a human being, have finite nature and attributes, but God the Son, Jesus Christ's infinite, eternal divine nature does not mix with his acquired finite, everlasting nature.

CALVIN, JOHN (1543)(1996) The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, Translated by G.I. Davies, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.

CALVIN, JOHN (1539)(1998) The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book II, Translated by Henry Beveridge, Grand Rapids, The Christian Classic Ethereal Library, Wheaton College.

CALVIN, JOHN (1539)(1998) The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book IV, Translated by Henry Beveridge, Grand Rapids, The Christian Classic Ethereal Library, Wheaton College.

FEINBERG, JOHN.S. (1994) The Many Faces of Evil, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.

Thoughts & Emotions (Sermon)

Conwy Castle gardens, 2001

Jan 01, 1988

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Baxter on Your Thoughts 4 - by Michael Phillips Baxter on Your Thoughts - Part 4 of 4

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Baxter was an English pastor who lived from 1619 to 1691. Like everyone else, he had his weaknesses, but when it comes to pastoral counseling, he is number one.

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The study is divided into two parts. The first is how to get rid of bad thoughts; the second is how to keep good ones there-and to improve upon them. He begins by defining bad thoughts. They are thoughts against God (e.g., unbelief, discontent, and blasphemy); thoughts against yourself (especially pride); and thoughts against other people (e.g., malice, envy, and contempt). 
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Pastor Phillips relies significantly on the use of Richard Baxter. Baxter, certainly has (had) some good ideas in regard to biblical and theological, disciplines. I cannot rate him as number one or the best, however, as I am not certain that there is a definitive best.

Some key points from this sermon that I will review non-exhaustively:

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IF YOU WANT TO GET RID OF BAD THOUGHTS, CONTROL YOUR EMOTIONS.

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Rather than controlling your emotions, your mind is being controlled by them. And that's bad. Not that emotions are bad. Arms are good, but not for walking. Eyes are good, but not for smelling. Emotions are good, but not for thinking. 

How do you control your emotions? That's another subject, of course, but here's a good place to start: (1) Respect the power and danger of emotions, (2) pray for God's grace to control them, and (3) don't cop out by saying, "Well, that's just the way I am". (Maybe it is, but grace changes you from what you are to what you ought to be).

A biblical worldview trusts in biblical premises and conclusions, guided by the Holy Spirit, in grace through faith, as theology, doctrine and dogma, primarily (as primary), and emotions would be secondary.

Scriptural support, non-exhaustive examples:

2 Timothy 2:15 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

1 Peter 3:14-16 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you [a]are blessed. And do not fear their [b]intimidation, and do not be troubled, 15 but [c]sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a [d]defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and [e]reverence; 16 [f]and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. 

Footnotes: 1 Peter 3:14 Or would be 1 Peter 3:14 Lit fear 1 Peter 3:15 I.e. set apart 1 Peter 3:15 Or argument; or explanation 1 Peter 3:15 Or fear 1 Peter 3:16 Lit having a good

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IF YOU WANT TO GET RID OF BAD THOUGHTS, RESIST THEM AS SOON AS THEY OCCUR TO YOU.

Cited Proverbs 1:10 makes the point, "My son, if sinners entice you, consent not".

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In other words, don't think about it, don't weigh the plusses and minuses of sin, don't sleep on it, just say "No". If an evil thought entices you, stand up to it right then! "Resist the devil and he will flee". If you want to get rid of bad thoughts, resist them as soon as they occur to you.

Philippians 4:8 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is [a]lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, [b]dwell on these things.

Footnotes: Philippians 4:8 Or lovable and gracious Philippians 4:8 Lit ponder these things

One should  prayerfully avoid pondering on thoughts that might reasonably, or reasonably will, lead to sinful acts and actions.

Things that work for me, in this lifetime struggle to maintain godly thinking, are writing and researching these website articles, listening to sermons, as well as prayer to the triune God in Jesus Christ, and fellowship with other like-minded biblical Christians. That is fellowship with Christians both in church and within the universal Church.

I pray to be guided by God's perfect will and divine reasoning. Again, a lifetime struggle.

HEWLETT, H.C. (1986) 'Philippians' in The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.

MARTIN, RALPH P. (1987) Philippians, Grand Rapids, IVP.

Brief on regrets (Sermon)

Nov 11, 2007

Once again I review the notes from a sermon from Grace Baptist Church and provide the link to the sermon, above.
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Spiritual Depression #4: Regrets

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What causes spiritual depression? A great many things do. Some are in the future, others in the present, but the most common causes-and the hardest ones to cure-are in the past.

This is because the present and the future are open to us. Today's problem may be gone tomorrow. And the future things I fear so much may not happen at all. The past, however, is fixed and unchangeable.

These are wise words. I have noted online that I consider myself finite and sinful. Theologically, this will mean that I have thoughts, acts and actions that have occurred or not occurred, in my life, that would be mistakes, and at times, even sins.

I can at times, not think of the right thing to do because of my sinful nature and tendencies...

A corrupted fallen nature (Genesis 3, Romans, Galatians) means my nature and universally, human nature, is not perfect and holy. The atoning and resurrection work of God the Son, Jesus Christ, applied to believers remedies this nature and the sinful choices that result, through sanctification is this present realm and eventual resurrection (1 Corinthians 15) to finite perfection, and the restoration of creation (Revelation 21-22).

Examples:

1 Corinthians 15:3-5 New American Standard Bible (NASB) 3 For I delivered to you [a]as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Footnotes: 1 Corinthians 15:3 Lit among the first

Romans 5:6-10 New American Standard Bible (NASB) 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; [a]though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified [b]by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved [c]by His life. Footnotes: Romans 5:7 Lit for Romans 5:9 Or in Romans 5:10

Michael Phillips sermon continued...

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Or in I did what I did or I didn't do what I didn't do, and now what's done cannot be undone and what was left undone cannot be done. Dwelling on the failures of the past is a major cause of depression. 

Some of these failures are sinful, and they produce guilt. We talked about this last week, and I won't rehash it. But there's another kind of failure. It is caused-not by sins, but by mistakes-and it produces-not guilty feelings, but regrets. This is the topic of today's sermon: Regrets as a cause of spiritual depression-and how to get rid of them.

It is better to repent of sin, and in the gospel work of God the Son, Jesus Christ, embrace the atoning and resurrection work applied to the chosen believer (Ephesians 1)  by grace through faith (Ephesians 2).

I repent of mistakes too, as in anything that hinders an effective, good life for me.

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God has planned your life-including the mistakes. Many verses can be cited to this effect, but the one I like best is Ephesians 1:11. It says believers are- Predestined, according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. 'Predestined' simply means God has an eternal plan for His People, and that it cannot be hindered because it includes every last detail (showing God's wisdom) and is backed by His Almighty and Irresistible Power. Your mistakes are part of the plan. How they fit in, I do not know and will not guess. Submit to the Word of God and to its mystery.

Being regenerated in Christ (Titus 3, John 3) there is a future, even with present mistakes and sins. Everlasting life is what needs to be embraced. Rather than dwell on mistakes and worse, sins of the past, it is better to prayerfully ask God, for better and that I (we) can do better.

CRANFIELD, C.E.B. (1985)(1992) Romans: A Shorter Commentary, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

MOUNCE, ROBERT H. (1995) The New American Commentary: Romans, Nashville, Broadman & Holman Publishers.

God is not evil

Conwy Castle 2001

2003 The Problem of Evil: Anglican and Baptist Perspectives: MPhil thesis, Bangor University For my MPhil surveys,

I received fifty each, completed of Anglicans and Baptists who have attended a post-secondary denominational college, University or seminary, or are members of one of those denominations who have studied religion at a post-secondary level.
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Statement four:

The fourth statement was perhaps the most controversial. God wills evil for the greater good.

I do take this viewpoint, and I am in agreement with the writings of John Calvin on this matter within The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, as well as in Institutes of the Christian Religion.

I am not stating that God sins in any way by willing evil for the greater good, nor does he force people or fallen angels to sin. People sin by nature and choice, and God uses this evil for the greater good. Since he is infinite and dealing with finite creation, all things work under the subjection of his will and I humbly, and without complete understanding, state that he manages the Universe in a far more controlled manner than to simply allow evil to take place.

By not preventing all evil, and by using it for the greater good, he is in a sense willing it. The difference between God’s will and the sinful will when evil takes place, is that God’s will and motives alone remain pure and consistent within God’s good purposes.

The idea of human free will alone does not demonstrate why God has to allow evil, as opposed to willing it. I do believe that human beings require a certain level of freedom to choose or reject God, but God could have prevented evil’s existence by not creating angels and then human beings. God knew there would be a fall, and in a sense willed the results of that fall by not preventing it from taking place, but it was within his right to have evil flourish in his creation for a time until the Kingdom of God culminated.

It must be stated again that God did not coerce human beings into sinning and thus causing the fall, but he knew that this fall would take place and did not willingly prevent it. It can be deduced that God thought the evil and suffering in a corrupted creation, willed in sinful disobedience, was a tolerable situation for a time. Jesus Christ would, through his work, restore that creation and culminate a Kingdom of God filled with resurrected human beings who had experienced evil, and now through the Holy Spirit willingly rejected evil completely.

There are, as well, many instances in our creation where God could have prevented evils from taking place, for instance the American bombings of September 11, 2001. Some may argue that God must allow human free will and that is why these events took place. However, God could have prevented this from taking place, as it can be shown that many evils are prevented and certainly God would have his hand in this.

Many times evil plans are thwarted, such as Nazi Germany’s plans to conquer Europe. In that case, Adolph Hitler’s free will was not allowed to completely flourish. It was not that God forced Hitler to think differently, but rather the Fuhrer’s plans were defeated by the Allies.

I do not think free will is the ultimate answer in the matter of the problem of evil, rather it is largely God’s will that determines what will ultimately take place, at the same time not forcing his creation to sin against him. This sin is achieved by people who are in the sinful biological line of Adam and Eve, and thus possess sinful nature which leads to sinful choices. This is not hard determinism on God’s part. God has an ultimate plan, and some sinful actions will take place within the plan and some will not. I grant, that in this sense, God allows all to sin against him but their wills are always under the authority of God’s ultimate will, who can thwart sinful plans as he chooses.

With Anglican 10% agreed, 18% were not certain, 72% disagreed. With Baptists 20% agreed, 6% were not certain, 74% disagreed.

2010 Theodicy and Practical Theology: PhD thesis, the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, Lampeter 

The survey results and graphs do not exhaustively reflect the statistics, but I only presented the most relevant results. Two-hundred thirteen persons from various Christian churches worldwide were surveyed.

CALVIN, JOHN (1543)(1996) The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, Translated by G.I. Davies, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.

CALVIN, JOHN (1539)(1998) The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book II, Translated by Henry Beveridge, Grand Rapids, The Christian Classic Ethereal Library, Wheaton College.

CALVIN, JOHN (1539)(1998) The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book IV, Translated by Henry Beveridge, Grand Rapids, The Christian Classic Ethereal Library, Wheaton College.

FEINBERG, JOHN.S. (1994) The Many Faces of Evil, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.

August 10, 2019

For both my British, MPhil and PhD theses, I was required within empirical and practical theology to create related questionnaires and compile surveys. This was required largely, for the sake of originality. At my verbal, viva, it was implied by reviewers that my theological and philosophical work was creative and had originality as well.

Questionnaire propositions have academic value, but do not provide context. I was not able to explain within, differences between hard determinism, soft determinism/compatibilism and incompatibilism, which is associated with libertarian free will.

I reason that with both questionnaires, many readers viewed it as illogical and contrary for God to will and/or cause evil, because God, by ontological nature, cannot be evil and is not evil. But, my British works explained (explain) what is actually meant, as do website articles using content from both theses. God is holy and perfectly good by nature.

If these readers could have read my finished MPhil and PhD documents, the results would be more balanced in regard to questions where God wills and/or causes evil.

Below are two of my links with more explanation of hard determinism, soft determinism/compatibilism and incompatibilism and libertarian free will.

1 Peter 1:14-16 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

14 As [a]obedient children, do not [b]be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but [c]like the Holy One who called you, [d]be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” See Exodus 3, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy and the Pentateuch, for examples in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.

June 18 2017

August 31, 2006