Theosis…

What happens when a Mormon tries to out orthodox the Orthodox?

In sum, the argument that the patristic and Orthodox doctrine of deification is inconsistent with other traditional Christian committments such as creation ex nihilo rests on false premises and bad inferences. The doctrine of the imago dei and its relation to Christology shows that the kind of separation envisioned to make that argument go through is precluded. Norman’s argument then rests on a straw man. Athanasius’ theology is sufficiently rich and coherent to ward off the kind of disparity between God and the world to which his theological foes subscribed. By the same token it presents far more of a challenge to LDS theology than its advocates have seemingly grasped.

The Shorter Catechism: Question 10

Question:  What are God’s works of providence?

Answer: God’s works of providence are, his most holy, (Ps. 145:17) wise, (Ps. 104:24, Isa. 28:29) and powerful preserving, (Heb. 1:3) and governing all his creatures, and all their actions. (Ps. 103:19, Matt. 10:29–31)

Much can be written about providence, I have been delinquent in posting and I am behind so I am only going make a couple of remarks.  First the Catechism explains that God’s providence is both His preserving and the governing of His creation.Against the deist we understand that God continues to actively uphold or preserve his creation.  Charles Hodge says…

True or False…

Take Todd Wood’s test on the Trinity.

Phone Privileges…

I do not want to thread jack Tim’s blog post on Helping Mormon Missionaries Call Home but it is such a great intro into Christian liberty of conscience that I wanted to post about it.  Confessionally Christian liberty is covered in the Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 20, in the Shorter Catechism Question 39, and the Larger Catechism Question 91.  Charles Hodge has a good discussion of Christian liberty in his systematic theology, quoting Hodge

A New Puritian Resorce…

I was turned on to the puritan writing listening to Christ the Center.  I had read some puritan writing before listening to this podcast but I have enjoyed learning more about men of this era of Church history.  There is now a new Blog called Meet the Puritans.  I look forward to continuing my slow education.

What is Apostasy…?

There is a new post on one of the Blogs I frequent on apostasy.

From the BBC…

News from Jersulam, a new (old) wall was found.  This reminds me that in a busy summer I let my subscription to Biblical Archeology Review laps.

The Shorter Catechism: Question 10

Question: How did God create man?

Answer: God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures. (Gen. 1:26–28, Col. 3:10, Eph. 4:24)

The Catechism teaches us that man was created in the image of God (Gen 1:26, Gen 5:1,  9:6, 1 Cor 11:7, Eph 4:24, Col 3:10, James 3:9), this does not in any way mean that God resembles man in his appearance, but that man was created as a moral, rational spiritual beings with a soul.

The Shorter Catechism: Question 9

Question: What is the work of creation?

Answer: The work of creation is, God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good. (Gen 1, Heb 11:3, Rev 4:11)

While some would deny the creation from nothing, out of a desire to reshape God in the image of man, with the ancient Greek philosophical reply that “nothing is made from nothing”, this view has been rejected by the Church as contrary to the testimony of God.  As James Fisher points out in his Catechism:

A New Reformed Podcast…

When I PT I generally listen to Podcasts.  It helps with the running.  I have been thankful for the men from Reformed Forum for the various productions that they release and listened to them while I was rehabbing from my knee surgery, I save the friday release for Monday morning sessions.  Their recent production on Lemuel Haynes helped me with Saturdays run in the desert, and is a must listen for a look at a Reformed African-American Pastor.   Haynes was also a Patriot soldier in the American Revaluation.   Now that I am on the go again I have enjoyed this edifying  material to listen to when traveling.

R. Scott Clark of Heidelblog has begun a new podcast and I am looking forward to listnening either on my next flight or when PTing.