Category Nature of God

History Of Islam

– founded by Muhammad b. 570 AD – 632 AD. He is called “The Messenger of God”, and is considered the exemplar of right living.

– father died before birth, mother when he was six. Raised at first by grandfather, later his uncle. Began working for merchant widow Khadijah, 40 yrs. He ultimately married her, had 2 sons who died, and 4 daughters.

Mohammed objected to the rampant polytheism in Mecca area. He would go apart to meditate, and at age 40, claimed to have received his first of many visions, which are recorded in the Qur’an...

God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Free Will

Sovereignty, properly understood, creates no conflict between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will.

To be sovereign is to possess absolute authority. According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5^th Edition, a sovereign is:

“One that exercises supreme, permanent authority, especially in a nation or other governmental unit …”

Under the adjectival form are included:

Self-governing, independent; having supreme rank or power; paramount; supreme…

From the Century Dictionary is cited:

“Supreme in power; possessing supreme dominion; not subject to any other…. one to whom allegiance is due…”

And from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English, we see:

“Independent of, and unlimited by...

Why Is Death the Appropriate and Necessary Consequence to Sin?

The English word “sin” is translated from the Hebrew word חַטָּאָה‎ chatta’ah (khat-taw-aw’), and the Greek word ἁμαρτία hamartia (ham-ar-tee’-ah), both of which have the sense of having missed a mark, goal, or path, of falling short; to err or be mistaken, wandered away from what is right or good. The missing necessitates a discernible target to miss. Paul’s letter to the Romans makes a critical point:

Romans 4:15   “for the Law works indignation; for where no Law is, neither is transgression.”

Romans 5:13   “For until law, sin was in the world, but not imputed there being no law.”

Paying attention to what Paul wrote, not once but twice, we learn that “sin”, which is ‘transgression”, ...

He who argues against a good and loving almighty God because He has not destroyed the wicked, does not understand Who God is or what he has demanded of Him.

God exercised perfect judgement before the foundation of the world, condemning all unbelief and disobedience as sin, and sentencing all sin with death. All men from the beginning of time until its end are judged by His judgement, and by His judgement all are found guilty and under sentence of death. Were God to execute His justice upon men right away, all men would perish.

Rather, God’s executed judgment resides upon His Son and man’s sentencing is delayed.

God has appointed a Day of Judgement, on which all men shall be subject to judgement and sentencing...

Implications of the Possession of the Image of God in Humans For Adam’s Choice to Disobey God in the Garden

God gave Adam and Eve everything they required for a happy, healthy, and upright life.

God gave Adam the necessary knowledge and abilities to pursue that happy, healthy, and upright life.

God maintained a close relationship with Adam, so that Adam would always know God, have no reason to forget either Who God was or what God had done and provided for him.

God provided a world and life completely free of corruption, and insulated from corrupting influences, as well as a warning against considering the engagement with a corrupting desire, should it arise. “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you shall eat of it, dying you shall die.”

Th...

The Image of God in Humanity

God has no physical aspect, therefore Adam and Eve were not created to “look like” God in the flesh. (As Hebrews explains, when Christ came, God entered into a body “prepared for Me” that was created after the image of man. (Phil 2:6-8; Jn 1:14; Heb 2:17-18) Prior to Christ’s incarnation, God had no physical aspect whatsoever.)

Moreover, the writer stated: “So God created humankind in His own image; in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” Genesis 1:27. God created humanity as an whole, in the image of God. Male and female humanity is created in the image of God; the entirety of the species, in the maleness and femaleness as an whole, is created “in the image of God”, making a physical context of that image impossible...

What characteristics do you see in God as the creation account unfolds?

Attributes of God revealed in the Creation Account in Genesis

God pre-exists all material things: “In the beginning, God created…”

The universe did not exist; it had a beginning. “The heaven” refers to sky, outer space and beyond. “The earth” refers to the world.

The universe consists of all time, space, matter, and natural energy. All of these elements had a beginning; they did not and are unable to, exist eternally. They necessarily “came into being” at some point in past history.

God is necessarily personal. God necessarily thinks, feels, desires, knows, has abilities, values, plans, purposes, foresight, understanding, etc.

God is necessarily external to (outside of) the universe.

Therefore, God do...

Why is the God of the Old Testament so Different From the Message of Jesus in the New Testament?

Study texts:

Genesis 1 – 6

References to Jesus’ speaking about hell and about judgment, in their respective contexts

The letter to the Hebrews

Revelation 1 – 3; 11; 15-16; 19-20; 22 (read the whole book, but pay attention to the relevant content of these chapters vis a vis the proposition.)

References to Jesus speaking about hell:

Mt 5:22    But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Mt 5:29    And if thy right eye off...

Study Question:      Why is the God of the OT so different from the “message of Jesus” in the New?

“Why is the God of the OT so different than Jesus’ message in the NT? Is Jesus’ father the God of the OT? With all the revenge and blood sacrifice stuff?”

What is the main premise?

The God of the Old Testament is different from Jesus’ message in the New Testament.

What is the conflict driving the premise?

That the God of the Old Testament is guilty of revenge and requiring of blood sacrifice, which are implied to be unrighteous in some manner.

What questions must be answered in order to answer the question above?

1. Is God in the Old Testament different from Jesus’ message in the New?
2. Who is God and what is God’s nature...