Posts

The image of God in fallen human beings part 4: Understanding The natural and Supernatural

Image
                           Knowledge in the mind and Holiness in the will                                                                Google Blog community complained about this blog and it was taken down and then reinstated it.  I haven't been told why apart from some infringement.  I have changed the photos and will republish it.   Next time I hope they have the courtesy to explain to me before reacting.  If this becomes a regular thing then I may move my blog away from Google. In this section we will here the words natural and supernatural.   Perhaps your understanding of supernatural has come from the comic books.   Science fiction has given us some great stories to read.   It is great when Superman, Spider man or the Flash are able to stop the super villains but remember this is only fiction.   Even if it is great to read and gives us a buzz it is only fiction.   When we look at Bavinck, we will have a better understanding of natural and supernatural and it is only

The conscience, Herman Bavinck and the New Testament part 3

Image
  At the end of his New testament selection Bavinck writes: “However, even among believers, the conscience is not immediately perfected or healthy. For many, the conscience remains weak (1 Cor. 8:7; 10:12; cf. 1 Cor. 10; Rom. 14) and must therefore be spared. It can still be bound to idols, to pagan laws and customs , from which it must gradually be set free to be bound solely and most strictly to God and his law. In other words, the activity of the conscience must be determined by the Holy Spirit alone (Rom. 9:1).” Reformed Ethics page 176, Herman Bavinck, edited by John Bolt. The Christian person is not perfect even after repenting and following Christ.   It is all by grace.   The believer can and is still bound to ‘to idols, to pagan laws and customs.’   How does this differ to God’s laws?    Paganism has outlying features for example: “During the past thirty years, scholars have gradually become aware of the existence, across the western world, of a rapidly growing complex of m

Conscience and the New Testament part 2

Image
  09 05 2021 conscience on the new testament as a word file Last time we considered the Old Testament on the conscience.   Now we are going to look at the New testament.   Part 2 Today in Finland and many parts of the world it is Mothers Day so I say Happy Mothers day.   Without motherhood the world would be a sadder place.   Let us now move on to Bavinck and his teachings on the conscience Bavinck starts with Matthew 6 22; I need to quote him here,” “The eye is the lamp of the body”—Jesus is referring to the capacity for the human mind to know the eternal, to reason, to the human spirit, and to the light of nature (retained by humans after the fall).”   This is very interesting because there is a residue of conscience after the Fall.   Other religions have the capacity to reach heights unimaginable; Bruce Lee proved this in his art. This height however is not salvific according to the Christian religion.   The Fall was a universal disaster for all humankind, and it is only t