Recent content by Derf

I don't fault @oatmeal too much for this, because it is pervasive in Christian teaching, just like Calvinism and Arminianism are (which are the two sides of settled theism), but it is frustrating to hear it so often, without an explanation of what it results in or much in the way of scriptural...

It's hard to give up firmly held beliefs, so they cling to whatever will allow them to maintain it in the face of logically strong opposition. That doesn't mean good arguments don't have some effect on them...I think they see the holes, and if they allow themselves to process through it, they...

It seems to me that when you say, "Logically, you can't both know someone will make a particular choice in every given circumstance, and that the person has the ability to choose between the different choices," the only answer is to say, "Logic doesn't apply." That's what that answer does...it...

It allows them to say, "God is more wonderful than we can even know, so what I say about God is true." In other words, it is a blank check to support a doctrine that can mean whatever they want it to mean.

That's all good stuff, Clete, but I think there's more to it. There was an agreement between David and Bathsheba that her son would sit on the throne. We don't know when the agreement was made, but I expect it was part of the deal early on, maybe when Bathy first discovered she was pregnant...

There's another issue on this one that needs to be addressed. She was supposedly "caught in the act", and that only works if the man is actually caught, too, but no man was brought forward. According to the law, both were to be put to death. So where was he? I've heard it suggested that this was...

Right, So would Jesus be giving that kind of prophecies in that kind of language? I say no, because He had seen the likelihood of the prophecies failing. And that seems like what Jesus is saying--that despite His disciples being hunted down and killed by those opposed to the true King, those...

I'm not. I'm merely discussing whether Jesus would have thought the prophetic program was a sure thing or not. And surely He would consider the roll of the Holy Spirit. I don't recall writing "willy-nilly" anywhere. And if I didn't, then what you have done is set up a straw man about what I...

So you're suggesting a large percentage of the original disciples might be killed before anyone comes up with a sermon that is good enough to kick off plan B? But that didn't happen. Right, that's what I said. A main point of open theism. The passage certainly speaks of His second coming, but...

Good question! These perhaps: Ephesians 2:9 KJV — Not of works, lest any man should boast. I.e., if there is some way we could find to tell God about anything we could do to earn salvation...those are the works.

I don't have time to give the positive answer to your comment justice, but I'll try at some point in the future. Negative answer follows. Ok, but you haven't offered any with a better reading that seems to say anything different. Stephen's death? Just one death was needed to derail the...

I never said it was unbelievers and believers mixed together. But you said it was only the twelve. Not just events that occurred prior to His death, but also some of those. Plus the event of His death, plus the resurrection (defeat of the kingdom's greatest enemy), plus the filling of the Holy...

This is demonstrably not true: [Mar 8:34 KJV] 34 And when he had called the people [unto him] with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. That verse is a mere 5 verses earlier than Mark 9:1, and is the...

It's a good list (and thanks for compiling), but I think some don't apply. For instance: 1 - God Hopes His Prophecies of Judgment will Fail This one doesn't apply, because if Christ was talking about judgment of something bad the people did, He expressed it in terms that were favorable, where...

Then let me repeat it again with some additional points. Jesus' prophecy was about His kingdom, right? Here's the verse we're talking about: [Mar 9:1 KJV] 1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have...