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  1. Derf

    Is God's love unconditional?

    But that makes it seem like there are either some who don't hear the gospel, but are saved anyway, or that there is no such thing as an unreached person.
  2. Derf

    Is God's love unconditional?

    Does that mean those who never hear the gospel are saved, because they never rejected Christ?
  3. Derf

    The so-called "fossil record"

    Less carbon 14 in the atmosphere when the dinosaurs were alive would skew the results to the older side.
  4. Derf

    Understanding God’s election

    Calvinists have to live their lives as if Calvinism isn't true. So why is it necessary to them?
  5. Derf

    Understanding God’s election

    My point is that if the destroying is done by someone other than Jesus, and Jesus says "I have the power to lay down my life", then the same thing can (and probably should) apply to the resurrection when Jesus says "I have the power to take it up again." Can we at least agree that Jesus did not...
  6. Derf

    Understanding God’s election

    Good question. I would say it means actively participating in the mechanism of death, at least for this discussion. Eg., if you pull the trigger, even if someone else is holding the gun. That's astute of you. I'm not sure that's true. The average human being would probably think there is some...
  7. Derf

    A Moment of Honesty From an Atheist

    One would have to be both honest and moral to do that.
  8. Derf

    Understanding God’s election

    There are two parts of Jesus' point, dealing with 1. His death, and 2. His resurrection. His laying down of His life is not suicide. He doesn't take His own life, but He goes to His death by other parties willingly. Do you agree so far? Yet He He says he lays it down "of himself". So "of...
  9. Derf

    Understanding God’s election

    Be careful. The logic you're using suggests Jesus killed Himself, too. We know that didn't happen. So the wording of the verse, using "power" (sometimes translated "authority") is not that He was able to kill Himself, but that He offered His life willingly. And the power to take it up again says...
  10. Derf

    Understanding God’s election

    I think you will find the definition holds even in secular topics. Faith includes stuff like sitting down in a chair--you expect it will hold you. Sometimes our faith can be placed in untested powers (like a chair you've just constructed), but not at all unknowingly. Sometimes the powers are not...
  11. Derf

    Understanding God’s election

    Not "unknowns", but "unrealizeds". Faith is that the higher power you trust will be able to accomplish the things He said He would.
  12. Derf

    Understanding God’s election

    So you're saying that this: ---Job 1:6 KJV — Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.--- Means that people (men) are presenting themselves before God? And Satan is among the men? It makes me think you're the one with the...
  13. Derf

    How to respond to classical theists who dodge Open Theism arguments

    If it did, then Satan would have sound reasoning.
  14. Derf

    Understanding God’s election

    Either way, you both think men were doomed before the bible says they existed.
  15. Derf

    Understanding God’s election

    You mean, because that's all the good it's doing? You should then question your presuppositions.
  16. Derf

    A little comedy break....

    I love Walz in the Elmer Fudd get-up. That's perfect!
  17. Derf

    Understanding God’s election

    Who are you talking to? You should use the "reply" and "quote" features so that it doesn't look like you are talking to the air. Or use the "@username" feature to direct it to somebody without reply or quote.
  18. Derf

    How to respond to classical theists who dodge Open Theism arguments

    That's the whole point of what I said: Without God's Spirit, one cannot understand and accept God's wisdom. Iow, you end up accepting a different understanding of God's wisdom, a false understanding. So what is that spirit of God? Isn't it a desire to know what He is trying to tell us, rather...
  19. Derf

    Understanding God’s election

    Not that part...the part where you say that some people were doomed to hell before the foundation of the world.
  20. Derf

    How to respond to classical theists who dodge Open Theism arguments

    Only, I think, if you don't read it with too many preconceptions about what it's going to tell you.
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