Unstable World, Stable God, Part 7: Trustworthiness
Body
“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it?” - Olinger
As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it?” - Olinger
“He is never between a rock and a hard place. His holdings are never decreased by the advance of enemy armies. He is not moved; he is not threatened; he is not set back; he is not frustrated in any of his purposes.” - Olinger
“…we’re incomplete, undeveloped, short of our potential. We have things to learn. We can always get better at something…. One reason that God doesn’t change is that he doesn’t need any of what we’ve just described. He doesn’t need to grow; he doesn’t need to mature; he doesn’t need to get better at anything.” - Olinger
“A lot of people are bewildered, scared, frustrated about all this change… The Scripture doesn’t ignore this problem, and it doesn’t try to ‘pep talk’ us out of our distress with platitudes. But it does offer two truths that can stabilize us despite the instability of our world.” - Olinger
“Our faith is rightly fixed in the God who… ‘upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty—all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand.’” - Challies
“His approach to the Filioque is like that of the many other Trinitarian topics he tackles—ecumenical, fair, and nuanced. He distinguishes between hills to die on and hills to build bridges to, demonstrating why all of these subjects are ripe for critical conversation and reflection.” - C.Today
“It’s often been said that if God is great but not good, we’re doomed to extinction; if he’s good but not great, then we’re doomed as well, because there’s nothing he can do about our needs.” - Olinger
The Hebrew verb רחם (rḥm) is used over 40 times in the Old Testament and is translated in the Authorized Version as “compassion,” “pity,” or “mercy.” In its basic sense, רחם may mean (1) to feel affectionate love based upon a relational bond, or (2) to show kindness to the inferior or needy. The English term “mercy” best translates the second meaning, whereas the term “compassion” brings out the affective element in the first meaning.
“I could not help but relate it to John Calvin’s comment that ‘Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.’” - Credo
“Strachan begins his program by describing the figures he takes issue with: contemporary protestants who commend Aquinas as a fruitful pedagogue….But his description of our commendation is quite inaccurate; he sets up a very tall straw man” - Samuel Parkison
Discussion