god – Martin's Mercurial Musings

What We Talk About When We Talk About God – Rob Bell // A Book Review

I recently picked up this book on the ‘for sale’ table in our local library. Apparently this book, for whatever reason, is being taken out of circulation. Yet, the title caught my attention. I flipped to the opening pages and found the following quotes on pg 2:

When it comes to God, we are all over the place.

God appears to be more and more a reflection of whoever it is that happens to be talking bout God at the moment.

We have a problem with God.

[There’s] the increasing likelihood that two people discussing God are in fact talking about two extraordinarily different realities while using the exact same word.

The Deconstruction of Christianity

Perhaps there’s more to know. However, after listening to some of Childer’s podcasts and interviews on deconstruction, I’m struck that the elephant in the room has not been brought up. Consider: given a math problem, everyone will come up with the same answer. However, given a Bible verse and/or passage, Christians will come up with a myriad of answers and understandings. Why is this? I submit that Childers and Barnett in their videos have missed a significant reason as to why many deconstruct from Christian faith.

To Argue an Unwinnable Perspective

I have been a long time ‘lurker’ of the FB group, Soteriology 101 in which there is much discussion of “theological issues having to do with soteriology, the doctrine of salvation…specifically as it relates to Calvinism, Arminianism, Traditionalism or more specifically: Election, Predestination, Reprobation, Depravity, Atonement, Calling, Perseverance and the like.”

I’ve posted on this site and periodically have also responded to other’s posts. For the most part, my interactions support of non-Calvinistic perspectives with respect to the Doctrines of Grace. But it has recently dawned on me – there is no clear winner with respect to various posts, arguments and counter-arguments which has, to a degree, made me ask: “What’s the point?” Given the amount of variance that I perceive within Christian doctrines, I don’t know that it’s possible to, in essence, win an argument solely based on one’s understanding of the Bible. To which, I posted the below: