tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post5471282975594513005..comments2024-03-27T17:15:37.606-04:00Comments on Triablogue: Answering Back To Reppert, Or Is It God?Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17809283662428917799noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post-2665506785127803092008-04-08T16:55:00.000-04:002008-04-08T16:55:00.000-04:00I take it as obvious that those who put Jesus to d...<I>I take it as obvious that those who put Jesus to death were "wicked." I take it as obvious that Jesus death was "good;" indeed, the greatest good that has ever befallen mankind.</I><BR/><BR/>Holy crap.Aaron Kinneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12059982934663353474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post-20576393642085907572008-04-05T11:05:00.000-04:002008-04-05T11:05:00.000-04:00Bernie,I think Reppert is leaning (or is) a univer...Bernie,<BR/><BR/>I think Reppert is leaning (or is) a universalist.Errorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10615233201833238198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post-70802593274343847272008-04-04T22:32:00.000-04:002008-04-04T22:32:00.000-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.dogfreidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13751614375780546890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post-44343707723944146722008-04-04T19:45:00.000-04:002008-04-04T19:45:00.000-04:001. I'd ask Reppert, "Where is LFW taught in Script...1. I'd ask Reppert, "Where is LFW taught in Scripture?" Isn't this the first place we should go before we even invoke the FWD in libertarian terms?<BR/><BR/>The Calvinist can use the FWD to talk about the permission of the fall or the means by which evil entered the world. So, it's not as if the FWD is off limits to us. The problem is:<BR/><BR/>a. The FWD framed in terms of LFW.<BR/>b. The FWD's abuse by Libertarians who wish to use it as an explanation of WHY evil exists not HOW evil exists in the world.<BR/><BR/>Indeed, you should ask Reppert where the Bible itself invokes the FWD. If the Bible doesn't use it, why should we? Should Christians be using revelation from God as the measure of their apologetic? We need to ask ourselves what the Bible actually says, what it actually licenses us to say, before we say it. To do otherwise is impertinent and presumptuous. Reppert needs to be told to repent.<BR/><BR/>2. Yes, God could could have instantiated a world other than this one. But it begs the question to assert that there is a "better" one He could have instantiated.<BR/><BR/>a. As a Christian, I don't whine about that. Rather I look at this world and ask why God chose to instantiate it. I look first to what God has said and done, not what I think God could have done. <BR/><BR/>b. I'm not God, Reppert is not God, Manata is not God. We are in no position to say anything about a "better" world if God has not told us that there could have been a "better" world, and that includes hypothetical thought experiments about a world in which Satan did not exist and man never fell.<BR/><BR/>c. Reality check: God chose to create. He chose this world and no other. God is also completely good. His glory is also His highest goal. The greatest love expressed is God's love for us in Christ, as you well said. I must conclude, therefore, that this world, and no other, is the "best" world. Why? Because God would not create a world that is not oriented to His highest glory, to the greatest expression of His love. He created this world; it IS, therefore, the "best" world God could have created. If it's not, then, God is the monster that Reppert says Calvinism would make him out to be, because God created this world knowing (a) it isn't the best one and (b) He is therefore ultimately guilty of toying with His creation for His pleasure. (My, doesn't that sound exactly like something an atheist would say?)It's Reppert's God, the God who created this world, the world that ISN'T the best world, who is the monster and unworthy of worship. It's this sort of "apologetic" that give atheists material, and with good reason. If Reppert is right, then there is unplanned, and therefore gratuitous evil in world. That, as I wrote just last week, is nothing more than conceding the problem of evil to the atheist.GeneMBridgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10504383610477532374noreply@blogger.com