Read. Reflect. Write.

My daughter watched a video this morning where a deconstructionist, an ex vangelical, was attempting to profane the goodness of God, by pointing out that Isaiah 45:7 says God creates evil. She was referring to the KJV version of this passage which says, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” So, what do we do with that? Below is a brief response. Proper biblical interpretation considers context when seeking the meaning of a passage. Furthermore, when it comes to difficult or obscure passages, a helpful rule of interpretation is to look to the plainer passages of the Bible and draw examples from them to shed light on the more obscure passages ( thanks Augustine ). We let Scripture interpret Scripture. The point is to remove all hesitation on doubtful passages. So, in this passage, on the face it seems to imply that God creates evil, thus making God evil. But is that what the Bible teaches about God? The plainer passages te...

For the last month or so I have been studying predestination, reading various works on the subject. [1] Perkins’ work on predestination has been quite instructive, particularly as it pertains to his understanding of necessity and contingency in God’s decree. What follows is simply my thoughts on how I understand Perkins’ view of necessity, which he offers in contrast to a stoic view of necessity. [2] It is a pedagogical effort on my part for personal edification. I won’t be engaging in the debate between the two, nor will I be devoting time to explaining what a stoic concept of necessity might be. With that said, what I will say is that it operates within a fatalist conceptual framework, which is antithetical to the biblical notion of God’s governance of the world. My labors might result in saying too much, not saying enough, or clouding the issue. So, any critique of my view is welcomed. And if I get Perkins wrong, please make me aware. As primary cause, [3] God’s freedom entails a...