RBS Tabletalk » Passions

Gerety’s Hammer Misses the Mark: A Rejoinder to Sean Gerety’s “Irrational Baptists”

deangonzales — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:16:20 +0000

I recently posted a brief article entitled, “God Makes a Wish: That Each and Every Sinner Might Be Saved.” The article was basically an exposition of Deuteronomy 5:29, a text that portrays God as wishing for the saving good of those who never experience that good. Such a conclusion, as the late Reformed theologian John Murray noted, supports the…

“There Is No Pain, You Are Misreading”: Is God “Comfortably Numb”? Part 2

deangonzales — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:36:47 +0000

According to Genesis 6:6, God felt emotional pain as he assessed the proliferation of human sin and misery on the earth. But as we noted in Part 1 of this series, some classical and Reformed Bible scholars caution the reader against reading emotions predicated of God literally. “Certainly,” writes John Calvin, “God is not sorrowful or sad; but remains…

“There Is No Pain, You Are Misreading”: Is God “Comfortably Numb”?

deangonzales — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 02:51:27 +0000

Gerhard von Rad, an OT scholar, aptly depicts the spread of human sin after the Fall as “an avalanche.”¹ This avalanche accelerates to such staggering proportions that God is forced to visit the world in a catastrophic flood-judgment (7:6-24). But prior to the judgment itself, God evaluates the human condition in Genesis 6:5 and issues a judgment oracle in 6:7.…

Yes, We May Be Passionate: A Friendly Response to Dr. James Renihan’s “Are You Passionate?”

deangonzales — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 03:07:49 +0000

Recently, Dr. James Renihan published on his blog an entry entitled, “Are You Passionate?” (June 3, 2008), which the reader may access here. He begins the post with the remark, “Evangelical preachers and writers have become passionate about being passionate.” “We are urged,” says Renihan, “to have a passion for God, to be passionate about winning souls, to be…