Category Archives: Bible

a critique of elihu’s speech against job

Posted on November 11, 2014 by christopher fisher

In the book of Job, Job has three friends approach him and condemn him for evil. Because Job was suffering, they were of the opinion that Job had some hidden evil. After a few rounds of back and forth, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Morality, Theology | 1 Comment

satan borrows God’s power to use against job

Posted on November 10, 2014 by christopher fisher

In the book of Job, Satan approaches God and offers up a bet against God’s most favored human being, Job. Satan actually makes two bets (the first of which Satan loses fairly quickly). Both bets involve supernatural acts levied against … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Calvinism, God, Omnipotence, Open Theism, Theology | 3 Comments

elihu was a false prophet to job

Posted on November 9, 2014 by christopher fisher

From John Franklin Genung: The friends, however, have exhausted their resources, and through three discourses have been silent, as it were, snuffed out of existence. It is at this point, then, that Elihu is introduced, to renew their contention with … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, God, Theology | 4 Comments

ehrman on the prophets

Posted on November 4, 2014 by christopher fisher

From God’s Problem: The writings of the prophets are among the most misunderstood parts of the Bible today, in no small measure because they are commonly read out of context.14 Many people today, especially conservative Christians, read the prophets as … Continue reading →

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God intended it for good – genesis 50:20

Posted on October 30, 2014 by christopher fisher

When Calvinists want to use a verse that shows God decreeing or predestining evil for His good purposes, they often turn to Genesis 50:20. This is peculiar because Classical theologians for the most part reject the descriptions of God found … Continue reading →

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walter brueggemann on God’s unpredictability

Posted on October 24, 2014 by christopher fisher

From Walter Brueggemann’s Theology of the Old Testament: The tension, oddness, incongruity, contradiction, and lack of settlement are to be understood, not in terms of literature or history, but as the central data of the character of Yahweh. This suggests … Continue reading →

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walter brueggemann on genesis 18

Posted on October 24, 2014 by christopher fisher

From Walter Brueggemann’s Theology of the Old Testament: Thus in Gen 18:16–19:29, Yahweh the judge is ready to act massively and decisively against Sodom and Gomorrah in response to their grave affront: How great is the outcry against Sodom and … Continue reading →

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theological aversion to being made in the image of God

Posted on October 20, 2014 by christopher fisher

The starting chapters of the Bible always seem to make the classical theologians very uncomfortable. Not only is the text very incriminating to timelessness and omniscience (after all God creates and then observes in a repeating pattern), but it also … Continue reading →

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God yields instantly

Posted on October 19, 2014 by christopher fisher

In Ezekiel 4, God is enlisting Ezekiel into proclaiming His message of destruction to Jerusalem. God begins telling Ezekiel the horrifying things that Ezekiel will have to do to proclaim this message. At a certain point God informs Ezekiel to … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Calvinism, Open Theism, Theology | 1 Comment

nt wright on romans 8

Posted on October 12, 2014 by christopher fisher

From Surprised by Hope: This brings us to Romans 8, where we find a further image deeply embedded within the created order itself: that of new birth. This passage has routinely been marginalized for centuries by exegetes and theologians who … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Calvinism, Dispensationalism, Theology | 1 Comment