The holiness of God is not tarnished by His withdrawing of grace from sinful creatures, leading them to further sin. God’s withholding of grace is a negative act, leaving man to his natural inclination towards sin. God is not obligated to continue his grace after it has been repeatedly refused or abused.… Read More Theodicy & God’s Restraining Grace
God ordains all events freely and unchangeably, without authoring sin or impeding free will. God’s concurring power sustains and governs all actions without tainting His holiness. Actions are distinct from their sinfulness, and God’s concurrence with the substance of an action does not corrupt His nature. Actions have separate causes from their sinfulness, and God’s intention differs from man’s intention.… Read More Theodicy & The Concurrence of Primary & Secondary Causes
God’s holiness is not tainted by his permitting of sin. Although God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, he does not will or cause sin. God allows sin to occur for a greater purpose, namely the manifestation of his own glory through the triumph of grace over sin in Christ. God’s permission is not the cause of sin, but rather a means to demonstrate his wisdom and goodness.… Read More Theodicy & God’s Permission of Sin
Stephen Charnock discusses God’s holiness and reprobation, arguing that God’s decision to leave some in sin is not the cause of their wickedness. He emphasizes that God’s actions are in line with justice and are not repugnant to his holiness. Charnock also highlights God’s sovereignty and goodness in bestowing grace as a free gift.… Read More Theodicy & God’s Decree of Reprobation
God’s holiness is not blemished by enjoining man a law, which He knew he would not observe. Man was created with the ability to obey God’s law. God’s prescience is His prevision of things arising from their proper causes, and it does not take away Adam’s free choice. Man is responsible for his own sin.… Read More Theodicy & God’s Foreknowledge of Sin
WCF 3.1 God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass (Rom 9:15, 18; 11:33; Eph 1:11; Heb 6:17); yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin (James 1:13, 17; 1 John 1:5), nor is violence offered to… Read More God is Not the Author of Sin
“For educated men distinguish the end of the work from the end of working” (Samuel Rutherford, Disputatio Scholastica de Divina Providentia, p. 215). [1] This is a basic introduction to a distinction that one will commonly come across in reading Reformed Theology. This distinction will greatly assist in one’s understanding of theological concepts. We will define… Read More Reformed Scholasticism: Distinguishing Ends
We have written previously on The Preservation of Scripture that God has kept his written word pure for the Church through all ages in the Hebrew and Greek faithful copies (apographa). We continue in this post by precisely explaining how he did so “by his singular care and providence.” First we will briefly discuss the nature of providence, then distinguish… Read More The Providence of God in Preserving Scripture
Adding on to our last post summarizing a few scholastic concepts: Causality: Five Metaphysical Distinctions, this post briefly considers another important principle often used in Reformed Theology and gives a few examples of the principle in practice. Principle of Proportionate Causality. “The logic of causality also dictates that proximate or closely related causes produce only proximate or… Read More What It Does Not Have, It Cannot Impart
Metaphysics is the philosophical knowledge concerned with the fundamental nature of knowing and being. Since God is the creator of all things, it is important that we understand the natural world around us and His revelation to us in Scripture in a precise and logical manner. The metaphysical distinctions of causality are crucial in understanding Reformed… Read More Causality: Five Metaphysical Distinctions
Purely Presbyterian 