Dedicated to the devotional, exegetical and philosophical study of theological paradox in Conservative, Thoroughly Biblical, Historically Orthodox, Essentially Reformed theology . . . to the glory of God alone!

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Great Quote From D.A. Carson

You'll have to visit Paul Manata's "Aporetic Christianity" site to see it.


I've listened to several of Carson's sermons in the past year. Although he is an A-level scholar, he has a gift for explaining complex concepts in the most understandable terms. He is gentle yet passionate, quietly provocative, Gospel-centered and deeply edifying in content. He reminds me of a Reformed Ravi Zacharias.

Carson also advocates theological paradox in the form of compatibilism.

In one sermon, I was delighted to hear him address the famous dilemma of the "immovable rock." You've heard it before:

Can an omnipotent God create a rock so heavy he is unable to move it? Say "no," and He must not be omnipotent. Say "yes," and it's the same result.

Carson wisely observed: this question doesn't point us to a limitation on the part of God; it points us to a limitation on the part of logic.

Brilliantly humble answer, that.

We might add: Since God IS omnipotent, He is not the least bit threatened by ridiculous questions!

We might further add that God can cause the rocks to cry out in praise, make them gush with fresh water and follow people around, and raise up sons for Abraham from them. Just look at what he's done with a handful of dirt.
Posted by THEOparadox at 5:10 PM
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4 comments:

  1. AliceOctober 8, 2010 at 8:32 AM

    Ravi Zacharias isn't reformed? Just wonderin'

    ReplyDelete
  2. THEOparadoxOctober 8, 2010 at 8:57 AM

    Ma,

    Ravi is brilliant, and I think he's a wonderful apologist. But as far as I can tell, he isn't Reformed or a Calvinist. I've never heard him address the topic directly, but he is ordained in the Christian and Missionary Alliance, which is generrally not a Calvinistic group (though I was once told by a CMA regional Superintendent that there are some Calvinists among them). Either, way, I like Ravi and have been blessed by his ministry in many respects. I guess we can say he isn't typically known as a Reformed guy.

    Blessings,
    Derek

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousOctober 15, 2010 at 5:30 PM

    I love listening to Carson too, Derek. I've attended a couple different conferences where he was a speaker. In both cases he was, as you described, both brilliant and humble.

    If you get a chance, I highly recommend his two sermon series entitled "On Being Prepared for Suffering and Evil" -- it's available as a free download in several different places online. He briefly touches on compatibilism in one of the sermons.

    ReplyDelete
  4. THEOparadoxOctober 18, 2010 at 9:07 AM

    Barry,

    Thanks for the recommendation. I think I may have listened to that message via a link on your site.

    Blessings,
    Derek

    ReplyDelete

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