Heart of the Living God:
Love, Free Will, Foreknowledge, Heaven

Heart of the Living God: Love, Free Will, Foreknowledge, Heaven

www.preciousheart.net -- Home

 

Grand Canyon Vista—Short Contents

For Kathy Sue

Grand Canyon Expanse—Extended Contents < click to go down

Preface — Hi ... I am Gonna to Defend My Daddy

Grand Canyon Hiking Challenge < click to go down to each chapter

I.  Grand Canyon of God’s Genuine Real-time Concern

II.  Genuine Relationship in Classical & Open Theism

III.  When Master Guides Disagree:  the Craig-Pinnock Dilemma

IV.  Christ-Freedom Dynamic Truth

V.  Shadow of Prayer Dynamic Truth

VI.  Imago Dei—God the Source of Our Relationships

VII.  HEAVEN ~ Part I: Simple, Elemental Experiences

VIII.  HEAVEN ~ Part II: Greater Experiences

Epilogue … the Challenge & Larger Context

APPENDIX 1.  Master Canyon Guide Literature Reviews

APPENDIX 2.  Intro to Appendices 3-6, ETS Sources, Context

APPENDIX 3.  Hezekiah Letter-Roger Nicole vs. Clark Pinnock

APPENDIX 4.  Timothy George’s “What God Knows”

APPENDIX 5.  L. Russ Bush’s ETS Letters & Book The Advancement

APPENDIX 6.  Journal on Open Theism: JETS (June 2002)

APPENDIX 7.  Paige Patterson’s Letter—Maness Mistaken  

APPENDIX 8  Grand Canyon Map of Where You & I Hiked

Abysmal Bibliography

Grand Canyon Fishing Index

Other Books by Author

Grand Canyon Expanse—Extended Contents

Preface — Hi ... I am Gonna to Defend My Daddy

Grand Canyon Hiking Challenge  ~  Top

A.  The Challenge—Come Clean with Love

B.  The Best Part—Heaven

C.  Let’s Go to the Grand Canyon—God Is Love

I.  Grand Canyon of God’s Genuine Real-time Concern  ~  Top

A.  Storm Blowing-Hope It Doesn’t Rain

1.  Preparing to Take a Hike

2.  Classical Theism—Absolute Divine Sovereignty

3.  Open Theism—God’s Ability to be with You Today

4.  Love ... the Greatest—the Treasury of Our Heart

5.  Classical Theists Do Not Like Open Theists

B.  Can God Feel Joy and Sadness Today?

C.  My Friend ... We Shall Walk with Freedom & Gusto

D.  Sunrise at the Grand Canyon—You Have to See it!

II.  Genuine Relationship in Classical & Open Theism  ~  Top

First View of the Grand Canyon

1.  Legend Has It ... Two Sides of the Grand Canyon

2.  The Big Stink ... Classical Theist Avoidance & Genuineness

3.  William Lane Craig—the Most Powerful Defense

4.  Middle Knowledge a Great Piece of Backtracking Speculation

A.  Omniscient-Omnipresent Attribute of God

1.  Omniscient-Omnipresence Attribute—Grand Canyon Strata

2.  Omniscient-Omnipresence & Foreknowledge—Dice

3.  Omniscient-Omnipresence & Foreknowledge—Limits?

4.  Omniscient-Omnipresence & Foreknowledge—Responses

5.  Omniscient-Omnipresence & Foreknowledge—Freshness

B.  Foreknown Response Quotient (FRQ)

1.  Assumed Pillar of Truth

2.  FRQ—God Knows the Next Response

3.  FRQ—A Bedrock of Concurrence

4.  FRQ—God’s Aliveness and Isaiah 46 and 55

C.  God & the Existence of the Future

1.  God’s Word & Promises Are More Certain than the Future

2.  Relationship More Important than the Existence of the Future

3.  Relationship in Two Dynamic Truths Supercedes FRQ

4.  What Is Important About the Future

D.  Conjecture: Time a Non-Entity, Non-Substantial

E.  God’s Exhaustive Foreknowledge of the Next 5 Seconds

F.  Relationship, Lordship, and John Frame’s Effigy

G.  Genuineness—the Supreme Theological Construct

1.  Image Side of the Image-Maker

2.  Genuineness—No Other Issue More Important

III.  When Master Guides Disagree:  the Craig-Pinnock Dilemma  ~  Top

A.  The Craig-Pinnock Dilemma

B.  Farthest Point of Progress—Which Way Do We Go?

C.  Bridge Building 101 ... What Do We Share?

D.  Craig-Pinnock Dilemma & God’s Foreknowledge

E.  Prayer—The Beginning of Progress

IV.  Christ-Freedom Dynamic Truth  ~  Top

A.  Grand Canyon Village-Oh, Yeah!

1.  River Wild

2.  Freedom’s Wild Ride & Baukman’s “Infinitely Desirable”

3.  God’s Dynamic Foreknowledge a Servant to His Heart

B.  Christ-Freedom Dynamic & G. C. Berkouwer

1.  Freedom: Freed From and Freed To

2.  Freedom Defined by the Child of God’s Submission

3.  Freedom: Our True Humanness in Resurrection Service to God

4.  Freedom = Dignity of Humanity

D.  Freedom and Service in God’s Kingdom

1.  Freedom to Serve as Sons & Daughters Here & Hereafter

2.  Freedom vs. Sin: Overcome only in Faith

E.  Freedom Challenging Classical Theism

F.  Freedom and Our Resurrection

1.  Freedom Is Divinely Empowered

2.  Freedom by God’s Power & the Classical Theism Burden

V.  Shadow of Prayer Dynamic Truth  ~  Top

A.  The Splendor of Prayer

1.  Prayer Explained ... the Radiant Color of Life

2.  Splendor of Prayer—the First Step of Obedience

B.  Prayer the Essence of the Christian Life

1.  Prayer—Crucial to the Entire Debate & Civilization

2.  Prayer—Master Canyon Guide Richard Foster

C.  Prayer Degraded in Classical Theism

1.  Classical Theist Effigies—Pushing a Mule Backwards

2.  Yuck, Yuck Stuff—Bruce Ware’s Soggy Effigy

D.  Prayer a Relationship with Our Heavenly Father, Abba

VI.  Imago Dei—God the Source of Our Relationships  ~  Top

Bridge Building 201: We Have a Beginning

A.  Our Imago Dei—the Quintessence of Loving Relationships

1.  Our Imago Dei

2.  Love and Our Imago Dei—Transcends Time Like God

3.  Our Imago Dei—Our Ability to Relate to God & Others

4.  Our Imago Dei—the Splendor of Loving Relationships

5.  Our Imago Dei—Treasuring the Moment of Love

B.  God’s Love Is Dynamic ... Alive

1.  What Changes for God? Not the Same 1,000 Years Ago as Today

2.  Can God’s Perfected Love Grow?

C.  Our Imago Dei—the Very Validation of Genuineness

D.  Going Home—Free at Last

1.  Onward Christian Soldiers ... Not Onward Passive Puppets

2.  Craig-Pinnock Dilemma & Prayer Indicate Some Freedom

3.  Where Time, Free will, Sovereignty, and Foreknowledge will be Swallowed up in Glory, and the Classical Theist Burden

4.  Going Home—Seeing God’s Heart Dissipates Sovereignty

VII.  HEAVEN ~ Part I: Simple, Elemental Experiences  ~  Top

Outline of Heaven

Introduction to the Heaven of Revelation 21-22

1.  Heaven—Some Technical Data & John MacArthur

2.  Best Is Yet to Come—Heaven—Personal to the Uttermost

3.  Origin of These Two Chapters—Serendipitous, Providential

A.  Heaven Is Perfected Everlasting Love-No Eye Has Seen

1.  Visual Boundary: What Eye Hath Not Seen

2.  Revelation 21-22 & the Holy City—Personal & Dynamic

3.  Holy City = the Picture of Perfected Everlasting Love

B.  Picture Worth a Thousand Words-Words Can Say More

C.  Similarities Between Two Passages: Rev. 21:1-8 & 21:9-22:6

1.  Descending Holy City Is the Same City in Both Passages

2.  Five Similarities Between the Two Passages

3.  Conclusion on the Similarities—God’s Marriage Fresh to Him

4.  Conclusion on the Similarities—Open Wedding Feast

5.  Conclusion on the Similarities—Fresh Wedding Feast

D.  Simple, Elemental Experiences of Heaven

1.  No More Tears, Death or Curse: a New Freedom

2.  Spring and River and Tree of Life: a New Economy

3.  No More Evil People: a New Purity and Peace

E.  Cloudy Dark Side of Living Obscures the True Fullness of the New Freedom, New Economy, New Purity & Peace

1.  Between the Clouds of Earth and the Clear Skies of Heaven

2.  What We Know Here ... a Cloudy Shadow of Heaven

3.  Earth and Heaven Connected—C. H. Spurgeon

VIII.  HEAVEN ~ Part II: Greater Experiences  ~  Top

A.  Greater Experiences of Heaven

1.  Simple Experiences Versus the Greater Experiences of Heaven

2.  Holy City as Bride & Wife of the Lamb

3.  Great Wall Reveals an Everlasting Security

B.  Recap of Heaven

C.  Greatest Experience in Heaven—Sharing in God’s Life and Glory

Conclusion

Epilogue … the Challenge & Larger Context

A. Challenging Classical Theists—Grasshopper Gauntlet

B. Book’s Larger Context—my Would You Lie to Save a Life?

APPENDIX 1.  Master Canyon Guide Literature Reviews  ~  Top

Craig-Pinnock Dilemma: Literature Review Conclusion.

Literature Review of 25 Important Works

1.  Craig, William Lane.  The Only Wise God

2.  Pinnock, Clark H.  Most Moved Mover

3.  Sanders, John.  The God Who Risks

4.  Boyd, Gregory A.  God of the Possible

5.  Maston, T.B.  God’s Will and Your Life

6.  Rice, John R.  Predestined for HELL? NO!

7.  Hunt, David.  What Love Is This?

8.  Basinger, D., & R. Basinger.  Predestination & Free Will

Introduction.

A.  Feinberg’s Position & Counters.

B.  Geisler’s Position & Counters.

C.  Reichenbach’s Position & Counters.

D.  Pinnock’s Position & Counters.

9.  Beilby, J., & P. Eddy.  Divine Foreknowledge: Four Views

10.  Zagzebski, Linda.  “Recent Work on Divine Foreknowlege”

11.  May, Rollo.  Freedom and Destiny

12.  Erickson, Millard.  What Does God Know

13.  Packer, J. I.  Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God

14.  Geisler, Norman.  Chosen But Free

15.  Spurgeon, C. H.  Sermons on Sovereignty

16.  Strong, August H.  Systematic Theology

17.  White, James R.  The Potter’s Freedom

18.  Boettner, L.  Reformed Doctrine of Predestination

19.  Frame, John M.  No Other God

20.  Ware, Bruce A.  God’s Lesser Glory

21.  Piper, Taylor, Helseth.  Beyond the Bounds

Preface by John Piper

Introduction by Justin Taylor

1.  Fuller’s “Rabbis & Claims of Openness Advocates”

2.  Chad Brand’s “Genetic Defects or Accidental Similarities”

3.  Talbot’s “True Freedom & Liberty Worth Having”

4.  Davis’ “Why Open Theism Is Flourishing Now”

5.  Caneday’s “God’s Self-Revelation in Human Likeness”

6.  Horton’s “Hellenistic or Hebrew?”

7.  Wellum’s “Inerrancy of Scripture”

8.  Helseth’s “Trustworthiness of God & Foundation of Hope”

9.  Ware’s “The gospel of Christ”

10.  Grudem’s “When, Why, & What ... Boundaries?”

11.  John Piper’s “Grounds for Dismay”

22.  Huffman & Johnson.  God Under Fire

1.  Huffman & Johnson’s “Should the God be Replaced?”

2.  Talbot’s “Does God Reveal Who He Is?”

3.  Johnson’s “Can God be Grasped by Reason?”

4.  Bray’s “Has the Greek Philosophy Corrupted Christianity?”

5.  Helm’s “Is God Bound by Time?”

6.  Craig’s “What Does God Know?”

7.  Geivett’s “How Do we Answer Theodicy?”

8.  Spiegel’s “Does God Take Risks?”

9.  Lee’s “Does God have Emotions?”

10.  Gutenson’s “Does God Change?”

11.  Ware’s “How so We Think on the Trinity?”

12.  Carson’s “How Can We Reconcile Love & Sovereignty?”

23.  Wilson, Douglas.  Bound Only Once

24.  Dihle, Albrecht.  Theory of Will in Classical Antiquity

25.  Great Classics: Augustine to Wesley and More

APPENDIX 2.  Intro to Appendices 3-6, ETS Sources, Context  ~  Top

A.  Grasshopper Questions His Teachers

1.  Grasshopper Hops

2.  Grasshopper’s Vagabond Story

3.  Grasshopper Canvases of Ad Hominy & Boundaries

4.  Grasshopper & Rice-Bowl Theology

5.  Grasshopper’s Critics

C.  ETS Primary Web Sources & Grasshopper Initiatives

D.  Larger Context of This Book

1.  Grasshopper’s Book: Would You Lie to Save a Life?

2.  The Case Against Radical Fundamentalism

APPENDIX 3.  Hezekiah Letter-Roger Nicole vs. Clark Pinnock  ~  Top

Introduction to Hezekiah Letter

My Initial Excitement & Some Misguided Firepower

A.  How God Related to Hezekiah

1.  Why Did God Cater to Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:1-11?

2.  Difference Between Fidelity & Interpolation

3.  Nicole’s Violation of the ETS Larger than Pinnock’s

4.  Pinnock Closer to the Text

5.  Nicole Crushed by His Own Standard

B.  Fidelity to the Text Is the Main Issue

Epilogue: Final Heartfelt Plea

APPENDIX 4.  Timothy George’s “What God Knows”  ~  Top

1.  Open Theism a Source of Conflict & Confusion

2.  Classical Theism Superior in Theodicy-Are You Sure?

3.  Open Theism More Powerfully Exculpates God, yet Theodicy Is Not the Engine of Open Theism

4.  George’s “Seminiscient” Deity of Open Theism a Misnomer

5.  Ultimate Split Infinitive: Eternal v. Everlasting & Open Theism’s Actual Engine-Genuineness

6.  Missing the Engine of Genuineness Is a Serious Oversight

APPENDIX 5.  L. Russ Bush’s ETS Letters & Book The Advancement  ~  Top

A.  L. Russ Bush Dialogue: Integrity vs. Myth-Busting

B.  L. Russ Bush’s The Advancement—A New Level of Acrimony

APPENDIX 6.  Journal on Open Theism: JETS (June 2002)  ~  Top

1.  Ware’s “Defining Evangelicalism’s Boundaries”

2.  Pinnock’s “There is Room For Us”

3.  Sanders’ “Be Wary of Ware”

4.  Boyd’s “Christian Love and Academic Dialogue”

5.  Ware’s “Rejoinder to Pinnock, Sanders, & Boyd”

6.  Wellum’s “Divine Sovereignty-Omniscience”

7.  Highfield’s “Function of Divine Self-Limitation in Open Theism”

8.  Grenze’s “Boundaried People and Evangelical Theology”

9.  Horton’s “Hellenistic or Hebrew?”

APPENDIX 7.  Paige Patterson’s Letter—Maness Mistaken  ~  Top

Item #1.  Paige Patterson’s Letter Oct. 6, 2003

APPENDIX 8.  Grand Canyon Map of Where You & I Hiked  ~  Top

Abysmal Bibliography  ~  Top

1.  Love Bibliography

2.  Free will, Foreknowledge, Some Prayer & Theology Bibliography

3.  Time Bibliography

4.  Dissertations on Free Will, Foreknowledge, Time

5.  Articles: Free Will, Foreknowledge, Determinism, Etc.

6.  Heaven Bibliography

7.  Revelation of Christ Bibliography

Grand Canyon Fishing Index  ~  Top

Other Books by Author   ~  Top

 

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Heart of the Living God: Love, Free Will, Foreknowledge, Heaven 

Would You Lie to Save a Life?: Ethics

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