I talked with a gentleman on a flight from Johannesburg (SA) to Durban (SA) a few months ago. Because I was wearing my SATS shirt, our talk veered into the topic of faith and God. First, the gentleman noted that several of his best friends were quite religious, but he didn't see them doing anything special besides attending Church. When I asked him about his faith, he said he never felt good enough to pray or [...]
Obviously, I am writing this question being very qualified in the area of Sin. Please, I do not think for a moment that you, the reader, also share any claim to ultimate perfection. I have written elsewhere about the Biblical definition of Sin. I am keenly aware that some of us have justified what is displeasing to the Lord by minimizing what we personally struggle with. For some of us, we have totally disqualified ourselves [...]
In Biblical theology, the doctrine of accommodation refers to the idea that God, when revealing divine truths to humanity, adapts or accommodates the message in a way that is understandable and relatable to human beings. When we look at the reception of any revelation from God, we understand that God reveals, preserves, and relates it as He wills. We clearly recognize the inherent limitations of human comprehension and reception of God’s revelation, but we always [...]
Surah # Anglicized title(s) Arabic title(s) English title(s) Number of verses Place of Revelation Main theme Juz’ 1 Al-Fatiha ٱلْفَاتِحَة al-Fātiḥah al Hamd The Opening, The Opening of the Divine Writ, The Essence of the Divine Writ, The Surah of Praise, The Foundation of the Qur’an, andThe Seven Oft-Repeated [Verses] 7 (1) Makkah The “seed” of the whole Qur’ān 1 2 Al-Baqarah ٱلْبَقَرَة al-Baq̈arah The Calf, The Cow 286 (40) Madinah The necessity of God-consciousness. The [...]
“Heresy!” They blurted out when the preacher said something that sounded suspicious. “He is preaching something that is out of the norm...” “I just do not like that guy's vibe...” “Where was he educated?” “Whatever the Bible says, it can’t be that?” “I just don’t like him...” Steven Bullivant writes. “Heresy is what sincere Christians, quite properly and prudently, are keen to avoid. It comes from the Greek word hairesis, which means “choice," “opinion," or [...]
I love the Bible and, even more, what God did in history as it is accounted for in these books. From both the Old and the New Testaments, one aspect that seems relevant is the area of the Prophetic. Sam Storms writes that; "Prophecy is always the communication of something the Holy Spirit has "revealed," or disclosed to a person." Lots of people find the Old Testament Prophets fascinating, including myself. In the Old Testament, [...]
I have many friends who hold to the idea that Christ Died only for those that are elect, or even better, those decreed to be His from the beginning. Now I am not even going to touch upon if He did so before the foundation of the World (Subla-lapsairianism) or only after the fall (infralapsarianism). The idea that God does know the end from the beginning, and he, therefore, determines the eventual outcome, is one [...]
(10-minute Read) Recently, I saw that some of my friends had posted the following banner on one of their social media sites, and as a result, I decided to jot down a brief reaction to what it is that they have been posting. I've seen that a lot of individuals appear to denounce any opinion that isn't consistent with their particular Calvinist beliefs. In the following post, I will make a brief effort to respond [...]
In this blog, I want to touch on some of the points that I made in a recent debate that I participated in with the well-known debater Dr. Shabir Ally and my good friend Yusuf Ismail. In all honesty, I believe that as Christians, we should be able to defend the merits of the Doctrine of the Trinity with a fair amount of ease. When I was attempting to describe a setting in the first [...]
In the previous debate, I tried to show that from a cursory reading of the Qur'an, it is undeniable that it speaks positively about the Christian Scriptures. Unfortunately, due to loadshedding in South Africa, my internet line was unstable and I could not really anticipate the other speaker's questions and opinions. So let me start by showing you what the Qur'an says. The Qur'an's respectful view of the Bible. The Qur'an says that [...]
