Resources by Topic: Doctrine and Theology

Some time ago theologians formulated the doctrine of God’s impassibility. They argued that God was “without passions.” Their motive was to distinguish God from the mood swings and more erratic and unstable aspects of human emotions. Unfortunately, many Christians came to believe that God doesn’t have emotions.  

Scripture suggests there are guardian angels for children. Jesus says of children, "their angels behold the face of my Father," Matt. 18:10. Also, it appears there was one specific angel assigned to the apostle Peter ("his angel," Acts 12:15).

I came to Christ in a church that was Arminian, so that was naturally my early leaning. I went to a Bible college and seminary that were both middle of the road where neither hard core Calvinism nor Arminianism often surfaced in class, though on a continuum, some faculty would lean more toward one than the other.

I am often hearing people say these days that God has revealed himself to us in stories, and that story, not doctrine, is the framework in which we should see our faith.

In his heart-wrenching, innocence-shattering, mouth-shutting book Night, Elie Wiesel tells of his experience as a teenager with his father in the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Buna, and Buchenwald.

A. W. Tozer is one of my all-time favorite authors. In The Pursuit of God, Tozer writes this: As the sailor locates his position on the sea by “shooting” the sun, so we may get our moral bearings by looking at God.

Hungering for God through fasting and prayer together invites God to replace our fear and anxiety with faith and confidence in His presence and provision.

We know from Jesus’ statement to the thief that when one dies they enter the presence of God immediately. Luke 23:42 states, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” This statement also tells us that Jesus went to His Father upon death.  

Last month, on the opening day of the World Council of Churches Central Committee meeting in Geneva, someone gave a stirring and controversial speech, with a message that made many squirm. Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, the Russian Orthodox Bishop of Vienna and Austria, made the following remarkable statements.  

Before we get to Bonhoeffer, I want to make some observations. If you want to shorten your read and move to the Bonhoeffer part, skip these first nine paragraphs.  

God is not the author of evil. Neither, however, is He ever the victim of evil. His hands are never tied by evil. He's never painted into a corner by evil. When Jesus went to the cross He didn't fall into Satan's trap—Satan fell into His. Wills were being exercised, but men weren't calling the shots—God was.

“There is a God,” Portland Trailblazer head coach Nate McMillan said when Portland won the NBA draft lottery, giving our city the number one pick. It’s an understatement to say that event dominated news coverage here. Had Philadelphia been vaporized by aliens, it might have made page three.

The forgiveness of God is a prominent theme throughout Scripture, one that should invoke from us expressions of wonder and praise. Here is a passage from the Old Testament. There are countless others throughout the Bible.

List of falsehoods in "The Divinci Code", from Josh McDowell's book: The Da Vinci Code - A Quest for Answers.