Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

The Spirit Of Calvin And The Synod Of Dordt, Steve Curtis Jan 2009

The Spirit Of Calvin And The Synod Of Dordt, Steve Curtis

Steve Curtis

Beginning in November of 1618, in the Dutch city of Dordrecht, the Reformed Church of the Netherlands convened a synod to examine and consider the positions being promoted by a group of pastors and theologians known as the Remonstrants. Chief among the disputed points were the doctrines of soteriology, though there were other, ancillary issues that had developed from this time as well, such as the proper relationship between church and state and church polity. A number of countries sent delegates to the synod which met over 180 sessions. In the end, the Synod denounced the Remonstrance and confirmed the …


The Old Perspective On Second-Temple Judaism: Covenantal Nomism, Justification, And Perseverance, Steve Curtis Jan 2009

The Old Perspective On Second-Temple Judaism: Covenantal Nomism, Justification, And Perseverance, Steve Curtis

Steve Curtis

Beginning with the seminal work of E. P Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, in 1977, there has been a concerted effort to redefine the Pauline references to the “works of the law” (mentioned explicitly five times in his epistles and implicitly several more times). It is the contention of those in this movement (most notably beside Sanders are James Dunn and N. T. Wright) that the Reformers, in their reaction against the multi-faceted errors of Rome and, particularly, in their defense of the doctrine of sola fide, read too much into Paul, and that first century Judaism in general was, …


A Scientific Rationale For Belief In God?, Philip E. Graves Jan 2009

A Scientific Rationale For Belief In God?, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

This paper presents a concise scientific rationale for the existence of God. The works of Ray Kurzweil and the many other artificial intelligence researchers provide a backdrop to the central thesis. An entity (computers or humans, it not mattering which) will eventually approach all-knowing. How much time passes before this occurs is not important. All-knowing is likely to be all-powerful insofar as knowledge leads to power, as has been our experience. One would suspect that this would be inclusive of time travel. The methods by which knowledge grows require “seed” facts to begin working. The seed facts can easily be, …