Nathan James Norman
  • Blog
  • Writer
  • Pastor
  • Bookshelf
  • Links
  • Contact

Nathan James Norman

Husband. Father. Pastor.
Storyteller. Reader. Comic Fan.
Slave of the Lord Jesus Christ.

First Baptist Church of Tarrytown

Disagreeing with Your Teachers

1/26/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
Me and the good doctor!
If you don’t disagree with the people teaching you, you’re already in serious trouble.

Let me explain.

One of my favorite teachers is one of the philosophy professors from my seminary, William Lane Craig. He is awesome. I’ve read a number of his books, including Reasonable Faith and Contending with Christianity’s Critics which focus on a well-reasoned, multifaceted defense of the faith. He is a man of humility and a man of boldness. He is, at once, ferocious and kind. I have watched dozens (of dozens, of dozens) of his debates . . . and he thoroughly wins each and every one of them.

Dr. Craig amazes me. In fact, I have so much regard for him, I drove three hours in a snowstorm with driving wind to see a talk he gave down in Grand Rapids last week.

And I disagree with him.

Not on everything, of course, but on some weighty things for sure.

Picture
For example, Dr. Craig is publishing a series of wonderful children’s books on the attributes of God. So far, I love them all and look forward to reading them to my (future) children and my (present) kids in the church. All of them, that is, except the God is Everywhere book. In it, the anthropomorphized father-bear explains God’s omnipresence in the following way:
“Since God doesn’t have a body, He isn’t really in any place at all.

"When we say God is everywhere, we mean that He knows what is happening everywhere in the whole world and that He is making things happen everywhere in the whole world.”
That is wrong. True, God is spirit and transcendent, but he is also immanent. He is not merely aware of everything that’s happening, but he is also everywhere.

Here’s what a standard systematic theology book would say:
Omnipresence. God is everywhere present at the same time in essence, awareness , and power (Ps 139:7-12). This related to His immensity; His being fills all (1 Kgs 8:27; Jer 23:24).1

(And of course, we affirm that God is both present in and distinct from all of creation.)

I like Craig for philosophy and apologetics. I'm not too keen on his theology here.

Does that mean I don't like William Lane Craig and reject everything? By no means! But what it does mean is that we must always think critically (even when reading authors with a similar worldview) and just have the clarity of mind to be able to say, "I agree with this," or "I don't agree with this," or "I never thought about it like that, let me look into this further."

In fact, I can’t think of any one of my mentors or favorite authors with whom I agree on every last one of their views. But I still am learning from Dr. Craig because on most primary and secondary issues we agree. The tertiary issues are important, but I’m comfortable enough to respectfully disagree when I need to. (And thrilled to host a simulcast Dr. Craig debate showing at the Orchard Church next week!)

And the same is true for you. If you find yourself agreeing all the time with the things any teacher  says, you’re probably not using the wonderful gift of discernment God gave you.

. . . and by the way, that goes for me too. I hope you, and my congregation disagrees with me from time to time . . .

(. . . and I hope those disagreements are only over tertiary issues!)



1Holloman, Henry. Kregel Dictionary of the Bible and Theology. Grand Rapids: Kregel Acedemic & Professional, 2005.

2 Comments
Chad McIntosh link
1/29/2013 11:55:27 am

I take it that you agree that "everywhere present" is a spatial notion, and that God therefore is everywhere in that he literally "fills" all of space. But this notoriously runs into puzzles like the following:

1. There is more of God in larger volumes (an airplane hanger, say) than in smaller volumes (a cup).
2. Space is expanding. So, God must be getting bigger, too.
3. God is immaterial. Immaterial things are not spatially present.

This is why many theologians see the spatial connotations of omnipresence analogically. So you need not worry about Craig's theology. Craig's description of omnipresence is nearly identical to Aquinas's, which has been the dominant theological position throughout history.

Reply
Nathan James Norman link
1/29/2013 01:13:07 pm

…it depends on what you mean by ‘spatial.’

I am approaching the question first as a biblical theologian. A plain literary reading of the texts reveals the following:


Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? IF I GO UP TO HEAVEN, YOU ARE THERE; IF I MAKE MY BED IN SHEOL, YOU ARE THERE. If I live at the eastern horizon or settle at the western limits, even there Your hand will lead me; Your right hand will hold on to me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light around me will be night” — even the darkness is not dark to You. The night shines like the day; darkness and light are alike to You. (Ps139:7-12)


But will God indeed live on earth? Even heaven, THE HIGHEST HEAVEN, CANNOT CONTAIN YOU, much less this temple I have built. (1 Kg. 8:27 HCSB)


“Am I a God who is only near”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and not a God who is far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places where I cannot see him?”—the Lord’s declaration. “DO I NOT FILL THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH?”—the Lord’s declaration. (Jer. 23:23-24 HCSB)



To respond to the puzzles you presented:

1. This argument assumes that God is merely immanent, and neglects the transcendent aspect of God’s omnipresence. God is not in the airplane hanger or the cup . . . he is present there.

2. The puzzle also focuses only on God’s immanence, while neglecting his transcendence. Yes, God fills the heavens and the earth, but the highest heavens are unable to contain him. Again, God is both immanent and transcendent.

3. I would like to explore the evidence behind this further. But on the surface of things: I have a spirit. It is present at my body. It is immaterial, yet located at my body.


I am not “worried” about Craig’s theology here in the sense of heresy or a cause of division amongst believers. I merely disagree with him. I also recognize that some theologians and philosophers have held this view, but I don’t think I could agree that it has been the “dominant theological position throughout history.”

I would see this disagreement as a tertiary issue, not a primary or even secondary one. As I posted, I still highly regard Craig and have nothing but admiration for him and agree with him on most things. But part of Christian development and critical thinking requires discernment and critique even with people we deeply respect and highly regard.

Thanks for writing!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Adoption
    Art
    Axiom
    Beowulf
    Christmas
    Comics
    Drabble
    Flash Fiction
    Foster Care
    Good Friday
    Humor
    Infertility
    Interviews
    Memes
    Music
    Politics
    Practical
    Prayer
    Preaching
    Reviews
    Speculative
    Theology
    Tragedy
    Trinity Watch
    Untold Podcast
    Video
    Writing

    Blog Roll

    Breakpoint
    Christian Humanist
    Christian Geek Central
    Critical Press Media
    David N. Alderman
    Doug Geivett

    Good Book Blog
    Living With Cogan
    Open Biola
    Project Rooftop
    Reasonable Faith
    Running Slowly w/ Kids
    Spirit Blade Underground
    Strangers and Aliens
    The Table Podcast
    This Old Farmhouse

    Archives

    November 2023
    August 2023
    February 2023
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    November 2021
    August 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    February 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012