I was always a skeptic when it came to apologetics because I believe if you got the best apologist into a debate with the best atheist, an objective viewer would at best conclude that BOTH theism and atheism were reasonable conclusions. It takes more than apologetics to win someone's heart!

@NTWrightOnline

Жыл бұрын

Couldn't agree more! You put this really nicely. Reminds me that the Spirit always plays a role in this process, which in turn is a good reminder that ultimately we aren't in control of other people's hearts. Praise God for that.

@Joeonline26

Жыл бұрын

Apologetics and public debates don't really help the theist or the atheist. This is because they are largely the result of what Plato called 'philia nikia' (pursuit of victory). Instead, we should always be pursuing what he called 'philia sophia' (pursuit of WISDOM) and that means not treating it as a 'debate' in which there are 'winners and 'losers'

@The-F.R.E.E.-J.

Жыл бұрын

​@@Joeonline26 yes

An excellent topic I haven't considered. I appreciate your respect for the one student you spoke of. It shows your character and I LIKE it. Thank you sir for your honesty and insight!!

This is beautiful. We probably don't agree with your theology because, our s.o.p. is to reject all theology, doctrines and religion out of hand. But there is something I've always sensed about you, doctor Wright, that I like and this proves my suspicions correct. Yes indeed, love is the lens through which we must look to understand everything regarding God. How could God, who is the creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, become a man, only to have done to Him what we did to Him? Love

@NTWrightOnline

Жыл бұрын

We are very glad to have you here and love as our primary epistemology lens welcomes others to engage in dialogue, disagreements when they happen, and theological (or not!) reflection in this space.

Our culture suffers from a propositional tyranny. That is, propositional knowing is considered the only way of actually 'knowing' something. Participatory knowing has totally fallen away, even though it is arguably more important.

@NTWrightOnline

Жыл бұрын

Lived theology offers an important epistemological angle. There is work being done in the discipline of Practical Theology that emphasizes this in research, such as theological action research.

@Joeonline26

Жыл бұрын

@@NTWrightOnline Very interesting. Thanks for mentioning this!

What are your thoughts about the movie Father Stu?

Tom, I've heard you say this before (a la Augustine), but I am struggling with this question, if love is a way of knowing, how does that not just collapse into fideism or subjectivism?

@NTWrightOnline

Жыл бұрын

Love, as an abstract noun, may connote that there is some way of being that is quite detached from the object that is being 'loved'. The verb, 'to love', is, perhaps, a better way of describing what is meant by Prof. Wright. The object and the manner of love then becomes easier to understand because we have abundant description in Scripture of how God loves us. He gives himself for us; he provides for us; he suffers on our behalf. These are some ways that God actively loves us and gives us a glimpse of what active loving looks like. By doing so, we enter the world of the other person in ways that benefit the person. This keeps love from being a detached concept.

@julianholdsworth5875

Жыл бұрын

@@NTWrightOnline so love as a means of knowing is achieved through actions that reflect God's love. A kind of 'do and you will know' rather than an enlightenment 'know through logic, science etc' ? It seeks to combine looking at God's love, emulating it in response and then more deeply discovering God's love? As a pastor I'm trying to find ways to simplify the language for "bears of little brain" ! We love because he first loved us and as we do so discover more love?

@NTWrightOnline

Жыл бұрын

Yes, excellent observation!

I suppose that is what Paul is conveying in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. It seems to me that many of us are doing the Lord's work of separating the sheep from the goats in this present age. Disheartening!

Such a soft spoken and well presented heretic. Love is better than certainty? A real recipe for disaster there. Also, why compare Love to certainty except you want toe demolish the historic faith.

Personal responsibility. There are emotional reasons, not rational reasons that people deny God's power of resurrection. It's not intellectual. It is a choice. "You must believe..." It's God's standard not man's and when a man cannot give a good reason when God has provided the cosmos from nothing, then the love of God is seen in giving man freedom to reject him. So sad

@NTWrightOnline

6 ай бұрын

The belief God calls us to entails love, and reflecting God's love in the world is a fundamental aspect of a believer's vocation