In The Person of Christ, Berkouwer relates christology's content and method thus: "theology is not practised apart from faith, prayer and adoration ... The whole subject matter of Christology is most intimately related to the secret of revelation ... the enlightenment of the eyes" (pp. 10, 14). In The Work of Christ, he describes the …
Month: August 2021
G C Berkouwer – Scholarly, Pastoral And Evangelical
These comments are taken from the Jack Rogers book, "Confessions of a Conservative Evangelical" (Philadelphia, 1974). Berkouwer was reared in a denomination which "began in rather conservative isolation ... he has developed a scholarly, pastoral, evangelical stance. And he has brought a whole denomination with him" (p. 143) - "you can become less conservative and …
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Let us bring Christ to the nations.
Baptism of the Lord (First Sunday in Ordinary Time): Isaiah 42:1-4,6-7; Acts 10:34-38; Matthew 3:13-17 Let us bring Christ to the nations. Let us serve the Lord in the power of the Spirit. ‘Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, my Chosen One in whom I delight; I will put My Spirit on Him, and …
Salvation through Christ
Drawing on L Newbigin’s book, The Finality of Christ, Michael Green writes, “It is one thing to claim that all salvation is through Christ … It is quite another to claim that nobody finds life with God unless they pass through the doorway of explicit Christian faith … The Christian Church has never maintained that overt knowledge of the person and work …
The authority of Scripture
“Scripture... does not derive its authority from the fact that we use it, not even when we use Scripture in faith.” — G.C. Berkouwer
Links to Christ in all the Scriptures, Feasting On God’s Word, and The Theology Of G C Berkouwer
Christ In All The Scriptures, (new title - God's Word For Every Day) One Year Bible [title - Feasting on God's Word (One Year Bible)] The Theology Of G C Berkouwer (new title - Read Your Bible, Find Your Saviour) I hope you'll find something helpful at these blogs. God bless you.
Let us keep listening to one another.
“Dilemmas always are a source of polarization. We quickly move over to simplistic either-or’s… in which the fulness of truth is torn apart. And in the atmosphere of false polarities, we often stop listening to each other’s words. With this, irritation and pique poison the theological discussion. But it is striking and, at the same …
Faith rests on and trusts in the Word of God.
“Faith is decisively determined by the object of faith, namely, God and His Word. This does not ... imply that Scripture ... derives its authority from the believer's faith: this idea is already rendered untenable by the very nature of faith, which rests on and trusts in the Word of God.”― G.C. Berkouwer
Getting our priorities right
Trinity Sunday (First Sunday after Pentecost): Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Psalm 8; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Matthew 28:16-20 Getting our priorities right: God, His Word, His Spirit - at the centre of our life The Bible’s opening verses challenge us to get our priorities right. (a) The priority of God (Genesis 1:1). God comes first. Before anyone else …
Link to “The Theology Of G C Berkouwer” blog
The Theology Of G C Berkouwer This blog has a new title - Read Your Bible, Find Your Saviour.
Listening to what God says to us in His Word
Berkouwer and Philosophy Berkouwer approaches the questions of God, man and evil differently from philosophical theology. It should not, however, be thought that his approach is unphilosophical. He is concerned to think clearly about these issues. He is, however, concerned to deal with “actual knowledge of God” (This expression is used by T. F. Torrance …
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Berkouwer and Barth on Divine Revelation
The Question of "Christomonism" An important question in the assessment of Barth's theology revolves around his view of the relationship between natural theology and general revelation, Discussing "Karl Barth's Offensive Against Natural Theology" (General Revelation (GR), Chapter II, pp. 21-33), Berkouwer notes that "Barth's conception of revelation ... is frequently called 'Christomonism' " (GR,p. 25). …
Berkouwer on "Divine Election"
In his discussion of the 'pre' element in predestination, Berkouwer insists that "he who speaks of God's counsel in terms of human categories will have to be aware of the inadequacy of his words" (Divine Election, p. 152). In this respect, Berkouwer closely follows Bavinck who, in his discussion of predestination, insists that "one cannot …
The Authority of God
"Authority ... cannot be a darksome power that compels us to subject ourselves without reason" (A Half Century of Theology, p. 158). Berkouwer insists that the authority of God is unlike what is usually meant by "external authority" (A Half Century of Theology, p. 159). He emphasizes that the authority of God brings "perspective, joy …
Learning From God’s Word: Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 1:1-3:29 This is the continuing story of God's mighty working on behalf of His chosen people. He is leading them on to the land He had promised to them. Entering this land will not be easy. There will be plenty of opposition. The enemy will be defeated. The Lord will triumph over all who …
Steadily pressing toward a purified life of faith, according to the Scriptures
G C Berkouwer has close affinities with 'the old Dutch biblical piety, not seized by dogmatic insights but steadily pressing toward a purified life of faith according to the Scriptures' (Carl Bangs, Arminius: A Study in the Dutch Reformation, p.21).
Believing in the love of God and being changed by the love of God
In The Providence of God, G C Berkouwer relates providence to both the love of God as the object of the believer's faith and the believer's faith by which providence is subjectively experienced. "in the doctrine of providence we have a specific Christian confession exclusively possible through a true faith in Jesus Christ ... this …
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Learning From God's Word 