ASA - October 1997: T/D #2 (sustenance & concurrence)

Eduardo G. Moros (moros_eg@castor.wustl.edu)
Tue, 21 Oct 1997 11:44:26 -0600

Craig, I suggest you read "Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God" By J.I.
Packer. I found there the BEST understanding of this "dualism" you talked
about. He goes into various details between what the Sovereignty of God means
and is, and what our freedom of the will means and is. In short, these two
make an antinomy(?), they are both true and in apparent contradiction becasue
we can not know God "completely" (His paths are beyond tracing out, Romans).
They must both be accepted and practiced simultaneously as truths. I have
learned to accept it and I practice it everyday when I go my *own* way
(personal responsibility) and when I trust and pray (God's is in control and
therefore continuously active).

Salu2

> T/D #2 (sustenance & concurrence)
>
> Craig Rusbult (rusbult@vms2.macc.wisc.edu)
> Mon, 20 Oct 1997 20:31:15 -0500
> Possibly "SGC and TA" will be the most hotly debated part of my post,
> partly because we may be "talking past each other."
> And there may be fundamental differences in our approaches to freedom
> and the paradox of "predestination plus responsibility", and I'm sure we
> won't get this figured out in the near future.
> Anyway, I've given up (at least temporarily) on solving this paradox,
> and have adopted a pragmatic "dual improvisational" approach to life; I
> improvise each day (moment by moment), and if I follow God's will (as in
> "God has a wonderful plan for your life") things will work out best, but
> when I wander from God's "Plan A-1" for today, God improvises a "revised
> Plan A-2" (and Plan A-3, and so on). All of this occurs in "real time as
> perceived by me" and during all of this there is an appropriate use, by
> God, of whatever TA is needed to make his plans work. There is some
> control of my environment (both external and internal) by God and some
> freedom for my own choices and the operation of free will.
> This "dual improvisation" view isn't theologically defensible (but then,
> I don't know if there is any satisfactory way to explain Romans 9) but at
> least this view is consistent with the way that I (and maybe others?)
> perceive my space/time choices, and it retains a sense of personal
> responsibility for my own choices.
>
> Craig Rusbult