When I teach a class on the concurrent nature of Gods providential control of His creations I usually start with consideration of the recording of His written Word.
Most of us here believe that the Bible we have is the Word of God. We believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of all that is written about Him in the scriptures. We believe that His Word is eternally settled in Heaven.
That being the case all of us, I should think, would agree that the scriptures that we possessed were decreed by God to be recorded and past down infallible and without error in their original manuscripts.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
Psalm 119:89 Your word Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever."
The 66 books of the Bible were written by approximately 40 men of diverse ages and backgrounds over a period of some 1500 years. These men wrote from different perspectives while enduring different circumstances in their lives.
2 Peter 1:20-21 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of ones own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
2 Samuel 23:2 The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.
While we affirm that these are Gods Words, written exactly as He decreed them to be written we also realize that the men writing them were not controlled like robots or computers but were writing as their own minds conceived of the words they wrote. And they probably passed the material along to others as they decided to do of their own wills.
So the question I would like us to discuss here is whether their free will was violated by God when He obviously carried out His will through their wills.
Not only the words written in this way by both God and men are considered in my classes. We usually delve into the actions of the men who recorded the Bible along the way as well.
Luke is one of my favorite examples. I like to have us all talk about his travels, his keeping the manuscripts dry, his checking of spelling, his rewriting certain paragraphs when he didnt particularly like the way they flowed. I like to bring in the actions of Theophilus,the man he wrote for as well. Eventually we delve into Gods providential control of the entire lives of Theophilus and Luke to bring them to the point where they wrote. We sometimes talk about Paul as well as Luke and some others since theres a lot of food for thought in his life.
Eventually we get around the sinful words of Caiaphas the High Priest. They were, no doubt, spoken of his own sinful will. They were, of course, also Gods words even as the rest of scripture.
John 11:49:51 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish. Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation.
Eventually the class gets around to scriptures that show us talking donkeys but wed better leave that alone here.
Lets consider the question of Gods working out of His decrees through the free will of men.
Do think Caiaphas had a valid defense at the judgment when His sin was judged by God?
Do you think Luke, Paul, or any of the other 40 writers of Scripture are up there in Heaven complaining to God that He used them like robots?
Do you think they are complaining that God put words in their mouths?
Do you think Luke is complaining about God moving him get out of bed and go into town with Paul and take notes when he might have rather slept in?
Or do you think they are thanking God for so using them to glorify Himself?
It probably works a little better in a class of students than here. But lets give it a try.
Im sure this group wont have any trouble at all morphing this thread into a vehicle for a little bashing of RT theology.
Lets see how long it takes.
Most of us here believe that the Bible we have is the Word of God. We believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of all that is written about Him in the scriptures. We believe that His Word is eternally settled in Heaven.
That being the case all of us, I should think, would agree that the scriptures that we possessed were decreed by God to be recorded and past down infallible and without error in their original manuscripts.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
Psalm 119:89 Your word Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever."
The 66 books of the Bible were written by approximately 40 men of diverse ages and backgrounds over a period of some 1500 years. These men wrote from different perspectives while enduring different circumstances in their lives.
2 Peter 1:20-21 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of ones own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
2 Samuel 23:2 The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.
While we affirm that these are Gods Words, written exactly as He decreed them to be written we also realize that the men writing them were not controlled like robots or computers but were writing as their own minds conceived of the words they wrote. And they probably passed the material along to others as they decided to do of their own wills.
So the question I would like us to discuss here is whether their free will was violated by God when He obviously carried out His will through their wills.
Not only the words written in this way by both God and men are considered in my classes. We usually delve into the actions of the men who recorded the Bible along the way as well.
Luke is one of my favorite examples. I like to have us all talk about his travels, his keeping the manuscripts dry, his checking of spelling, his rewriting certain paragraphs when he didnt particularly like the way they flowed. I like to bring in the actions of Theophilus,the man he wrote for as well. Eventually we delve into Gods providential control of the entire lives of Theophilus and Luke to bring them to the point where they wrote. We sometimes talk about Paul as well as Luke and some others since theres a lot of food for thought in his life.
Eventually we get around the sinful words of Caiaphas the High Priest. They were, no doubt, spoken of his own sinful will. They were, of course, also Gods words even as the rest of scripture.
John 11:49:51 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish. Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation.
Eventually the class gets around to scriptures that show us talking donkeys but wed better leave that alone here.
Lets consider the question of Gods working out of His decrees through the free will of men.
Do think Caiaphas had a valid defense at the judgment when His sin was judged by God?
Do you think Luke, Paul, or any of the other 40 writers of Scripture are up there in Heaven complaining to God that He used them like robots?
Do you think they are complaining that God put words in their mouths?
Do you think Luke is complaining about God moving him get out of bed and go into town with Paul and take notes when he might have rather slept in?
Or do you think they are thanking God for so using them to glorify Himself?
It probably works a little better in a class of students than here. But lets give it a try.
Im sure this group wont have any trouble at all morphing this thread into a vehicle for a little bashing of RT theology.
Lets see how long it takes.
Okay fellas, should we bash RT on this one, or not? 
