Grudem on Fasting and Angels

The reading continues, with a hospital visit and a marriage prep session thrown in.

On Prayer

My favorite in this chapter is the piece on fasting—something I and the people of StB have to get into.

several benefits come from fasting, all of which affect our relationship with God:

1. Fasting increases our sense of humility and dependence on the Lord (for our hunger and physical weakness continually remind us how are not really strong in ourselves but need the Lord).


2. Fasting allows us to give more attention to prayer (for we are not spending our time eating), and


3. It is a continual reminder that, just as we sacrifice some personal comfort to the Lord by not eating, so we must continually sacrifice all of ourselves to him. Moreover, 


4. Fasting is a good exercise in self-discipline, for as we refrain from eating food which we would ordinarily desire, it also strengthens our ability to refrain from sin, to which we might otherwise be tempted to yield. If we train ourselves to accept the small “suffering” of fasting willingly, we will be better able to accept other suffering for the sake of righteousness (cf. Heb 5.8, 1 Peter 4.1-2),


5. Fasting also heightens spiritual and mental alertness and a sense of god’s presence as we focus less on the material things of this world (such as food) and as the energies of our body are freed from digesting and processing food. This enables us to focus on eternal spiritual realities that are much more important. Finally, 


6. Fasting expresses earnestness and urgency in our prayers: if we continued to fast, eventually we would die. Therefore, in a symbolic way, fasting says to God that we are prepared to lay down our lives that the situation be changed rather than that it continue. In this sense fasting is especially appropriate when the spiritual state of the church is low. 390-391

I hate fasting, but it's getting down to the wire, folks. Time to get serious.

On Angels

Angels are created, spiritual beings with moral judgment and high intelligence, but without physical bodies. 397

…ordinary activities…guarding and protecting us (Ps 34.7, 91.11, Heb 1.14), and joining with us in worship to God (Heb 12.22), they are invisible. 397

…angels are never said to be made in "the image of God." 402

Though we are "for a little while lower than the angels" (Heb 2.7), when our salvation is complete we will be exalted above angels and rule over them. 402

Satan and Demons next.

My Grudem Exploration Continues

396 pages in. Enjoying myself.

Chapter 16: God's Providence

A definition:

God is continually involved with all created things in such a way that he (1) keeps them existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them; (2) cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do; and (3) directs them to fulfill his purposes. 315

He then goes on to unpack that very thoroughly from a Calvinist perspective including a lengthy discussion of how God can be in control and we humans have free choice at the same time.

God causes all things that happen, but…he does so in such a way that he somehow upholds our ability to make willing, responsible choices, choices that have real and eternal results, and for which we are held accountable. Exactly how God combines his providential control with our willing and significant choices, Scripture does not explain to us. But rather than deny one aspect or the other (simply because we cannot explain how both can be true), we should accept both in an attempt to be faithful to the teaching of all of Scripture. 321

The Problem of Evil

What Scripture reveals to us, …was that God was bringing about his plan through the willing choices of real human beings who were morally accountable for their actions. In a way not understood by us and not revealed to us, God caused them to make a willing choice to do what they did. 326

Here Grudem's section headings in one part of the discussion:

Analysis of Verses Relating to God and Evil.

• God Uses All things to Fulfill His Purposes and Even Uses Evil for His Glory and for Our Good


• Nevertheless, God Never Does Evil, and Is Never to Be Blamed for Evil


• God rightfully Blames and Judges Moral Creatures for the Evil They Do


• Evil Is Real, Not an Illusion, and We Should Never Do Evil, for It Will Always Harm Us and Others


• In Spite of All of the Foregoing Statements, We Have to Come to the Point Where We Confess That We Do Not Understand How It Is That God Can Ordain That We Carry Out Evil Deeds and Yet Hold Us Accountable for Them and Not be Blamed Himself

Furthermore,

Because of our confidence in God’s providential care, we need not fear any evil or harm, even if it does come to us—it can only come by God’s will and ultimately for our own good. 337

The Arminian Position

He then compares and contrasts the Arminian position regarding God's Providence. I was intrigued to find that Methodists, Nazarenes and Assemblies of God tend to be Arminian. The 39 Articles put us Anglicans in the Reformed, or Calvinist, camp. Here's how he describes the Arminian position:

Those who hold an Arminian position maintain that in order to preserve the real human freedom and real human choices that are necessary for genuine human person-hood, God cannot cause or plan our voluntary choices. Therefore they conclude that God’s providential involvement in or control of history must not include every specific detail of every event that happens, but that God instead simply responds to human choices and actions as they come about and does so in such a way that his purposes are ultimately accomplished in the world. 338

In other words, Arminians believe God does not control every detail of our lives while Calvinists believe that He does even though we also are free to make our own choices.

More Grudem on Creation

Grudem's chapter on Creation is a very helpful, engaging and even-handed exploration of the various theories concerning this thorny issue. Some statements that caught my eye:

On "The Relationship Between Scripture and the Findings of Modern Science

We can learn from such controversies as Galileo and the earth travelling around the sun:

…careful observation of the natural world can cause us to go back to Scripture and reexamime whether Scripture actually teaches what we think it teaches. Sometimes, on closer examination of the text, we may find that our previous interpretations were incorrect. 273

On "When All the Facts Are Rightly Understood, There Will Be "No Final Conflict" Between Scripture and Natural Science"

We should not fear to investigate scientifically the facts of the created world but should do so eagerly and with complete honesty, confident that when facts are rightly understood, they will always turn out to be consistent with God's inerrant words in Scripture. Similarly, we should approach the study of Scripture eagerly and with confidence that, when rightly understood, Scripture will never contradict facts in the natural world. 275

On "The Need for Further Understanding"

Then, after a thorough discussion of the pros and cons of Darwinian evolutionary theory, old and young earth theories, he writes:

Scripture seems to be more easily understood to suggest (but not to require) a young earth view, while the observable facts of creation seem increasingly to favour an old earth view. Both views are possible, but neither is certain. 308

I Laughed Out Loud: Grudem on Creation

…while reading Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology! This made me do it:

Instead of the straightforward biblical account of God's creation, the theistic evolution view has to understand events to have occurred something like this:

And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds." And after three hundred eigthy-seven million four hundred ninety-two thousand eight hundred seventy-one attempts, God finally made a mouse that worked. 276-277

This in the fascinating Chapter 15, on Creation, and a section entitled, "Some Theories About Creation Seem Clearly Inconsistent With the Teachings of Scripture," one of those theories being "Theistic Evolution."

Grudem thinks that there is an incompatibility between God's purposefulness in the biblical account of creation and the randomness demanded by evolutionary theory.

No kidding!

Gleanings from a Study Week with Wayne Grudem's "Systematic Theology"

I'm supposed to take a couple of study weeks a year. This year I decided to take one to read Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology: an Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Zondervan, 1994). I chose this book because it has been recommended by some people I admire, because I'm intrigued by the fact that someone described Grudem as the Vineyard's official theologian ( I find the idea of a charismatic systematic theology appealling) and because it is a serious work worthy of study.

Yesterday I read the first 260 pages which covered Part 1: The Doctrine of the Word of God and half of Part 2: The Doctrine of God. Here are some things that caught my eye (the numbers at the end of each paragraph are page numbers):

The Christian Liberal-Conservative Debate

First, an insight on why dialogue between liberal and conservative Christians is so difficult:

I do not think a true system of theology can be constructed from within what we may call the “liberal” theological tradition—that is, by people who deny the absolute truthfulness of the Bible, or who do not think the words of the Bible to be God’s very words. 17

This does not mean that those in the liberal tradition have nothing valuable to say; it simply means that differences with them almost always boil down to differences over the nature of the Bible and its authority. 17

…which is the exact situation in which we Anglicans find ourselves these days.

On understanding Scripture properly

…when we are unable to understand some passage or some doctrine of Scripture,…pray for God’s help. Often what we need is not more data but more insight into the data we already have available. 33

…our ability to reason and draw conclusions is not the ultimate standard of truth—only Scripture is. 34

On the Authority of Scripture

A definition:

The authority of Scripture means that all the words in Scripture are God’s words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God. 73

It is helpful for us to learn that the Bible is historically accurate, that it is internally consistent that it contains prophecies that have been fulfilled hundreds of years later, that it has influenced the course of human history more than any other book, that it has continued changing the lives of millions of individuals throughout its history, that through it people come to find salvation, that it has a majestic beauty and a profound depth of teaching unmatched by any other book, and that it claims hundreds of times over to be God’s very words. 78

On the Truthfulness of Scripture:

God Cannot Lie or Speak Falsely




Therefore All the Words in Scripture Are Completely True and Without Error in Any Part




God’s Words are the Ultimate Standard of Truth

And, based on John 17.17, "“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth,” because “truth” here is a noun, not an adjective:

The Bible is God’s Word, and God’s Word is the ultimate definition of what is true and what is not true: God’s Word is itself truth. Thus we are to think of the Bible as the ultimate standard of truth, the reference point by which every other claim to truthfulness is to be measured. Those assertions that conform with Scripture are “true” while those that do not conform with Scripture are not true.

What then is truth? Truth is what God says, and we have what God says (accurately but not exhaustively) in the Bible. 83

On the Inerrancy of Scripture

Grudem shares his idea of inerrancy with the likes of JI Packer. A definition and some comments:

The inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact. 90

This definition does not mean that the Bible tells us every fact there is to know about any one subject, but it affirms that what it does say about any subject is true. 91

…biblical statements can be imprecise and still be totally true. Inerrancy has to do with truthfulness, not with the degree of precision with which events are reported. 91-92

On the Sufficiency of Scripture

…although the history of the church may help us to understand what God says to us in the Bible, never in church history had God added to the teachings or commands of Scripture: Nowhere in church history outside of Scripture has God added anything that he requires us to believe or to do. 129

…everything God wants to tell us about … [any] question is to be found in Scripture. 130-131

How Reading Grudem Makes Me Feel

This approach fits for me. I like the way Grudem does not avoid the hard questions and the things that don't seem to make sense in the Bible.

Billy Graham describes a day he decided to believe that the Bible is, indeed, God's very word. I, too, have so decided. Rather than calling the veracity of the Bible into question because I don't understand a passage, or because I don't agree with what God said or did, I will pray for more Holy Spirit insight. I choose to believe that God, in His grace and mercy, has provided me with all that I need in Scripture (accurately but not necessarily exhaustively, as Grudem put it) to live best as a follower of Jesus.