We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
Thou Shalt Not Fear Science-Part II
Yesterday I called your attention to Bev Mitchell’s essay in which he integrated science and theology as he reflected on power and love. This is part II of his essay and it’s on the limiting conditions of creation. It’s a fascinating speculative reflection on why God’s creation is the way it is and what our role is in it. What I appreciate most about Mitchell’s reflections is that, at a time when most theologians and Christian scientists are hesitant to talk about Satan, let alone ascribe to him anything like the authority the New Testament and early church ascribed to him, Bev gets that we cannot reconcile nature as we now find it with the character of God revealed in Christ unless we accept that spiritual warfare is woven into the very fabric of the cosmos.
In this essay you’ll see a working out of C.S.Lewis bold statement: “At every moment, every inch of the cosmos is claimed by Satan and counter-claimed by God.” (my paraphrase).
Enjoy!
~Greg
Image by carulmare. Used in accordance with Creative Commons. Sourced via Flickr.
Category: General
Tags: Problem of Evil, Warfare Worldview
Related Reading
What Is The Warfare Worldview?
Greg has written extensively on something he calls the Warfare Worldview. Many today believe that everything that takes place in the world is ultimately part of a divine blueprint and contributes in some way to the glory of God. As opposed to this view, Greg argues that wills other than God’s are responsible for evil…
Did Jesus Believe in Satan?
Jesus’ teaching, his exorcisms, his healings and other miracles, as well as his work on the cross, all remain somewhat incoherent and unrelated to one another until we interpret them as acts of war. As in apocalyptic thought of the time of Jesus, the assumption that undergirds Jesus’ entire ministry is that Satan has illegitimately…
Grieving with the God who Pulled the Trigger?
Lawrence Krauss recently wrote a thought-provoking, soul-searching essay for CNN Opinion entitled, “Why must a nation grieve with God?” Krauss was disturbed by a comment made by President Obama at a memorial service for the victims of the tragedy at Newtown CT. Commenting on Jesus’ statement to “Let the little children come to me,” Obama opined:…
Why Did God Allow Evil?
Is it possible to force people to love? Powerful people may be able to force others to do just about anything. Through psychological or physical torture, they may succeed in forcing them to curse their own children to deny their faith. They may even succeed in forcing others to act and say loving things to…
The Point of the Book of Job
The point of the book of Job is to teach us that the mystery of evil is a mystery of a war-torn and unfathomably complex creation, not the mystery of God’s all-controlling will. Given how Christians are yet inclined to look for a divine reason behind catastrophes and personal tragedies, I think it’s a point…
What are the main principles of the warfare worldview?
In my book God At War (IVP, 1997) I flesh out what I call the “warfare worldview” of the Bible. This is the view that the world is a battle ground between God and good angels, on the one hand, and Satan and fallen angels, on the other. In my book Satan and the Problem…