All tagged prayer of praise
God created the universe, and planet earth, with an inherent quality of free-play. Free-play is where energies, gravity, animals, weather and more all have their ability to move and be and impact reality. Given that, is life a matter of chance? Still more, is life a matter of unruly randomness? Both the Reformed and the Arminians have a high emphasis on the sovereignty of God; too often that is taken so that God is a kind of secrete puppet-master. But that doesn't jive with the existence of free-play. So how do we go about making sense of all those apparently competing elements? That's the aim of this show. I roll out a high view of God's sovereignty in light of the existence of free-play, chance, and even randomness. Let's laugh together as we think about complex matters!
How is God present in and for His creation? Traditionally, that has been addressed through Christological categories. Our theologian for this episode, Wolfhart Pannenberg, presses us to consider that it is God's Spirit who is immanent (in, with, for, to) regarding creation. What does that look like? Is it biblically based? We also examine Pannenberg for his eschatological (end times) perspectives on Holy Spirit. Pannenberg was an intersting and courageous man; he stood for objective truth all-the-while he taught inside of ardently secular German universities. At the show's beginning I talk about a recent ban of Hillsdale College, share my reflections on the 2024 total solar eclipse, and reflect on what a Holy Spirit-driven earth care might look like compared to today's religious Green movement. Come think and laugh with me!
