John D. Chitty
“The Misadventures of Captain Headknowledge” -- Rescuing victims of villainous theology since 2006. "I'm from Geneva, and I'm here to help!"
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Mid Cities OPC Sermon Podcast
- The Prodigal Who Didn't Return (2 Samuel 18:1-33) May 22, 2022On Sunday, May 22, 2022, Pastor Joe Troutman preached "The Prodigal Who Didn't Return" from 2 Samuel 18:1-33. "God will never permit his Kingdom to fail because he loves each person in it." 1. On the Offensive (vs. 1-8) 2. An Unexpected End (vs. 9-18) 3. Messengers of Joy and Sorrow (vs. 19-33) mcopc.org/podcast
- The Incredible Blessing of Forgiveness from God (Psalm 32) May 15, 2022On Sunday, May 15, 2022, Rev. Joe Keller preached "The Incredible Blessing of Forgiveness from God" (Psalm 32). 1. David's Experience with Concealing Sin (vs. 1-5) 1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 […]
- The Israel of God (Matthew 2:13-23) May 8, 2022On Sunday, May 8, 2022, Pastor Joe Troutman preached "The Israel of God" from Matthew 2:13-23. "This passage calls us to confess Jesus as our King and Savior who gives salvation to all who repent and believe in him." 1. Into Exile (vs. 13-15) Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, […]
- The Confusion of Our Enemies (2 Samuel 16:15-17:29) May 1, 2022On Sunday, May 1, 2022, Pastor Joe Troutman preached "The Confusion of Our Enemies" from 2 Samuel 16:15-17:29. "No matter how difficult your life may get, remember that God has ordained the defeat of all of his and our enemies." 1. Confounded by Counsel (vs. 16:15-17:14) 2. Protection and Provision (vs. 17:15-29) mcopc.org/podcast
- Delivered from Despair (Psalm 22) April 24, 2022On Sunday, April 24, 2022, Rev. Joe Keller preached "Delivered from Despair" from Psalm 22. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning? My God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, by night, yet I have no rest. But you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Our ancestors tr […]
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The “Origen” of Rob Bellion
HT: Sola Sisters
Bound up in the recent controversy over Rob Bell’s popularization of universal reconciliation is the New Testament term, apokatastasis. This word is found in Acts 3:21:
Orthodoxy defines this term in accordance with the context of the word in its passage, its book, and the broader context of the Bible’s history of the redemptive work of God. The ESV Study Bible, therefore, illuminates this usage of the word in the following way:
Universalists like Origen and those who buy into his notion of universal reconciliation, however, prefer to read ancient Hellenistic philosophy into the term in order to wrest it from its biblical context. In Quodlibet Journal, an apparent proponent of Origen’s view, Edward Moore, writes in “Origen of Alexandria and apokatastasis: Some Notes on the Development of a Noble Notion“,
In my humble opinion, Origen wasn’t terribly successful at undermining the Hellenistic associations of the word. It would be more accurate to conclude that what he actually did was reconcile the Bible’s usage with its prior usage by pagan Greek philosophers (that went on a lot in the ancient church, with greater and lesser degrees of success). Origen basically (and I do mean basic) believed in the pre-existence of absolutely free souls as springing originally from God, freely falling into our current state of relative goodness or its antithesis (see Moore’s article), being guided by the instructive providence of God to relearn how to embrace “the Good,” even if this means some time in hell under God’s pedagogical judgment until such a time in the distant future, in which that free soul ultimately embraces the Good and is finally reconciled, or returned to the deified state from which he fell. As I read the many reviews of Rob Bell’s book (here’s Kevin DeYoung’s review, for example) that are now all over the interwebs, I couldn’t help but recognize some of these themes as being reflected in their citations of Bell’s teaching. It was kind of creepy.
I wonder how long it’ll take for the rest of Origen’s views regarding apokatastasis to be released by HarperOne under Bell’s name.
Remember, students, “Rob Bellion is as the sin of witchcraft.”
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