Inquiring After God Through Friendship – Caroline J. Simon

TH 291

10/21/04

evangelical – Charry’s definition

• broad word
• modern group that stems from Karl Henry who founded Fuller in 1940s.
• Christianity Today, Calvin college, Wheaton, Grove-City college, Gordon-Conwell seminary
• to preserve a strong sense of mostly reformed theology
• conservative
• not necessarily fundamentalist
• biggest name – Billy Graham
• broad term – now means nothing more than people who like Billy Graham
• Biblical orientation toward piety and doctrine
• conversion plays important role but is not
• roots – 18^th century evangelicalism (Jonathan Edwards)
• very American phenomenon

Europe - evangelical simply means Protestant

Middle East –

PCA – more doctrine on inerrancy, more conservative

old labels do not fit due to shifting/change/rethinking

best criticism is self-criticism

Caroline J Simon

Story in the chapter

• loyalty liberates (kept secret)
• great-receiving grace – Reformed
• Annie is instrument of divine grace that liberates (Reformed theme)

Definition of destiny

• root in Greco-Roman world
• Calvin – trained in Roman Stoicism, showed obedience to divine will
• telos – the final end, has to do with one’s purpose (the goal)
• Caroline Simon – not the image of God

Destiny by Caroline Simon

• what God intends but does not compel
• JL – did Simon decide to follow Jesus or did Jesus call Simon without option (irresistible grace)

fiction-making

• self-created narrative but not the true self
• unconnected to the true self
• what is the difference between fiction-making and destiny?
• discernment in this?

redemption

• “divine zapping”?
• redemption is a process instead of a zapping

THIS IS WHY THEOLOGY MATTERS

• challenge – get theology straight
• challenge – think about what a theology will do to people in different circumstances
• first rule of medicine – DO NO HARM

TWO MAJOR DOCTRINES

• trinity
• incarnation