Russell A. Cardwell Online

Found another cool theological quiz. I scored a tie between Anselm and Charles Finney. As with the previous quiz, I have some reservations about the results. I agree with both these Finney and Anselm in some important ways, but I also disagree with both in other important ways. As for charges of Pelagianism against Finney; these are purely unfounded—hyper-Calvinist mud-slinging. The same charges could be leveled for the same reasons against any of Finney’s evangelical antecedents, including Billy Graham and all the branches of the theological tree related to evangelical and Arminian theology, including Wesleyans and Charismatics. His legacy embraces the gamut of contemporary Evangelical Christianity, from the Right, such as Falwell, to the Left, such as Wallis. As a former president of Wheaton College said (referring to Finney’s heirs, such as the Vineyard movement, the Promise Keepers movement, televangelism, revivalism, and the Church Growth Movement), “Finney lives on!”

Nevertheless, I think Finney overreacted to the hyper-Calvinism of his day. His critics charge that he erred by deemphasizing the importance of Christ’s atonement on the cross, and the doctrine of justification by faith alone (sola fide). In his Systematic Theology he said that he fully embraced the Calvinist tenet of “Preservation of the Saints” (eternal security), but stated that he had more difficulty formulating his views on it than on any other point in theology. The accusations of Pelagianism are belied by Finney’s strong affirmation of the belief in justification through grace by faith alone, not by works or obedience. He believed that good works were the evidence of faith, and that continued sin was evidence that the person had never had saving faith to begin with. Thus his strong emphasis on continued personal holiness, a position he supported by 1 Corinthians 5.

As for Anselm, I was strongly influenced in my early 20’s by his ontological argument for the existence of God. Anselm’s reasonable approach to theology is very appealing (especially to a rationalist like me), but ultimately falls short. I was also during that time, strongly influenced by William James, who insisted that all beliefs must be tested and weighed for practical value; those that have no practical value should be discarded. While many Christians may object to such pragmatism, you would never have gotten me through the door of faith without tangible evidence of its positive results. I submit that everyone who chooses salvation does so initially for practical reasons, if only for the assurance of their eternal reward. I continue to be very pragmatic about my theology.

Those who denigrate reason, saying we are to have blind faith instead, are more than simply champions of ignorance. The word, logos, translated in our Bibles as word, means reason. John 1:1-3 says:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Jesus, he says, is the incarnation of reason (logos), and through him, the incarnation of reason everything in the universe was made. Reason is also identified with God here. John does not say that God has reason, or that God does reason, but that God is reason. Fundamentalism, and other radical fideist theologies, in their denial of reason, are denying God, Jesus, and the Bible. Daniel Kolak, in In Search of God, argues that faith that does not stem from a rational choice is not genuine faith. People who simply hold a set of beliefs taught or imposed by others, without the freedom to question and investigate them, is holding beliefs that are not truly their own. They have been psychologically conditioned to accept a view, rather than choosing it themselves. Thus faith without reason is not genuine faith. and if salvation is through faith, then such people are not genuinely saved after all, despite the vehemence with which they may defend their views.

Reason alone falls short, however, and Anselm himself pointed this out, writing that “unless I first believe, I shall not understand.” Faith comes first. It is a deliberate act. You cannot arrive at it through reason. Mark Twain paraphrased Hebrews 11:1 as “Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.” Salvation is not by reason, but by faith. Once we have been saved, and received the Holy Spirit, the spirit bears witness within us. I agree with Augustine, Anselm and Thomas Aquinas (The A-Team?) that reason itself begins with faith. Aquinas said that “faith presupposes natural knowledge, just as grace does nature and all perfections that which they perfect.” Although there are many things we can know about God through natural means, because of our limitations, there are many other things we cannot know except through faith.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.—1 Corinthians 13:12

And how can I resist quoting another great philosopher of our time:

“I refuse to prove that I exist,” says God.

—Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

I’m surprised I scored so high John Calvin, with whom I strongly disagree. And that I scored so low on Paul Tillich and Jonathan Edwards, whom I admire greatly.

Anyway. A rather long introduction to this post of test results. It didn’t start out that way, but I got carried away. While I don’t fully endorse the results I got, the test is rather fun, and certainly will get you thinking about some details of theology you may not often think about. I certainly don’t think about this stuff very much: I’m way too busy living it.

Which theologian are you?created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Charles FinneyYou’re passionate about God and love to preach the Gospel. Your theology borders on pelagianism and it is said that if God were taken out of your theology, it would look exactly the same. Charles Finney 87% Anselm 87% John Calvin 67% Augustine 60% Friedrich Schleiermacher 53% Martin Luther 53% Karl Barth 47% Paul Tillich 40% Jürgen Moltmann 27% Jonathan Edwards 20%

• No related posts

Found a cool quiz that tests your theological worldview. I don’t know that I entirely agree with the results I received. Also, many of the questions would be difficult for the layperson to answer. But it’s interesting nonetheless. My results:

• New Questions Demand New Answers
• The Best Argument Against Christianity
• Anselm or Finney?

This is amazing! Looking at my site statistics on Google Analytics, I found this list of cities where my visitors have come from in the past 30 days. These are in order from most visits to least. Naturally my neighborhood, Beaumont, came in first. But the next few listings came as a complete surprise:

1. Beaumont
2. Point Reyes Station
3. Winnipeg
4. Dublin
5. Jakarta
6. London
7. Houston
8. Atlanta
9. Dallas
10. Lancaster
11. San Francisco
12. Birmingham
13. Oakland
14. Jacksonville
15. Phoenix
16. Thames Ditton
17. Honolulu
18. Newark
19. Newton
20. Albany
21. Marseille
22. Luxembourg
23. Nanjing
24. Vienna
25. Taylor
26. Lodz
27. Timisoara
28. Charlottesville
29. Augsburg
30. Albuquerque
31. Sydney
32. Cleveland
33. Kingsport
34. Bridgetown
35. Perth
36. Watford
37. Lyon
38. Williamsport
39. Shanghai
40. Belleville
41. Hinckley
42. Portland
43. Roanoke
44. Beijing
45. Brisbane
46. Chattanooga
47. Plano
48. Pensacola
49. Columbia
50. West Palm Beach
51. Anchorage
52. Omaha
53. Santa Rosa
54. Birmingham
55. Oslo
56. Madrid
57. Tijuana
58. Portland
59. Madison
60. Oxford
61. Weehawken
62. Montreal
63. Bend
64. Dayton
65. Los Angeles
66. Amsterdam
67. Denver
68. Seattle
69. Littleton
70. Baton Rouge
71. Louisville
72. Manila
73. Melbourne
74. Ft Worth
75. Tarrytown
76. Pennsauken
77. Mountain Home
78. Montgomery
79. Texarkana
80. Milton Keynes
81. Auckland
82. Maidenhead
83. Philadelphia
84. Boston
85. Greensboro
86. Chicago
87. Cork
88. Singapore
89. Makati
90. Reston
91. Columbus
92. Appleton

I’m not even sure what countries some of these cities are in.

Although I am officially banned in China, like many Christian sites, (You can confirm that at the Great Firewall of China) from the presence of such entries as Nanjing, Shanghai, and Beijing, I see that a few are able to get through and to read my site illegally.

It also told me that the most popular article by far during the past 30 days has been Six Principles for Godly Choices, followed by Do Not Let Your Fire Go Out, which is just a quotation (though apparently a very popular one), and Six Principles for Godly Choices, Slight Return. This tends to confirm my belief that people are looking for the same answers I’ve been looking for, How to Live Godly Lives in a Fallen World. And, like me, they aren’t finding those answers in the local church. When I find more answers, I’ll provide them. But I’m still looking. And the local churches don’t seem to have those answers. (Some churches don’t even seem to know the questions.)

I also learned that my average daily visits over the past year have gone from the low 30s to over 200 per day! I’ve done no advertising. What happened?

Anyway, if you have a website and don’t have Google Analytics, you seriously need to get’cha some. It’s free. And this is only a small part of the info it provides.

This is awesome! This little site I started a few years ago to announce the release of a CD, has turned into a Global Ministry! I am humbled and awed and amazed.

• The Lord is My Global Positioning System
• Cluelessness: The Key to Freedom?
• Success Covers Sin?
• The Gate Before; the Gate Behind
• Preparing His Servants

Neuroscientists are learning that morality and altruism are hard-coded into the human brain: If It Feels Good to Be Good, It Might Be Only Natural - washingtonpost.com.

There is nothing new under the sun:

Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.

—Romans 2:14-15

• God’s Palms
• Our Restless Hearts
• God’s Word and God’s Works
• And Still, and Still
• Used for God’s Love

Have a look at this collection of strange search-engine queries. The list goes on and on seemingly endlessly. And they are coupled with comments ranging from incisive to insanely hilarious. I wasted a whole evening reading this stuff.

Be careful not to throw up from laughing too hard.

The blog these archives are on is one of the best in the blogosphere: dustbury.com.

(And, no, I’m not going to disclose what strange search-engine query landed me on this page.)

((Maybe sometime I’ll put something up here about my fondness for googlewhacking.))

• Weird Search Engine Phrases
• November 20, 2005
• God’s Word and God’s Works
• Half Full or Half Empty?
• Cluelessness: The Key to Freedom?

Here’s a report on some scientific research into the benefits of gratitude:

Gratitude Theory: Researchers find the virtues of gratitude include good health.

And a blog that references the article:

more on gratitude ~ “Gratitude Theory”

Here’s another article on the psychological benefits of practicing gratitude:

Cultivating Gratitude: An Interview with Robert Emmons, Ph.D.

In 2005, about a month after the hurricane, I did some exercises from ReflectiveHappiness.com, which focused on recording and describing a list of blessings experienced each day. I can verify that doing this on a daily basis for several weeks brought me quickly back from a very dark depression. The immediate aftermath of the storm had been a period of intense activity, excitement, and camaraderie with fellow early-responders. But after a month, the glamor wore off and the sense of adventure paled. Driving around this devastated community, I was pummeled by an awareness that things would never be back to the way they were, and the life I knew would never be the same. I grieved intensely for what was already lost, and for what in my prescience I could foretell would soon be gone. There had been much to lose, after all. Little of it was material—not the important parts, anyway. I saw it slipping away.

Anyway, it was a very depressing time for me. Developing the practice of “counting my blessings” every day quickly alleviated the dark mood and enabled me to carry on with renewed strength. i have continued the practice off and on since then. And in October, 2006, I started keeping a book to record miracles and special blessings whenever they occur.

Gratitude works!

John Henry Jowett, the English pastor who served for many years at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, said, “Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic.” Researchers are now beginning to discover scientifically a truth that religious leaders have taught for millennia.

And gratitude is the beginning of discipleship. In Romans 12:1, Paul says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” Gratitude is the end of religion and empty ritual, and the start of a genuine relationship with God. In gratitude for all that God has done for us, to give ourselves wholly and without reservation to him, is true worship. Only then we can begin to experience the benefits of the indwelling Spirit of God:

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

—Galatians 5:22-23

Gratitude is the key that unbars the gates to God’s favor, and releases the flood of blessings that God has in store for those who love him. Gratitude births joy and wholehearted love for God, the qualities that made David a man after God’s own heart. Gratitude enables us to live the kind of life God blesses.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

—Colossians 3:12-17

Henri Nouen (whose birthday is today) said: “God is always active in our lives. God always calls, always asks us to take up our crosses and follow. But do we see, feel, and recognize that call or do we keep waiting for that illusory moment when it will really happen?”

What are you waiting for?

• God’s Word and God’s Works
• Satan’s Garage Sale
• Trust and Obey
• Ask, Knock
• What Ships are Built For