More on being "Post-Reformed"

Cartee Bales has joined in on the Post-Reformed discussion with an article entitled That is SO 1516!, posted at his One Denarius blog. Here are some excerpts.

"...When we think we have it all figured out, when we have God in a "box" where we can understand Him and have thick systematics and long histories that enable our perfectly-fitted knowledge of God, it is we who are in the box. Whether it is 1517 or 2004, or 790BC, this attitude ignores God's active presence in our lives, transforming us into the image of Christ (2 Co 3:18). It can also lead us into some really goofy logical deductions that become accepted theological formulations (i.e., if God wants to save people in Nepal, He can do it Himself). In other words, this attitude drives us right out of the arms of God and back to our own self-sufficiency, and our own errors, which is idolatry.

Post-reformed -- to my mind -- is a heart that gets "out of the box" and into the fresh wind of God's Spirit and the truth of His word. It is a heart that says, "I cannot know God fully here, and am therefore open to understanding my faith in the light of Scripture (Sola Scriptura), with the help of the Spirit, in conversation on the way with others on the way." It does not ignore the Reformation by any means, but it takes its best understanding and its earnest desire to return to the living God. It is a heart that gets me over myself, my biases, my presuppositions, my recalcitrant positions, my own sinfulness, and brings me square into the "...light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Co 4:6). Nothing less. It is a heart that is willing to say -- and to listen to -- "let's talk."..." (Complete article found here. )

This article echos and expresses a number of my own thoughts. I have long come to the conclusion that if being "Reformed" means what some so called "Reformed" people say it means, then I am not "Reformed", nor do not want to be "Reformed". In getting "out of the box", I've found the fresh wind to be spiritually invigorating. Sola Deo Gloria!

~ The Billy Goat ~