oddXian: Challenge the Consensus

The Sequence of Salvation ----- I put this together as a resource - I hope it is helpful :) Before Time: God’s Eternal Plan God knows you and your willingness to seek Him Before anything existed, God already knew you and your heart’s potential for openness toward Him (Psalm 139:1-4; Isaiah 46:10). God chooses you for eternal life Out of His love and grace, God chooses you to be with Him forever (Ephesians 1:4-5; Romans 9:11-16; Acts 13:48). God gives you to Jesus to save God the Father gives you to Jesus, who promises to redeem you and bring you into His family (John 6:37-39; John 17:6-9). God plans to make you like Jesus God’s plan is not only to save you but to make you reflect Jesus’ love and character (Romans 8:29-30). God decides where you belon...

Christ’s Sword: A Sharper Blade than Hitchens’ Razor Christ’s Sword: A Sharper Blade than Hitchens’ Razor In a world filled with competing claims and philosophies, discerning truth requires a reliable standard. Christopher Hitchens, a well-known atheist, proposed Hitchens’ Razor , a popular principle of skepticism: “What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” While this principle encourages critical thinking, it is ultimately limited. By restricting evidence to material or empirical forms, Hitchens’ Razor dismisses metaphysical, moral, and spiritual realities that cannot be reduced to the natural world. It fails to address the foundational questions of meaning, purpose, and morality. In contrast, Christ’s Sword —a Biblical framework rooted in the...

Age of the Earth, Cosmos, and Life I find myself outside the traditional camps of both YEC and OEC, while still being a staunch anti-macroevolutionist. Here’s how my view diverges/converges: 1. I believe we are in an code-based (e.g., logic, math, genetics) externally rendered reality that resembles a procedurally generated virtual world with layered time/aging and occasional incursion (i.e., miracles) by the Designer 2. I hold to a literal 6 day-24hr Creation span with the cosmos generated on day 4 with actual age while the earth progressed on a 24 hour timeframe 3. I believe there was no death among animal kinds in the harmonious and ecologically balanced pre-Fall era, with carnivore attributes emerging in post-Fall species 4. I think significant time elapsed between Creation and the Fall, making it even more tragic and allowing for significant speciation (microevolution) among kinds. 5. I believe that the Flood was another layered aging event between geological (accelerated aging) a...

The Christotelic framework, which places Christ as the center and culmination of God’s eternal purposes ( telos ), finds profound theological depth in the Hebrew concept of yada (יָדַע). Unlike abstract or speculative approaches, yada reminds us that God's intimate, sovereign, and relational knowledge precedes and determines the unfolding of redemptive history. History, therefore, is not shaped by contingency or hypothetical "possible worlds" but by God's sovereign decree and eternal purpose to glorify Christ through His people. Yada: Sovereign Knowledge That Shapes History In Scripture, yada represents more than intellectual awareness or foresight; it is an intimate, covenantal knowledge. This knowing is relational and creative, meaning it establishes and defines reality rather than simply observing it. For example: Creative Knowing: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew [ yada ] you” (Jeremiah 1:5). Covenantal Knowing: “You only hav...

Christotelism is a theological framework that centers on God’s eternal purpose to glorify the Son through the redemption of a people, while emphasizing the relational harmony of the Trinity, the sovereign work of grace, and God’s intimate foreknowledge of human disposition (willingness or resistance). This framework is rooted in Scripture, interpreting key texts with an emphasis on Trinitarian harmony, God’s sovereign purposes, and the Christ-centered telos (goal). Below is a hermeneutical defense of Christotelism, grounded in a coherent interpretation of biblical themes. 1. Christ-Centered Telos Scriptural Foundation Colossians 1:16-18: "All things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together... so that in everything He might have the supremacy." This passage establishes Christ as the telos, or ultimate purpose, of all creation. Christotelism identifies this ...

Introducing Christotelism: A Biblical and Refined View Introducing Christotelism: A Biblical and Refined View of God’s Eternal Plan The Core of Christotelism At its heart, Christotelism centers on the Father’s desire and purpose ( telos ) to maximally glorify the Son by creating, redeeming, and transforming a people who willingly commune with Him. This eternal plan unfolds in five key stages: Initiation: The Father’s sovereign decision to create a world that would glorify the Son through a redeemed family. Conceptualization: The Father’s foreknowledge, election, and predestination, incorporating relational knowledge of human dispositions (willingness or resistance). Mediation: The Son’s central role as mediator, accomplishing redemption through His life, death, and resurrection. Actualization: The Spirit’s transformative work in regene...

Foreknowledge and Actualization: The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Father’s Eternal Plan Foreknowledge and Actualization: The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Father’s Eternal Plan Abstract This study examines the theological interplay between divine foreknowledge and actualization within a Trinitarian framework, positing that foreknowledge is best understood as conceptualization , and that the Holy Spirit serves as the agent of actualization . Rooted in linguistic analysis of the Hebrew יָדַע (yada) and Greek προγινώσκω (proginosko) , the argument highlights how God’s eternal plans are conceived by the Father, mediated by the Son, and brought to fruition by the Spirit. This synthesis integrates the doctrines of divine foreknowledge, Trinitarian roles, and the Spirit’s work in creation, redemption, and sanctification, offering a coherent framework that aligns with Scripture and systematic theology. ...

Mocking Genius: A Response to Critics of Biological Design Mocking Genius: A Response to Critics of Biological Design Introduction Modern scientific critics often deride the concept of biological design, pointing to what they see as "flaws" in nature to dismiss the idea of an intelligent designer. They cite examples like the human eye’s blind spot or the recurrent laryngeal nerve’s route as evidence of “poor engineering.” Yet, this critique often reveals more about the critic’s limited understanding than about any genuine deficiencies in biological systems. It’s akin to a third grader mocking Einstein for not solving equations their way—ignorance scoffing at genius. The Arrogance of Simplistic Criticism Imagine handing a complex, self-replicating machine to someone who’s only ever used basic tools. If they fail to understand its intricate design, are they qualified to declare it broken? Critics o...

Preserving the Word of God: Faith in the Spirit Over Modern Criticism Preserving the Word of God: Faith in the Spirit Over Modern Criticism The Bible is the inspired Word of God, foundational to Christian faith, and has been preserved and transmitted through history for thousands of years. Yet, modern approaches to studying its text, such as textual criticism, have brought challenges. While these methods aim to reconstruct the Bible’s “original text,” they often reflect human assumptions and can unintentionally undermine confidence in Scripture. Christians should approach these claims with discernment, keeping their trust firmly in God and the Holy Spirit—the true Steward of Truth . The Bible’s Reliability: A Divine Promise Scripture is unique because it is “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16), given to humanity not just for historical record but for teaching, correction, and the revelation of God’s truth. The Bible affirms that it is not merely a...