Q&A#96 Election in Ephesians 1
December 9, 2018
Alastair Roberts
Today's question: "Trying to understand Eph. 1 and was wondering if you could help. Paul seems to be addressing the visible/historical church in Ephesus. If my assumption is right then he is saying that the people in the visible church of Ephesus are predestined to adoption as sons, have redemption through Christ's blood, have been gifted with every spiritual blessing, etc. My trouble is that as a Calvinist I don't know how to make sense of the fact that he calls all of that visible church elect? Could you help me work through this important passage?"
My new blog for my podcasts and videos is found here: https://adversariapodcast.com/.
If you have any questions, you can leave them on my Curious Cat account: https://curiouscat.me/zugzwanged.
If you have enjoyed these talks, please tell your friends and consider supporting me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/zugzwanged. You can also support me using my PayPal account: https://bit.ly/2RLaUcB.
The audio of all of my videos is available on my Soundcloud account: https://soundcloud.com/alastairadversaria. You can also listen to the audio of these episodes on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/alastairs-adversaria/id1416351035?mt=2.
More From Alastair Roberts
Q&A#97 How Did I Change My Mind on Infant Baptism?
Alastair Roberts
December 11, 2018
Today's question:
"As you have shared in several places, you came from a Reformed Baptist theological background and later moved to an Anglican settin
Q&A#98 Should We Sing Happy Birthday to Jesus at Christmas?
Alastair Roberts
December 18, 2018
Today's question:
"I recently ran into a new (to me?) liturgical trend that seems to be suddenly ubiquitous, and that, at least initially caught me so
Q&A#99 Paul Maxwell on Masculinity Revisited
Alastair Roberts
December 19, 2018
I've been asked to give thoughts on this video/article by Paul Maxwell on evangelicalism and masculinity: https://selfwire.org/article/evangelical-cul
Q&A#95 Must the Pastor be a Gifted Theologian?
Alastair Roberts
December 8, 2018
Today's question:
"What do you think the relationship is between depth of theological understanding and being a good pastor?
Is it a straight one to
Q&A#94 What They Didn't Teach Me in My Formal Theological Education
Alastair Roberts
December 7, 2018
Today's question: "You mentioned in a video about training that key parts of your theological knowledge/training you had to work on yourself in your o
Q&A#93 Theological Training
Alastair Roberts
December 6, 2018
Today's question: "After your thread on Twitter RE: theological training, and given that you're currently back in the UK, could you share with us what
More on OpenTheo
Your Religion Prohibits You, Not Me
#STRask
August 26, 2024
Question about how to respond to a meme that says, “Your religion does not prohibit me from anything. It prohibits you. Learn the difference.”
* How
How Do We Know if the Good Things We Experience Are the Result of God’s Actions?
#STRask
October 7, 2024
Questions about how we know if the good things we experience are the result of God’s actions, whether something can be considered a miracle if it can
Do We Always Need to Make the Case that Christian Morality Is the Best Way to Live?
#STRask
September 26, 2024
Questions about whether Christians can simply say that God’s moral requirements are a show of loyalty to him rather than argue they’re the best way to
Good Samaritan Politics
Alastair Roberts
September 26, 2024
The following is a reading from this post: https://argosy.substack.com/p/25-good-samaritan-politics.
Follow our Substack, the Anchored Argosy at http
Does the Bible Explicitly Forbid Premarital Sex?
#STRask
September 30, 2024
Questions about whether the Bible explicitly forbids premarital sex and whether Song of Songs 2:4–6 promotes premarital sex.
* How should I respond
How Can I Help Someone Move Away from the Fact-Value Split?
#STRask
September 23, 2024
Questions about how to help a friend move away from his belief that objective facts about religious issues, unlike scientific facts, are “just someone
Isn’t It Better to Do Good for Goodness’ Sake?
#STRask
September 2, 2024
Questions about it being better to do good for goodness’ sake rather than to earn approval and avoid punishment and a good initial approach to take wi
How Is Biblical Inspiration Different from Automatic Writing?
#STRask
October 31, 2024
Questions about how biblical inspiration differs from automatic writing, whether or not we don’t know who wrote 74% of the New Testament, signing a ma
What Do I Tell a Child Who Feels Guilty for Not Wanting to Read the Bible?
#STRask
September 19, 2024
Questions about what to tell a child who feels guilty for not wanting to read the Bible because he finds it boring and confusing, what Bible was print
What Would You Say in a High School Graduation Speech?
#STRask
September 16, 2024
Questions about what we would say in a high school graduation speech if given the opportunity, how to talk to talk about eternity with a six-year-old
What Biblical Principles Should Guide How We Vote?
#STRask
October 21, 2024
Question about what biblical principles should guide how we vote.
* What biblical principles should guide how we vote?
How Would You Respond to the Current Mainstream View of the Historical Jesus?
#STRask
November 18, 2024
Questions about how to respond to the current mainstream view of the historical Jesus and the allegations that Jesus just ripped off material from anc
Guillermo Gonzalez: Earth is Designed for Discovery
Knight & Rose Show
October 26, 2024
Wintery Knight and Desert Rose welcome Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez to discuss the new 20th anniversary edition of "The Privileged Planet". Guillermo explai
What Does It Mean to Be an Evangelical? With Andrew Atherstone and David Ceri Jones
Life and Books and Everything
October 23, 2024
A few months ago, a prominent American scholar, Matthew Avery Sutton, published an article arguing there is no “through line” from Christians of the p
Where Did the Essence God Is Composed of Come From?
#STRask
September 5, 2024
Questions about where the essence God is composed of came from, whether God has the same choices other beings have and could choose not to exist, and