Required reading
Dogmatic Theology Vol 3 by William G.T. Shedd (Available from Amazon or here) - Continue Theology (Doctrine of God) by reading up to the paragraph commencing 'VOL. I., p. 476. Grave, in his Spicilegium Patrum....' (page 204 of my edition).
My summary
Today in Shedd's theology chapter we hear about:
(i) common and special grace;
(ii) preterition of a part of mankind;
(iii) God's final end as his glory;
(iv) creation Exodus nihilo.
What grabbed me
I liked the defence of God's glory: 'A common objection to the doctrine that God’s final end in all that he does is his own glory is that this is selfishness, and God is compared with man in proof. Should man do this, he would be actuated by egotism and self-love. But the argument from analogy between God and man cannot be carried beyond the communicable attributes. It stops at the incommunicable. We can argue from human justice to divine justice, from human benevolence to divine, etc., because man has these attributes by virtue of being made in the divine image. But neither man nor angel has the attributes of infinity, eternity, immensity, and omnipotence. These are incapable of degrees or of being bestowed upon a creature. There is no inferior degree of eternity or infinity, etc. These make no part of the divine image in which man was created. In such cases there must be the whole of the attribute or none of it. Consequently, to reason from analogy in regard to the incommunicable attributes of God is false reasoning, because there is no analogy.'
God's ways are not our ways. Enough said.
Next week's reading
Continue Theology (Doctrine of God) by reading up to the paragraph commencing 'VOL. I., p. 521. Carpenter (Physiology, 941-948) mentions the following facts in proof of the original unity of the human species...' (page 225 of my edition).
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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