Dr Paul Allen

Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber to be an example of a charismatic religious leader. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God , who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12–13). We compare the teachings of Islam with the teachings of Christianity by looking at the fatherhood of God . Christians from all theological traditions look at the intimate relationship we can have with God as His children as one of the most important privileges granted to His people. Many passages in the Qur’an explicitly deny the fact that God can be Father to those who follow Him. To be Father, many of these passages say, would imply some kind of sexual and physical fatherhood, and thus this idea is rejected in Islam. Muslims consider it blasphemous to call God “Father” and can have difficulty relating to the Christian meaning behind this subject....

We are all fallen. No one is righteous. It is so bad no one can save themselves. Romans 8:7-8 . We are morally unable to please God . Ephesians 2:1-10 . You were dead. If you are a Christian , you have been raised from the dead. You didn’t do that. London is filled with millions of people who are dead. When it comes to racial harmony, a major implication of this doctrine is that no matter what your race, you are equally dead without Christ . Hell will be racially diverse. Romans 2:9 . Evey color will be there. We are all depraved. We are all lost. We are all dying of the same disease. This should humble us for our own sin. If I am as dead as the most evil person, I should be less proud and more gracious to others. You cannot be more dead than dead. No ethnic group has any edge at all. God almighty before the foundation of the world chose to save you. Acts 13:48 . “Those who were ordained to eternal life believed.” God’s decision was why they believed. It’s totally uncondi...

Christ Pantocrator study (Photo credit: DUCKMARX ) Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” ( 2 Timothy 1:9 ) Our “calling” (Greek klesis) to follow Christ was not a matter of human decision, and certainly not one based on human works, for it was issued in Christ before He had even created us. In some inscrutable way, we were a part of His eternal purpose, and it was altogether by His grace . We were “chosen . . . before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” ( Ephesians 1:4 ). Our calling is therefore a most “holy calling,” that is, a sacred calling to be consecrated and separated unto God. It is, moreover, a “heavenly calling,” one originated in heaven, by our heavenly Father , centered in His divine will and purpose. In the Father’s sight, in Christ Jesus, we are nothing less than...

Image via Wikipedia "For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." ( Acts 17:28 )   "The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man" was a religious cliché promoted for many years, especially by religious liberals in the period between the two world wars. However, continuing hostilities between and inside most nations now make the idea of universal brotherhood in this present world almost farcical.   The fact is, however, that God truly is the Father of all men, in the sense that He created them all. "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?" ( Malachi 2:10 ). That was the rhetorical question posed to Israel in the last book of the Old Testament . In the New Testament the apostle Paul confirmed the same great truth to the pagan Gentiles . "|God| hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth," and "we are th...