Dr Paul Allen

Recent years have witnessed a growing debate over classical theism—the doctrine of the triune God found in the Nicene Creed, the Definition of Chalcedon, and in the Reformed confessions. Authors such as James Dolezal in his book All That Is in God have pointed out how prominent evangelical and Reformed theologians are redefining and/or rejecting various elements of the classical doctrine of God such as the attributes of simplicity, immutability, and impassibility. Many Christians, however, wonder whether this debate has any relevance outside the ivory towers of academia.  How does understanding attributes such as divine simplicity or immutability or eternity help me to share the gospel with my lost neighbour who has never opened a single theological book in his life?  These kinds of questions are unfortunate, but they are also entirely understandable. For centuries now, serious theology has been divorced from the life of the church and is considered to be only an academic discipline. T

What was God doing before He created the world? Some people would answer that perhaps He was lonely. And being lonely, He needed to fill that empty hole in His heart. So, maybe He decided to create the world so He could have fellowship with others. Now that the world is here, God is not so lonely anymore. Because of us, He feels fulfilled and whole. This answer is common. It can be heard in many churches today, articulated by well-meaning Christians. Please brace yourself, because I have something shocking to say: God does not need you. He doesn’t need you, He doesn’t need me, and He doesn’t need anyone or anything in this world. In fact, He doesn’t need the world at all. God is not a needy God. It’s not as if He was bored, twiddling His thumbs, desperately lonely before He created the world. God is not dependent on the world for His existence, nor is He dependent on the world for His happiness and self-fulfilment. Instead, He possesses life in and of Himself. More precisely, H

It’s essential that we understand the love of God in conjunction with the other attributes of God . God’s love, for instance, is holy love. But all of the attributes of God come into play as well, even His eternity. God’s love, like God Himself, is eternal. When we talk about God’s eternity, we’re talking about something greater than duration.  When we say God is eternal, we are saying that God is self-existent, that He has no beginning. He derives His existence or His being from no other source; rather, He has the power to be in and of Himself. He’s not dependent upon anything outside Himself for His own life or being. There is no point at which God began. Before God ever made a world, He already existed. And the Scriptures make clear that as He existed from all eternity, there was already in His nature from all eternity the attribute of love. God didn’t become loving at the time of creation, for He has always been a God of love. Since that’s the case, and since there was n