DOCTRINE: The Most Important Doctrine in the Bible!

Recently I listened to Stan Buckley (First Baptist Church of Jackson, FL) as he related an anecdote concerning a question put to him when he was a young minister; a mentor ask him, "What is the most important doctrine in the Bible?"

He immediately saw an opportunity to impress his elder-peer with a quick response; he said "Salvation." His friend said, "No, that is not it!" Several others followed and each time he was told, "No, that is not it!"

Finally, in frustration, he pleaded, "Well, what then?" To which his companion said, "The doctrine of sin is the most important doctrine in the Bible!"

As entertaining as this anecdote is, I would strongly disagree. I believe "the doctrine of the fear of God" is the most important doctrine in the bible (see Proverbs 1:7 and Romans 3:18).

This doctrine involves both the doctrine of salvation and the doctrine of sin; it is that which leads to a knowledge of our absolute depravity and God's absolute holiness, as-well-as, our need for forgiveness and salvation ... rebirth cannot occur without it (in my opinion).

Christianity, Doctrine, Religion

DOCTRINE: The Knowledge of God

THE FOLLOWING POST IS A CONCEPTUAL WORK-IN-PROGRESS ...

If God, with reference to His omniscience, foreknows the potential of every thought, word, feeling, and deed, does He need to specifically know the ending (i.e., outcome) of each in order to retain fully His divine sovereignty over the affairs of man? Since He is surprised by nothing, the answer would seem to be no!

I would suggest the knowledge of a "potential" thing (for an infinite and omniscient being) is axiomatically the same thing as knowledge of the outcome itself.

God's providential and permissive wills (actually one coin, two sides), as we understand them orthodoxly, are unmolested with this view. It seems to me (on the surface) this view is not a variation of Open Theism, a doctrine I strongly reject.

He knew Adam's potential to sin in the Garden; He permitted him the free will to do so. God also knew the potential of the Tower of Babel; He providentially intervened to moderate the future of mankind.

I sense in my spirit, insisting on His exhaustive foreknowledge of every outcome diminishes or qualifies His infinite nature and His divine attributes, not to mention the damage done to His power to create, without flaw, a natural order perfect with respect to Himself and not man.

COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED ...

Christianity, Doctrine, Religion, Theology