trying to find a theologian by his beliefs

[nathanielfirst]

hello, I am attempting to find a theologian with a certain viewpoint that is close to my own, so that I can defend my beliefs by reference to a more famous person than myself, if I ever have to... the specific belief I am trying to defend is:
I'm a bible christian, having read and reread it and I base my faith from the bible only, I don't virulently dislike any denomination but I base my faith on the book... and I believe that there may or may not be a trinity, there may or may not be predestination, that the holy spirit may or may not proceed from the father and the son or just the father, etc., on many issues where the scripture seems to be ambivalent I believe the may or may not... of course the existence of hell i definitly believe in, that Jesus was baptized and the holy spirit descended etc., I believe but on things like where the scripture contardicts, I think only that it is uncertain and that God even intends it to be so, and that it is important to SAY, maybe, maybe not, and you will probably not know till you die.
that is my view... but can anyone think of an author or theologian who says this? a single person, actually, cuz i figure disciples of christ or someone officially pushes it maybe?
thanks much if u know...

 

[mitchellmckain]

That does not sound to me all that much like you are looking for a theologian with a certain view point at all.

People who think through each issue of theology for themselves starting from scratch, are not all that common. But I would think that a person who does so would be ready to defend their beliefs themselves and not consider any reference to a "famous person" to be of much account. I fall into that category, and every "famous person" that I refer to and even laud as exemplary is not immune to my criticism as well.

Those who claim to base their faith on the Bible only are quite numerous and also quite diverse in the conclusions they come to even when they really and sincerely do as they claim. There is for example dispute on the question of hell -- not only whether it exists but perhaps more importantly on what exactly it is and how you get there. That phrase, "where scripture contradicts" is a very loaded one because I don't think there is anything on which you will find more disagreement on than this.

But I do agree with you on this idea that scripture is clear or obscure precisely to the degree that God intends, and I would even quote Matt 13:10-15, to show that it is entirely God's intention that scripture be understood by different people in different ways. So I do not think that God intends us to simply stop at any obscurity we percieve and give up, hiding our coin like the cautious servant in the parable of the talents who buried his coin so he could give it back to the master just as it was given him. God gave us eyes, ears and a brain and I think He intends us to use them to observe, listen and dig beneath the surface of things to discover what is hidden beneath the superficial appearances for ourselves.

If like me you were not raised Christian then you have at least dug enough to find something of value in the Bible, and if you were raised Christian then you have dug enough to question things you may have been taught, regardless you should keep going and dig some more.

 

[Biblestudent_007]

yes sure its called being a theologian of the Bible.

 

[simon kole]

hello, I am attempting to find a theologian with a certain viewpoint that is close to my own, so that I can defend my beliefs by reference to a more famous person than myself, if I ever have to... the specific belief I am trying to defend is:
I'm a bible christian, having read and reread it and I base my faith from the bible only, I don't virulently dislike any denomination but I base my faith on the book... and I believe that there may or may not be a trinity, there may or may not be predestination, that the holy spirit may or may not proceed from the father and the son or just the father, etc., on many issues where the scripture seems to be ambivalent I believe the may or may not... of course the existence of hell i definitly believe in, that Jesus was baptized and the holy spirit descended etc., I believe but on things like where the scripture contardicts, I think only that it is uncertain and that God even intends it to be so, and that it is important to SAY, maybe, maybe not, and you will probably not know till you die.
that is my view... but can anyone think of an author or theologian who says this? a single person, actually, cuz i figure disciples of christ or someone officially pushes it maybe?
thanks much if u know...

you might want to consider a theologian who can show you that what you think is ambivalent in the Scriptures is not.

 

[gdemoss]

so that I can defend my beliefs by reference to a more famous person than myself,

You are on the right track by trusting the bible only. Don't let it discourage you if you cannot find some famous person to back up what the bible is teaching you. The Pharisees were the famous theologians of their time. Paul used to worship Gamaliel and knew that the Pharisees did too, so he used his name in his defense in the book of Acts. Consider the following verses.

And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

So called Great Theologians are highly esteemed among men.

Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

The chances of these so called Great Theologians being false prophets is high. Consider the fact that heretics cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. The fact is that most well known theologians teach different doctrine from the others. If there is one that has it all right that makes the others heretics and therefore condemned to Hell. So much for being famous.

My suggestion: Keep reading and praying, especially praying that you are not deceived.

 

[Bob Dixon]

>implying hell is biblical

 

[angellous_evangellous]

I think that you'd be happy with Charles Swindoll, Charles Stanley, and if you like scholars I. Howard Marshall and Bruce Witherington.

But I'm wary of your request. If a theologian already believes what you want him to believe, why on earth would you bother to read him? You already know what he's going to say.

 

[Pegg]

basically what you are looking for is a theologian who doesnt claim to have any answers, no knowledge of what is or is not

I think you are looking for an agnostic, not a theologian.

 

[dan b]

basically what you are looking for is a theologian who doesnt claim to have any answers, no knowledge of what is or is not

I think you are looking for an agnostic, not a theologian.

Or a theology which does have all the answers and is only Bible based. You can find that here;

www.christianidentityrevealed2012.com

 

[Xian Catalyst]

If they teach that, then they are unorthodox, and the unorthodoxical aren't published much, UNLESS you suit some publishers agenda, and then you need to be sensationally in opposition to the Church.

hello, I am attempting to find a theologian with a certain viewpoint that is close to my own, so that I can defend my beliefs by reference to a more famous person than myself, if I ever have to... the specific belief I am trying to defend is:
I'm a bible christian, having read and reread it and I base my faith from the bible only, I don't virulently dislike any denomination but I base my faith on the book... and I believe that there may or may not be a trinity, there may or may not be predestination, that the holy spirit may or may not proceed from the father and the son or just the father, etc., on many issues where the scripture seems to be ambivalent I believe the may or may not... of course the existence of hell i definitly believe in, that Jesus was baptized and the holy spirit descended etc., I believe but on things like where the scripture contardicts, I think only that it is uncertain and that God even intends it to be so, and that it is important to SAY, maybe, maybe not, and you will probably not know till you die.
that is my view... but can anyone think of an author or theologian who says this? a single person, actually, cuz i figure disciples of christ or someone officially pushes it maybe?
thanks much if u know...

 

[Xian Catalyst]

Or a theology which does have all the answers and is only Bible based. You can find that here;

www.christianidentityrevealed2012.com

JW's, LDS, The compound in Waco, are all Bible only based. THE LDS group had to add other books to explain HOW they were bible only. That's no different than Grudem's systematic theology is to a Christian.

ANYONE can claim their views are bible based. Making that claim doesn't make it so, and it doesn't make them right. Unfortunately, that's all that some people have to offer since their views won't stand up to scrutiny.