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That God normally operates the universe consistently makes science possible; that he does not always do so ought to keep science humble.

D. A. Carson

Systematic theology will ask questions like “What are the attributes of God? What is sin? What does the cross achieve?” Biblical theology tends to ask questions such as “What is the theology of the prophecy of Isaiah? What do we learn from John’s Gospel?
D. A. CARSON

Biblical Important Systematic
It’s not as if the New Testament writers came along and said, “The culmination of Old Testament books is more books, New Testament books.”
D. A. CARSON

Book Father Son
How can that be? This is quite a contrast with Islam, for example, which holds that the Koran has been dictated in Arabic by God and as a result Mohammed is nothing more than the one who memorizes the word so as to pass it on. There is nothing of human contribution.
D. A. CARSON

Dicatted Example God Memorize Person
If the text is God’s Word, it is appropriate that we respond with reverence, a certain fear, a holy joy, a questing obedience.
D. A. CARSON

Holy Joy Obedience
A weak understanding of what the Bible says about sin is tied to a weak understanding of what the Bible says is achieved by the cross.
D. A. CARSON

Sin Understanding Weak
Some Christians want enough of Christ to be identified with him but not enough to be seriously inconvenienced.
D. A. CARSON

Christ Christian Want
Christians come together because they have all been loved by Jesus himself. They are a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus’ sake.
D. A. CARSON

Another Christian Come Sake
So there are all kinds of things that grammarian purists would argue are awkward forms of speech and sometimes they are intentional for rhetorical effect and sometimes it’s the way people chose to write at the time. Inerrancy isn’t interested in any of those kinds of things.
D. A. CARSON

Awkward People Writing
Christian worship is new covenant worship; it is gospel-inspired worship; it is Christ-centered worship; it is cross-focused worship.
D. A. CARSON

Christian Inspired Worship
We are dealing with God’s thoughts: we are obligated to take the greatest pains to understand them truly and to explain them clearly.
D. A. CARSON

Effective Greatest Pain Teaching
Good praying is more easily caught than taught.
D. A. CARSON

Caught Praying Taught
God is absolutely sovereign, but his sovereignty never mitigates human responsibility.
D. A. CARSON

Responsibility Sovereign Sovereignty
God in his infinite wisdom chose to give us his Word in the 66 canonical books, with all of their variations in theme, emphasis, vocabulary, literary form, and distinctive contributions across time.
D. A. CARSON

Contribution Distinctive God Vocabulary
If God had perceived that our greatest need was economic, he would have sent an economist. If he had perceived that our greatest need was entertainment, he would have sent us a comedian or an artist.
D. A. CARSON

Artists Doctors Economist Profound
We are told that God hates the sinner, His wrath is on the liar, and so forth. In the Bible, the wrath of God rests both on the sin (Romans 1:18ff) and on the sinner (John 3:36).
D. A. CARSON

Abandoned God Sinner Told
God’s love in John 3:16 is not amazing because the world is so big, but because the world is so bad.
D. A. CARSON

Bigs God Love World

That God normally operates the universe consistently makes science possible; that he does not always do so ought to keep science humble.

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That God normally operates the universe consistently makes science possible; that he does not always do so ought to keep science humble.

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