Comments on: Is There Such a Thing as “Common Ground” Between the Believer and the Unbeliever?

By: John

John — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 17:00:43 +0000

So.. Yes is no, and no is yes. Or, both yes and no..? Obfuscating the most obvious things its what you get trying to blend philosophy and theology, unfortunately.

There certainly is common ground. Plain and simple. Read Calvin; It’s quite clear in his writings.

2 + 2 is 4 for non-believer or believer alike, no special revelation necessary. And the non-believer is just as consistent (in his thinking) in arriving at this simple answer as is the believer. Saying anything less (or more in the case of Vantilians) is pure sophistry.

By: Luke

Luke — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 00:57:54 +0000

Thanks for the article Jeff. I responded with some thoughts in a blog post. If you have time, I’m interested in your response to this: http://scripturalism.com/is-there-such-a-thing-as-common-ground-between-the-believer-and-the-unbeliever-a-brief-response/

By: Jeff Waddington

Jeff Waddington — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 21:32:05 +0000

Larry

Thank you for your interaction.

I did not raise the issue of what remains and what is lost and then regained of the image. In creation our first parents were created with the full image. With the fall they lost significant elements of the image, but they also retained elements of the image. Genesis 9 tells us that murder will be punished because is made in the image of God. James 3:9 tells us that cursing our fellow man is wrong because he is made in the image and likeness of God. Paul tells is we are renewed in God’s image in Ephesians 4:24 and Colossians 3:10. So what do we make of this? The Reformed community has traditionally held to a wider and a narrower sense of the image. The broader image is retained but twisted. This would involve our ability to speak, reason, and relate. The narrower image has been lost. That is our knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. Regeneration and sanctification renew the broader image and restore over time the narrower image.

By: Larry

Larry — Sun, 24 Jan 2016 16:26:01 +0000

RE: However, because both the Christian and the non-Christian are created in the image of God and live in God’s world and are surrounded by his revelation there is this key thing in common.

Genesis 5:1-3
5 . . . In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. 3 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

I’ve referenced the 2 scripture verses in response to your having written that there is commonality between the Christian and non-Christian in that they are both created in the image of God. I may be wrong, but I don’t believe that that is an accurate assessment. It seems to me, in light of the aforementioned verses, as well as 2 Corinthians 3:18, that Adam and Eve were created perfectly and as a result bore the image of their Creator. After the fall, scripture would have us know that every child born into the world bears not the image of our heavenly Father, but the likeness of their earthly father, i.e. a grossly disfigured image of God. So spoiled is that image, that all who are burdened by it (as all are from the womb) naturally incur God’s wrath as a result.
My understanding is that the shattered visage of God, in the unbeliever, is part of the “old things” that “have passed away” and the Christian is made an image bearer of his Creator, that being part of “all things” having “become new”, as a result of being born again.
All of that to say, that the bearing of the “image of God” is certainly not a commonality shared between a believer and non-believer.
Please forgive me if I have misunderstood or misrepresented anything you were trying to convey.
SDG