TF and Ben Witherington
Turretinfan recently commented (link) on a post by Ben Witherington (link). It’s related to our ongoing discussion of divine freedom which I last commented on here. TF said some things I agree with, and some I do not. Since Turretinfan holds two false premises: 1) LFW does not exist and 2) CFW exists, of course many false conclusions follow, and TF’s response to Ben are no exception to this. To me, it makes most sense to discuss the premises firsts, so to that end I will wait for TF to respond to my question to him:
Given whatever existed before the first act, was it absolutely impossible for God to create a world which didn’t include rain on May 31, 2008 in the afternoon?
Comments
a) I don't hold to LFW's non-existence as a premise - it's simply a default position (we don't believe in things without a reason to do so) coupled with a continue lack of reason to believe in its existence; and
b) The existence of CFW has been more or less admitted by the LFW position ... how could it not be?
I'm still ruminating on your clarifications ... which (and perhaps you will be surprised) did not really make the issue clearer for me.
-TurretinFan
You grace my blog with your curly presence. Umbrage noted. As to LFW's existence, I take it as a basic point of faith, but then again I don't see another way of interpreting Gen 1:1 (and other passages). Maybe you can provide one (your response to my question may help), but right now I sure don't see it.
As to CFW's existence, I will hold off on discussions till we get past LFW.
Regarding my question, I tried to make it as straight foreword as I could, and to cover all the basis. In areas where there is flexibility I tried to give you all the flexibility you might want. If it's helpful, please see this exchange between TJ and myself. (link)
Our discussion basically ended at roughly the same point, but he did come at things from slightly a different angle, so perhaps you may be able to see what I am getting at. Beyond that, feel free to ask questions for further clarification.
God be with you,
Dan