{"id":94,"date":"2010-12-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-12-11T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/fearofwhales\/2010\/12\/god-is-not-in-danger-of-ceasing.html"},"modified":"2011-06-23T09:23:13","modified_gmt":"2011-06-23T13:23:13","slug":"god-is-not-in-danger-of-ceasing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fearofwhales\/2010\/12\/god-is-not-in-danger-of-ceasing.html","title":{"rendered":"God is Not in Danger of Ceasing"},"content":{"rendered":"

I get in a lot of theological conversations with people. It\u2019s my job. I rely heavily hypothetical questions as a tool to get Christians off of the script and begin thinking with their logic centers as opposed to memory centers.
\nUsually from there we end up at some sticking point. A theological of philosophical principal which is unsupported, but fiercely protected often to a believers detriment.
\nCalvinism is a big one for a lot of believers, they feel that if God sends people to hell he is unfair, and he would cease to be God. On the other side of the issue there are some 5 Point Calvinists who think that if God didn\u2019t choose and foreknow, then he must be only partly sovereign, and partly knowing and would therefore cease to be God.
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nFor some people it\u2019s not Calvinism at all, I spoke to a person recently who\u2019s sticking point was comprehensibility. He kept saying \u201cBut God\u2019s logical, he made logic\u201d as he struggled wit the idea that something might be true of God that he didn\u2019t understand yet, because in his mind if God stopped making sense he would cease to be God.
\nSometimes the sticking point will find me. \u201cOmnipotence doesn\u2019t mean God can do anything\u201d said one person \u201cFor instance: he can\u2019t lie\u201d. Sure God can lie. I can lie, God could totally lie! He doesn\u2019t <\/em>and I\u2019m very thankful for that, but if he chose to what would stop him? \u201cIf God lied he would cease to be God\u201d\u2026no\u2026
\nWe get very defensive over these sticking points, we dig our feet into the ground and won\u2019t budge, there\u2019s a lot of fear involved. Sometimes this fear leads us to stay around toxic people or churches despite our better judgment, or to push away newer more mature ideas and fear learning because it may cause us to doubt. In short, fear leads to dogmatism
\nI\u2019m going to go out on a limb and say I think I know where all this fear is coming from. I think it\u2019s this ceasing to be God business.
\nWhere did we get the idea that any number of things would cause God to cease to be God?
\nWhere did we get the idea that anything would cause God to cease to be God?
\nIs God Mr. Mxyzptlk, where if you can get him to say his name backwards he loses his powers?
\n God is not in danger of ceasing.<\/strong> Honestly, Not even close! There are no other qualified applicants for the position. God could spend all day being Calvinic, Arminian, Illogical, and Dishonest all at the same time if he wanted to and he would still be God. This one time, God totally DIED and he\u2019s still God after that. God became a baby and pooped his pants while still retaining the fullness of the godhead bodily.
\nIf God were to stop being God it would be his greatest miracle yet I assure you. It would not be a side affect of anything. I don\u2019t know when we started thinking it sounded smart to say that, but please let\u2019s stop. I think it\u2019s hurting us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I get in a lot of theological conversations with people. It\u2019s my job. I rely heavily hypothetical questions as a tool to get Christians off of the script and begin thinking with their logic centers as opposed to memory centers. Usually from there we end up at some sticking point. A theological of philosophical principal…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":391,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,11,54],"tags":[483,375,481,479,482,480],"class_list":["post-94","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-culture","category-conversation-starters","category-theology","tag-almighty","tag-contradiction","tag-essence","tag-god","tag-omnipotent","tag-paradox"],"yoast_head":"\nGod is Not in Danger of Ceasing - A Fear of Whales<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fearofwhales\/2010\/12\/god-is-not-in-danger-of-ceasing.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God is Not in Danger of Ceasing - A Fear of Whales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I get in a lot of theological conversations with people. 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