Carol Flohr Giles

As we put aside the discussion on religiosity and hypocrisy, it’s time to uncover the scourge of legalism. Coming from the minds of Christian men and women, many supposed religious rituals, rules, and traditions border on legalism. Paul taught about the obstacle of strict adherence to the law rather than the spirit in Colossians 2:20-23: “Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual…

Nominal Religion: Rebelling Against God

Understanding hypocrisy and religiosity as they pertain to nominal religion is only the beginning. The Bible has much to add, in which the writers used metaphors and figures of speech to get a point across. In the book of Proverbs, King Solomon gives lectures: “A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks maliciously with his eye, signals with his feet and motions…

When I think of religious excess, I call it religiosity. Some hypocrites, pious and judgmental people suffer from religiosity. Pointing fingers, they talk about people whose values don’t fit theirs. Their motivations aren’t always pure, and their political agenda is usually far to the right. A hypocrite preaches one thing and does another. Self-righteous and obsessed with looking virtuous, pious,…

Nominal Religion: Extremism is Nothing New

As a visitor on The Today Show, the violinist Isaac Stern spoke about his good friend, Irving Berlin shortly after Berlin passed away. Talking about the songwriter’s philosophy of life, Stern described it as simplistic, comprised of three existential phrases: life and death, loneliness and love, hope and defeat. At first glance, we might see two opposite lives, best described as either savory or…

God’s Attribute of Will

God’s will determines and causes certain activities and actions, in accordance with and for the benefit of humanity and his purposes. God created us according to his will, for his pleasure, for his purposes, and for eternity. Therefore, when our circumstances change, positively or adversely, we can faithfully abide in whatever comes our way, because we know from God’s other attributes, that his…

We’ve learned that all of God’s attributes adjust to and assist one another. However, there are some attributes that are classified as “summary attributes,” because they don’t fit well into the other categories Accordingly, God’s attributes of perfection, blessedness, beauty, and glory, fall into the category of “summary” attributes, because they celebrate all of what God is, and are enfolded…

God’s Moral Attributes

Our sickness of sin separates us from God. Therefore, God’s penal code—spiritual death—speaks to his absolute moral holiness. God cannot tolerate sin. Divorced from sin, God’s holiness exists within him while he persists in seeking and finding his own esteem. In the Jewish tradition, the word holy describes the tabernacle—a place removed from the evil and sin of the world—no one could enter…

God’s Attribute of Truthfulness

Just as God’s knowledge and wisdom are God, so it is with his truthfulness. And because of God’s being, truth resides organically within him, in his spirituality and invisibility, and all other of his communicable attributes—just as he is the “I AM WHO I AM,” he is, “I AM TRUTH.” God aptly defines and exemplifies absolute truth from within himself. Hence, all that is truth comes from God’s…

Magic Carpet on the Black Ice Ride

Have you taken this ride yet? It’s fast, scary, exciting, and just about all I could handle when I rode it. The attendants are usually on lunch break, there is no slowing device or brakes, and if yours is on a hill it just keeps going faster and faster! It’s best if you sit down while riding the magic carpet on black ice, but some of us like to live on the edge. When I took my first ride last…

God’s Attribute of Wisdom

The indwelling of God’s attributes accompanied him at the time of creation. Their presence in him weren’t added to him later—they aren’t a “collection.” To understand how this works, we must first remember that God is a unity—a consolidation of who he is as a person. For example, when God creates us, we are what we are. Similarly, God is what he is. And all that is in him includes his attributes.…

God’s Mental Attribute of Knowledge

God’s knowledge manifests itself in his intelligence, cognition, and awareness of what we need to live on the good planet earth. For example, after Noah, his wife, and family left the ark, God made three promises: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as…

God’s Attribute of Invisibility

It doesn’t make sense to think of God’s invisibility as a communicable attribute. If we can’t see him, then how can he communicate this attribute to us? And how can we humans understand that God’s invisibility is another part of his being? The easy way to see God is through his visible created things, such as mountains, oceans, animals, and desert sands. But stopping at that point isn’t enough…

God’s Attribute of Spirituality

We have all wondered or tried to formulate an idea in our minds about what substance or material makes up the existence of God. Some might also shrug their shoulders, saying, “Well it’s another one of the mysteries of the Bible.” However, during his encounter with the woman at the well, who questioned Jesus about where people should worship, Jesus explained God’s being to her when he said, “God…

Introducing God’s Communicable Attributes

God’s attributes are not additions to his nature brought together and inserted into him as afterthoughts inspired by certain events or circumstances. Each attribute compliments the others—distinct but wholly a part of him—not apart from each other. They have always been and always will be. Furthermore, biblical history has not changed God’s attributes to accommodate changes in our culture.…

For the remainder of the year, I intend to narrow my focus and apply it to the writing and editing of my book, Living Beautiful in an Ugly World (working title). Starting in 2017, I will continue to post and hopefully give you food for thought every Monday morning starting January 9th. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Until next time…