Thomas K. Johnson, mein Doktorvater, schreibt:
The human mind is never truly empty; there are certain questions about life and the world which people simply cannot avoid, and if people do not have biblical answers, they almost necessarily hold answers to these questions that are in conflict with the Bible. These old beliefs and expectations can easily continue to function as control beliefs, those beliefs in our minds that have authority over what we think we are allowed to believe. Every human being has control beliefs, fundamental conceptions arising from one’s culture or philosophy of life that provide guidance, whether consciously or unconsciously, about what we are allowed to believe to be true. In addition to controlling what we may believe, control beliefs form a blueprint or structure of the mind that shapes or organizes everything else we believe. Control beliefs of a non-biblical origin can prevent people from accepting the gospel. When people come to faith in Jesus, old pre-Christian control beliefs sometimes continue to play an authoritative role; believers may be prevented, consciously or unconsciously, from accepting parts of the total truth, while those control beliefs also organize the faith and life of into something alien to biblical faith. This is true of both misguided zeal and liberal theology. In all these stories there is a common thread: major parts of Christian belief are lacking because some belief or expectation filtered out a theme of the faith, thereby replacing a central theme of the faith and distorting the whole.
Dies ist eine gute Gelegenheit, um auf Johnsons kurzes Werk über die Trinität hinzuweisen. Freier Download, gesunde Kost, starke Empfehlung zum Lesen!
