Renovated book cover God, Dallas Willard and the church that transforms

Renovated: Why you need to know about Neurotheology

Imagine that you sat quietly and alone reading a book about the Christian life. The book is outlining the benefits of being loving, patient and kind and as you read it you find yourself agreeing wholeheartedly. You know it would be great to be like that and you commit yourself to being more loving, patient, and kinder. As you read, one of your family creeps up behind you and puts an ice cube down the back of your neck!

The Oxymoronic God Merciful Judge Pendulum hanging

Merciful Judge

It turns out that the idea of God being a Merciful Judge is extremely difficult to wrap my head around, both theologically and in practice. As a result it has taken me ages to think about and write this article. Preparing it has also revealed some truths about myself that I don’t really like; I’ve discovered that I’m not all that merciful and prefer others to get their comeuppance.

Prince of Peace Crown of Thorns part of Oxymoronic God series

Prince of Peace

We live in a world that tells us we should fight for our rights and that our freedoms need protecting. It’s easy to believe that life is one big competition and that there are many people who want to take advantage of us. Yet, that’s not how God describes our role in the world; in fact, his view is the opposite of this. He calls us to humility and when things get tough, we are to love our enemies.

The Oxymoronic God, opposing terms, like flints, strike each other to create sparks that allow us to see God more clearly

The Oxymoronic God

The tagline for this website uses the phrase ‘in the world but not of the world’, a tension that many Christians are familiar with. There are also paradoxes and enigmas that exist within God and are captured in the oxymorons that describe Him. My hope is that by understanding more about God we can find encouragement for our double lives and the tensions we experience.