Comments on: My Story (a short version)

By: John

John — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:41:57 +0000

Thank you Celal. I will pass on your e-mail address to Dan. Blessings to you, and let’s stay in touch!

John

By: Celal

Celal — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:36:41 +0000

Hello John,

Congratulations on your great family news !

May the Lord grant that my kids also one day find godly partners and live for the Lord Jesus.

Please do pass on my email address to your son.

I was in the engineering school at NU but ended up taking a business degree elsewhere : i was there for one academic only.

Yours in Christ.

By: John

John — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 17:31:42 +0000

Hi again Celal. What did you study at Northwestern?

My family has a big heart for Turkey, since my son Dan was there for 2 years, and we went there to visit.

It’s cool that you found Christ at Northwestern. I’d love to have you connect with my son Dan. He’s actually getting married in… two hours! I am doing the wedding.

With your permission I’ll send your e-mail; address to Dan. I’m sure he will communicate with you about all things Turkish.

Blessings…

By: Celal

Celal — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:18:10 +0000

Hello again John,

Nice to meet you like this. Seems we have a strong Turkey connection and most of all a JESUS connection as well !

I’ll tell you what. We have another connection : a Northwestern Univesity one. I actually came to the Lord Jesus there and was baptised in Lake Michigan.

Take care.

By: John

John — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 01:12:48 +0000

I had my son Dan read your blog. Dan was a missionary with Campus Crusade for Christ for two years in Istanbul. He returned home last summer. He met his wife-to-be Allie in Istanbul workijng on the same project.

In Dec. 2006 Linda and I and our other son Josh went to istanbul – we were there for ten days. What a phenomenal city!

I also teach Islam in a philosophy of religion course I teach in our local community college. So, we are very interesgted and ery exited when we locate a Turkish follower of Jesus such as yourself!

By: Celal

Celal — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:00:21 +0000

Hi John,

Thank you for your response and clarification.

Blessings …. Celal

By: John

John — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 13:36:45 +0000

Hello Celal – sorry I posted this so late. It came through as spam, and I just today saw it and figured out how to de-spam it.

I agree with what you say. I remember when I wrote that sentence that it did not seem clear to me.

I think what I would want to say are things like this, as they relate to my conversion to Christ.

Yes, the sensus divinitatis is not salvific.

The sensus divinitatis is actual.

Which means, for me, I knew there was a God. That is, it was rational for me to believe that, yes, God existed. Plantinga says that if the Chrisitan noetic framework is true, this is the sort of thing we should expect. I, like Plantinga, believe it is true. Thus it is what we should expect, not merely as some intellectual-theoretic thing, but as an experiential reality.

That happened to me. And here the Hebrew idea of “knowing” (yadah – and Abraham knew Sarah) was my experience. And such experience is, on Plantinga, “rational.” That’s why on my post I write that I “knew” that God existed “primally and experientially.”

Thank you for leaving a comment!

By: Celal

Celal — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 17:41:46 +0000

I knew – Calvin would say beause of the sensus divinitatis within us – that Jesus was real and that he had come to rescue and deliver me, and to give my life meaning and purpose.

I don’t think Calvin or Plantinga would hold that the sensus divinitatis is salvific.