4th century BC
Plato
- Idealism — forms over particulars
- The Republic ethic: “God is not the author of evil”
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Pristine Grace functions as a digital library of preaching and teaching from many different men and ministries. I maintain a broad collection for research, study, and listening, and the presence of any preacher or message here should not be taken as a blanket endorsement of every doctrinal position expressed.
I publish my own convictions openly and without hesitation throughout this site and in my own preaching and writing. This archive is not a denominational clearinghouse. My aim in maintaining it is to preserve historic and contemporary preaching, encourage careful study, and above all direct readers and listeners to the person and work of Christ.
Brandan Kraft
Everything that exists is a thought in the mind of God.
Try again.
I spent the majority of my adult life building something I didn't know had a name. It started with the Scriptures and a lot of late nights. It ended with one sentence that generates every theological position I hold, from the nature of God to the nature of heaven and hell, without contradiction. One sentence. Thirty chapters. Sixteen appendices. And if you accept the sentence, everything else follows.
Most systematic theologies start with a list of doctrines and work through them one by one. This book starts with an ontological claim - that everything that exists is a thought in the mind of God - and derives everything from that single proposition. This is not a rearrangement of existing theology. This is a paradigm shift. Since Augustine imported Plato's metaphysics into the church in the fourth century, every major system of Christian theology has been built on a foundation the Scriptures never laid. This book identifies that foundation, names it, traces its influence across sixteen centuries, and replaces it with an ontology derived from Scripture alone. If the claim holds, this is the most significant shift in the theological starting point since Augustine. And I believe it holds.
This is not a devotional. This is not a commentary. This is a systematic theology built from the ground up by a computer programmer with no seminary degree, no denominational backing, and no one's permission. It uses the vocabulary of information theory, computer science, and quantum physics to describe realities that traditional theological language has never been able to reach. If you are a scientist who suspects that information is fundamental to reality but can't bring yourself to call it God, this book speaks your language. If you are a sovereign grace believer looking for a system that follows the logic all the way, this book does that. And if you have been told that the sharpest doctrine produces the coldest heart, this book ends with the widest arms you have ever seen in a Reformed theology.
The digital edition is free. The truth doesn't come with a price tag. - Brandan Kraft
Imports both:
Fuses them with Scripture.
Aquinas · Calvin · Luther · Westminster
Gill · Clark · Berkhof · Grudem · Hoeksema
Every system in the comparison above stands on this foundation.
Stands on a different foundation: Scripture, on its own terms (John 1:1; Heb. 11:3; Col. 1:17; Isa. 45:7).
The architecture is idealism, because Scripture teaches it — mind precedes matter, the invisible is more real than the visible.
Rejects what Augustine inherited:
“Everything that exists is a thought in the mind of God, sustained by His will, authored by His purpose, and held together by personal covenants of love.”Read Now
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Isaiah 53:10, Rom 8:28-30, Psalm 23, grace, love one another
Commentary