The Fool Who Would Be Holy > Articles by: Ian Johnson

Author Archive: Ian Johnson

I have been in Christ since 1991, and have been writing about the general subject area of this site since 1996. My less relevant qualifications are: B.S. (Chemistry) and B.A. (Linguistics), 1976, Wichita State University. M.S. (Biochemistry), 1982 (course work finished in 1980), Iowa State University; J.D., 1982, University of Iowa; M.A. (History), 1984, University of Iowa; plus one year of a History Ph.D. program, 1984-1985, University of Kansas. I was employed from 1991 to 2016 as a research paralegal in a firm that handled mostly complex civil litigation, including toxic tort litigation (in which I was always involved). That firm merged with a larger litigation firm in 2016, where I have been employed ever

About God, His Nature and Monotheism in the Earliest Christianity

December 27, 2020 2 Comments

Though more detailed than previous indexes, this post is also an index to points later distorted that the New Testament–supplemented by other early writers–shows the earliest Church understood about God’s person. Further links will be added as new articles are written.

Church History, Islamic History and Secular History Interaction, Eternity, God is Love, God's Existence and Nature, God's Other Attributes, God's rationality, God's sovereignty, Immanence, Index, Meaning of Unity, Omnipresence, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, Topic Index, Transcendence, Trinity, Unity

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The Effect of Organized Christianity’s Early Departures from its Roots Upon the Rise of Islam

December 26, 2020 1 Comment

This is an outline of the third part of my attempt to link early errors of organized Christianity to the state of the modern world–specifically, in this part, by showing how they influenced Islam. Links will be added as future posts are written.

Background Information, Church History, Islamic History and Secular History Interaction, Church purpose versus church growth, Divisions in the Church, Historical Background, Islam and Christianity, Islam as a Consequence, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Replacing Relationship with Morality, Social control and statecraft, Topic Index, What Islam borrowed from Christianity

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The Departure of Organized Christianity from its Roots, Second through Sixth Centuries CE

December 25, 2020 1 Comment

This is an outline of the second part of my attempt to link early errors of organized Christianity to the state of the modern world–specifically, in this part, by showing the origins and entrance of specific errors before Muhammad which profoundly affected subsequent history. Links will be added as future posts are written.

A God who Speaks, Adoption, Authority Contests, Background Information, Church History, Islamic History and Secular History Interaction, Church purpose versus church growth, Complex unity, Compulsory Christianity, Discipline or Correction, Disputes about words, Disrespecting poor believers, Divisions in the Church, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Free will, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's sovereignty, God's Voice, Greed, Heresy, Historical Background, Index, Injustice and Lawsuits, Jesus the Son, Leaving Our First Love, Male and female, Marriage, Marriage and Reproduction, Merit, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Prophecy, Purpose of the Church, Quarrels, Regeneration, Religious violence and persecution, Replacing Relationship with Morality, Salvation, Sin, Sins versus sin, Site Index Page, Social control and statecraft, Son of Man, The Bible, Through the church, To be in his image, Trinity, Unity, Wars as consequences, What is God's Word, What is sin?

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THE VOICE OF GOD (GOD SPEAKING TO US) OUTLINE

December 24, 2020 4 Comments

This is the index to a series of posts on the voice, words and Word of God, the centrality of God’s voice to everything, and the argument that God both still speaks and still speaks to us, Links will be filled into the outline as future posts are written.

A God who Speaks, God Acts by Speaking, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Voice, God's Voice and Word, Index, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Promises, Prophecy, The Bible, Topic Index, What is God's Word

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Truths of the Earliest Christianity that Mutated Leading to Formation of Later Divisions

December 24, 2020 3 Comments

This is an outline of the first part of my attempt to link early errors of organized Christianity to the state of the modern world–specifically, in this part, by explaining some of the foundations of the earliest Christianity from which later errors diverged. Links will be added as future posts are written.

A God who Speaks, Adoption, Background Information, Church History, Islamic History and Secular History Interaction, Complex unity, Eternity Present, Free will, God Speaks to Us, God was never our enemy, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's sovereignty, His Children, His Friends, Historical Background, In the Church, Index, Meaning of Unity, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Prophecy, Purpose of the Church, Reconciliation, Regeneration, Restoration of God's Image, Salvation, Show us the Way of Truth, Sin, Sins versus sin, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, The universal Church and local churches, Through others, Through the church, To be his ambassadors, To be in his image, Topic Index, Trinity, What is God's Word, What is sin?

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NO MERIT

December 22, 2020 1 Comment

This is the index to a group of posts on the subject of whether salvation, and all that follows it, is judged by personal merit at all–either our own merit or that of Christ (or others). Links will be added as future posts are written.

God was never our enemy, Index, Is forgiveness of sins the focus of salvation?, Merit, Merit, Reconciliation, Restoration of God's Image, Salvation, Topic Index

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THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS OUTLINE

December 20, 2020 2 Comments

This is an index of a series of posts on the subject of the Kingdom of the Heavens as a past, present and future reality of God’s work with us, not limited to the apocalyptic future. Links will be added as future posts are written.

In the Church, Meaning of Unity, Purpose of the Church, The Kingdom of the Heavens, The universal Church and local churches, Topic Index

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ANGELS AND THE ANGELS THAT SINNED OUTLINE

December 19, 2020 3 Comments

Introduction: What are Angels and What was the Sin of the Angels that Sinned? Angels and Spirits—Basic Word Meanings   The Nature of Angels—Messengers and Ministering Spirits Angels as Messengers to God An Angel as Mediator of the Law Angels as Messengers from God Angels’ Roles in the Delivery of Prophecy Though God’s Messengers, Angels’ Knowledge is Limited Angels as…
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A God who Speaks, Angels, Angels and the Ange,s that Sinned, Events and Signs, God Speaks to Us, Index, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Topic Index

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Concurrent History of the Organized Church Institution, Divisions Among Christians, the Rise and Influence of Islam, and the Present State of the West

December 18, 2020 5 Comments

This page contains a top-level outline of a long series of posts that will show how errors and divisions that crept into Christianity before Muhammad influenced Muhammad either positively–leading to the his adoption of exaggerated forms of these errors–or negatively– leading to exaggerated reactions against them. Islamic versions of these errors or reactive teachings then influenced Medieval Christianity. The combination of the original errors and Islamic influences then combined with European politics to lead to the Crusades, the Reformation and its wars, and the modern West and Western Church as we know them.

Church History, Islamic History and Secular History Interaction, Denominationalism, Index, Islam and Christianity, Islam as a Consequence, Religious violence and persecution, Topic Index, Wars as consequences

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OUR ONENESS IN CHRIST BOOK REWRITE OUTLINE

December 17, 2020 3 Comments

This outline links to posts that contain my 2020 revision of the chapters I wrote in Ian Johnson & Lauston Stephens, Our Oneness in Christ (Baltimore: Publish America 2006) (only the Amazon Kindle edition is still available). Chapters 2, 7 through 10, 15 and 16 were written by Mr. Stephens, and were important to the overall meaning of the book. However, they are his work, and I will not be attempting to rewrite them on this blog. I would invite the reader to find them in the Kindle book—or in a now quite rare print copy.

Index, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Our Oneness in Christ Book Revision, Topic Index

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