Well, on further thought, the term 'mystery' should be part of this discussion.

Paradoxes as 'apparent' contradictions often can be explained. Like, "he who loses his life will find it".

The examples I used of God's sovereignty might better be defined as mystery. I believe R. C. Sproul gets into these 3 words in the early part of "Chosen By God".

What I said about using 'paradox' carefully also applies to using 'mystery'.

I guess my main points are:
1) In order to discuss a topic like this we all need to be using the same definitions and have the same understanding of the terms/ideas being discussed.

2) We need to be very careful what we call a paradox or a mystery because we can easily be actually advocating a contradiction.

__________________
Dave Hall
Elgin, Texas
Ruling Elder
Providence Presbyterian Church, OPC (near Austin, TX)

"A Jedi's strength flows from the Java." - Yoda (paraphrased)