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Appendices

Topical Index

Appendix Q: Topical Index

This index covers topics substantively discussed in each chapter. Chapter numbers refer to Chapters 1-30. Other abbreviations: Prologue, Preface, Epilogue, Afterword, App. A1 through App. O. (Appendixes P-S are reference tools: Scripture Index, this Topical Index, Glossary, and Bibliography.)

Theology

  • Abba, Father (Aramaic familiar form, cry of the adopted elect)Ch. 15, App. A1

  • Abhorring (Isaiah 66:24 — “they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh,” felt content of eschatological shame)App. A6

  • Abrahamic covenantCh. 8, Ch. 22

  • Absolute predestinationCh. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 5, Ch. 11, Ch. 12, Ch. 14, Ch. 19, App. C, App. F

  • Accountability vs. responsibilityCh. 19, App. K

  • Act and potency (Aristotelian/Thomist distinction, subsumed by framework as rendering-level observation)App. A1

  • Active obedience and passive obedience of ChristCh. 15, App. A1, App. I

  • Adam as picture of the elect (not substitute)Ch. 7, Ch. 11

  • Adam created sinful (not righteous then fallen)Ch. 3, Ch. 7, Ch. 11, App. A1, App. C, App. D, App. I

  • Adam, “when not if” (Genesis 2:17 presupposes the fall)Ch. 11

  • Adamic covenant (Genesis 3:15, first rendering of covenant of grace)Ch. 8

  • Adonai (divine name — Lord, Master)App. A1

  • AdoptionCh. 7, Ch. 15, App. A1

  • “All” in Romans 5 (consistency argument, elect throughout)Ch. 11

  • Already/not-yet distinction (experiential, not actual)Ch. 15

  • AmillennialismCh. 27, App. A6, App. I

  • Ancient heresy that Christ became a sinner (distinguished from the framework’s orthodox substitution)App. A1

  • Annihilationism (rejected as false dilemma)Ch. 28, App. A2

  • Antichrist (many, not one future figure)App. A6

  • Antitype (higher-resolution rendering of an Old Testament type, fulfilled in Christ)Ch. 9

  • Antilegomena (disputed books of the canon)Ch. 12, Ch. 26, App. A5

  • Antinomianism (redefined: lowering the law, not resting in Christ)Ch. 20, Ch. 21

  • Apostles’ incomplete understanding (progressive rendering applied to the early church)Ch. 9, Ch. 22

  • Arminian in a TULIP sweatshirt (knowledge-Calvinist as crypto-Arminian; the Arminian move relocated from will to intellect; tribe that substitutes doctrinal literacy for faith)Ch. 30, App. M

  • Aseity / self-existence of God (the Author’s being derives from nothing outside Himself; “I AM THAT I AM”)Ch. 1, App. A1, App. J

  • Atonement, particular/limitedCh. 12, Ch. 15, Ch. 19, Ch. 25, App. A1, App. I

  • Attributes of God (derived from the sentence)App. A1

  • Augustine and the inherited frameworkCh. 13, App. A1, App. I, App. J, App. N

  • Augustine chose realism over idealism (Plotinus corruption of Plato)App. J, App. N

  • Author of evil, God asCh. 1, Ch. 5, Ch. 7, Ch. 11, Ch. 13, Ch. 14, App. A1, App. A3, App. A9, App. D, App. I, App. M

  • Baptism of the Holy Spirit (equals regeneration)Ch. 22, App. A4

  • Bronze serpent (Numbers 21, type of Christ lifted up, John 3:14-15)Ch. 9

  • Calling out false gospels (biblical pattern vs. tribal performance; 1 Cor. 13 as diagnostic, Gal. 1 and 2 Tim. 2:25 as apostolic model, Diotrephes as counterfeit)Ch. 30, App. L

  • Campless theology (belonging to no camp)Preface, Ch. 26, Ch. 30, App. A5, App. I

  • Credentials, irrelevance of (the fruit is the qualification)Preface, Prologue, Epilogue, App. A5, App. A11, App. A12, App. K, App. O

  • Canon of Scripture (self-authenticating)Ch. 10, Ch. 26, App. B, App. I

  • Cappadocian fathers (Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Nazianzus — borrowed Plotinian hierarchy to articulate Trinity)App. A1, App. N

  • Chalcedon, Council of (451; “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation”; the diophysite touchstone of mainstream Western and Byzantine orthodoxy; honored by the framework as protecting the real distinction of the natures)App. A1

  • Chalcedonian Definition (two natures in one Person; honored on its own terms by the framework)App. A1

  • Christ IS the covenant (not just mediator)Ch. 6

  • Christ is the believer’s rule (not the Mosaic law, not the Decalogue)Ch. 20, Ch. 21, App. C, App. I, App. M

  • Christ made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13)Ch. 8, Ch. 12, Ch. 20, App. A1

  • Christ saves through the cracks (the Spirit converts and keeps His own despite imperfect or confused doctrine)Ch. 30, App. A3, App. L, App. O

  • Christological controversies dissolved (filioque and Chalcedon/Cyril rupture both reframed as Greek-vocabulary disputes downstream of borrowed Plotinian templates)App. A1, App. N

  • Circular reasoning (all reasoning is circular)Preface, Ch. 2, Ch. 25, App. I

  • Circumcision of the heartCh. 8, Ch. 22, App. A3

  • Cities of refuge (Numbers 35, Joshua 20, type of Christ as refuge until the High Priest dies)Ch. 9, Ch. 21

  • Coats of skins (Genesis 3:21 — the first atonement in Scripture as a shame-covering administered by God through the blood of an innocent substitute)App. A1, App. A6

  • Common bounty (distinct from common grace)Ch. 19, App. A3, App. C, App. K, App. M

  • Common grace (denied)Ch. 19, App. A3, App. C, App. I, App. K, App. M

  • Condemnation of the gospel vs. curse of the lawCh. 12, Ch. 28, App. A3, App. I

  • ConscienceApp. A4

  • Consequences of sin borne by Christ, not the rebellion itself (the line between orthodox substitution and the ancient heresy that Christ became a sinner)App. A1

  • Conscious Realism (Hoffman; consciousness as the ground floor, matter derived; impersonal exit)App. J

  • Continuous sanctification — see Sanctification, positional/continuous

  • Council of Trent (antilegomena debate buried)App. A5

  • Covenant of gracePreface, Ch. 1, Ch. 7, Ch. 8, Ch. 9, App. C

  • Cosmic Christ / Christ-consciousness (pantheist counterfeit wearing Christian words, rejected)App. J, Afterword

  • Covenant of redemptionCh. 6, Ch. 7, App. C

  • Covenant of works (at Sinai, not in the garden)Ch. 8, Ch. 20, App. A1

  • Covenant of works with Adam (denied, Hosea 6:7)Ch. 11, App. A1

  • Covenant theology, standard (critique of)Preface, Ch. 5, Ch. 7, Ch. 8, App. C

  • Covering as canonical arc (Genesis 3:21 coats of skins, Revelation 3:18 white raiment — the shame-covering administered by God at the beginning and at the end, blood under the garment all the way through)App. A6

  • Critique methods, Platonic (heresy-hunting, syllogism, gatekeeping, name-calling, false implication, guilt by association, refusing to read the system, pulpit sniping, whisper campaigns)App. N (Costume 20), Preface, Ch. 30, App. A10

  • Costumes, the twenty-three (Platonic errors in modern Christianity)App. N

  • False implication (attributing positions the accused does not hold)App. N (Costume 20), App. A10

  • Guilt by association (as Platonic critique method)App. N (Costume 20)

  • Covenant before ceremony (invisible precedes visible, applied)Ch. 10, Ch. 22, Ch. 26, App. A7

  • Covenants as personal promises, not contractsPreface, Ch. 1, Ch. 7, Ch. 8, Ch. 10

  • Creation, doctrine ofCh. 1, Ch. 3, Ch. 4

  • Cyril of Alexandria (great defender of Christ’s deity against Nestorius; framer of mia physis tou Theou Logou sesarkomene, “one nature of the incarnate Word”; the miaphysite intuition honored by the framework at the Person level)App. A1

  • Davidic covenantCh. 8

  • Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16, type of Christ’s propitiation and expiation)Ch. 9, Ch. 27

  • Diophysite Christology (two natures in one Person; the Chalcedonian formulation; honored by the framework as the distinction at the operational level)App. A1

  • Decrees of GodCh. 2, Ch. 5, Ch. 18, App. C, App. D, App. F

  • Deism (rejected)Ch. 1, Ch. 6

  • Description vs. substrate (doctrine as the saint’s description of the Author’s rendering, not the substrate itself)Ch. 1, Ch. 30, App. O

  • Doctrine as description, not substrate (where doctrine actually sits once the Platonic floor is swapped for operational idealism)Ch. 1, Ch. 30, App. N, App. O

  • Demons (created evil, not fallen angels)Ch. 12, Ch. 13, App. A2, App. A8, App. C

  • Demon possession — believers cannot be possessed (possession vs. influence vs. oppression)App. A2

  • Time travel (framework answer: not for creatures)App. A11, App. A12

  • Dreams (OS running without application-layer supervision)App. A2, App. A11, App. A12

  • Deja vu (layers of the soul briefly desynchronized)App. A12

  • Multiverses (rejected — one Mind, one thought, one reality)App. A12, App. H

  • Depression (firmware/OS event, not sin)App. A11, App. A12

  • ADHD and neurodivergence (authored hardware variance, not moral failure)App. A11, App. A12

  • Discernment vs. judgment (reading patterns vs. pronouncing eternal standing)App. A12

  • Gender dysphoria (suffering real, body authored, scalpel not the answer)App. A11, App. A12

  • New creative work in heaven (speculative — framework leans yes)App. A6, App. A12

  • Children who die young (safe to say they have the blood — David’s confidence, Christ’s words on children)App. A3, App. A11, App. A12

  • Knowing each other in heaven (identity persists, knowing increases)App. A6, App. A12

  • “Angels that sinned” (2 Peter 2:4 / Jude 6 as false teachers, not celestial beings)Ch. 13, App. A2

  • “Condemnation of the devil” (1 Timothy 3:6, genitive of source)Ch. 13, App. A2

  • “Devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41, authored servants, not recruited rebels)Ch. 13, App. A2

  • False teachers as “angels” (angelos = messengers)Ch. 13, App. A2

  • Revelation 12:7-9 (war in heaven as gospel triumph, not pre-creation rebellion)Ch. 13, App. A2

  • Revelation 12:4 (third of the stars, symbolic, not literal angel census)Ch. 13, App. A2

  • Satan as lightning (Luke 10:18, present collapse of authority, not past fall)Ch. 13, App. A2

  • Depravity, totalCh. 11, Ch. 14, Ch. 25

  • Dichotomy (body and soul)App. A4

  • Degrees of shame in hell indexed by light received (Luke 12:47-48 many stripes vs. few stripes; Matt 11:22; Heb 10:29 sorer punishment — eschatological judgment is degreed by the light the reprobate received in life)Ch. 28, App. A6

  • Dispensationalism (critique of)Ch. 5, Ch. 27, App. A6, App. C, App. N

  • Dispensationalism, origins of (first-century Jerusalem, not Darby)App. A6

  • Divine names of GodApp. A1

  • DNA as authored code (the programmer’s argument from functional information)Ch. 1, Ch. 3, Ch. 4, Ch. 25, App. G

  • Double imputation (our sin to Christ, His righteousness to us)Ch. 15, App. A1

  • DreamsApp. A2, App. A11, App. A12

  • Effectual calling (absorbed into regeneration in MCT)Ch. 15, App. A1, App. A10, App. E

  • Ekklesia (Greek for “called-out assembly,” not “the Lord’s house”)Ch. 23

  • El, Elohim, El Shaddai, El Elyon, El Roi (compound divine names)App. A1

  • Elect angels (created impeccable)Ch. 12, Ch. 28, App. A2

  • Election, unconditionalCh. 5, Ch. 7, Ch. 12, Ch. 15, Ch. 25, Ch. 30, App. A9, App. A10, App. D, App. F, App. M, App. O

  • Emanation (Plotinian doctrine sanitized into Christian “generation”)App. A1, App. N

  • Equal ultimacyCh. 5, Ch. 12, App. D, App. I

  • Eschatology of shame (fire as shame, felt wrath of God as uncovered exposure of the conscience under the undiverted gaze of God; the covering arc from Genesis 3:21 to Revelation 3:18)Ch. 6, Ch. 28, App. A6

  • Eternal generation of the Son (rejected as Plotinian template imported into the Godhead)App. A1, App. N (Costume 21), Ch. 6

  • Eternal justification — see Justification from eternity

  • Eternity (nature of, as absence of time)Ch. 2, App. A1

  • Eutyches / Monophysitism (strict-sense doctrine that Christ’s human nature was swallowed up by the divine; an actual heresy and historically distinct from Cyril’s miaphysite position, despite the conflation in older polemics)App. A1

  • Evil as privation/absence of good (Augustine, rejected)Ch. 13, App. J

  • Evil spirit from the Lord (1 Samuel 16:14)Ch. 13

  • Exorcisms (previews of higher-resolution rendering)App. A2, App. A7

  • Exposure as judgment imagery (prophetic language of discovering the hidden — Isaiah 47:3, Jeremiah 13:26, Ezekiel 16:37, Nahum 3:5; the verb across the prophets is discover)App. A6

  • Faith and conversion as one step (MCT ordo salutis)Ch. 15, Ch. 16, App. A10

  • Faith as gift, not dutyCh. 15, Ch. 16, Ch. 19, Ch. 25, Ch. 30, App. A10, App. C, App. I, App. M

  • Faith IS assurance (against Westminster Confession)Ch. 21, App. A3

  • Fall as revelation of nature, not catastropheCh. 3, Ch. 11, App. A1, App. C, App. D, App. I

  • “Become as one of us” (Genesis 3:22, experiential not ontological)Ch. 11, App. A1

  • Creation “made subject to vanity” (Romans 8:20-21, original authorship not post-fall curse)Ch. 11, App. A1

  • Father, eternal — relation, not generationCh. 6, App. A1, App. N

  • Fatherhood of God (relational doctrine, eternal Father by relation to the Son and adoption to the elect)App. A1

  • Flood, the (rendering reset, second downgrade, Noahic covenant)Ch. 8, App. A1

  • Federal headship (rejected)Ch. 5, Ch. 7, Ch. 8, Ch. 11, App. A1, App. A3, App. B, App. C, App. I

  • Federal headship — Scripture’s own denial (Ezekiel 18:1-4, 18:20; Deuteronomy 24:16; 2 Kings 14:6; 2 Chronicles 25:4; Jeremiah 31:29-30 — “the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father”)Ch. 11

  • Fence-building heart (Pharisee with law, Gospelist with gospel — same heart, different fence material; convert revelation into a boundary marker)Ch. 30, App. A1

  • Filioque controversy (1054 split as downstream of Plotinian template)App. A1, App. N

  • Filling of the Spirit (distinct from baptism)App. A4

  • Fire as God’s presence (not separate punishment)Ch. 28, App. A6, App. I

  • Fire as shame (the felt substance of God’s wrath on the uncovered conscience; the felt content of Scripture’s fire-language across both Testaments)Ch. 6, Ch. 28, App. A6, App. I

  • Flat canon (all books leveled to equal authority; imposed via the Council of Trent and the Diet of Regensburg, rejected)Ch. 26, App. A5

  • Forensic justification (affirmed but not the whole story)Ch. 15, App. A1

  • Forsakenness of Christ on the cross (My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me)App. A1

  • Galatian move, the (Gal 5:4 — fallen from grace itself, not from doctrine; doctrines correct on paper, operation reversed in the heart; the conversion of grace into law by use)Ch. 30

  • Gehenna (Valley of Hinnom, place name of cultural shame before it became a fire metaphor in Second Temple imagination)App. A6

  • Gethsemane submission (not my will, but thine, be done — proof of Christ’s perfectly submitted will even at the approach of the cross)App. A1

  • Glass coming down at Calvary (Son stood under the eschatological glass in place of the elect, uncovered shame borne so they inherit covered glory)Ch. 6, Ch. 28, App. A1, App. A6

  • GlorificationCh. 15, Ch. 28, Ch. 29

  • God’s holiness and evilCh. 5, Ch. 13

  • Goel (Hebrew kinsman-redeemer, type of Christ)Ch. 9

  • Groanings and utterances (pre-linguistic prayer, Romans 8:26)App. E

  • Grace becomes law, when (the diagnostic for the Galatian move; doctrine of grace converted into a fence; vocabulary of grace, function of law)Ch. 21, Ch. 30

  • Grace preceded the fall (remedy before the disease)Ch. 11, Ch. 15

  • Grace, irresistibleCh. 16, Ch. 25

  • Greater light, greater shame (the reprobate who had the most light bears the heaviest shame; the religious gatekeeper’s filmstrip is longer than the pagan’s — Luke 12:47-48, Heb 10:29)Ch. 28, App. A6

  • Guilt felt by Christ at the cross (not merely reckoned, borne as substance in His soul under the Father’s reckoning)Ch. 6, App. A1

  • Hardening of hearts (Pharaoh)Ch. 13, App. A9

  • Hardness is the tell (diagnostic test: if your doctrine of grace makes you harder on people who don’t get it yet, you have made grace into law)Ch. 30

  • He took the weight, He did not take the corruption (formula for the orthodox substitution line)App. A1

  • Hebrew counter-witness to Plato (DSS, prophets, Pentateuch, Job, Acts; the sentence Plato banned, written anyway)Prologue, Ch. 9, Ch. 13, App. F, App. N

  • Hermeneutical principle (the clear interprets the unclear)Ch. 26, App. A5

  • Hippo and Carthage, Councils of (recognized, not created, the canon)Ch. 10, Ch. 26

  • Historicism (eschatological)Ch. 27, App. A6, App. I

  • Holy days / Christian calendar (matters of conscience)Ch. 21

  • “Believe in Jesus and do as you please” (Augustine’s “love God and do what you will,” restated for Christ)Ch. 21, App. C

  • Holy Spirit, Person ofApp. A1

  • Holy Spirit’s work as epistemological (not mystical)Ch. 16, Ch. 25, App. E

  • Homologoumena (undisputed books of the canon)Ch. 26, App. A5, App. I

  • Honor-shame (biblical register equal to guilt-innocence, touched by recent biblical theology primarily in missiology and soteriology rather than eschatology)App. A6

  • Harder-softer test (diagnostic for grace turned to law: harder on the gatekeeper, softer on the brother kept out)Ch. 21, Ch. 30

  • Hinge of Chapter 30 (“if correct doctrine does not save, incorrect doctrine does not damn”)Ch. 21, Ch. 30, App. B, App. L, App. M, App. O

  • Hypostatic unionCh. 6, App. A1

  • Idealism (mind precedes matter)Ch. 1, Ch. 3, App. A1, App. G, App. I, App. J, App. N

  • Idealism, traditional (devalues the material)Ch. 1, App. I, App. J, App. N

  • Image of God (elect only)Ch. 12, Ch. 17, App. A1, App. A9, App. I

  • Immutability of GodCh. 2

  • Imprecatory Psalms (appropriate in mouths of the righteous)Ch. 28

  • Imputation (reckoned, not infused)Ch. 1, Ch. 8, Ch. 11, Ch. 15, Ch. 18, App. A1

  • Imputation of Christ’s righteousnessCh. 15, App. A1

  • Inability, total (natural man’s lack of capacity, not just willingness)Ch. 16, Ch. 25

  • IncarnationCh. 6, App. A1, App. G, App. I

  • Incorrect practice does not damnCh. 24, App. A7, App. L

  • Infralapsarianism (critique of)Ch. 5, Ch. 12, App. D

  • Inspiration and authority of ScriptureCh. 1, Ch. 9, Ch. 26, App. A1, App. O

  • Intelligent design (critique of, distinguished from authorship)Ch. 1, Ch. 3, Ch. 4

  • Interface Theory of Perception (Hoffman; spacetime and objects as an evolved survival interface)App. H, App. J

  • Intermediate stateApp. A3, App. A4, App. A6, App. A9, App. A10

  • “It is finished”Ch. 15, Ch. 19, Ch. 20, Ch. 30

  • Jehovah / YHWH (the covenant redemptive name)App. A1

  • Jehovah-Jireh, -Rapha, -Nissi, -Shalom, -Ra-ah, -Tsidkenu, -Shammah (compound covenant names)App. A1

  • Judgment, final (ceremony/public declaration, not verdict)Ch. 2

  • Justification from eternityCh. 2, Ch. 10, Ch. 15, App. A11, App. C, App. I, App. O

  • Justification, three frames of (cross, conversion, judgment)Ch. 2, Ch. 10

  • Kenosis (emptying of Christ)Ch. 6

  • Kingdom of God (spiritual, not physical)Ch. 27

  • Kinsman-Redeemer (Hebrew goel, type of Christ in Boaz)Ch. 9

  • Knowledge-Calvinism (adding doctrinal precision as condition of salvation)Ch. 30, App. M, App. O

  • Law as curse (Galatians 3:13)Ch. 8, Ch. 12, Ch. 20, App. A1

  • Law of Plato — see Plato, law of

  • Lesser-error posture (better to wrongly embrace a brother than wrongly exclude one; measured by the embrace extended, not the exclusion policed)Ch. 21, Ch. 30, App. O

  • Label-slapping — see Name-calling / label-slapping

  • Lay theologian (Brandan as non-seminary systematic theologian, man without credentials)Preface, Prologue, Ch. 1, Ch. 11, Epilogue, App. A12, App. I, App. K

  • Lucifer myth (rejected)Ch. 13, App. A2, App. C, App. I

  • Lydia and the moment of awarenessApp. A10

  • Made sin (2 Cor 5:21, the strongest expression of imputation)Ch. 11, Ch. 15, App. A1

  • Made-sin controversy (Brandan’s defense of Gill’s expression)App. A1

  • Mass of sin (Gill’s expression on 2 Cor 5:21)App. A1

  • Means and regeneration (debate assessed)Ch. 16, App. A3

  • Mia physis tou Theou Logou sesarkomene (“one nature of the incarnate Word,” Cyril of Alexandria’s formula)App. A1

  • Miaphysite Christology / Miaphysitism (Cyril’s one composite nature in which divinity and humanity are fully united without absorption; the Oriental Orthodox position; honored by the framework at the Person level; not to be confused with strict Monophysitism)App. A1

  • Modalism (rejected)Ch. 6

  • Modesty (heart posture, not dress code)Ch. 21

  • Millennium (present age)Ch. 27, App. A6

  • Miracles (previews of higher-resolution rendering)Ch. 29, App. A4, App. A9, App. G, App. H

  • MonergismCh. 15, Ch. 16, Ch. 19, Ch. 30, App. B, App. M

  • Name-calling / label-slapping (as Platonic critique method, compromiser / hyper / Gnostic etc.)Prologue, Ch. 19, Ch. 30, Acknowledgments, App. A10 (“Slapping labels” section), App. I, App. K (Phil Johnson exchange), App. L (Bob’s story), App. N (Costume 20 — master diagnosis), Preface

  • Names of God — see Divine names of God

  • Natural disasters (authored, not punishment for specific sins)App. A9

  • Neutrality, no neutral groundCh. 25

  • New Covenant IS the covenant of graceCh. 8

  • New Covenant Theology (critique of)Ch. 5, Ch. 8, App. C

  • Nestorius / Nestorianism (denial that Mary is Theotokos; tendency to so separate the divine and human in Christ that the unity of the Person was lost; the heresy Cyril of Alexandria rose to defend the deity of Christ against)App. A1

  • Noahic covenantCh. 8, App. A1

  • Old Testament types and pictures of redemptionCh. 9

  • Oriental Orthodox communions (Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Indian Malankara; holders of the miaphysite formulation of Cyril; modern ecumenical dialogue has confirmed they do not teach the heresy Chalcedon condemned)App. A1

  • Ontological difference (elect vs. reprobate, difference of kind not degree)Ch. 12, Ch. 28, App. C

  • Open theism (rejected)Ch. 2

  • Ordo salutis (MCT)Ch. 15, App. A1

  • Origen (used Plotinus’s emanation language to describe the Son)Ch. 13, App. A1, App. N

  • Original sin (without federal headship)Ch. 7, Ch. 11, App. F

  • Pantheism (rejected; the coming rival)Ch. 1, App. J, Afterword

  • Partial preterismCh. 27, App. A6, App. I

  • Particular love of God (bridegroom/bride, not universal)Ch. 19, App. A1, App. M, App. N

  • Passover (Exodus 12, type of Christ as the Lamb)Ch. 9

  • Permission, divine (rejected as concept)Ch. 1, Ch. 5, Ch. 11, Ch. 13, Ch. 14, App. A1, App. A3, App. D, App. I, App. M

  • Perpetual virginity of MaryApp. A3

  • Perseverance/preservation of the saintsCh. 15, Ch. 25, App. A3, App. A10, App. I, App. O

  • Personally sinless Son who felt what sin produces (impeccability preserved while consequences borne)Ch. 6, Ch. 30, App. A1

  • Phenomenology of sin borne by Christ (felt weight of guilt and shame on a sinless conscience under total imputation)Ch. 6, App. A1

  • Plato, law ofCh. 1, Ch. 5, Ch. 7, Ch. 10, Ch. 11, Ch. 13, Ch. 18, Ch. 30, App. M, App. N

  • Plato, Republic, direct citations (II.379c, II.380b, II.380c, X.617e in Jowett’s translation embedded inline)Ch. 1, Ch. 13, App. N (Part I and Costume 13), App. S (bibliography entry naming the public-domain edition cited)

  • Plotinus / Neoplatonism (the immediate philosophical source of eternal generation)App. A1, App. I, App. J, App. N

  • Plural eldership vs. the single pastorCh. 23, Ch. 24, App. A5, App. I

  • Posse peccare (ability to sin, critique of)Ch. 11, Ch. 13

  • Postmillennialism (critique of)Ch. 27

  • Prayer, theology of (under absolute sovereignty; ordained means God uses; the “prayer is meaningless” objection answered; see also Christian Life section)Ch. 2, Ch. 5, Ch. 21, App. A9, App. A11, App. E, App. J

  • PredestinationPrologue, Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 5, Ch. 7, Ch. 11, Ch. 14, App. D

  • Pre-incarnate appearances of Christ (theophanies)Ch. 6, App. A2

  • Premillennialism (critique of)Ch. 27, App. A6

  • PresuppositionalismPreface, Ch. 16, Ch. 25, App. I

  • Prevenient grace (Calvinistically received — the grace that precedes and prepares for saving grace, particular to the elect, operating within the decree; KJV “prevent” as “go before”; Fortner’s formulation of providential grace + preparatory grace)Ch. 16, Ch. 21, App. A3

  • Preventing mercy — see Prevenient grace

  • Progressive revelation — see Progressive rendering

  • Progressive rendering (not progressive covenant)Ch. 8, Ch. 9, Ch. 22, App. C

  • Progressive sanctification produces pride or despairCh. 18

  • Prophetic hyperbole (cosmic language for political events)Ch. 13

  • PropitiationCh. 9, Ch. 15, App. A1

  • Ransom-to-the-devil atonement (Patristic error, rejected)Ch. 12, Ch. 13, App. N

  • Prophet, Priest, King (offices of Christ)Ch. 6

  • ProvidenceCh. 1, Ch. 5, App. I

  • Rapture (pretribulational, rejected)Ch. 27, App. A6

  • Rebellion vs. consequences distinction (sin proper is volitional departure; Christ bore what rebellion produces in a soul, not the rebellion itself)App. A1

  • Reconciliation (atoning aspect, restored fellowship)Ch. 15, App. A1

  • Redemption (ransom price)Ch. 15, App. A1

  • RegenerationCh. 12, Ch. 15, Ch. 16, Ch. 21, Ch. 22, Ch. 25, Ch. 30, App. A3, App. A4, App. A9, App. A10, App. E

  • Regeneration at the firmware level (objections and answers)Ch. 12, Ch. 16, Ch. 25, App. E

  • Repentance, legal vs. evangelicalApp. A1

  • ReprobationCh. 5, Ch. 12, Ch. 19, Ch. 28, App. A9, App. D, App. M

  • Resurrection as Father’s amen on the crossCh. 19

  • Resurrection as half the gospel proclamationCh. 19

  • Resurrection as public vindication of justification (Romans 4:25)Ch. 19

  • Resurrection as receipt for the cross-paymentCh. 19

  • Resurrection as removal of constraints (not addition of abilities)Ch. 3, Ch. 6, Ch. 29, App. G, App. H

  • Resurrection bodyCh. 3, Ch. 29, App. A4, App. A6, App. G, App. I, App. L

  • Resurrection grounding present-tense lordship of ChristCh. 6, Ch. 19

  • Roman Catholicism (claim to have given us the Bible, rejected)Ch. 10, Ch. 26, Ch. 27, Ch. 28, App. A5

  • SabbathCh. 20, App. A1, App. I

  • Salvation as past eventCh. 19

  • Sanctification, positional/continuousCh. 15, Ch. 18, App. C, App. I, App. M

  • Sanctification, progressive (rejected)Ch. 18, App. C, App. I, App. M

  • Saving faith vs. doctrine (personal trust vs. propositions)Ch. 16, Ch. 30, App. A4, App. L, App. N, App. O

  • Scapegoat (Leviticus 16, type of Christ bearing iniquity away)Ch. 9

  • Second coming of ChristCh. 27, App. A6

  • Second death (Revelation 20:14, 20:6 — terminus of the measured curse, not annihilation)Ch. 28

  • Secondary causes (rejected)Ch. 1, Ch. 13, Ch. 14, App. I, App. J, App. M, App. N

  • Seed of the serpentCh. 8, Ch. 12, App. A2, App. C, App. I

  • Selection vs. election (distinction)Ch. 5, App. D

  • Shame felt by Christ at the cross (Hebrews 12:2, despising the shame, uncovered for the elect)Ch. 6, App. A1, App. A6

  • Sharpest doctrine produces the widest arms (Ch. 30 thesis)Preface, Prologue, Ch. 6, Ch. 21, Ch. 30, Epilogue, App. A7, App. A10, App. B, App. I, App. L, App. N, App. O

  • Sign of the New Covenant (Spirit, not water)Ch. 10, Ch. 22

  • Mode of baptism (immersion/sprinkling, matter of conscience, no clear NT prescription)Ch. 22, App. I

  • Paedobaptism vs. credobaptism (both miss the point; the sign is the Spirit, not the water)Ch. 22

  • Sacrament (dual usage — rejected sacerdotal sense vs. affirmed Latin sense of sacred embodied rendering)Ch. 10, Ch. 22, App. A5, App. A6, App. N (Costume 8), App. R (glossary)

  • Sin, nature ofCh. 1, Ch. 11, Ch. 14

  • Soul sleep (rejected; the intermediate state is conscious — “today shalt thou be with me in paradise”)App. A3, App. A6

  • Sovereignty of GodPrologue, Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 5, Ch. 7, Ch. 14, Ch. 21, Ch. 30, App. D, App. M

  • Syllogism without Scripture (as Platonic critique method)App. N (Costume 20)

  • Spiritual warfare (demons as authored instruments, not rogue agents)Ch. 13, Ch. 28, App. A2, App. A8

  • Study to be quiet (humility, the posture of the Spirit-led life)Ch. 21

  • Substance dualism (rejected as Plato’s metaphysical baggage; framework keeps Scripture’s body-soul language without the two-stuffs claim)App. A4, App. I, App. J, App. N

  • Substitutionary atonement / substitutionary work of Christ / Christ as surety (substitution as the architecture all atonement aspects sit inside)Ch. 6, Ch. 14, Ch. 15, App. A1, App. A6, App. B, App. N

  • SupralapsarianismCh. 5, Ch. 6, App. C, App. D, App. I

  • Tabernacle (type of Christ as meeting place between God and His people)Ch. 9

  • Tetragrammaton (YHWH, the unspeakable Name)App. A1

  • Theodicy / problem of evilCh. 1, Ch. 5, Ch. 11, Ch. 13, Ch. 14, App. A9, App. N

  • Theophanies / Angel of the LORD (pre-incarnate Christ)Ch. 6, App. A2

  • Three divisions of the law (moral/ceremonial/civil, rejected)Ch. 20, App. I, App. M

  • Tier list of sins (rejected)Ch. 14, App. A7

  • Time (as rendering constraint)Ch. 2, Ch. 4, App. A12

  • Tribulation (largely fulfilled in AD 70)Ch. 27, App. A6

  • TrinityCh. 6, Ch. 7, App. A1, App. N

  • Tritheism (rejected)Ch. 6

  • TULIPCh. 5, Ch. 12, Ch. 15, Ch. 16, Ch. 19, Ch. 25 (full mapping in “TULIP in the Framework”), App. A11, App. A12

  • TULIP in the Framework (five points mapped to operational idealism)Ch. 25, App. A12

  • Two covenants running simultaneously (OT)Ch. 8

  • Two wills of God (rejected)App. A3

  • Type / typology (Old Testament rendering of Christ at lower resolution; antitype is the higher-resolution rendering)Ch. 9

  • Unforgivable sinApp. A3

  • “Upright” does not mean sinless (Ecclesiastes 7:29, Job 1:8)Ch. 11

  • “Very good” means purposeful, not sinless (Genesis 1:31)Ch. 11

  • Vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy (both necessary)Ch. 5, Ch. 11, Ch. 12, Ch. 28, App. A9

  • Virgin birthCh. 6, App. A3

  • Visible church vs. invisible church distinction (rejected)Ch. 23

  • War after this one (materialism dying, pantheism the next rival; the church unprepared; the yes-and asymmetry; the mystic / the fog) — Afterword, App. J

The Framework (Book’s Unique Concepts)

Metaphors and Analogies

Controversial Topics

  • AbortionCh. 14, App. A7, App. A11

  • AI and eschatology (speculation, clearly labeled)Ch. 27

  • AI consciousnessApp. A9

  • AI, Christianity in the age of (the machine is a frame, not the Shepherd)App. A9, App. A11

  • Alcohol (moderation vs. drunkenness, mastery principle)Ch. 21, App. A7

  • Altar calls / decisionism (rejected)Ch. 19, App. A5, App. M

  • Antinomianism (redefined)Ch. 20, Ch. 21

  • Apostasy (elect cannot)Ch. 21, App. A3

  • Baptism (infant vs. believer)Ch. 22

  • Baptism, mode ofCh. 22

  • Baptism of the Holy SpiritCh. 22, App. A4

  • Baptismal regeneration (rejected)Ch. 10, Ch. 22, App. A1, App. I

  • Bible translation issues (NIV/ESV softening Isaiah 45:7)Ch. 13, App. A1

  • Bible translations (rendering events, multi-glass reading, KJV preferred but not only)App. A1, App. N

  • King James Version (cadence, theological precision, good glass not THE glass)App. A1, App. N (Costume 23)

  • KJV-Onlyism (rejected as one-translation Form)App. A1, App. N (Costume 23)

  • Textus Receptus and critical text (both preserved what the Author meant to preserve)App. A1, App. N (Costume 23)

  • Capital punishmentApp. A8

  • Cannabis (framework’s mastery principle applied)App. A7

  • Birth control (preventing conception vs. destroying life)App. A7

  • Cessationism / continuationismApp. A4

  • Charismatic giftsApp. A4

  • Church government / polityCh. 23, Ch. 24, App. A5

  • Clerical titles / “Reverend” (rejected for men)Ch. 23, App. A5

  • Common grace (denied)Ch. 19, App. A3, App. C, App. I, App. K, App. M

  • Communication with the deadApp. A9

  • Communion / Lord’s Supper (as celebration, agape feast)Ch. 10, Ch. 27, App. N

  • Comforting the grievingApp. A6, App. A10

  • Confusion vs. rebellion (Arminians using inherited language)Ch. 21, Ch. 30, App. A10

  • Corporal punishment / the rod (shepherd’s guide, not beating stick)App. A7

  • Tower of Babel (judgment on uniformity, scattering as mercy)App. A1

  • Many thoughts and one thought (the unity of God’s mind)App. A1

  • Head and heart dichotomy (rejected as artificial)App. A4

  • Great Commission and itinerant preaching (not “missions” in the modern sense)App. A5

  • Deriving instead of defending (the framework’s posture toward apologetics)Ch. 25, App. A5

  • Number of the beast (666, symbolic, not literal)App. A6

  • Great apostasy (recurring pattern, not a single end-times event)App. A6

  • Creation debate as idolCh. 4

  • Creeds and confessions (unsigned)App. A5, App. O

  • Degrees of reward in heaven (rejected, Christ is the reward)App. A3, App. A6

  • Divorce and remarriageApp. A7

  • Drugs / pharmakeia (medical vs. recreational vs. spiritual)App. A7

  • Drunkenness (loss of faculty, sin)App. A7

  • Duty faith (rejected)Ch. 19, Ch. 21, App. I, App. K, App. M

  • Egalitarianism (rejected)Ch. 24

  • Evangelism / preachingCh. 16, Ch. 19, Ch. 25, App. A5, App. A11

  • Evolution / natural selection (critique of)Ch. 3, Ch. 4

  • Fatalism (distinguished from sovereignty)Ch. 21

  • Free will (rejected in libertarian sense)Ch. 2, Ch. 11, Ch. 19, App. M, App. N

  • Full preterism (rejected as heresy)Ch. 27, App. A6

  • Gatekeeping (sovereign grace people deciding who is in/out, doctrinal exams as replacement for Spirit’s work)Ch. 30, App. A10, App. L (“The Gatekeepers” parable), App. N (Costume 20), App. O (why gatekeeping dissolves once doctrine is relocated beneath ontology), Preface, App. B

  • Head coverings (hair as the covering, conscience)Ch. 24

  • Heresy hunting (as Platonic critique method)Ch. 30, App. A10, App. K, App. L, App. N (Costume 20)

  • HomosexualityCh. 14, App. A7

  • Human responsibility (rejected; accountability affirmed)Ch. 19, App. C, App. K, App. M

  • Hyper-Calvinism (label addressed)Prologue, Ch. 19, Ch. 30, App. I, App. K, App. N (Costume 20), Preface

  • Infants who die (all go to heaven)App. A3, App. A11

  • License vs. liberty (distinction)Ch. 21

  • Lord’s Day / SabbathCh. 20, Ch. 21, App. A1

  • Lordship salvation (critique of)Ch. 26

  • Mentally disabledApp. A3

  • Music in worshipApp. A5

  • NephilimApp. A2

  • Newspaper exegesis (critique of)Ch. 27

  • Offer of the gospel (rejected; proclamation affirmed)Ch. 19, App. A5, App. C, App. K

  • One-man pulpit (unbiblical)Ch. 23, Ch. 24, Epilogue, App. A5, App. I

  • Ordained does not mean approvedCh. 14

  • OrdinationApp. A5

  • Other religionsApp. A9

  • Paid preachersApp. A5

  • Pharmakeia (drug use for spiritual experience, condemned)App. A7

  • Quiverfull movement (rejected)App. A7

  • Humanae Vitae (Catholic contraception position, rejected)App. A7

  • Premarital sex (fornication vs. pre-ceremony covenant claim)App. A7

  • Pornography (simulated intimacy, ceremony without substance)App. A7

  • Masturbation (four cases, framework-derived, conscience territory)App. A7

  • Onan misreading (Genesis 38 not about masturbation)App. A7

  • Euthanasia (active, PAS, withdrawal, palliative care distinguished)App. A7

  • Physician-assisted suicide (rejected)App. A3, App. A7

  • Death with dignity movement (rejected)App. A7

  • Gun control and self-defense (framework position)App. A8

  • Self-defense (Exodus 22, Luke 22, 1 Tim 5:8)App. A8

  • Dual sword principle (state’s sword and household’s sword)App. A8

  • Pacifism (progressive rejection of all force, refused)App. A8

  • UFOs and aliens (interdimensional/demonic hypothesis for hard cases)App. A8

  • Extraterrestrial life (framework ontology can accommodate but does not require)App. A8

  • Ancient astronauts / space brothers religion (rejected)App. A8

  • Tobacco use (cigarettes, cigars, vaping, pouches; mastery principle)App. A7

  • Vaping and e-cigarettes (engineered for teen addiction, framework treatment)App. A7

  • Nicotine pouches (mastery principle without body-destruction argument)App. A7

  • Spurgeon and tobacco (historical Christian record on cigars)App. A7

  • Obesity and gluttony (the sin is mastery, not body size)App. A7

  • Gluttony (Scripture’s named sin, distinct from body size)App. A7

  • Modern food environment (industrially engineered hyper-palatable products)App. A7

  • GLP-1 medications (Ozempic and the appetite-mastery question)App. A7

  • Eating disorders (bondage to food in opposite direction)App. A7

  • Fat acceptance movement (rejected as denial of body’s moral weight)App. A7

  • Fat-shaming (refused; size is not the moral variable)App. A7

  • Prohibitionism (rejected as Platonic)App. A7

  • Prosperity gospel (rejected)App. A8

  • Religious relics and physical worship (rejected)App. A5

  • Second ransom (rejected)Ch. 12

  • ShibbolethsApp. A10

  • Simulation hypothesisCh. 1, Ch. 3, App. A11, App. A12, App. G, App. J

  • Simulation theory incompatible with materialism and realismCh. 3, App. A11, App. A12, App. J

  • SuicideApp. A3

  • Those who never hear the gospelApp. A3

  • Tithing (not required)Preface, App. A8

  • Tongues (languages, not ecstatic utterance)App. A4

  • Transubstantiation (rejected)Ch. 10, App. N

  • War and pacifismApp. A8

  • Well-meant offer of the gospel (rejected)Ch. 19, App. A5, App. C, App. I, App. K

  • Women in ministry / women preachingCh. 24, App. I

  • Young earth vs. old earthCh. 4, App. A1

People and Movements

  • Almeida, Milton — Acknowledgments

  • Alvord, David — Acknowledgments

  • Apple IIc (Brandan’s first computer)Preface, Ch. 3

  • Aquinas, Thomas (act and potency, subsumed by framework)Ch. 13, App. A1

  • Aristotle (act and potency)App. A1

  • Arminius / ArminianismPreface, Ch. 7, Ch. 19, Ch. 30

  • AugustineCh. 1, Ch. 13, Ch. 21, App. A1, App. I, App. J, App. N

  • Apologists, Greek Christian (Justin Martyr et al., identifying Christ with the Greek Logos)App. N

  • Bahnsen, GregCh. 25

  • Baker, Kyle — Acknowledgments

  • Beckett, Eileen (Pristine Grace contributor, the only woman published on the site, lived the tenderness Ch. 30 describes, deceased) — Acknowledgments

  • Bell, Donnie — Acknowledgments

  • Berkeley, George (subjective idealism)App. J

  • Berkhof, LouisApp. I

  • Best, W.E. — Acknowledgments

  • Bishop, David — Acknowledgments

  • Bostrom, Nick (simulation argument)App. G, App. J

  • Bradford, JohnCh. 12

  • Brinsmead, Robert (Present Truth magazine, 1970s; freed serious men from law-based traditions) — Acknowledgments

  • Brown, Larry — Acknowledgments

  • Byrd, Jim — Acknowledgments

  • Calvin, JohnCh. 27, Acknowledgments

  • Cappadocians (fourth-century Neoplatonic theologians of the Eastern tradition)App. N

  • Carpenter, Marc (Outside the Camp ministry; negative-example teacher) — Acknowledgments

  • Clark, GordonPreface, Prologue, Ch. 5, Ch. 16, App. D, App. E, App. I, Acknowledgments

  • Clement of Alexandria (second-to-third-century Middle Platonist Christian fusionist)App. N

  • Coleman, Aaron — Acknowledgments

  • Collier, Monty — Acknowledgments

  • Covington, Mary — Acknowledgments

  • Crabtree, Bruce — Acknowledgments

  • Cunningham, Chris — Acknowledgments

  • Darby, John NelsonCh. 27

  • Dead Sea Scrolls / Qumran / EssenesPrologue, Ch. 5, Ch. 8, Ch. 9, Ch. 13, Ch. 15, App. F, App. N

  • Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QS 3.15-17 (Community Rule, “all that is and ever shall be originates with the God of knowledge”)Ch. 13, App. F, App. N

  • Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QS 3.25-26 (Treatise on the Two Spirits, God created the spirits of light and darkness)Ch. 13, App. F, App. N

  • Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QHodayot IX (Thanksgiving Hymns, “nothing is done without thee”)Ch. 13, App. F, App. N

  • Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QS 11.2-3 (Community Rule, “in his hand are the perfection of my walk and the virtues of my heart” — monergistic sanctification)Ch. 18, App. F

  • Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QS 11.9-10 (Community Rule, “a man’s way is not his own . . . surely justification is of God” — no human contribution)Ch. 9, Ch. 19, App. F

  • Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QS 11.11-15 (Community Rule, “my justification will be by the righteousness of God which endures for all time”)Ch. 15, App. F

  • Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QHodayot 7 (Thanksgiving Hymns, “from the womb You established him . . . from the womb You set them apart” — directly-authored sin nature and the two seeds, two centuries before Augustine)Prologue, Ch. 9, Ch. 11, App. F

  • Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QH 9.24-25 (Thanksgiving Psalms, “everything is engraved before You with the ink of remembrance for all the times of eternity” — the eternal decree)Ch. 5, App. F

  • Dead Sea Scrolls, 4Q246 (Aramaic Apocalypse, “he will be called Son of God . . . a great God of gods” — the deity of the coming Messiah)Ch. 6, App. F

  • Dickmann, Mike — Acknowledgments

  • Dietz, Drew and Melinda (close friends, retired sovereign grace pastor) — Acknowledgments

  • Dunn, Darryl — Acknowledgments

  • Eastern Orthodoxy (view of hell, same presence)Ch. 28, App. N

  • Damasio, Antonio (somatic marker hypothesis, precedent for pre-propositional)App. E

  • Edwards, Jonathan (idealist leanings; Religious Affections as precedent for pre-propositional)App. E, App. J

  • Ella, George (Strict Baptist historian, biographer of Gadsby) — Acknowledgments

  • Elmquist, Greg — Acknowledgments

  • Einstein, Albert (spooky action at a distance; bet on local realism; “the moon is there when nobody looks”)App. H

  • Erkel, DarrylCh. 23

  • Fortner, DonCh. 30, Acknowledgments, App. A3 (prevenient grace formulation quoted)

  • Gadsby, WilliamPreface, Acknowledgments

  • Galatian JudaizersCh. 20

  • Gendlin, Eugene (felt sense, precedent for pre-propositional)App. E

  • Gerety, Sean (Clarkian, Trinity Foundation) — Acknowledgments

  • Gill, JohnPrologue, Preface, Ch. 30, Acknowledgments, App. A1 (made sin / mass of sin / 2 Cor 5:21 commentary), App. I

  • Gonzalez, Gabriel — Acknowledgments

  • Gnosticism (rejected)Ch. 1, Ch. 29, App. A1, App. J

  • Gregory of NyssaCh. 28

  • Grudem, WayneApp. I

  • Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (absolute idealism)App. J

  • Hein, Rick (Jubilee Church elder, 2001 removal) — Acknowledgments

  • Higby, Bob (theological DNA, supralapsarian architect, ecclesiological mentor, the bricks and the cathedral)Preface, Prologue, Ch. 5, Ch. 9, Ch. 10, Ch. 12, Ch. 22, Epilogue, App. A1, App. A5, App. C, App. D, App. F, App. K, Acknowledgments, App. R

  • Higby, Dan (Bob’s son) — Acknowledgments

  • Higby, Ruth (Bob’s wife) — Acknowledgments

  • Hoeksema, HermanApp. I

  • Hoffman, Donald (Interface Theory of Perception; Conscious Realism; the pantheist exit)App. H, App. J, App. S

  • Holbrook, Tammi and Chip — Acknowledgments

  • Huckle, Roger — Acknowledgments

  • Huss, JanCh. 27

  • Ilyasov, Renat — Acknowledgments

  • Isaac the SyrianCh. 28

  • James, William (Principles of Psychology, precedent for pre-propositional)App. E

  • James, Tim — Acknowledgments

  • Johnson, James — Acknowledgments

  • Johnson, PhilPrologue, Ch. 5, Ch. 19, App. C, App. K, Acknowledgments

  • Johnson, Ray — Acknowledgments

  • Jubilee Church (St. Louis, MO; Newfrontiers affiliate; 2001 removal of Brandan) — Acknowledgments

  • Justin Martyr (second-century Apologist, identified Christ with the Greek Logos)App. A1, App. N

  • Kahneman, Daniel (System 1 / System 2, precedent for pre-propositional)App. E

  • Keil, Abe and Carol — Acknowledgments

  • Kickert, Ray — Acknowledgments

  • Kinney, Joe — Acknowledgments

  • Knox, JohnCh. 27

  • Krall, Mike — Acknowledgments

  • Lanferman, John (Jubilee Church elder, 2001 removal) — Acknowledgments

  • Laurienzo, Nicholas — Acknowledgments

  • LeDoux, Joseph (The Emotional Brain, 12ms amygdala, precedent for pre-propositional)App. E

  • Lindsey, Hal (Late Great Planet Earth)Ch. 27

  • Lovins, Nick (longtime friend and encourager) — Acknowledgments

  • Luther, MartinPrologue, Ch. 12, Ch. 26, Ch. 27, App. A5, Acknowledgments

  • MacArthur, JohnPrologue, App. K

  • Mahan, HenryCh. 6, Ch. 23, Ch. 27, Ch. 30, Acknowledgments

  • Mahan, Henry (“mercy, not mechanics”)Ch. 30

  • Manichaeism (rejected)Ch. 12

  • McDaniel, Bill — Acknowledgments

  • McGilchrist, Iain (The Master and His Emissary, divided brain, precedent for pre-propositional)App. E

  • McGrew, Glenn — Acknowledgments

  • McGrew, Norman — Acknowledgments

  • Merleau-Ponty, Maurice (Phenomenology of Perception, pre-reflective consciousness)App. E

  • Miklosik, Craig — Acknowledgments

  • Milton, John, Paradise Lost, direct citations (I.24-26 the theodicy mission “justify the ways of God to men”; I.262-263 “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven”; V.659-666 the inherited and elaborated cause of Satan’s fall; V.710 the “third part of Heaven’s host”)Ch. 13, App. S

  • Milton at the end of the fourteen-century lineage (did not invent the angelic-fall narrative; gave it its dominant literary form)Ch. 13

  • Lineage of the Lucifer myth (Plato, 1 Enoch, 2 Enoch, Life of Adam and Eve, Origen, Augustine, Gregory the Great, Caedmon, Anglo-Saxon Genesis B, Vita Adae et Evae, mystery plays, Aquinas, Milton)Ch. 13, App. S

  • Mowrey, Bryan (Jubilee Church small group leader at 2001 removal; now Confluence/Newfrontiers US lead apostle) — Acknowledgments

  • Murrell, Conrad — Acknowledgments

  • Musk, Elon (simulation hypothesis)App. G

  • Neoplatonism (Augustine’s background)Ch. 13, App. I, App. J, App. N

  • Newton, John (hymnist, “Amazing Grace”) — Acknowledgments

  • Nibert, Todd — Acknowledgments

  • NietzscheCh. 17

  • O’Nanski, Scott — Acknowledgments

  • Osbourne, Crystal and Brady — Acknowledgments

  • Origen (third-century Middle Platonist Christian at Alexandria)Ch. 13, App. A1, App. N

  • Parker, Bill (sovereign grace pastor) — Acknowledgments

  • Patristic fathers (importing Plato)Ch. 13, App. N

  • Pedersen, John — Acknowledgments

  • Pendleton, Paula — Acknowledgments

  • PhariseesPrologue, Ch. 9, Ch. 12, Ch. 14, Ch. 30, App. A1, App. F

  • Phillips, Stanley — Acknowledgments

  • Philpot, J.C. (Strict Baptist writer) — Acknowledgments

  • Piper, John (What We Believe About the Five Points of Calvinism — the paper Bryan handed Brandan; infralapsarian; pastoral warmth) — Acknowledgments

  • Poe, Sam (Jubilee Church elder, 2001 removal) — Acknowledgments

  • PlatoCh. 1, Ch. 5, Ch. 7, Ch. 10, Ch. 13, Ch. 30, App. A11, App. I, App. N

  • Platonic Floor, the (master diagnosis, 23 costumes, floor swap to operational idealism)App. N; positive counterpart (the floor under this book) — App. O, Preface

  • Floor under this book, the (the positive counterpart to Appendix N; ontological floor of operational idealism; doctrine relocated beneath the Author’s rendering)App. J, App. N, App. O

  • Plotinus (Neoplatonist, corrupted Plato’s idealism into realist hierarchy)Ch. 1, App. I, App. J, App. N

  • Polanyi, Michael (Personal Knowledge, The Tacit Dimension, closest philosophical precedent to pre-propositional)App. E

  • Pseudo-Dionysius (fifth-to-sixth-century Neoplatonic systematizer of the Eastern tradition)App. N

  • Potts, Ian — Acknowledgments

  • Poythress, Vern (information theory and theology)App. J

  • Price, Scott — Acknowledgments

  • Primitive Baptists (oneness position, treated sympathetically)Ch. 6

  • Rages, Nathan — Acknowledgments

  • Reagan, Cassie — Acknowledgments

  • Robbins, John (Trinity Foundation, Clark interpreter) — Acknowledgments

  • Ruell, Julie — Acknowledgments

  • Ryle, J.C. — Acknowledgments

  • Scofield Reference BibleCh. 27

  • Shepard, Gary — Acknowledgments

  • Shofstahl, Charles — Acknowledgments

  • Smith, James K. A. (Desiring the Kingdom, Imagining the Kingdom, desiring creatures)App. E

  • Smith, Jason and Alissa — Acknowledgments

  • Smith, Mikal — Acknowledgments

  • Sproul, R.C. (Reformation Study Bible; example of love toward those who differ) — Acknowledgments

  • Spurgeon, Charles (pastoral heart, not theological influence)Preface, Ch. 30, Acknowledgments

  • Swindoll, Chuck (pastoral heart, boot parameters from childhood)Preface, Ch. 30, Acknowledgments

  • Tate, Frank — Acknowledgments

  • Teacher of RighteousnessPrologue, Ch. 8, Ch. 9, App. F

  • Terrell, Joe — Acknowledgments

  • Thomas, Ivor — Acknowledgments

  • Thomism / Thomist metaphysics (act and potency)App. A1

  • Toplady, AugustusPreface, Ch. 30, Acknowledgments

  • Trav — Acknowledgments

  • Trinity Foundation (Gordon Clark’s legacy publisher) — Acknowledgments

  • Tussey, Brandon — Acknowledgments

  • Tyndale, WilliamCh. 27, App. A1

  • Van Til, CorneliusCh. 16, Ch. 25, App. J

  • Van Weelden, Mary (Isaiah 24-27 exegesis against postmillennialism)Ch. 27

  • Warmack, Richard — Acknowledgments

  • Washer, Paul — Acknowledgments

  • Wells, Norm — Acknowledgments

  • Westminster ConfessionCh. 20, App. A5

  • Wetzel, John — Acknowledgments

  • Wheeler, John Archibald (“it from bit”)Ch. 3, App. G, App. H

  • Wiese, Chuck — Acknowledgments

  • Winegar, Greg (closest friend since 2005, designed the book cover, pristinegrace.org community member) — Acknowledgments

  • Winegar, Pam (Greg’s wife) — Acknowledgments

  • Wycliffe, JohnCh. 27

  • Zens, Jon (participatory ecclesiology)Ch. 23

  • Zwingli (memorialism)Ch. 10

Confessions and Creeds

  • Anba Bishoy declaration (1989, joint Oriental Orthodox / Eastern Orthodox Christological statement; converged on the conclusion that the two traditions hold the same Christ in different vocabularies)App. A1

  • Canons of DortApp. A5 (referenced indirectly via “Dort on particular redemption”)

  • Chalcedonian Definition (451, “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation”; honored on its own terms by the framework as a faithful articulation of the distinction at the operational level)App. A1

  • Cyrillian formula (mia physis tou Theou Logou sesarkomene, “one nature of the incarnate Word”; honored on its own terms by the framework as a faithful articulation of the unity at the Person level)App. A1

  • Heidelberg CatechismApp. A5

  • London Baptist ConfessionApp. A5

  • Nicene Creed (Western filioque addition as the proximate cause of the 1054 schism; framework dissolves the dispute by rejecting the Plotinian template the procession clause rests on)App. A1, App. N

  • Pro Oriente consultations (1971, Vienna; modern ecumenical dialogue confirming that Chalcedonian and Oriental Orthodox Christologies hold the same Christ)App. A1

  • Westminster ConfessionCh. 20, App. A5

Note: The author signs no confession (Preface, App. A5). All major confessions are referenced as useful but incomplete. The “campless” identity is a core theme.

Biblical Figures

Christian Life and Practical Topics

  • AngerCh. 17 (old firmware channel)

  • Animals in the framework (ontology, rendering states, eating meat, reverence)App. A1

  • Apologetics (limited role of)Ch. 16, Ch. 25

  • AddictionApp. A11

  • Aging and losing capacityApp. A11

  • Anxiety about the futureApp. A11

  • Assurance (faith IS assurance, doubt as layer conflict)Ch. 16, Ch. 21, App. A10, App. A11

  • Assurance of salvationCh. 2, Ch. 15, Ch. 21, App. A3, App. A10, App. A11

  • Church disciplineApp. A5

  • Church membership (formality, not substance)Ch. 23, Epilogue

  • Clergy, no authority over consciencePreface, Ch. 21, Ch. 23, Epilogue

  • Classical education / triviumCh. 16

  • ComplementarianismCh. 24, App. A7

  • Tenderness (as greater gift, women carry naturally, Christ modeled)Ch. 24

  • Dating / relationshipsCh. 10 (marriage as covenant)

  • Child with disabilitiesApp. A11

  • DepressionCh. 17, App. A11

  • Depression / anxietyCh. 17 (feelings architecture; therapy discussion), App. A11

  • Death, fear ofApp. A11

  • Death of a childApp. A11

  • Degrees of punishment vs. degrees of graceCh. 14, App. A6

  • DoubtCh. 2, Ch. 21, Ch. 26, App. A10, App. A11

  • Evangelism / preachingCh. 16, Ch. 19, Ch. 25, App. A5, App. A11

  • Feelings and faithCh. 17, Ch. 21, App. E

  • ForgivenessApp. A7 (Lord’s Prayer; divorce and remarriage), App. A11

  • Fear of manApp. A11

  • Forgiveness (when they won’t apologize)App. A11

  • Gender rolesCh. 24

  • Giving (voluntary, not mandated)App. A8

  • Government and politicsApp. A8

  • God’s silence (when God feels silent)App. A11

  • Grace, extending to other believersCh. 9, Ch. 30, App. A10

  • Guilt after sinCh. 21, App. A11

  • Grief and lamentApp. A6, App. A10, App. A11, App. N

  • Grief, comforting the grievingApp. A6, App. A10, App. A11, App. N

  • Heaven and hell (same reality, different firmware)Ch. 28, App. A6, App. A11, App. I, App. J

  • HumilityCh. 12, Ch. 14, Ch. 30

  • Hurt by the churchPreface, App. A11

  • Liberty, ChristianCh. 20, Ch. 21, Epilogue

  • Liberty from institutional authorityPreface, Ch. 21, Epilogue

  • LonelinessApp. A11

  • Lord’s PrayerApp. A9

  • Joy in the sovereign grace world (the missing fruit)Preface, Ch. 21, Ch. 30, Epilogue

  • Love as final wordPreface, Ch. 30, Epilogue, App. A6

  • MarriageCh. 10, Ch. 29, App. A6, App. A7, App. A11, App. N

  • Marriage and submission (Eph 5:22-33, husband’s heavier burden, abuse voids the claim, direct word to men and women)App. A7

  • Marriage bed mutuality (1 Cor 7:3-5, mutual obligation, mutual ownership, abstention as fraud)App. A7

  • Marriage, strugglingApp. A7, App. A11

  • Marriage supper of the Lamb (the eschatological feast the Lord’s Supper renders)Ch. 10, Ch. 27, Ch. 28, App. A6, App. L, App. N

  • Marital sexuality and the eschatological bed (the bed as preview of the marriage supper of the Lamb)Ch. 10, App. A6 (in Eschatology section), App. N

  • Living as worship in the new creation (heaven is bigger than throne-worship)App. A6 (Eschatology section)

  • Covenant companion (the wife of thy covenant, Malachi 2:14, as the biblical term for the eternal spousal bond)Ch. 29, App. A6 (Eschatology section), App. N (Costume 22)

  • Covenant companion at the feast (Ch. 29 section title; the framework’s primary reading of marriage in the new creation)Ch. 29, App. A6

  • Equal unto the angels (Luke 20:36, isangeloi; the framework reads the equivalence at the specified predicates of immortality and resurrection-sonship, not total state-identity with angels)App. A6 (Harder Passages subsection)

  • Two Readings Compared (side-by-side chart of the traditional Reformed reading and the framework’s reading of marriage-in-the-new-creation, across Matt 22, Luke 20, Gen 2, Mal 2, Matt 19, Eph 5, Rom 7, 1 Cor 7, Rev 19; named strain points in both readings; comparative pastoral outworkings)App. A6

  • Comparative exegesis / comparative strain (both readings require interpretive work; the framework names its strain; the tradition’s strain is invisible to its substrate)App. A6 (The Two Readings Compared subsection), Ch. 29

  • Swap the floor, re-derive (the book’s master method: find the doctrine, find the ontology, swap realism for operational idealism, re-derive the doctrine on the new floor)App. J (The Method subsection), Preface, App. A6, App. B

  • Method dependency (eschatology depends on marriage-under-operational-idealism; surface doctrinal disputes are ontology-depth disputes)App. A6, App. B, App. J

  • Marriage persisting into the new creation (Matthew 22 answers the Sadducees’ levirate trap, not a covenant-dissolution metaphysic; now held as conviction, not speculation)Ch. 29, App. A6 (Eschatology section), App. N (Costume 22)

  • Legal register vs. ontological register (in marriage; the law of marriage binds the living per Rom 7:2 / 1 Cor 7:39; the ontological one-flesh union the Author authored is not contractually terminated by death)App. A6 (On Remarriage After the Death of a Spouse)

  • Remarriage after the death of a spouse (Scripture explicitly permits; first covenant persists ontologically; second covenant is real, blessed, and also persists; the Author reconciles the sequence at the feast)App. A6, App. A11

  • Till death do us part (the Platonic smuggle in the Christian wedding vow; medieval sacramental dissolution of the covenant at the grave; Sarum Use → Book of Common Prayer → 475 years of English-speaking catechesis)App. N (Costume 22), Ch. 29, App. A6

  • Sarum Use / Book of Common Prayer 1549 and 1662 (origin of the till-death-do-us-part language; the verb depart originally meant separate)App. N (Costume 22), Ch. 29

  • Wedding vow, reform of (the living covenant can be amended when the framework reveals a Platonic layer in the inherited liturgy; Brandan and Angie’s April 2026 amendment)App. N (Costume 22), App. A6, Ch. 29

  • True covenant vs. legal contract (the Author’s joining is what makes a marriage a covenant; the legal certificate alone does not produce one; some legal marriages were never Author-joined and do not persist into the new creation)App. A6 (On the Covenant Companion in the New Creation), Ch. 29, App. A7

  • Non-covenant marriages (marriages of force, fraud, pure convenience, or pure social and financial arrangement; legal binding ends at death and there was nothing more to render; framework refuses to give individual saints license to declare their own marriage non-covenantal)App. A6

  • Pros and cons of the covenant companion position (twenty-one-row chart of pastoral, theological, exegetical, and personal-cost categories comparing the traditional and framework readings; honest naming of strain on both sides)App. A6 (What Each Position Offers and What Each Position Costs)

  • Mormon eternal marriage, distinguished from (the framework’s eternal covenant doctrine is non-sacerdotal — no temple ceremony required; the Author authors the eternity, not a priesthood holder; the difference between the two doctrines is the entire mechanism)App. A6 (Objections and Answers)

  • Believing spouse and unbelieving spouse, eschatology of (the bond ends at the seam where the reprobate is excluded from the new creation; the believing spouse’s love and years are not dissolved; Rev. 21:4 as consolation; framework refuses to soften the loss while affirming the consolation)App. A6 (Objections and Answers)

  • Heaven enlarged (feast, reigning, intimacy, work, throne integrated)App. A6, App. I, App. L, App. N

  • God’s delight in the saints’ enjoymentApp. A6

  • The reduction of heaven to disembodied choir (Plato in the floorboards)App. A6, App. L, App. N

  • Premarital sex (pastoral answer)App. A7

  • Alcohol and drug use (pastoral, the mastery principle)App. A7

  • Birth control (pastoral, stewardship vs. sovereignty)App. A7

  • Singleness (as gift, Paul’s preference, Christ single)App. A7, App. A11

  • Pornography (redirection of the craving for intimacy)App. A7

  • Masturbation (pastoral, four cases, refusing legalism and license)App. A7

  • Dying well / approaching death (pastoral)App. A6, App. A7, App. A11

  • Watching a loved one die (pastoral for the family)App. A6, App. A7, App. A11

  • Defending the household (Paul’s 1 Tim 5:8 as physical protection)App. A8

  • Paul likely married (historical note, Sanhedrin membership, 1 Cor 7:8)App. A7

  • Family size / stewardshipApp. A7, App. A11

  • Infertility (God opens and closes wombs)App. A7, App. A11

  • Sexual shameApp. A7, App. A11

  • Mental health / therapyCh. 17, App. A11

  • ModestyCh. 21

  • Music (Brandan plays trombone in three bands)Preface

  • No marriage in heavenCh. 29, App. A6, App. I, App. N, see Covenant companion at the feast; Matthew 22:30; Till death do us part

  • ParentingCh. 16 (trivium, Cole’s classical education), App. A7, App. A11

  • Participatory ecclesiologyCh. 23, Ch. 24, App. A5, App. I

  • Pastoral care for the strugglingCh. 2, Ch. 14, Ch. 18, Ch. 20, App. A11

  • Practical applications of the sentence (the bedside)App. A11 (Section XII), App. A10

  • PatriarchyCh. 24 (creation order; complementarianism), App. A7 (weaponization of Eph 5:22 critiqued)

  • Abuse in marriage (husband’s abuse voids his claim to submission)App. A7

  • Submission in marriage — see Marriage and submission

  • Political engagementApp. A8

  • Pornography / lustCh. 14, Ch. 17 (old firmware channel), App. A7

  • PrayerCh. 2, Ch. 21, App. A4, App. A7, App. A9, App. A10, App. A11, App. E

  • Purpose and callingApp. A11

  • “Why was I born this way?” (authored nature)Ch. 11, App. A7, App. A11

  • Present the truth softly and wait on the LordPreface, Prologue, Ch. 14, Ch. 19, Ch. 25, Ch. 27, Epilogue, App. A10

  • Pride and self-righteousnessPreface, Ch. 14, Ch. 18, Ch. 30, App. A10, App. O

  • Programming / software development (author’s career)Preface, Ch. 1, Ch. 3, Ch. 16, Ch. 17, Epilogue, App. G, App. I, App. J

  • Psychology (in the framework)Ch. 17

  • Rewards in heaven — see Degrees of reward in heaven

  • Saints reigning with ChristCh. 28, App. A3, App. A6, App. I

  • Song of SolomonCh. 10, Ch. 26, App. A6, App. A7, App. A11, App. N

  • Stewardship / wealthApp. A8

  • Study to be quiet (1 Thessalonians 4:11)Ch. 21

  • SufferingCh. 2, App. A7, App. A9, App. A10, App. A11

  • Suffering is not punishment (Christ already bore it)App. A9, App. A11

  • TechnologyPreface, Ch. 3, Ch. 27 (AI speculation), App. A9

  • Theology without love (critique of)Preface, Ch. 14, Ch. 30, App. A10, App. L, App. N, App. O

  • Tribal loyalty vs. truthPreface, Ch. 30, App. L, App. O

  • Using theology as a weaponPreface, Ch. 30, App. A10, App. L, App. O

  • Work / vocationPreface (Brandan’s career as a programmer)

Scripture (Heavy Usage by Location)

Personal References

  • Acknowledgments thank-you list (extended community of theological influences, friends, family, and contributors) — Acknowledgments

  • Angie (wife)Preface, Ch. 10, App. N, Acknowledgments

  • Ashland, KentuckyCh. 23

  • Brandan’s career (computer programmer since age 10)Preface, Ch. 1, Ch. 3, Ch. 16, Ch. 25, Epilogue, App. G, App. I

  • Cole (son)Ch. 16, Preface, Acknowledgments, Dedication, Epilogue

  • Cole, letter to (the book is for you) — Dedication, Epilogue

  • Coleman, Joyce (mother-in-law, taught faith is simple, deceased) — Acknowledgments

  • Coleman, Mick and Darlene (parents-in-law) — Acknowledgments

  • “Enough for Me” (song)Ch. 30

  • Kraft, Wayne and Carole (parents, gave Brandan the basis of his theological framework from childhood) — Acknowledgments

  • OJ (the cat, the gospel in fur)Preface, App. A1, App. A10

  • Predestinarian.netPrologue, Acknowledgments

  • Pristine Grace / pristinegrace.org / bornagain.netPrologue, Preface, Ch. 5, Ch. 9, Ch. 12, Ch. 19, Ch. 22, Ch. 30, Epilogue, App. F, App. K

  • Tithing rejection at age 26 (origin of Brandan’s independence from institutional church)Preface, Epilogue

  • Trombone (three community bands)Preface

Cross-References (Internal)

Up Next Glossary of Terms This glossary defines the key terms used throughout this book, including both traditional theological vocabulary and the framework-specific language developed in these pages. Continue

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