Conversion, How And Why We Turn To God

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By David F. Wells on January 1, 2010 ,

Conversion, How And Why We Turn To God

Crisis. A simple momentarily crisis. That is how a significant part of the evangelical world encourages us to think about conversion. And sometimes, of course, it happens that way, outside as well as inside revivalistic circles. Think of Augustine hearing a child say, "Take up and Read," picking up the Bible and seeing Roman 13:13 , and never being the same again.

But our turning to God is better understood as a complex process. Indeed, we often refer to conversion as a single act of turning in the same way we speak of consuming several dishes and drinks as a single act of dining. Even Augustine's dramatic conversation was preceded by years of seeking. A process is at work, whether or not our conversations culminates in a crisis afterward remembered as "the hour I first believed" This involves thinking and rethinking; doubting and overcoming doubts, soul-searching and self-admonition; wrestling with feelings of guilt and  shame; and assaying what following Christ might mean...

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David F. Wells

Theologian

David F. Wells, is a Christian theologian and an ordained Congregational minister. He is the Andrew Mutch Distinguished Professor of historical and systematic theology at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts. He joined the faculty at Gordon-Conwell full-time in 1979. Wells has taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and served as the Academic Dean at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary's Charlotte, North Carolina campus. He has a ThM from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, a PhD from the University of Manchester, and post-doctoral Research Fellow from Yale Divinity School. Wells is the author of several books which include No Place for Truth: or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology? and The Person of Christ: A Biblical and Historical Analysis of the Incarnation.

 

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