A lot of my time on this blog has been spent on dialoguing with Reformed theology, describing the differences between Lutheran and Reformed theology, and explaining why I believe Lutheranism to be the right side of the Reformation to be on. This has been of interest to me because of my Reformed background, and because several of my closest friends are still Reformed. I have talked to several readers, close to two dozen, who have become Lutheran partially through reading this blog and my articles. For that, I am extremely grateful.
I want to say that I will be stepping back from this discussion in the near future. I have written a book on the subject, which I am now editing and waiting to hear back from a publisher. Once this work is done, it will likely be my final word on the subject for some time.
I wanted to make this public so that I would give my readers and listeners time to ask me questions on this subject before I move on to other things. There are likely many questions that I have left unanswered at this point. Some people have tried to organize debates with Reformed scholars on these subjects, but nothing has worked out yet. Perhaps something will in the future. Now would be the time to do this.
I won't ever completely abandon this aspect of my studies, but there are others areas which are much more interesting to me; primarily in Patristic theology and the doctrine of justification. At some point this will become the focus of what I do my writing and podcasting on.
And to be perfectly honest, much of the reason that I am ready to move on is that, quite frankly, I'm tired. It's no secret that the Reformed internet community can be quite vicious. (This is the case of course with any internet community) I can only have these arguments for so long before I need a serious break. I simply can't deal with people telling me that Lutherans are Arminians, that I deny sola fide by being sacramental, or that I must be a heretic because I can't say with absolute certainty that the Pope is going to hell. Perhaps I will come back to this later in life, but one can only take so much of these types of hostile discussions.
For all who have been such a huge support as I have written on these topics, I want to say thank you.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Who was the real St. Patrick?
When most people think of St. Patrick's Day, they think about one of two things. 1. An excuse to drink a lot of beer, or 2. Legends about Patrick driving away snakes from Ireland, and using the shamrock to describe the Trinity.
Well, neither of those two things have anything to do with the actual, historical St. Patrick. But the real story is much better than legend. Patrick was a fifth century Christian, missionary, and bishop. We have three surviving works from his pen including a letter, a hymn, and most importantly his autobiography known as the Confessions of St. Patrick.
In this small autobiography, Patrick tells the remarkable story of how he was called by God to spread the gospel among the Irish. Patrick grew up in England, and as a child was captured as a slave by men from Ireland. Growing up, Patrick was familiar with the Christian faith but was not personally devoted to it. In captivity, Patrick began to think about the Christian faith, and was converted. He had a dream one night, telling him to go to a certain area where he would find a boat. Patrick looked for this boat the next day, found it, and escaped. He eventually made it back to his homeland.
While in Britain, Patrick became a deacon, and eventually a bishop. As a bishop he had a desire to go back to those who had captured him years before and bring them the gospel. He was almost hindered from this task by certain people who challenged Patrick's validity as a bishop due to some sin that he committed as a boy. (Legalists have been around for a long time!) Eventually this issue was settled, and Patrick was sent to the Irish people. He allowed himself to be captured, and preached the gospel to his captors, and eventually, throughout Ireland. Because of the gospel that Patrick preached, the nation was converted to the Christian faith.
Patrick's faith is summarized in his own works with a creed. This may be a personal creed, or it may have been used liturgically in the Irish church. Here is the creed:
Because there is no other God
nor ever was nor will be in future days,
other than God who is unbegotten Father,
without beginning,
yet from whom is all beginning
and who holds all things in being
as we have come to learn;
and his Son Jesus Christ
Whom together with his Father
we bear witness, has most surely always existed
even before time began,
Begotten spiritually and present with the Father
in a manner beyond human words;
before all time began.
And through him have all things, seen and unseen,
been made,
then he himself was made man,
and once death had been overcome, he was received
into the heavens with his Father.
"And he has given him full power over every name
in the heavens, on earth
and in the depths beneath
so that every tongue shall confess to him
that Jesus Christ is our Lord and God."
It is he whom we believe
and we hope he will soon come again,
to be "judge of the living and dead
who will render each man according to his deeds."
And "he has poured out abundantly his Holy Spirit upon us,"
given as a pledge of our immortality.
Which the Holy Spirit makes us both believers,
obedient "children of God and equal heirs with Christ":
whom we confess and adore,
one God in the most holy named Trinity.
There are a few things we can learn from St. Patrick, and none of it has to do with bad analogies for the Trinity. First, we see the importance of a Trinitarian confession of faith. It was this Trinitarian confession which constituted the essence of Patrick's message which was proclaimed to the Irish people. Second, it shows us how God uses preaching to spread the gospel. So often the church is distracted, trying to act like the world to win converts. But Patrick, one man, simply proclaimed the gospel, and the word was efficacious. If we only preach the word, the Spirit will work through it. There is no need to make the gospel "attractive" with some kind of flashy show. The third thing the story of Patrick teaches us is that the office of the Papacy is not of the essence of the church, and was not viewed that way at this time. Since the founding of the Irish church in the 5th century, and about the 9th century, the Irish church had no connection to the Roman Church.
So why not take this St. Patrick's day to think about the message that Patrick preached? Instead of drinking, think about the glory of the Holy Trinity.
Well, neither of those two things have anything to do with the actual, historical St. Patrick. But the real story is much better than legend. Patrick was a fifth century Christian, missionary, and bishop. We have three surviving works from his pen including a letter, a hymn, and most importantly his autobiography known as the Confessions of St. Patrick.
In this small autobiography, Patrick tells the remarkable story of how he was called by God to spread the gospel among the Irish. Patrick grew up in England, and as a child was captured as a slave by men from Ireland. Growing up, Patrick was familiar with the Christian faith but was not personally devoted to it. In captivity, Patrick began to think about the Christian faith, and was converted. He had a dream one night, telling him to go to a certain area where he would find a boat. Patrick looked for this boat the next day, found it, and escaped. He eventually made it back to his homeland.
While in Britain, Patrick became a deacon, and eventually a bishop. As a bishop he had a desire to go back to those who had captured him years before and bring them the gospel. He was almost hindered from this task by certain people who challenged Patrick's validity as a bishop due to some sin that he committed as a boy. (Legalists have been around for a long time!) Eventually this issue was settled, and Patrick was sent to the Irish people. He allowed himself to be captured, and preached the gospel to his captors, and eventually, throughout Ireland. Because of the gospel that Patrick preached, the nation was converted to the Christian faith.
Patrick's faith is summarized in his own works with a creed. This may be a personal creed, or it may have been used liturgically in the Irish church. Here is the creed:
Because there is no other God
nor ever was nor will be in future days,
other than God who is unbegotten Father,
without beginning,
yet from whom is all beginning
and who holds all things in being
as we have come to learn;
and his Son Jesus Christ
Whom together with his Father
we bear witness, has most surely always existed
even before time began,
Begotten spiritually and present with the Father
in a manner beyond human words;
before all time began.
And through him have all things, seen and unseen,
been made,
then he himself was made man,
and once death had been overcome, he was received
into the heavens with his Father.
"And he has given him full power over every name
in the heavens, on earth
and in the depths beneath
so that every tongue shall confess to him
that Jesus Christ is our Lord and God."
It is he whom we believe
and we hope he will soon come again,
to be "judge of the living and dead
who will render each man according to his deeds."
And "he has poured out abundantly his Holy Spirit upon us,"
given as a pledge of our immortality.
Which the Holy Spirit makes us both believers,
obedient "children of God and equal heirs with Christ":
whom we confess and adore,
one God in the most holy named Trinity.
There are a few things we can learn from St. Patrick, and none of it has to do with bad analogies for the Trinity. First, we see the importance of a Trinitarian confession of faith. It was this Trinitarian confession which constituted the essence of Patrick's message which was proclaimed to the Irish people. Second, it shows us how God uses preaching to spread the gospel. So often the church is distracted, trying to act like the world to win converts. But Patrick, one man, simply proclaimed the gospel, and the word was efficacious. If we only preach the word, the Spirit will work through it. There is no need to make the gospel "attractive" with some kind of flashy show. The third thing the story of Patrick teaches us is that the office of the Papacy is not of the essence of the church, and was not viewed that way at this time. Since the founding of the Irish church in the 5th century, and about the 9th century, the Irish church had no connection to the Roman Church.
So why not take this St. Patrick's day to think about the message that Patrick preached? Instead of drinking, think about the glory of the Holy Trinity.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
History of the Papacy
Listen here.
On today's program I decided not to continue with the Limited Atonement discussion until next week, due to the important events occurring today. I spent the program talking about the office of the Papacy, it's history and how we should approach it today.
On today's program I decided not to continue with the Limited Atonement discussion until next week, due to the important events occurring today. I spent the program talking about the office of the Papacy, it's history and how we should approach it today.
Sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:18-29
Listen Here.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
St. Ambrose on Law and Gospel
The following are quotes from St. Ambrose's treatise On Jacob and the Happy Life. This can be found in vol. 65 of CUA Press's The Fathers of the Church series.
"For the man who has been redeemed as a slave has his freedom, and as for the man who has been called as a free man, it is good for him to know that he is a slave of Christ, under whom servitude is safe and freedom secure...For in truth we are all freedmen of Christ, but no one is a free man; we have all been procreated in servitude...Don't you know that the guilt of Adam and Eve sold you into servitude? Don't you know that Christ did not buy you, but bought you back?" (Jacob and the Happy Life Book One, 3.12)
"What do you possess, moreover, that the Lord has not given you? He gave the law; He added His grace. The law denounced sin but in a hazardous situation could not entirely restrain it. For I became aware of sin that I did not know; I became aware that concupiscence was sin, and from the opportunity afforded by this knowledge the wages of sin have piled up. Sin, which before seemed dead by reason of my ignorance, gained a new life in me; but I died under the wound of sin, because the very knowledge of guilt that would help me, so it seemed, did me harm--I knew sin, but could not avoid it. For the knowledge revealed the sin, and, through the good which was that proclamation, it multiplied the malevolence of sin itself. And so I committed sin beyond measure, because it was multiplied by the proclamation of the commandment; guilt grows when it is revealed and precautions are not taken against it. How then is the commandment good, which for me is death? And how is it not death for me? For through the commandment's revealing the good which it symbolizes, sin has worked death in me. Indeed, it is certain that death came to me as long as I knew the sin that I did, just as the Lord Himself says, 'If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin.'"(Jacob and the Happy Life Book One, 4.13)
"In this danger the one remedy is that the grace of God should free the man whom the law could not." (4.16)
"Yet for me it is not death, for I readily flee to Christ, through whom we are freed from every danger of death. Therefore the second proposition has also been settled, because the commandment of the law is not death for me, even though it works death. For we are troubled by reason of frailty, but we escape by reason of Christ." (4.16)
"The Lord Jesus comes to fix our passions to His cross and to forgive our sins. In His death we have been justified, so that the whole world might be made clean by His blood. Indeed, in His death we have been baptized. If, then, sins are forgiven us in His death, let the passions of our sins die in His death, let them be held fast by the nails of His cross. If we have died in His death, why are we called back again to worldly things as if we were alive to them? What have we to do with elements of the world, with desires, with luxury and wanton behavior? We have died to these in Christ. But if we have died in Christ, we have arisen in Christ; therefore let us dwell with Christ, let us seek with Christ the things that are above, not those that are earthly and corruptible. Christ, rising from the dead, left the old man fixed to the cross, but He raised up the new man." (5.17)
"We have died in the flesh, we have been renewed in the spirit. Let us walk in the spirit, because we have received the spirit of Christ. If then Christ is in us, let our flesh be dead by reason of sin, but let our spirit live by reason of justification." (5.17)
"The law did not prevail because it did not mortify the flesh; it passed by like a shadow, because it did not enlighten; it shaded us from the Sun of Justice, because it piled up offenses--therefore it was a hindrance." (5.17)
"We did not keep it; why was the other added to it, when the flesh could not have gained justification in the works of the other? A bond was acquired, not a release; there was added the recognition of sin, but not the forgiveness of it. We all sinned; we were able to present an excuse by way of ignorance--everyone's mouth has been blocked up." (6.20)
"Nevertheless, the law was of help to me. I began to confess what I used to deny, I began to know my sin and not to cover over my injustice. I began to proclaim my injustice to the Lord against myself, and you forgave the iniquities of my heart. But this too is of help to me, that we are not justified by works of the law. Thus I do not have the wherewithal to boast of myself, and so I will glory in Christ. I will not glory because I have been redeemed. I will not glory because I am free of sins, but because sins have been forgiven me. I will not glory because I am profitable or because anyone is profitable to me, but because Christ is an advocate in my behalf with the Father, because the blood of Christ has been poured out in my behalf. My guilt became for me the price of redemption, through which Christ came to me. On account of me, Christ tasted death." (6.21)
"You have died to sin, O man; thus the law is not a hindrance any more. You rise again through grace, and so the law was of help to me because it won grace. You have received also the pledge of the love of Christ, because Christ, who has died for you, is an advocate for you and is saving up the reward gained by His blood. He has reconciled the sinner to the Father." (6.21)
"For the man who has been redeemed as a slave has his freedom, and as for the man who has been called as a free man, it is good for him to know that he is a slave of Christ, under whom servitude is safe and freedom secure...For in truth we are all freedmen of Christ, but no one is a free man; we have all been procreated in servitude...Don't you know that the guilt of Adam and Eve sold you into servitude? Don't you know that Christ did not buy you, but bought you back?" (Jacob and the Happy Life Book One, 3.12)
"What do you possess, moreover, that the Lord has not given you? He gave the law; He added His grace. The law denounced sin but in a hazardous situation could not entirely restrain it. For I became aware of sin that I did not know; I became aware that concupiscence was sin, and from the opportunity afforded by this knowledge the wages of sin have piled up. Sin, which before seemed dead by reason of my ignorance, gained a new life in me; but I died under the wound of sin, because the very knowledge of guilt that would help me, so it seemed, did me harm--I knew sin, but could not avoid it. For the knowledge revealed the sin, and, through the good which was that proclamation, it multiplied the malevolence of sin itself. And so I committed sin beyond measure, because it was multiplied by the proclamation of the commandment; guilt grows when it is revealed and precautions are not taken against it. How then is the commandment good, which for me is death? And how is it not death for me? For through the commandment's revealing the good which it symbolizes, sin has worked death in me. Indeed, it is certain that death came to me as long as I knew the sin that I did, just as the Lord Himself says, 'If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin.'"(Jacob and the Happy Life Book One, 4.13)
"In this danger the one remedy is that the grace of God should free the man whom the law could not." (4.16)
"Yet for me it is not death, for I readily flee to Christ, through whom we are freed from every danger of death. Therefore the second proposition has also been settled, because the commandment of the law is not death for me, even though it works death. For we are troubled by reason of frailty, but we escape by reason of Christ." (4.16)
"The Lord Jesus comes to fix our passions to His cross and to forgive our sins. In His death we have been justified, so that the whole world might be made clean by His blood. Indeed, in His death we have been baptized. If, then, sins are forgiven us in His death, let the passions of our sins die in His death, let them be held fast by the nails of His cross. If we have died in His death, why are we called back again to worldly things as if we were alive to them? What have we to do with elements of the world, with desires, with luxury and wanton behavior? We have died to these in Christ. But if we have died in Christ, we have arisen in Christ; therefore let us dwell with Christ, let us seek with Christ the things that are above, not those that are earthly and corruptible. Christ, rising from the dead, left the old man fixed to the cross, but He raised up the new man." (5.17)
"We have died in the flesh, we have been renewed in the spirit. Let us walk in the spirit, because we have received the spirit of Christ. If then Christ is in us, let our flesh be dead by reason of sin, but let our spirit live by reason of justification." (5.17)
"The law did not prevail because it did not mortify the flesh; it passed by like a shadow, because it did not enlighten; it shaded us from the Sun of Justice, because it piled up offenses--therefore it was a hindrance." (5.17)
"We did not keep it; why was the other added to it, when the flesh could not have gained justification in the works of the other? A bond was acquired, not a release; there was added the recognition of sin, but not the forgiveness of it. We all sinned; we were able to present an excuse by way of ignorance--everyone's mouth has been blocked up." (6.20)
"Nevertheless, the law was of help to me. I began to confess what I used to deny, I began to know my sin and not to cover over my injustice. I began to proclaim my injustice to the Lord against myself, and you forgave the iniquities of my heart. But this too is of help to me, that we are not justified by works of the law. Thus I do not have the wherewithal to boast of myself, and so I will glory in Christ. I will not glory because I have been redeemed. I will not glory because I am free of sins, but because sins have been forgiven me. I will not glory because I am profitable or because anyone is profitable to me, but because Christ is an advocate in my behalf with the Father, because the blood of Christ has been poured out in my behalf. My guilt became for me the price of redemption, through which Christ came to me. On account of me, Christ tasted death." (6.21)
"You have died to sin, O man; thus the law is not a hindrance any more. You rise again through grace, and so the law was of help to me because it won grace. You have received also the pledge of the love of Christ, because Christ, who has died for you, is an advocate for you and is saving up the reward gained by His blood. He has reconciled the sinner to the Father." (6.21)
Saturday, March 9, 2013
St. Fulgentius of Ruspe
Saint who? It is unfortunate that many of our Patristic forebears have been lost on the contemporary church. Yes, we all know St. Augustine, Jerome, Irenaeus, and Athanasius, but there are several writers who deserve attention that they are not afforded. One such writer is a little known Augustinian theologian known as Fulgentius of Ruspe.
Fulgentius was a North African theologian and bishop who wrote in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. He was known as the "second Augustine", being the most prominent North African theologian since the death of the great bishop of Hippo, and an ardent defender of Augustine's doctrine of grace. The major focus of his works were the discussion of grace and free will against the semi-Pelagians, and upholding catholic Trinitarian theology against Arian sects.
Here are some notable quotes from Fulgentius' surviving works:
"Therefore, in the saints, God crowns justice which he has freely given them, freely preserved for them, and freely perfected in them. The wicked, however, he will condemn for their impiety or injustice, which he did not work in them. For in the former, he glorifies his own works; in the latter, he condemns works that are not his own." To Monimus, Book I, XIII.2
"We have no good works in us unless they come from God." To Monimus, Book I, IX.1
"Thus in whatever age of the present life, any sinner or evil person will be converted to God with his whole heart, he will immediately receive forgiveness for all his past sins." On the Forgiveness of Sins, XVIII, 4
"Therefore, the hearing of his voice now gives life to the dead, when he gives the grace of faith to those who do not believe and those whom he finds evil he makes good; affectionately he justifies sinners; mercifully he saves sinners; kindly he makes the blind see." On the Forgiveness of Sins, X, 3
"For a human being would never receive the grace of salvation from God if the communion of divine and human nature did not remain in the one person in Christ." To Donatus XVI, 25
"Holy Scripture has forewarned each and shown that neither ought we to remain in sin nor to doubt the forgiveness of any sin... For our God is just and merciful and good as he is infinite and unconquered. Accordingly, the goodness of the unconquered is not conquered and the mercy of the infinite knows no bounds." To Venantia, 10
"If God is merciful, he can forgive all sins. A goodness which does not conquer every evil is not a perfect goodness nor is a medicine perfect for which any disease is incurable." To Venantia, 4
If you are interested in reading more from this North African bishop, he works are compiled in Vol. 95 of CUA Press's the Fathers of the Church Series.
Fulgentius was a North African theologian and bishop who wrote in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. He was known as the "second Augustine", being the most prominent North African theologian since the death of the great bishop of Hippo, and an ardent defender of Augustine's doctrine of grace. The major focus of his works were the discussion of grace and free will against the semi-Pelagians, and upholding catholic Trinitarian theology against Arian sects.
Here are some notable quotes from Fulgentius' surviving works:
"Therefore, in the saints, God crowns justice which he has freely given them, freely preserved for them, and freely perfected in them. The wicked, however, he will condemn for their impiety or injustice, which he did not work in them. For in the former, he glorifies his own works; in the latter, he condemns works that are not his own." To Monimus, Book I, XIII.2
"We have no good works in us unless they come from God." To Monimus, Book I, IX.1
"Thus in whatever age of the present life, any sinner or evil person will be converted to God with his whole heart, he will immediately receive forgiveness for all his past sins." On the Forgiveness of Sins, XVIII, 4
"Therefore, the hearing of his voice now gives life to the dead, when he gives the grace of faith to those who do not believe and those whom he finds evil he makes good; affectionately he justifies sinners; mercifully he saves sinners; kindly he makes the blind see." On the Forgiveness of Sins, X, 3
"For a human being would never receive the grace of salvation from God if the communion of divine and human nature did not remain in the one person in Christ." To Donatus XVI, 25
"Holy Scripture has forewarned each and shown that neither ought we to remain in sin nor to doubt the forgiveness of any sin... For our God is just and merciful and good as he is infinite and unconquered. Accordingly, the goodness of the unconquered is not conquered and the mercy of the infinite knows no bounds." To Venantia, 10
"If God is merciful, he can forgive all sins. A goodness which does not conquer every evil is not a perfect goodness nor is a medicine perfect for which any disease is incurable." To Venantia, 4
If you are interested in reading more from this North African bishop, he works are compiled in Vol. 95 of CUA Press's the Fathers of the Church Series.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Response to James White on Limited Atonement
Response to James White
On today's program, I continued my refutation of Limited Atonement by responding to a lecture on the issue by Dr. James White. James White is a Reformed baptist theologian, apologist, and elder and the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries.
There were some issues with the sound, and my voice was sped up in some places. For someone who does Podcasting and blogging, I am not very technologically savvy, so I apologize for that.
On today's program, I continued my refutation of Limited Atonement by responding to a lecture on the issue by Dr. James White. James White is a Reformed baptist theologian, apologist, and elder and the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries.
There were some issues with the sound, and my voice was sped up in some places. For someone who does Podcasting and blogging, I am not very technologically savvy, so I apologize for that.
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