(I want to begin by saying that I'm not quite sure about what I've written and have gone back and forth many times on this issue, so forgive me if I mispoke) As I said yesterday, Bonhoeffer is laid claim to by Conservative Evangelicals and Liberal Protestants as 'theirs'. This is because in a sense he was both. What do I mean? A Conservative Evangelical is merely a … [Read more...]
Bonhoeffer -Part 2- Why Does He Matter?
For some 40 years after Bonhoeffer's death, scholars both historical and theological debated over the legacy of Bonhoeffer. Was he the property of Liberals? or of Conservatives? What really were his views on this or that topic. The problem was compounded by the fact that Bonhoeffer later cryptically wrote that almost all his writing was done while he wasn't even a Christian … [Read more...]
Luther's Ecclesiology in the Genesis Commentary
From the little I've read so far, I've seen that Luther's ecclesiology was what one might call functional. The Church was neither an invisibile platonic form as the Reformed taught that each peculiar church agrees or disagrees with to some extent, neither was it the eschatologically present and glorified victorious church of Rome and the Papacy, or the holy flock of the … [Read more...]
Vive La Counter-Revolution!
(News of the Christian Revolution spreads more slowly than those of its competitors, but for those of you in need of some, here's a great story of Muslims converting to Christianity in Germany) When the Communists took power in Vietnam the Marxists followed a pattern going back to 1870 when the Communards of Paris shot their city’s archbishop. Most priests and Christian … [Read more...]
Attempted Summary of Theologies on Absolution and Grace
Roman Catholicism: Absolution is the bestowal of God’s grace True contrition is not simply the work of God’s grace but a human choice God’s grace can do nothing without human cooperation What then does grace do? If grace does not convert the will, then it has only a legal reality. Grace is simply the recognition of human merit and the bestowal of a reward upon human … [Read more...]