This weekend I heard of the conversion story of W.H. Auden, one of - if not my favourite poet(s). He was raised in a High Church Anglican parish and apparently held the censer for the priest, enjoying the liturgies and 'magic' of the sacraments. Having walked away from his faith as a young adult, in 1939 Auden moved to the United States after attending Oxford (Christ … [Read more...]
Luther on Christ Our Righteousness
The famous verse of the Reformation was Jeremiah 23:6, specifically the naming of God's people "The LORD our Righteousness". Many in the years since, have located salvation within (Wesley) or made it based upon a person's choice (Charles Finney). Yet in reality, justification for the early reformers was something extra nos (outside of us). In a beautiful exposition of this … [Read more...]
Ricoeur's Wisdom
""repentance" belongs to the same thematic universe as transgression and merit, and it is no accident that it was precisely Judaism that laid emphasis on this concept. For "repentance" signifies that "return" to God, freely chosen, is always open to man; and the example of great and impious men who have "returned" to the Eternal attests that it is always possible for a man to … [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...]
The Borgias and the Lutheran Reformation
I consider myself a very Traditional and Catholic Lutheran. I love the Roman Catholic Church, and I hope and pray for the day when the Lutheran Gospel of salvation by grace alone will be sounded in its Cathedrals, and the Church reunited. In any case, in my sojourning outside the Roman Communion, I still enjoy getting glimpses of it and feel a need to keep learning about the … [Read more...]