“Lessons from Mere Christianity 2” The second podcast examining Lewis’s apologetic approach in this classic book.
Coffee Cup Apologetics now has its own website: ccapologetics.wordpress.com
All the episodes of Coffee Cup Apologetics are now on iTunes. Go to iTunes and search for “Apologetics.â€
In this question, Josh deals with the sensitive subject of assurance. Can a believer know they are saved? This is bound to be controversial and informative.
3. Adam O’s piece on “Why I Am Not A Calvinist” centers on the issue of assurance. Can Calvinists know they are elect or are they in a
similar situation to Roman Catholics?
In terms of systematic theology, I suppose it depends on the Calvinist. In terms of practical reality, I’ll just say that Holy Spirit isn’t beholden to filter the Gospel of Luke through Reformed systematics when and if it’s read publicly in a Reformed church. If a Calvinist hears Jesus say “Man, your sins are forgiven” in the story of the paralytic and walks home realizing Jesus was talking to him, so much the better.
Even theologically speaking, I have to be careful here. There are a lot of versions of Calvinism, and not all are equally committed to limited atonement. Calvin himself said, “He is no believer, I say, who does not rely on the security of his salvation and confidently triumph over the devil and death” (I.19). Continue reading “God’s Sovereignty in Lutheranism: An Interview With Josh Strodtbeck (3- Assurance)”
How does Lutheranism present the sovereignty of God in pastoral care?
2. How would the difference between Lutheran and Reformed views of God’s sovereignty be evidenced pastorally?
Since Calvin borrowed a lot from Luther, there are obviously going to be similarities. And since Calvinism is a pretty diverse tradition, I think that in some contexts, Calvinism looks pastorally quite similar to Lutheranism. On the other hand, in other contexts it can be radically different. In the more common versions of TULIP, justification is an instantaneous, one-time event done by God alone based solely on his eternal, sovereign will and thus ceases being relevant after your conversion. In other formulations, justification is a decree made by God after a lifetime of sovereignly directed covenant-keeping. So already, the idea that the pastor’s actions have anything to do with justification is taken out of the picture.
So what is there for the pastor to do? Without justification, things can become extremely Law-driven. For example, there are some Reformed pastors who envision the Church as a home-school cult where even suggesting that there are benefits to the local public school gets you excommunicated. That simply doesn’t happen in Lutheranism. I know secondhand of a woman from a Reformed church that got excommunicated for not articulating baptism exactly right, and for the Reformed, excommunication means being driven out of the community. I’m not saying there aren’t any obsessive nutballs in Lutheranism, far from it. But our crazies tend to be overprotective shepherds chasing off perceived wolves rather than inquisitors rooting out the impure.Continue reading “God’s Sovereignty in Lutheranism: An Interview With Josh Strodtbeck (2- Pastoral Care)”
UPDATE: Read Don Matzat’s excellent essay on “Martin Luther and Predestination.”
A perpective on the Biblical view of God’s sovereignty that’s seldom heard- at least by me- is that of our Lutheran brothers. Lutheran blogger Josh Strodtbeck is a outstanding expounder of Lutheranism, so I’ve invited him to answer some questions. From the first time I ever heard Josh talk about this, it seemed to me he was saying something very Biblical, helpful and important.
I’ve got several questions for Josh, and I’ll do each one as a separate post.
1. What’s the difference between Lutheranism and Calvinism on the place of the Sovereignty of God in theology?
If you look at Calvin’s Institutes, he begins by defining God philosophically, much like Thomas Aquinas does in his Summa. That is, he defines God in terms of various attributes. That in itself makes Calvinism more prone to seeing theology as the development of an abstract system of thought. Again, the similarities to Thomas should be obvious. Of course, just listing attributes of God gets kind of dull after a while, so you have to begin discussing his actions at some point. But since the system itself begins with philosophically defined and described attributes, the theologian is naturally going to gravitate toward discussing things in terms of the attributes. I think the nature of the human mind is such that one, maybe two or three more, of the attributes will become dominant, and for Calvinists, this attribute is divine sovereignty, especially because Calvinism as a theological tradition quickly became defined partly in terms of opposition to synergism and a strong emphasis on the ontological transcendence of God. This is manifested most sharply in the Westminster Standards, which in both the Confession and the Catechisms define God in terms of his attributes and derive the rest of Christian doctrine out of God’s decrees.Continue reading “God’s Sovereignty in Lutheranism: An Interview With Josh Strodtbeck (1)”
Many of you who read Adam Omelianchuk’s “Why I am Not An Open Theist” will want to read his new essay: “Why I Am Not a Calvinist.”
Adam is part of the absolutely incredible Rock TV Comedy Group.
I appreciate this kind of discussion, because you rarely hear it in the Christian blogosphere.
The pictured book is Walls and Dongal, “Why I Am Not A Calvinist.” Here’s a brief review by Denver Seminary’s William Klein.
UPDATE: Keith Schooley takes the big chance of critiquing Piper’s statements on sovereignty.
UPDATE II: It’s a good thing the Calvinistic blogosphere wasn’t around when Wesley wrote Predestination Calmly Considered.
Now, I beseech you to consider calmly, how is God good or loving to this man? Is not this such love as makes your blood run cold? This causes the ears of him that heareth to tingle . And can you believe there is that man on earth or in hell, who can truly tell God, ” Thus hast thou done.” Can you think, that the loving, the merciful God, ever dealt thus with any soul which he hath made. But you must and do believe this, if you believe unconditional election.
Continue reading “Some Relevant Quotes for the Olson Discussion”
For more than thirty years, I’ve been reading our state denominational newspaper. While I don’t read every word, I usually spend 15 minutes or so taking in whatever interests me.
As I read that Baptist newspaper this week, I noticed something that strikes me as typical of how contemporary evangelicals see the Gospel and indicative of the problems we are experiencing.
For the vast majority of the times that I’ve read the front page of that paper, there’s been a featured story on some kind of evangelism event or method that either has been successful or should be successful if a church takes the risk and makes the effort. Having evangelism methodology on the front page is as predictable as aliens making the headlines in the Weekly World News.Continue reading “Why Isn’t The Gospel Front Page News?”
Jared Wilson’s post on 11 Innovations for Your Church. These shocking ideas (plus a couple I’d like to add) define the revolutionary vision of church I’m advocating. Prepare to be knocked off your feet with the sheer AWESOMENESSNESS of these ideas.
1. Sing hymns.
2. Preach through a book of the Bible.
3. Talk about sin.
4. Celebrate the Lord’s Supper more frequently.
5. Have a Scripture reading in the service.Continue reading “A Shocking Agenda for the Church”
“Lessons from Mere Christianity” The first of several podcasts examining Lewis’s apologetic approach in this classic book.
Coffee Cup Apologetics now has its own website: ccapologetics.wordpress.com
All the episodes of Coffee Cup Apologetics are now on iTunes. Go to iTunes and search for “Apologetics.â€
This is most of a sermon on humility I preached in the Monday chapel service at the school where I serve. It’s taken from the lectionary text for the previous Lord’s Day. In many places I included illustrations and more content, but this gets the sermon across.
Text: Luke 14: 1, 7-11.
If someone were to compliment you own your humility, would you feel it was a good compliment? Or would you feel slightly insulted?
Such is our view of the virtue of humility that we aren’t even complimented when someone calls us humble.
Christians are more likely to joke about humility than they are to pray for it. In a culture that tells us it’s normal to be selfish to the point of excess, humility almost seems like some kind of personality disorder.
Christians are unavoidably confronted with humility in the teaching of Jesus. Our text this morning is one of many that call us to obey Christ and imitate Christ in the way of humility. “He who humbles himself…†That is Jesus speaking to his disciples.
How much are you interested in taking on the characteristic of humility?Continue reading “Will You “Come Down?”: A Sermon on Humility”
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