Where’s the Evangelical Catechism?

0842339604t.jpgThere’s no doubt that the current success of Roman Catholic apologetics has been greatly assisted by the publication and distribution of the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church. Mark Noll, among others, has given considerable credit to the catechism for the change in Protestant-Catholic relations in the last 40 years. It is, in my opinion, the most prominent fruit of Vatican II and the leadership of Pope John Paul II assisted by then Cardinal Ratzinger.

If you’ve not read the Catechism- and it is a big book- you’ve missed one of the finest statements of the Christian faith every penned. The prose is appealing. The arrangement is friendly. References are plentiful and the entire design is inviting, elegant and effective. (If the Catechism is too much for you, there is a brief Compendium also available. Both can be found at the Vatican Web site, and the Catechism is published on the web in several places.)

Of course, as an evangelical, I am aware that the Catechism reflects the strengths and weaknesses of Roman Catholic doctrine, particularly since Vatican II. Even with many defenses and explanations from capable apologists and teachers, one cannot remove the insertion of unBiblical Marian dogmas, the near-Universalist attitude toward Muslims and other religions, the errors regarding justification and authority that prompted the Reformation, and the constant reminder that the Roman Pontiff stands above scripture in the Roman Catholic system of doctrine.Continue reading “Where’s the Evangelical Catechism?”

No Such “Thing” As Grace II

005-torso-sepia.jpgThere is no such “thing” as grace II: Thomas Merton

“Let us recognize also that our concept of grace may be hazy and unreal. In fact, the more the notion of grace is treated by us in a semi-materialistic, objectified way, the more unreal it will be. In practice, we tend to think of grace as a kind of mysterious substance, a “thing”, a commodity which is furnished us by God — something like fuel for a supernatural engine. We regard it as a kind of spiritual gasoline which we find necessary in order to make our journey to God.

Of course, grace is a great mystery, and can only be spoken of in analogies and metaphors which tend to be misleading. But certainly this metaphor is so misleading as to be altogether false. Grace is not “something with which” we perform good works and attain to God. It is not a “thing” or a “substance” entirely apart from God. It is God’s very presence and action within us. Therefore, clearly it is not a commodity we “need to get” from him in order to go to him. For all practical purposes we might as well say that grace is the quality of our being that results from the sanctifying energy of God acting dynamically in our life. That is why, in primitive Christian literature, and especially in the New Testament, we read not so much of receiving grace as of receiving the Holy Spirit — God himself.”

Thomas Merton- Life and Holiness, page 29-30, Ideas and Reality

HT to Bob Chase

No Such “Thing” As Grace

news_ferguson_207x270.jpgThere is no such “thing” as grace, by Sinclair Ferguson

“There is nothing between the person of the Lord Jesus and the person of the believer as that union and communion develops and grows. I think this is a very important thing for us to grasp. Let me put it the way I sometimes put it: The union with Christ we have is not that we somehow or another share His grace. Because — follow me carefully — there actually is no “thing” as grace. That actually is a Medieval Roman Catholic teaching. There is a “thing” called grace that can be separated from the person of Jesus Christ. It is something Jesus Christ won on the Cross and He can bestow it on you. And there are at least seven ways it can be bestowed on you and they all, as it happens, turn out to be in the hands of the church. And you can have this kind of grace, and this kind of grace, and this kind of grace. There is no such “thing” as grace! Grace is not some appendage to His being. Nor is it some substance that flows from us: ‘Let me give you grace.’ All there is is the Lord Jesus Himself. And so when Jesus speaks about us abiding in Him and He abiding in us — however mysterious it may be, mystical in that sense — it is a personal union. Do not let us fail because of the abuse of expressions. Do not let us fail to understand that, at the end of the day, actually Christianity is Christ because there isn’t anything else. There is no atonement that somehow can be detached from who the Lord Jesus is. There is no grace that can be attached to you transferred from Him. All there is is Christ and your soul.”

– Sinclair Ferguson on John 15 at the Banner of Truth Ministers Conference in Grantham, PA 2007.

Devotional Resources for Your iPod + Writing For The Empty Nest

bible_ipod_144x144.jpgI am helped daily by good audio resources on my iPod. I’d like to share two resources that are new to me and very encouraging.

Many of us never hear any preaching from the mainline denominations. Our entire exposure to preaching is from evangelicals and fundamentalists, but many mainline preachers are worth hearing. I’ve discovered the Day 1 Podcast, which features interviews and sermons from preachers in several mainline denominations. These are well done and almost always helpful and Biblical. You can subscribe via iTunes.

Another fine resource for your iPod is a daily service of Morning Prayer from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. While I’ve heard a couple of these, this one stands out. Great voice by Rev. Chris Lee and wonderful background music adds a nice touch. Each service is around 15 minutes, so it’s a good length for your morning routine. The iTunes subscription is on this page, but you need to look carefully. The icon is under “Morning Prayer” and says “iTunes.”

Your itunes podcast discoveries are welcome in the comments.

Also, I realized this week that a lot of IM readers may be sending a child off to college this month. We’ve been through that one and have recorded some of our feelings and experiences.

Denise wrote “Hannah Had It Wrong- But Just Barely” when our first child went to college. Great writing.

Denise wrote this one when Clay left for College: He’s Gone.

Here’s what I wrote at IM when we sent Clay off to school. Clarity at the Crossroads of Life.

Coffee Cup Apologetics 16

cca_small.gif“Will God punish people forever in hell?” In this second segment, I talk about what happens when we give up the belief that God is a just and perfect judge.

Coffee Cup Apologetics now has its own website: ccapologetics.wordpress.com

All the episodes of Coffee Cup Apologetics are now on iTunes. I’m working to get the logo up and a few other tweaks. Go to iTunes and search for “Apologetics.”

Christian Unity in Appalachia

appal200.jpgWhere I live, there’s a remarkable amount of visible unity among Christians. I’d like to describe it for you, at least as I’ve seen and experienced it.

I live in one of the poorest regions of the United States. Two counties near to us are in the federal government’s list of the ten poorest counties in America. We are probably one of the two or three poorest congressional districts in the country.

Churches and the people in them are quite poor. A megachurch here is any church with a nice facility and more than 200 members. (We have two of these, by my count.)

Because of that poverty, churches do many things together, share facilities, pool their money for community projects and help one another out without many questions of doctrine.

Most pastors are eager to work with other ministers and churches in community causes. The sense of calling to the local community is strong here.Continue reading “Christian Unity in Appalachia”

Recommendation and Review: For Us And Our Salvation by Stephen Nichols.

christsalvation.jpgStephen Nichols has a proven track record as a teacher of church history who can write on the level of the interested layman and keep the important matters important, the obscure in a safe place and the relevant on the front burner. His introduction to the life and work of Martin Luther is the best introduction you could give to any church member needing a helpful first book on the beginnings of the reformation. His work on Jonathan Edwards makes one of the most difficult of theologians accessible.

Now Nichols has undertaken the important work of introducing the Christological debates of the first Christian centuries to contemporary audiences, and he has once again succeeded in an efficient, to the point, no-words-wasted presentation of a vital area of church history. For Us and Our Salvation is an excellent first book on the issues that defined Christianity in its first five centuries.

Nichols frames the specific debates in the context of Biblical controversies, then shows how controversy over the nature of Christ became some of the most defining moments in Church history.

He majors on the Nicaean and Chalcedonean controversies, with alternating chapters giving primary sources for those discussions. In a time when more evangelicals are open to understanding and learning from the early church fathers than ever before, Nichols makes the personalities, issues and dramatic contentions come to life.Continue reading “Recommendation and Review: For Us And Our Salvation by Stephen Nichols.”