St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 has an odd expression, in which he says that God the Father made Christ, who knew no sin, “to be sin.” What on earth does THAT mean?
Tag: Calvinism
How Do We Know Ignatius’ Letters are Genuine?
St. Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of the Apostle John, wrote a series of letters somewhere about c. 107-110, en route to his martyrdom in Rome. These letters are richly Catholic, so much so that the Reformer John Calvin was convinced that they couldn’t be authentic. So how do we know that they are?
4 Things We Can Learn from the Apostle Judas
This Holy Week (and especially today, “Spy Wednesday”), it’s worth taking a closer look at the Apostle Judas Iscariot. Here are four things that we can learn from him.
(Why You Can’t Have) Jesus Without the Church
Contemporary Christianity is fond of pushing Jesus without the Church. Like its secular counterpart (in which people claim to be “spiritual, but not religious”), it’s an attempt to have the relationship without the rules. If I’m lonely or going through a tragedy, I can pray, but I don’t have to worry about fasting when I don’t want to, or being associated with a bunch of fellow believers that I look down upon.
But Jesus-without-the-Church is a rejection of Jesus.
Does God Desire the Salvation of the Damned?
Does God wish that the damned had been saved? In other words, when a person dies and goes to Hell, is it because that’s where God wanted them from all eternity, or because they rejected His plan for their salvation? Was the Cross intended for everyone, or only for the finally-elect?
Does God Owe Us Salvation?
Does God owe us salvation? Yes, if Protestant theologians (from the Reformation down to today) are right. No, if salvation is a free gift, as the Bible says.
Did Calvin Deny Christ’s Sinlessness?
John Calvin taught that concupiscence, our post-Fall inclination towards sin, was itself sinful. He went so far as to say that man was only concupiscence. These views don’t square well with the Incarnation, the idea that Jesus Christ became fully man, but without sinning. Perhaps it is unsurprising, then, that Calvin’s views led him to functionally deny Christ’s sinlessness, particularly at the moment when He was at prayer in the Garden. The broader question: was Calvin’s heresy in spite of his Reformed theology, or because of it?
Faith Alone v. Forgiving Trespasses: How the Lord’s Prayer Contradicts the Reformation
Lines from the Lord’s Prayer, in various languages.From the Eucharist Door at the Glory Facade of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain. It’s Lent in Rome. That means it’s time for one of the great Roman traditions: station churches. Each morning, English-speaking pilgrims walk to a different church for Mass. This morning, on the way to… Continue reading Faith Alone v. Forgiving Trespasses: How the Lord’s Prayer Contradicts the Reformation
Does God Hate Sinners?
Pompeo Batoni, Sacred Heart of Jesus (1767) Does God hate sinners? There’s a notorious Baptist group based out of Topeka, Kansas, that claims that He does: and specifically, that He hates homosexuals. They’re a radical fringe even amongst Baptist Calvinists, and other Calvinists have sought to distance themselves from them. But many of those doing… Continue reading Does God Hate Sinners?
Reason #8 to Reject the Reformation: Heterodoxy
While not all of the causes of the Protestant Reformation were theological, some of them undoubtedly were. So St. Edmund Campion, in the eighth of his Ten Reasons against the Reformation, addressed some of these. Specifically, he considers certain “impossible positions” that the Reformers held “on God, on Christ, on Man, on Sin, on Justice, on Sacraments, [and] on… Continue reading Reason #8 to Reject the Reformation: Heterodoxy