I’ve gotten a number of insightful and thought-provoking comments here on the blog since I started it in April. And honestly, it’s the biggest thing keeping me going on this at times. If I felt like this was just an echo chamber for people who already felt the same way that I do, I’d have… Continue reading Some Comments on Total Depravity
Tag: God
A Beautiful Nighttime Contemplation
“Here dies another day during which I have had eyes, ears, hands, and the great world around me. And with tomorrow begins another. Why am I allowed two?” – G.K. Chesterton.
Fr. William Most on Total Depravity
Fr. Most wrote a section in Grace, Predestination, and the Salvific Will of God which I think unintentionally adds to this discussion (I say unintentionally, because his focus wasn’t answering Calvinism or total depravity; it was answering arguments raised by the early Thomists which resemble Calvinism substantially in many features). The section in question is… Continue reading Fr. William Most on Total Depravity
C.S. Lewis on Total Depravity
I picked up a copy of The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis tonight, and found a part that I’d read a few weeks ago, and was surprised by. Specifically, it’s where Lewis says this: Any consideration of the goodness of God at once threatens us with the following dilemma. On the one hand, if… Continue reading C.S. Lewis on Total Depravity
It’s A Poor Builder Who Blames His Instruments…
…while the Master Builder can build masterpieces with any set of tools. Or fools. In an ongoing discussion with one of my Calvinist friends a few weeks ago, he said, “I fear that the heirarchies of the Catholic church detract from the kingship of Christ, who I believe needs no prime minister and serves actively… Continue reading It’s A Poor Builder Who Blames His Instruments…
Anglicanism: Rotting From the Top Down?
Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has caught my attention lately. If you’re not aware, he’s the head of the Anglican Communion, including the Episcopal Church here in the US. The man is something of a tragic figure. He’s usually painted as a conservative who’s too diplomatic or weak-willed to impose his brand of orthodoxy… Continue reading Anglicanism: Rotting From the Top Down?
Sam Harris: Playing Fast and Loose With the Facts
For some reason, Sam Harris is sort of a big deal to the “New Atheists,” as the angsty suburban anti-theists like to call themselves. What I can’t get is why. Take, for example, his most famous book, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. As with all great defenses of reason,… Continue reading Sam Harris: Playing Fast and Loose With the Facts
Grace, Predestination, and the Salvific Will of God
There’s a fundamental tension in any talk about predestination and final judgment. From even a basic reading of the Bible, one realizes that (a) we can’t earn our salvation; and yet (b) we do earn our damnation. This is a hard tension to resolve. Some resolve it by ignoring (b); in doing so, they seem… Continue reading Grace, Predestination, and the Salvific Will of God
Does the Eucharist Deny Chalcedon?
C Michael Patton, over at Parchment and Pen, is one of the most lucid Calvinist bloggers I know of. He has a strong respect for the Early Church Fathers and for Church History, although he obviously understands it differently than Catholics do. In addition, he’s as irenic as he is intelligent, so even when I’m… Continue reading Does the Eucharist Deny Chalcedon?
“Athiest Pastor” Not Disciplined
This is technically old news (it’s from March), but I hadn’t heard about it before, and it’s worth the heads up. Klaas Hendrikse, a Dutch Protestant pastor, wrote a book in 2007 called “Believing in a God who does not exist: manifesto of an atheist pastor”. Yet he remains a pastor in good standing with… Continue reading “Athiest Pastor” Not Disciplined