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Hope
Fr. James Keller, M.M.,
HOPE opens doors where despair closes them.
HOPE discovers what can be done instead of grumbling about what cannot.
HOPE draws its power from a deep trust in God.
HOPE ''lights a candle'' instead of ''cursing the darkness.''
HOPE regards problems, small or large, as opportunities.
HOPE cherishes no illusions, nor does it yield to cynicism.
HOPE sets high goals and is not frustrated by repeated difficulties or setbacks.
HOPE pushes ahead when it would be easy to quit.
HOPE puts up with modest gains, realizing that ''the longest journey starts with one step.''
HOPE accepts misunderstandings as the price for serving the greater good of others.
HOPE looks for the good in people instead of harping on the worst.
May the GOD of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, that you may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
By: Fr. James Keller, M.M., Founder, The Christophers
Christ in you the hope glory.
Our only, true and lasting hope is found in Jesus.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
What does it mean to be spiritually dead?
One of the crucial tenants of Calvinism is "total depravity". There are two words used to quantify this condition, one is extensiveness and the other is intensiveness. If you compare the Calvinists of today to Calvin or to the Westminster Confession you find a change. The extent of depravity is pretty much the same. All aspects of man are touched by the fall including our mind, our emotion, our nature and our will. Where the change is most notable is in the intensity of the depravity of man. Calvin and the confessions hold that man is utterly depraved. He can do no good. Current writers go to great lengths to assure us that unsaved man can indeed do good.
If man's depravity was absolute, then society would have fallen apart long ago. This softening of the view of depravity opens the door to a discussion about where to draw the line. How depraved is man? What capacities remain in him to allow him to do good even though he is in a fallen state.
The Calvinists hold that fallen man is unable to make any move toward God. He is totally incapable of reaching out to God and His offer of Salvation. Man is only saved when God reaches out to those He has elected and regenerates them so that they might give assent to God. Even though man's depravity is not absolute as the modern apologists argue, man still requires God to initiate the process of salvation by regenerating that person so that they might believe. This view is scripturally awkward to me.
The Armenian view is that God provides a prevenient (preventing) grace that allows man to believe the Gospel message and thus be saved. Pressed too far the Armenian position opens itself to a semi-pilagian heresy where man is saved by a cooperation of effort between God and man.
The Biblical view is somewhat different. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. In Christ God presents the truth propositionally with full knowledge that man can respond to that truth. John wrote his gospel in order that we might believe. He presents the truth rationally knowing that his hearers and readers could rationally process God's truth and make reasonable judgments about what was being said and taught. The Scripture makes clear that God's Spirit is an essential part of that process. God also arranges the circumstances of our lives to drive us to His feet. God is truly the "Hound of Heaven". Man was made in the image of God and that image was not destroyed at the fall. The extensiveness of the fall was severe, but the intensiveness was limited by God.
There exist orthodox and sound approaches to the concept of depravity that avoids the issues raised by hyper-Calvinism and by an overly humanized Armenianism. What is required is a refocus on the Scriptural models that are readily available.
If man's depravity was absolute, then society would have fallen apart long ago. This softening of the view of depravity opens the door to a discussion about where to draw the line. How depraved is man? What capacities remain in him to allow him to do good even though he is in a fallen state.
The Calvinists hold that fallen man is unable to make any move toward God. He is totally incapable of reaching out to God and His offer of Salvation. Man is only saved when God reaches out to those He has elected and regenerates them so that they might give assent to God. Even though man's depravity is not absolute as the modern apologists argue, man still requires God to initiate the process of salvation by regenerating that person so that they might believe. This view is scripturally awkward to me.
The Armenian view is that God provides a prevenient (preventing) grace that allows man to believe the Gospel message and thus be saved. Pressed too far the Armenian position opens itself to a semi-pilagian heresy where man is saved by a cooperation of effort between God and man.
The Biblical view is somewhat different. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. In Christ God presents the truth propositionally with full knowledge that man can respond to that truth. John wrote his gospel in order that we might believe. He presents the truth rationally knowing that his hearers and readers could rationally process God's truth and make reasonable judgments about what was being said and taught. The Scripture makes clear that God's Spirit is an essential part of that process. God also arranges the circumstances of our lives to drive us to His feet. God is truly the "Hound of Heaven". Man was made in the image of God and that image was not destroyed at the fall. The extensiveness of the fall was severe, but the intensiveness was limited by God.
There exist orthodox and sound approaches to the concept of depravity that avoids the issues raised by hyper-Calvinism and by an overly humanized Armenianism. What is required is a refocus on the Scriptural models that are readily available.
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