Soteriology

Reading Thomas Joseph White’s The Incarnate Lord is a very great pleasure. His carefully argued and measured theology draws on the thinking of St. Thomas Aquinas in original and fruitful ways. As a lover of the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar, however, I must confess that my enjoyment was occasionally tempered with suffering—but, shall we say, only in the lower parts of my soul.
    Among the many things I appreciate in this book is Fr. White’s love of patristic and medieval sources. Following his guide, St. Thomas Aquinas, he combines precision with breadth of knowledge and depth of thought. Further, like St. Thomas’s generous reading of manifold sources, Fr. White makes frequent irenic gestures. I am thinking in particular of the emphasis on the filial mode of Christ’s obedience throughout, plus the gentle reading of Barth’s treatment of obedience and the end of chapter 8 on the death of Christ.
He and I share many points of agreement, almost too many to mention: the enduring importance of Chalcedonian Christological metaphysics; a suspicion of liberal historicism; and an opposition to theological anachronisms, in which the Person of Christ is interpreted according to contemporary mores rather than through revelation. I will expand on two areas of particular agreement (on analogy and on the Son’s obedience), before raising a question concerning the Beatific Vision, and then recording some criticisms regarding soteriology (specifically, regarding Christ’s abandonment and descent).

This document (accepted by the Board of Ordained Ministry in 2020) includes some revisions, making it more accessible to the laity. In addition, it may provide some direction for certified candidates in the UMC seeking to be commissioned and ordained.

Hebrews evinces the linked exegetical aporiae of, on the one hand, tension between the asserted perfection of the believer and exhortations to further perfection and, on the other, a similar tension between Christ’s exalted, preexistent nature and claims
about his need for further perfection during his earthly life. The paper proposes the Stoic figure of the “self-eluding sage” as a helpful contextual analogue for explaining the indicative-imperative problem in Hebrews. Originally a product of early epistemological debates among Hellenistic philosophical schools, the “self-eluding sage” (διαλεληθὼς σοφός) was deployed by Philo and Plutarch in Roman-era debates on the nature of moral progress. Terminological and structural similarities between discussions of the Stoic figure and discussions of progress in Hebrews (especially 5:14-6:3) help contextualize the speech’s concern for moral insight and improvement within a general Roman-era focus on moral progress toward filling communal roles.

John Wesley brought together five key dynamics of the Christian faith, effectively combining in thought and practice these five elements:
1. Divine sovereignty and human freedom
2. Doctrine and experience
3. Experience and structure
4. Charismatic and institutional elements
5. Present and future salvation.
This essay suggests that this synthesis is both biblical and powerful. It then takes a fresh look at the much-discussed Wesleyan Quadrilateral, showing the ways it must be reconsidered. (Cowman Lecture, Seoul Theological University, 2016)

Ephesians 2:11–22 is often thought to promote a tertium genus (“third race”) ecclesiology that entails the belief that the Torah has been abolished. If the Torah is abolished, this leads to the view that torah observance is rendered problematic for baptized Jews. I argue, however, that the assembly, the locus of participation in the Messiah’s salvation, should be understood as a dyadic unity (a nonhomogenous sociopolitical reality). Eph 2:11–22 renders the dissolution of torah-observant Jews within the assembly (church) soteriologically problematic. If baptized Jews are discouraged from remaining torah-observant (and therefore become functionally gentile), this leaves gentile believers in an ecclessial reality in which there is no genuine ongoing association with the torah-observant “circumcision,” thereby leaving them in the ironic state of being “estranged from the commonwealth of Israel” (2:12) yet again—the very condition the text claims Jesus overcomes by his blood (2:13).

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Podcast Interview with The Bible Project on this article here. I also talk about how my work intersects with Willie Jennings's work on the connections between White Supremacy and Christian supersessionsism: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bibleproject/id1050832450?i=1000509068152

New Calvinism is a theological movement that has significantly impacted evangelical Christianity and has served to weaken the influence of dispensationalism. New Calvinism portrays itself as the flagship of Reformed theology. Part of the attraction to New Calvinism is its claim to represent the historical position of the church; however, while retaining the primary weaknesses of Reformed theology, it also differs in some respects from historical Reformed theology. Like historical Reformed theology, New Calvinism’s priority on soteriology and forced Christocentric hermeneutic constrain it to conclusions that are contrary to a literal, grammatico-historical interpretation of Scripture. The theology of New Calvinism also produces a dangerous lack of assurance of salvation for the believer, at times approaching the same level of insecurity as is found in Arminian theology.
This dissertation will focus on the teachings of the following influential New Calvinist “leaders”: John Piper, Wayne Grudem, Albert Mohler, Timothy Keller, Kevin DeYoung, D. A. Carson, and Mark Driscoll, while also considering the contributions of other New Calvinist preachers, teachers, and authors. Of particular importance will be what this author considers to be the sine qua non of New Calvinism, namely: (1) Dortian Calvinism, (2) eclecticism, (3) soteriocentric focus, (4) A supersessionist view of Israel and the Church, (5) a focus on the Reformed doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, and (6) a compromised practice regarding the authority of Scripture.

EDITOR: DR. MERYEM BERRİN BULUT ezeli bir gizem Aşkın ve Sevginin Bilimsel Serüveni "Mutluluk ne diye sorsatar, cevabı gülüşünde ve o sıcak bakışında arardım.", "Sen olmadan nasıl var olacağımı bilmiyorum.", "Manzara da neymiş... Yüzü avuçlarımın içindeyken. ", "Gezegenleribilmiyorum ama sevgim daima etrafında dönecek.", "Seni görmeden önce en parlak yıldızın güneş olduğunu düşünürdüm." ve "Gökyüzü güneş olsa sensiz karanlıktayım." gibi cümlelerle bireyler aşklarını ve sevgilerini ifade etmeye çalışmaktadırlar. Bu eserde, hayatımıza anlam katan sevgi ve aşk duyguları, farklı disiplinlerden akademisyenlerin ve alan çalışanlarının bakış açılarıyla ele alınmaktadır. Kitaba psikoloji, psikiyatri, dinler tarihi, sosyoloji, sosyal hizmet, psikolojik danışmanlık ve rehberlik, veterinerlik, çocuk bakımı ve gençlik hizmetleri, hukuk, reklamcılık, kimya, diyetisyenlik gibi alanlardan araştırmacılar ve alan çalışanları katkı sağlamıştır. Kitap, bireylerin keyifle okuyacakları ve yararlanacakları bir kaynak niteliği taşımaktadır.

Il confronto tra il cristianesimo e le altre religioni oggi necessita di essere compreso e riconfigurato nel contesto della pluralità delle tradizioni religiose. Il pluralismo incide sulle culture e sulle società coinvolgendo il modo di pensare e le abitudini degli uomini e delle donne a tal punto da rendere inadeguate conclusioni superficiali in ordine all’interpretazione che i cristiani danno della salvezza e della sua capacità di universalizzabilità. Emerge, da un lato, l’esigenza di affrontare più attentamente la questione dello status teologico delle altre tradizioni religiose e, dall’altro, l’opportunità di sviluppare una nuova ermeneutica della fede rivelata che implica una trasformazione del cristianesimo e permetta ai cristiani di essere testimoni del Regno di Dio tra le culture e le religioni.

Refleksja nad dziełem zbawczym dokonanym przez Chrystusa przyjmowała i przyjmuje różne kształty. zwykle mówi się w tym kontekście o wielości modeli soteriologicznych. Pośród rozmaitych ujęć dzieła Chrystusa wyróżnia się także zespół poglądów, które można zebrać pod wspólnym tytułem " Chrystus nauczy-ciel ". niektóre znane typologie soteriologii nawiązują do tego pojęcia w sposób bezpośredni lub pośredni, podkreślając jego występowanie na pewnym etapie rozwoju teologii 1. nietrudno jednak zauważyć, że odniesienie do chrystusa na-uczyciela pojawia się w soteriologii nieustannie, choć niewątpliwie jest ono na różnych etapach historycznych z różną intensywnością podkreślane. W sformuło-waniu " chrystus nauczyciel " nie chcemy doszukiwać się nazwy jednego z modeli soteriologicznych, ile raczej motywu, który pojawia się w całej grupie rozwiązań. opisuje ono zatem pewną ścieżkę myślową, obecną w szeregu koncepcji, jakie po-wstały na przestrzeni wieków. Można ją wstępnie określić jako pojmowanie dzieła zbawczego chrystusa przez pryzmat Jego nauki, przykładu, wezwania – które człowiek dążący do zbawienia ma realizować. Już w tym wstępnym ujęciu widać, że idzie tu o koncepcję, która łatwo może być poddawana krytyce za jej niewystar-czalność, za zmierzanie do akceptacji idei samo-zbawienia. naprzeciw niej stoją wyjaśnienia uznawane szczególnie wyraźnie w tradycji zachodniej za klasyczne; podkreślają one dzieło zbawcze dokonane za nas, zamiast nas, czy na naszym miejscu, stawiając na ogół w centrum refleksji krzyż chrystusa bądź integralnie rozumiane misterium paschalne. W ten sposób myśl o zbawczej roli nauki Jezusa

This article submits that the confluence of language and power proliferate social strata and exacts violence on subaltern bodies in a punitive age of mass incarceration. I explore racialized social hierarchies in Judeo- Christian sacred texts and its relationship to secular texts that mark subaltern bodies for punishment. I argue that hegemonic scriptural economies perpetuate discursive violence that is evident in the imperial use of jurisprudence to warehouse black bodies in a prison industrial complex. In response, proclamations of protest become the voice of victors to self-name, overcome silence and rewrite histories as authors of subaltern narratives of resistance.

출판사 소개글: 칭의는 하나님이 주권적으로 죄인을 의롭다 하시는 것으로서, 모든 공로는 그리스도에게 있다. 그렇다면 칭의 때 인간이 하는 역할은 무엇인가? 이 질문은 교회 역사에서 끊임없이 제기되어 왔지만, 안타깝게도 하나님의 주권과 인간의 역할 사이에서 균형을 잃은 칭의 이해가 반복되었고 지금도 반복되고 있다. 칭의에 대한 이해에서의 오류는 과거에도, 현대에도 여전히 있다. 그러므로 "교회가 넘어지고 서는 조항"인 칭의에 대한 바르고 건강한 이해는 매우 시급하고 중요하다.

박재은 박사의 <균형 있게 이해하기 시리즈>의 첫 번째 책 『칭의, 균형 있게 이해하기』는 하나님의 주권과 인간의 역할 사이에서 균형을 잃었던 과거의 칭의론들(아르미니우스주의의 칭의론, 반/신율법주의의 칭의론, 하이퍼 칼빈주의의 칭의론, 영원으로부터의 칭의)과 현대의 칭의론들(주재권 구원 논쟁, 페더럴 비전의 칭의론, 바울에 대한 새 관점의 칭의론)을 살펴보고, 헤르만 바빙크와 헤르만 비치우스의 균형 잡힌 정통 개혁파 칭의론을 그 해결책으로 제시한다.

최근에 미국 칼빈 신학교에서 이 주제에 대한 연구로 박사학위를 취득한 지은이는, 다소 복잡하고 난해한 주제를 다루면서도 각각의 칭의론이 가진 문제점을 지적하고 해결책을 제시하는 것에서 전문성을 보여 준다. 그뿐 아니라 이 책은 방대한 내용을 일반 성도도 쉽게 이해할 수 있도록, 쟁점이 되는 논의를 간명하게 보여 주고 해결책을 제시한다. 다양한 칭의 이해로 혼란스러운 현실에서, 독자들은 이 책을 통해 성경적인 칭의 이해가 무엇인지 알고, 칭의에 대한 이해의 폭이 넓어지는 것을 경험할 수 있다.

When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?
The difference between a secular mindset and a sacred mindset is that in the secular life, one engages in daily life disconnected and without awareness of God. In the sacred life, one engages in daily life with a strong awareness of God.  In the sacred life, the child of God sees everything and every moment in the context of the spiritual and says, “The God of the universe who holds everything together is fully and personally present right here, right now.”

In the West, the dominant way of understanding the work of Jesus has been through a ‘judicial model of salvation’. Although this model is helpful in some regards, it is a primitive and near-sighted understanding of the ministry of Jesus. Here, in this paper, I propose that a more profound, comprehensive, and accurate understanding of Jesus’s work is through a ‘healing model of salvation’. In this model, Jesus acts as the Great Physician who heals humanity of sickness and brings them into wholeness. In this paper, I will begin with a short outline of the judicial model of salvation which will be contrasted by a more comprehensive outline of a healing model of salvation as outlined in the New Testament as based upon the healing ministry of Jesus. Finally, the paper will conclude with a short reflection on the implications a healing model of salvation has for life and practice.

In the interest of exploring the relationship between soteriology and philosophy in the Bodhicaryāvatāra, and hoping to counterbalance the tendency to read it as a source for normative ethics, this paper compares Śantideva's text in comparison with elements of philosophical phenomenology (found primarily within Husserl and Heidegger). I aim to use this comparison to show both how the Bodhicaryāvatāra has important simmilarities to Husserl and Heidegger in its philosophical aims and conclusions, as well as how the philosophical arguments in the Bodhicaryāvatāra can only make sense in the light of the text's implicit acknowledgement of a profound phenomenological transformation that goes beyond anything the European phenomenologists considered.

Christians have long understood grace both as a declaration of acceptance and as a power that transforms. This article illumines two theses while investigating the relationship between these understandings of grace in Luther, Calvin, and Barth's development of the law/gospel dialectic and the doctrines of justification and sanctification. First, though each theologian makes use of both understandings of grace, each also tends to emphasize one over the other. The unity and tension within and between these perspectives help to show that while both pictures are of the greatest importance for each other and cannot be separated, they also exist in tension, as long as they are worked out in the lives of sinners. Second, the author claims that the positions of Luther and Barth are more alike than is generally recognized.

ABSTRACT: The study examines John Calvin(1509-1564) and Alexander Comrie’s(1706-1774) doctrine of justification in light of the sixfold causality of justification(i.e., efficient, material, formal, instrumental, meritorious, final cause). In order to understand the doctrine of justification condignly, the sixfold causality of justification is useful and valuable, since justification should be dealt with various dimensions such as God’s salvific plan and its execution, Christ’s active and passive obedience, imputation of Christ’s righteousness, believer’s faith, God’s glory, etc. To defend the traditional and biblical doctrine of justification, Reformed theologians made good use of several causalities of justification against the doctrine of justification asserted by Roman Catholic Church, Arminianism, antinomianism, neonomianism, hyper-Calvinism, etc. Specifically this study pays attention to the continuity and discontinuity between Calvin’s and Comrie’s view of the sixfold causality of justification. Based on the discussion, the study will find the theological implication and sound theological viewpoint on the doctrine of justification.
국문초록: 본고는 나더러 레포르마치(Nadere Reformatie) 시대의 네덜란드 신학자 알렉산더 꼼리(Alexander Comire, 1706-1774)와 개혁신학의 탁월한 선생이었던 존 칼빈(John Calvin, 1509-1564)이 전개한 칭의론을 칭의의 6중 원인(작용인, 질료인, 형상인, 도구인, 공로인, 목적인)의 빛 아래서 고찰해 볼 것이다. 칭의 사건을 설명함에 있어 6중 인과관계의 틀은 유용하다. 칭의 사건은 하나님의 구원 계획과 실행, 그리스도의 능동적, 수동적 순종, 그리스도 의의 전가, 신자의 믿음, 하나님의 영광 등 다양한 칭의 요소들을 복합적으로 고려할 필요가 있기 때문에 6중 인과관계의 틀은 칭의 사건을 이해하는데 있어 훌륭한 도구적 장치이기 때문이다. 특히 로마 가톨릭 교회, 아르미니우스주의, 반(反)율법주의, 신(新)율법주의, 하이퍼(hyper) 칼빈주의 등이 전개한 칭의론은 전통적 칭의론의 틀과 사뭇 다른 점이 있었기 때문에 개혁 신학자들은 다양한 인과관계들을 선용(善用)하여 전통적 칭의론을 수호해나갔다. 본고는 칭의의 6중 원인에 대한 꼼리와 칼빈의 시각 사이의 연속성과 비연속성에 주목할 것이고 이 연속성과 비연속성을 기반으로 어떠한 신학적 함의가 그 안에 숨어 있는지를 발견할 것이다. 이러한 논의를 통해 과연 칭의의 원인을 건전하게 바라보는 신학적 시각은 무엇인지가 최종적으로 드러나게 될 것이다.

The article seeks to demonstrate how the theological notion of ‘divine promises’ runs through the whole of the theological thought of Romans. The concept is identified as typological allegory whose theological content consists in affirming the precedence of the revelation concerning salvation, which is expressed by means of the rhetorical device of allegory, with a typological purpose and constructed on the basis of the biblical stories of Abraham in Genesis. In this way it is seen that God seeks primarily to manifest himself and in that self-manifestation he makes known his plan of salvation for humanity. From a narrative point of view, the ‘promises of God’ are a micro-narrative that communicates a theology of revelation, redefined in the light of the Easter event.

In Enabling Fidelity to God, Jason Whitlark has produced a stunningly fresh reading of Hebrews in its larger Greco-Roman context. Recent scholarship tends to read the soteriology of Hebrews as reflecting, indeed embracing, the Greco-Roman practice of benefaction and the assumptions of reciprocity that undergird it. In the reading of Hebrews, humans respond in gratitude to God's merciful and beneficent acts in an interdependent, mutually reinforcing circle of salvation. Through a remarkable mastery of primary and secondary sources, Whitlark shows rather that Hebrews, in a direct challenge to the reciprocity system, argues that human fidelity to God is utterly and absolutely predicated upon God's divine enablement.

Chapter 1 - Introduction
                    Two Means of Fidelity: Reciprocity and Enablement
                    Benefaction and Partronage: Previous Applications to Interpretation
                    Method: Reading with the Authorial Audience                 
Chapter 2 - The Historical Context of Hebrews
                    A Characterization of Reciprocity
                    The Anthropological Assumption of Reciprocity
Chapter 3 - The Religious Background of Hebrews
                      Divine -Human Reciprocity Relationship in the Jewish Milieu
                      Consequences of Anthropological Assumptions in the Jewish Milieu
Chapter 4 - Fidelity in Hebrews
                      Hebrews and Its Milieu: Echoes of Benefaction in Hebrews
                      The Religious Appropriation of Benefaction/Patronage: Two Models
                      Interpreting Fidelity in Hebrews: A Critique of the Reciprocity Model
                      Interpreting Fidelity in Hebrews: Divine Enablement and Anthropological
                          Assumption in Hebrews
Chapter 5 - Conclusion

In the early 1990s, a previously-neglected text, entitled Laterculus Malalianus, was attributed by Jane Stevenson to the hand of Theodore of Tarsus (archbishop of Canterbury, 668–690). The text is a well-spring of Christological concerns. Above all, it reflects an interest in Christ's restorative work as it applies to all humankind, expressed in language very much reminiscent of Irenaeus of Lyons and, more explicitly, Ephrem the Syrian. Chapter fourteen in particular displays these characteristics in a concise manner. Theodore's references there compel the reader to deal with a wide range of sources, suggesting thereby a learned, if eclectic, writer; further, they give us insight into the kinds of theological influences to which seventh-century Insular divines were subject. It is the intention of this paper to expose some notable aspects of this under-esteemed work.

A survey of primary texts showing the early recognition of resurrection as a necessary, saving effect founded upon Christ's universal atonement.

This paper is a copy of the pages from Piedmont International University's (now Carolina University's) journal: Aletheias 3:1 (Spring 2018):13-44, https://e4.carolinau.edu/sites/default/files/2019-10/Aletheias-2018.pdf.

Abstract: This study deals with the relationship between the notion of definitive sanctification which is proposed by John Murray (1898-1975) and the ordo salutis. The idea of definitive sanctification has been criticized in many different aspects. One of the main criticisms is that the idea of definitive sanctification destroys the classical ordo salutis as it takes a new position in the ordo. This study will argue that this kind of criticism is theologically inadequate and will propose as follows: the idea of definitive sanctification does not destroy the classic ordo salutis by making a new independent order. Rather, the idea of definitive sanctification along with the idea of progressive sanctification needs to be understood as one of the two dimensions of the same reality “sanctification” in the classic ordo salutis. This understanding can provide a balanced viewpoint on sanctification between God’s sovereign work and human responsibility.

국문초록: 본고는 존 머리(John Murray, 1898-1975)에 의해 제기된 결정적 성화(definitive sanctification) 개념과 구원의 순서(the ordo salutis) 사이의 관계성을 고찰한 논문이다. 결정적 성화 개념은 그간 많은 비판을 받아왔는데 그 중에 한 비판이 바로 결정적 성화 개념이 전통적인 구원의 순서 내에서 독립적인 한 순서를 차지하고 있기 때문에 전통적인 구원의 순서를 무너뜨린다는 비판이다. 본고는 이 비판이 옳지 않다는 것에 대해 논증하며 다음과 같이 주장할 것이다. 결정적 성화 개념은 전통적인 구원의 순서를 무너뜨리지 않는다. 오히려 결정적 성화 개념은 구원의 순서 속에 위치한 성화의 장에서 하나님의 주권과 인간의 책임 사이의 균형을 유지하게 만드는 효과적인 신학적 장치로 작용한다. 결정적 성화 개념은 전통적 구원의 순서 안에서 새롭게 첨가되는 구원의 순서로 이해 되서는 안 된다. 오히려 기존의 구원의 순서 안의 성화의 영역에서 점진적 성화와 불가분의 짝을 이루는 성화의 또 다른 한 측면으로 이해되어야 한다.

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study is to consider Prof. Hoon Taik Chung’s dissertation entitled “Aan hun vruchten zult gij hen kennen” in light of syllogisus practicus. According to Prof. Chung, faith is always prior to works. Works should be based on true faith. Faith and works are closely interconnected just as two sides of the same coin. Faith and works are inseparable and complementary each other. Prof. Chung’s logic shares its characteristics with syllogismus practicus. According to syllogismus practicus, the signs of election or redemption is primarily grounded on God’s Word and promise through Jesus Christ, which are objective, and secondly on the inner assurance and external spiritual fruits which are subjective. In this sense, there is a logical continuity between Prof. Chung’s logic and syllogismus practicus’s. Prof. Chung’s dissertation and its logic are still relevant and workable especially for the current situation which is lacking of morality in church.

في كثير من الأحيان يُفسّر التجسد بطريقة ترى أنَّ حالة إخلاء المسيح كافية لتتميم الخلاص. في حين أنَّ قوله المعروف جيدًا: "إنَّه [أي الابن] أصبح إنسانًا حتَّى يُمكِّننا أن نصير آلهة" قد يوحي بهذا بسهولة، فإنَّ العمل ككلّ يحتوي على نسيج غني يدرك الخلاص الذي يتحقق فقط من خلال التدبير الخلاصيّ بأكمله- أي، تجسده بجانب جميع أعمال الخلاص أثناء وجوده على الأرض بما في ذلك موته على الصليب وقيامته غير الفاسدة. في محاولة لتقديم رؤية القديس أثناسيوس المتعددة الأوجه للخلاص، نأمل في هذا المقال تقديم مساهمة في الفهم الحديث للخلاص في اللاهوت النظامي الذي يميل إلى عزل الأحداث المختلفة.

suggested by Clive Marsh. Sixth and last, I will offer an impression of what salvation means in the context of late modernity. Overwinteren and Gott Braucht Dich Nicht Gert-Jan Segers' (b. 1969) novel is written from the first-person perspective of Joost Gersjes, who is student of business administration at Leiden University at the end of the 1980s. The story primarily concentrates on his relations with his roommates Gerard, Stefan and Marco, and Farah, the girl he is secretly in love with. It contains all the characteristics of Dutch student life. The story is set against the particular events which were happening in Europe at the time, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the taking down of the Berlin wall, and the outbreak of the war in Yugoslavia. Repeated references to pop music clearly locate the story in the late eighties and early nineties. The book is structured along four parts, most of them occurring in the Decembermonths, which suggest why the book is called "Wintering". Joost Gersjes wrestles with the familiar themes of adolescence: keeping discipline, falling in love, feeling estranged from his family, making life choices and particularly, the questions about God. Joost is the typical young adolescent who desperately wants to make something of his life but is unclear how. Life is for him primarily a confrontation with people 'who are what he's not' and with things 'he could've done'. Everything reminds him of the fact that he is neither interesting nor engaging. His roommate Gerard is the opposite; outspoken, dominant in his presence, and not afraid of starting a polemic. Where Joost tends to outward conformity, Gerard rather seeks to stir things up, making him somewhat controversial within the student sorority. He is someone for whom there is only black and white, rejecting to be 'grey'. Certainly, when it comes to Christianity: either you live with Christ or not, you are either hot or cold. Dostoyevsky's interaction between the Grand Inquisitor and Jesus in the Brothers Karamazov proves to Gerard that the church is unable to live up to the Christian ideal of freedom, depending on its own rules instead. In the center of the story is the search for truthfulness and living authentic lives that are worth the effort, independent from what other people say, whether the church, parents, or the 'cultural majority'. While Joost and Gerard initially say goodbye to their Christian faith, Gerard's sudden illness changes the situation. Upon hearing the news that he is terminally ill with changes their perspective on their former attitude to life: can they still just enjoy life? Now their life together as roommates is dominated by the Gerard's approaching end. In the weeks that follow Gerard receives chemotherapy; the effects whereof announce the reality of his decay, hair loss, nausea, seeing double, and fatigue. Eventually, Gerard is taken up in the hospital. It is there he confesses that prayer has returned in his life. He now perceives his earlier rejection of God as the reaction of a spoiled child being disgruntled for the lack God's perceptible involvement in his life. From his deathbed Gerard calls on Joost to make a choice before his thirtieth birthday with regards to God, to be hot or cold, and to commit to that. The second novel Gott Braucht Dich Nicht tells the autobiographical story of Esther Maria Magnis (b. 1980), told through a first-person 'Esther'. The story mainly focuses on Esther's interactions with her immediate family, her parents, her older sister Steffi and her younger brother Johannes. Central is the search for meaning in the face of suffering and the question of God's presence in the life of a teenager and student. Growing up in a predominant liberal and progressive Christian context, she describes the estrangement she experienced in her youth towards the church, its ceremonies, the vagueness of the sermons and the general boredom of Christian practice. God, nonetheless, was someone or something real to her, at least until her teens, when she began to detach from God. Particularly, the political engaged sermons she heard in the church of her youth just didn't do it for her, as they only further showed the

This article surveys the Pauline teaching in the Epistle to the Galatians of the status of Christians before and after their conversion as it fits the imagery of slavery, as is often used in the New Testament. The first section deals with the pre-salvation status of Paul’s readers and their slavery to Satan. The second section describes their release from that slavery into freedom. The final section shows the limits of that freedom by describing the post-salvation status of Paul’s audience.

Anselm of Canterbury was the father of the first systematic effort at explaining the redemption of Christ by means of satisfaction in Cur Deus Homo.  Others before him offered multiple explanations.  However, his efforts have remained the cornerstone by which subsequent theologians have developed the understanding of redemption as objectively done by God to and for humanity. His model then, is the paradigm necessary for understanding soteriology because of its seminal importance and lasting influence. Therefore, by an analysis and evaluation of Anselm’s soteriology, its strengths and weaknesses can be acknowledged and adapted into a new soteriology for today’s situation.

The article maintains that two impediments frustrate the Evangelical-Orthodox theological dialogue. The first is the intractable challenge of internal diversity, which makes the notion of a theological dialogue between 'Orthodoxy' and 'Evangelicalism' highly problematic. The second is the asymmetric nature of the theological differences that divide the two traditions. The article proposes that a framework for theological dialogue based on particularity and specificity, and which acknowledges the asymmetrical theological relationship between Orthodox and Evangelicals, can help to advance the dialogue beyond a forum for merely identifying and clearing up misperceptions.

The concepts of ‘honour and shame’ have emerged in contemporary missiological discourse as a key tool for ministry among ‘shame cultures’. While a recognition of different cultural values is an important step towards contextualization, the soteriological models presented in these discussions are primarily based on a number of hidden assumptions which require further investigation: that shame is overcome by an outpouring of honour; that shame is a problem between humanity and God; and that the ‘honour system’ of this world is a viable model in which to locate salvation. We review these assumptions and instead propose an understanding of salvation for shame based on the rejection of honour, the subversion of shame, the death of the shameful body, and rebirth in new community.

The Role of the Conversion Theology of Charles G. Finney in the Theological Drift of Southern Baptists

David Charles Hacker, D.Th.
International Christian College and Seminary, 2021
Chair: Dr. William McCorkle

This dissertation examines the relationship between the conversion theology that was popularized by Charles Grandison Finney and the theological drift of Southern Baptists from Calvinism to Arminianism. Chapter 1 introduces the research question and describes the methodology and limitations of the current project.
Chapter 2 surveys the historical evidence of the Calvinistic roots of Southern Baptists. A brief overview of Baptist origins in England is given, followed by an overview Baptist life in America including the founding of the first Baptist church in the colonies in the seventeenth century, developments in Baptist soteriology in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and concluding with trends that emerged in the twentieth century.
Chapter 3 gives a brief overview of the traditional or Calvinistic baptist view of conversion prior to the mid-nineteenth century. It provides a brief contrast of the two predominate views held by evangelicals, Arminianism and Calvinism, and shows how uncommon the views of conversion that were popularized in the mid to late nineteenth century had previously been.
Chapter 4 outlines the conversion theology of Finney and the opposition from his contemporaries. The chapter analyzes Finney’s rejection of reformed orthodoxy and the use of the means of grace, whether revival and conversion are human or divine in origin, his departure from the Edwardsean theological tradition he inherited, his Pelagian and semi-Pelagian tendencies, his conflation of backsliders with false professors, and the fact that he propagates error rather than inventing new theology and methodology.
Chapter 5 surveys the effects of Finney’s theology on Southern Baptists and evangelicalism as a whole. This chapter analyzes Finney’s polemical rewriting of history and it’s effect on subsequent generations, the effects of revivalism, and the specific effects Finney’s theology on Baptists, the understanding of God and His role in conversion, and church practice.
Chapter 6 contains a summary of the lingering effects of Finney’s Pelagian theology on the church today. It concludes that Finney’s influence on Southern Baptists was a theological shift from their Calvinistic roots to Arminianism as the dominant theology and ends with a practical and pastoral applications for the church today.

The Gospel of Matthew frequently presents the terms of salvation as a strict dichotomy. To name a few, the Matthean Jesus envisions a narrow or wide gate (Matt 7.13– 14), wise or foolish builders (7.24–27), those who confess or deny (10.32–33), those who keep life or lose it (16.25), wise or foolish virgins (25.1–13), and sheep or goats (25.34–46). Even the three figures in the talents parable of 25.14–30 adhere to this dichotomy. Whereas Luke’s minas parable allows for gradations of response by envisioning some who are less fiscally responsible than others but still receive a warm welcome (Luke 19.16–19), Matthew’s version only considers those who yield a 100% investment or none at all (25.14–30). In didactic accounts like these, Jesus envisions no middle ground or gray areas. While this binary scenario has the advantage of compelling the audience to greater commitment, Matthew is aware that what narrative critics call the ‘implied reader’ is fictional and actual audiences have a checkered experience. This article investigates the ways Matthew nuances the harsh binary of some of Jesus’ statements with his complex portrayal of Peter. Though the scope of salvation is narrow and difficult in Matthew (e.g. 7.13–14), the description of Peter stretches this scope to be wider than what might initially appear. After briefly surveying some previous approaches to this question, our argument comes in two main sections. First, Matthew portrays Peter as occupying the ‘middle ground’ between complete obedience and absolute failure, with all signs pointing to him staying in that space. He exemplifies both success and failure with no trend towards improvement. Second, Matthew portrays Peter as not only being in the kingdom, but as having a position of greatness within it. Despite his shortcomings, Peter does more than barely qualify for salvation; He has a position of high status in the coming age. Combining these two considerations implies the dividing line of Matthew’s dichotomy allows for more failure than the harsher statements might imply.

This paper discusses the theme of "personal justice" in the Summa theologiae, a concept inherited from the Nicomachean Ethics wherein Aristotle says that a man is just toward himself only metaphorically, insofar as the parts of man are appropriately ordered with the higher ruling the lower and the body subjugated to the soul. This paper demonstrates how Aquinas extensively utilizes this concept of metaphorical justice across the tripartite division of the Summa in his accounts of original justice in the prima pars, the humanity of Christ in the tertia pars, and justification of the sinner in the secunda pars. As a response to critiques that Thomistic moral theology is not properly centered in the person of Christ, I will show that, for Aquinas, Christ's personal justice both fulfills the right ordering of humanity lost through sin and restores that integrity to mankind in the grace of justification—the root of the Christian's entire moral life.