Origen on Gehenna ("Chasm of the son of Ennom", etc.") and the need to scare the multitude

-
"[...]the punishments that occur round Jerusalem are for those who are being refined; for they have taken into the very essence of their soul the works caused by evil, which somewhere is allegorically called lead. [...] It is not right to explain to everybody all that might be said on this subject. [...] It is risky to commit to writing the explanation of these matters, because the multitude do not require any more instruction than that punishment is to be inflicted upon sinners." (Con. Cel. VI, 25)

Populære opslag fra denne blog

Nein!(?) A negative "point of contact" in the Epistle to Diognetus?

-
Billede
Still working on The Epistle to Diognetus , which keeps making associations to modern theology pop up. This time it's Karl Barth's debate with Emil Brunner. Consider the epistle's claim that, “[...]being convicted in the past time by our own deeds as unworthy of life, we might now be made deserving by the goodness of God, and having made clear our inability to enter into the kingdom of God of ourselves, might be enabled by the ability of God.” (9.1, Lightfoot) and “Having then in the former time demonstrated the inability of our nature to obtain life, and having now revealed a Saviour able to save even creatures which have no ability, He willed that for both reasons we should believe in His goodness[...]” (9.6, Lightfoot) If by 'dialectical theology' we mean that God's 'yes' and 'no' are inseparable (Tillich), this is certainly a specimen of such. The two elements, negative and positive, come together in faith (in an Aufhebung! ), or? A
Read more »

Why "contra fatum"?

-
Billede
Gregory of Nyssa Contra Fatum ( lat. against fate , death or the speech of the gods ) is the Latin title of the Church father Gregory of Nyssa's (c. 335-394 ) short treatise against fatalism . Gregory defended the doctrine of free will ,  rejecting the belief that human destiny is determined by the celestial movements . Analogously, this blog is intended as a criticism of modern rationalism (s), whether in the form of political, technological, sociological or economical abstractions (modern astrology!), religious or spiritual-metaphysical ideas such as divine predestination and determinism. All lack a sense that human beings are created in the image of God , with freedom, infinite value , and a reason that cannot be reduced to the formulas of rationalism . Christus Victor! On the positive side the blog is a defense of the classical idea of the atonement effected by the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ: Rather than
Read more »