Origen on the right of the Jews for self-dense being temporary

-
"It was impossible for Christians to follow the Mosaic law in killing their enemies or those who acted illegaly and were judged to be deserving of death [...] if you took away from the Jews of that time, who had their own political life and country, the power to go out against their enemies and to fight for their traditional customs, and to take life [...] the inevitable consequence would have been their complete and utter destruction [...] But the providence which long ago gave the law, but now has given the gospel of Jesus Christ, did not wish that the practices of the Jews should continue, and so destroyed their city and temple[...]" (Con. Cel. VII,26)

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 »