Anselm of Canterbury: An 11th Century “Sinner’s Prayer”

There is an exhortation of Anselm (1033-1109) to a dying brother, written in the most comforting words: “When a brother seems to be in his death struggle, it is godly and advisable to exercise him through a prelate or other priest with written questions and exhortations. He may be asked in the first place: ‘Brother, …

The Gospel & Good Works

Below, I share a choice passage from Luther’s preface to his commentary on Galatians.  In this preface, Luther makes a distinction between what he calls “active” & “passive righteousness.”  “Active righteousness” is the Christian’s life of good works before his neighbor.  But the heart of the biblical Gospel as presented by Paul is what Luther …

“Everything outside Holy Scripture, not being of faith, is sin.”

Embryo Parson put up a recent blog post that I’ve wanted to share: The English Reformation and the Early Church Fathers: “We and our people – thanks be to God – follow no novel and strange religions, but that very religion which is ordained by Christ, sanctioned by the primitive and Catholic Church and approved …

Theology of the Cross and Justification

I’ve written a couple of posts on Martin Luther’s theology of the Cross, and my hope is to write more. I’ve come upon this topic for several reasons, not the least of which is my wife’s illness. But as I delve into it more, I’m finding that for Martin Luther, his “discovery” of the theologia …

Can God Suffer?

Martin Luther’s “theology of the cross” is not merely a theology that provides great comfort in the midst of suffering. It is, in fact, foundational for his whole understanding of “justification by faith alone”, and I hope to explore this theme further in coming blog posts. But there’s something that needs to be clarified from …

The New Modern Reformation Work on “Justification”

Take a few minutes and watch this little video introduction by Michael Horton to MR’s new book “Justification”. It’s a great introduction to all of the many issues that are surrounding the topic of justification these days. In an incredibly easy manner, Horton discusses all of these challenges to justification and really puts the whole …

Who split the church?

A commenter at Beggars All, “steelikat,” posted this link — “Who split the Church?” — and I agree with him, “it’s a good thing that ‘the church’ is split.” A sample: Luther was excommunicated.  Why?  Because he criticized the sale of indulgences.  In the case that precipitated his nailing the theses to the door, a …

Justification and Original Languages

For Paul, the Christian gospel is in some sense constituted by the revelation of the righteousness of God. But what is this tantalizing ‘righteousness of God’? … Central to the Christian understanding of the economy of salvation is the conviction that God is righteous, and that he acts in accordance with that righteousness in the …