The Castle Church Door

Kathryn Lopez just posted about some comments Nancy Pelosi made on this morning's "Meet The Press" on the issue of abortion. From the transcript:MR. BROKAW: Senator Obama saying the question of when life begins is above his pay grade, whether you're looking at it scientifically or theologically. If he were to come to you and say, "Help me out here, Madame Speaker. When does life begin?" what would ...

Truth Unites... and Divides wrote:"Anyways, what does the RCC have to say regarding Origen's commentary on Matt 16:18?"Different Catholics will respond in different ways. One Catholic might argue that Origen's comments aren't meant to deny that a papal reading of the passage is also appropriate, another Catholic might argue that Origen and other early sources don't have much relevance, because the understanding of the papacy hadn't developed sufficiently ...

That’s Kenosha. Recently there has been renewed discussion of a “modified” approach to the “Kenosis” theory that says, as I understand it, that, in the incarnation, Christ emptied himself of his divinity. I’ve been really pressed for the last several month researching other things so I haven’t had time to look into this yet, but Martin has an interesting quote from Warfield on the theory. He’s got a ...

Saint and Sinner wrote:"Dulles is giving us only the evidence that supports his side. He never mentions Cyprian's two confrontations with Rome's authority or the fact that a later Council of Carthage under Augustine stated that Rome would have no authority to restore a defrocked presbyter to his former position."It's also worth noting that, in one of his disputes with Rome, Cyprian was joined by dozens of other ...

Carl Trueman is your man. I know it’s unusual to see me flogging someone else’s book. That’s   why you should pay attention when I do so. This is a really good book. Why? Because Carl is an   excellent scholar who writes well. That’s not a common combination  of  qualities. Being a good     scholar means having a command of both the primary literature (in this ...

From Philip Schaff's History Of The Christian Church (Saginaw, Michigan: Historical Exegetical ‘Lectronic Publishing, 1996):From her [Mary's] example issues a silent blessing upon all generations, and her name and memory are, and ever will be, inseparable from the holiest mysteries and benefits of faith. For this reason her name is even wrought into the Apostles' Creed, in the simple and chaste words: "Conceived by the Holy Ghost, born ...

I’m working an essay on the history of covenant theology for a collection edited by Herman Selderhuis to be published by Brill in 2009. I just ran across something that I should have noticed, thought about or remembered years ago but didn’t. The opening line of Caspar Olevianus’ Expositio Symboli (Exposition of the Apostles’ Creed, 1576) is: Duo esse regna Spiritualia, etiam in hoc mundo, certum est: Regnum nimirum ...

I will respond to Dr. Clark’s post seriatim. 1. This qualification is well-taken. Olevian is his own man, and has many things in his background influencing his theology, of which one of the more important influences is Calvin’s teaching. This seems nuanced enough for anyone. 2. My argument is not really taking this form. I certainly do not mean to imply in the slightest that Clark has misread Olevian, as ...

  Part 1 of the response is here. Lane’s review is here. Eight responses to his five questions and then I have to get back to work. 1. One should not overplay the fact that Olevianus was Calvin’s student. He also studied in Zurich. He was only in Geneva briefly. Certainly he was deeply influenced by Calvin as he taught through the Institutes annually and made his own epitome (abbreviated version). He probably ...

Many thanks to Dr. Clark for taking the time to respond to me. There are some very helpful clarifications there of what he was trying to accomplish in writing his book. I am still left with a few questions that I would like to lay out there. 1. I agree that there is very little substantive difference between Calvin’s duplex gratia and Olevian’s duplex beneficium. This is not all ...