Posted in Ecclesiology, Politics, Theology on Tuesday, 15 January 2008 | 4 Comments »
It’s an intentionally provocative title, so let me clarify what is and isn’t meant. But first let me say that this post will not explore in any great detail the relationship between the Church and the state, though such talk will nonetheless be inescapable. I will not here entertain acceptance of or defend [...]
Posted in Ecclesiology, Orthodoxy, Papacy, Roman Catholicism on Saturday, 17 November 2007 | 7 Comments »
As a Protestant, one of the key mental operators one has is the opposition to Rome. Depending upon the Protestant group, though I have in mind here and throughout this reflection evangelical Protestants, one more or less defines oneself over against Rome. This, of course, results in a distortion of Roman doctrine and [...]
Posted in Ecclesiology on Monday, 22 October 2007 | 7 Comments »
From my friend Tripp, comes this link to an article by The Alban Institute: “Church for the 21st Century”. Tripp cites the paragraphs from the article indicating (though giving no statistics) a similar sort of growth among progressive churches as among the more conservative evangelical and fundamentalist churches and megachurches. I continue to [...]
Posted in Ecclesiology, Papacy on Friday, 7 September 2007 | No Comments »
T. R. Valentine: Is Peter the Rock? A Look at Matthew 16
Posted in Ecclesiology, Humor, Or Laughing My Fool Head Off, Philosophy, Theology on Friday, 3 August 2007 | 2 Comments »
[From here]
Posted in Ecclesiology, Orthodoxy, Scripture on Wednesday, 27 June 2007 | No Comments »
First of all, I failed to make clear in my earlier post linking to the dialectic of opposition comments at All Saints Forum, my indebtedness to Perry Robinson and Joseph Farrell’s book, Free Choice in Saint Maximus the Confessor, for highlighting this dynamic for me. It’s definitely not an original thought on my part. [...]
Posted in Ecclesiology on Thursday, 19 April 2007 | 2 Comments »
The Church is Christ’s Body. Yes, this image is a metaphor, and so we must be careful of literalizing the image beyond what the metaphor carries.
That said, a human body is not just the aggregate sum of its parts. You don’t just pile a bunch of organs and limbs on a table and say: There’s a [...]
Posted in Christology, Ecclesiology, Orthodoxy, Theology on Tuesday, 6 March 2007 | No Comments »
If you want a good resource for looking at the filioque from the Orthdoox standpoint, then The Filioque: An Orthodox Guide by T. R. Valentine is invaluable.
There is also this paper by Stephen Todd Kaster: The Filioque Controversy.
Posted in Ecclesiology on Tuesday, 12 September 2006 | 1 Comment »
The other half of the coin:
What would the Orthodox have to do to have unity
Posted in Ecclesiology on Thursday, 7 September 2006 | 1 Comment »
Fr. Thomas Hopko’s paper, Roman Presidency and Christian Unity in our Time (also available here; link opens in MSWord), presented last year at a Woodstock Forum, is occasioning some present-day commentary.
Orthodox priest, Fr. Stephen Freeman, contributes his reflections over at Pontifications (94 responses as of 5:50 this a.m. and counting)
The Scrivener, Douglas, offers his thoughts [...]
Posted in Ecclesiology on Wednesday, 28 June 2006 | 4 Comments »
In my previous post I was critical of a restorationist or primitivist ecclesiology that assumes that one can (re)create (or restore, or renew) the New Testament Church by simply finding all the parts (beliefs, practices, etc.) that belong to the Church as delineated by the New Testament and then establishing the believing and practicing of [...]
Posted in Ecclesiology on Tuesday, 27 June 2006 | 18 Comments »
I remember in Bible college, seeing or reading about attempts to use the texts of the Old Testament (especially the latter half of Exodus) to reconstruct (on scale) the tabernacle, altars, sacred furniture and vestments of God’s people. Of course, as is inevitable when using texts in ways they were not intended to be [...]
Posted in Ecclesiology on Sunday, 11 June 2006 | 2 Comments »
In many Protestant circles today, particularly among evangelical and “emergent” groups, there is either a paradigm of primitivism (a desire to get back behind the purported historical baggage of the two thousand years of the Church’s life to the “pure” first century Church—which usually means things like meeting in homes, small groups, communal structures, and [...]
Posted in Ecclesiology on Tuesday, 23 May 2006 | 1 Comment »
[Note: The Laws have been expanded. I've provided the updates below.]
Former Anglican priest, now Roman Catholic, and always (small-c) catholic, Al Kimel has helpfully listed the Pontificator’s Laws. They are as follows:
Pontificator’s First Law (old version)When Orthodoxy and Catholicism agree on something over against Protestantism, Protestantism loses.
Pontificator’s First Law (new version)When Orthodoxy and [...]
Posted in Ecclesiology on Tuesday, 2 May 2006 | 2 Comments »
In her article in Books and Culture, Lower Criticism, Sarah Hinlicky Wilson demonstrates how to assume your argument in your premise and therefore guarantee your own conclusion.
Advocates of the ordination of women to Eucharistic ministry are forced, by virtue of the textual and historical evidence, to seek the support of their arguments in the singular [...]
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