Podcast: Christian Theist In A Postmodern World

What Martin Luther King has taught me about God’s divine presence?

I was introduced to Mr. King’s writings by an immigrant Dutch professor at Seminary who moved to the United States when he was younger. He believed theology must be lived out and embodied, and Mr. King appealed to this idea. Throughout the years, I have noted how right he was! I was highly impacted when I read one of Mr. King’s books, Strength to Love, which made me aware about the importance of noticing God’s work in history. In Strength to Love, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. reflected in a series of issues that affected the American culture of his times, …

The image of God and its implications for theology and the church

The doctrine of the image of God is based on Genesis 1:26-27; 5:1-3, and 9:3, which state that God made human beings—both male and female—in His image and likeness. The basic implication of this doctrine is that all human persons regardless of gender, race, and capacities are created according to the likeness or the image of God. Other texts in the Scriptures that are useful for this doctrine are Colossians 3:10 where Paul speaks of the renewed human being created after God’s image; 1 Corinthians 1:17 where Paul asserts that in some respect the male is both the image of …

Kant as one of the greatest defenders of natural law

Kant believes natural law is written in the human heart. For him, the highest good can be understood as happiness, which is distributed in exact proportion to morality (First Critique). Therefore, in a sense, the highest good can be defined as the combination of happiness and virtue. However, this definition is not clearly held in all Kantian writings, something which arises an ambiguity that has been the object of ongoing research. For instance, in the Second Critique, Kant also speaks of the supreme good as a consummated or transcended good. A widespread way to approach the issue has been claiming …

Sexuality series – Stanley Hauerwas on the purposes of human sexuality

First, it is important to note that Prof. Hauerwas is doing sexual ethics outside of the mainstream Christian theologians such as Augustine and Aquinas. Therefore, his position and discussion must be understood as a reaction against the Western moral tradition. Bearing in mind these clarifications could help us to avoid misunderstanding him. Hauerwas is very critical of the Christian large tradition on this topic. He believes the tradition has failed when discussing human sexuality/sexual ethics in a very broad sense by clinging exclusively to natural law. This is something that the church must correct if she wants to avoid confusion …

Sexuality series – Oliver O’Donovan on the importance of sexual differentiation

For Christian ethicist Oliver O’Donovan, God’s revelation in the gospel is the basis and primary authority of Christian ethics. So it is also the means Christians can discern the truths about the natural world through the work done in the resurrection of Christ. In other words, the renewed order, revealed through the resurrection of Christ, allows us to be aware and understand fully the created order. Here we note that O’Donovan defends an objective and realized-eschatological approach to Christian ethics, including his approach to human sexuality. This allows him to claim a clear distinctive differentiation between the creator and the …

Sexuality series – Does Aquinas leave room for the separation between gender and sex?

Although Aquinas has certain similarities with Augustine regarding sexuality, he departs from him in some other particular respects. Aquinas’s discussions in Summa Theologia about sexuality are brief; one clearly sees, however, how Aquinas interpreted human sexuality through the lens of natural law and rational abstraction. Through his holistic view of the human being as a composite of soul and body, Aquinas does not leave room for a separation between gender and sex. The soul informs the human body of this essential information. For instance, the gender or sex is randomly assigned by the soul. In addition, without a doubt, Aquinas …

How sloth leads to despair? Rebecca DeYoung on the nature of sloth

Aquinas in Suma Theologica (II-II, Q.20, A.4) argues that sloth leads to despair. I will briefly explore how sloth might lead to despair, using Rebecca DeYoung’s reinterpretation on the nature of sloth in her book Glittering Vices (Brazos Press, 2009). Young briefly challenges the popular notion of understanding sloth as mere laziness. She argues that the modern concept of ‘sloth’ has departed significantly from the spiritual roots with which it had connections (p. 82). Young’s aim is to retrieve the Christian notion of sloth and clarify the misunderstandings around this concept. Young clings to Aquinas, who is in the middle …

Theological question – What’s the difference between being justified and sanctified?

Justification and sanctification are two concepts that are related and inseparable; however, they represent two different or distinct notions. Justification and sanctification are indeed two benefits given by God through Jesus Christ. In virtue of the assertion above, one may say that justification and sanctification are God’s gifts because “Christ was given to us by God’s generosity.” (Calvin, Institutes, III.11.1.) The problem arises when one merges both terms into one and uses them as they were interchangeable. This error should be avoided in order to understand better and coherently the doctrine of salvation and union with Christ in light of the Scriptures. …

Theological question – Are holy affections fruits of true religion?

In A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards asserts that the way Christians live is the real sign of having a true Christian faith. Since “true religion, in great part, consists in holy affections,” a believer who lives in the true religion necessarily should have holy affections (p. 141). However, the opposite is not true: the fact that someone might possess several religious affections does not mean she is living out a true religion. Discerning the mysterious ways of the Spirit’s work, therefore, is never done with one’s understanding but of the Spirit’s. Then, the result of being obedient to …