Hope like a child

“…I crouch down, lowering myself to his eye level, feebly attempting to tap into his deep curiosity. He leans against me, but never diverts his eyes from the moon. I look up as he does, but my eyes come back to him, in wonder of him as he wonders at the moon.

Suddenly excited, Ian turns and asks, “I touch it?”  “Sure.  Reach high,” I tell him.  His little legs strain and stretch, he moves to his tiptoes and extends his arms, grasping with his fingers, as if he’s mere inches away.  He drops back down, turns to me and says, with a smile on his face, “Nope.”  I cannot help but laugh, as not a twinge of disappointment flavors his voice. He simply returns to gazing….

…in that moment, I realized that I was the uninformed one. I was the one who needed more understanding, more wisdom, better perspective. I held my tongue to appear wise, submitting to the lesson of a two-year-old master teacher. As he gains years, I pray that he keeps the wisdom he already has; while becoming a man, I pray he remains a child. Ian will grow older (he is turning three this very week) but in the memory of such moments he will always be my teacher, reaching for the moon.”

Read it all here.  Come new heavens and new earth, I think we will be touching it….

And now for something completely different…

Warning: no infant theology in this post.

I am a librarian by day.  I’ve recently produced some video tutorials that deal with issues related to searching, research, and the nature of authority – and I think their applicability goes beyond our library (Concordia St. Paul).

I put a bunch of time into them and thought I’d keep track of them here.

So, if you are interested…

My favorite (discusses how to determine which sources are good for research and academic work. It includes information about the nature of authority / reliability):

This one goes along with it (discusses practical tips that can be used to help locate and evaluate quality web sites that are appropriate for your research and academic work):

This one is my second favorite (an introduction to doing research):

This one (on Advanced Searching) is is almost my second favorite (understand how the nature of language and the structure of databases can affect your search):

…and this one goes with it (advanced search features databases have in common that help us to search efficiently, effectively, and specifically — getting great control over our results):

Finally, a video on Copyright Law (for educators- to supplement the SOPA mania from a few days ago):

Guileless sinners

My wife and I have joked about how our 23 month old is the first of our boys to have a conscience (though we assume all of their baptisms “took”).   When he does something wrong and is called out on it, he can very clearly display some sorrow.

This is not to say that there are times when he stubbornly resists us when he is told he is wrong.  But it seems to be very binary: he either resists us, or he shows sorrow for doing wrong and gladly receives our forgiveness.

Now, I suppose some young kids might pretend to be sorry in order to “get the forgiveness”, but  unless he is a really good actor, this would not be our youngest.  He is a sinner to be sure, but it seems to me that this is not an area where that infection manifests itself (yes, perhaps he is playing us for the gullible fools we are: ) )

In any case, he is not going to question the whether the sincerity or depth of his own repentance is sufficient in order for our forgiveness to really “count” and do what it is supposed to do, that is, make everything between us better again.

Now I suppose at some point we might wonder whether he is really sorry, or just sorry he got caught, but I don’t feel the need to think such thoughts at this point.

And I suppose he may at some point start to doubt whether or not we really are forgiving when we start to explain to him (when older) that forgiveness does not always mean the removal of all consequences and further disciplines.  But that would be doubting our sincerity, not his own.

Such is the faith of a child, which we are to imitate.  What are the real keys here?   Well, do God’s pastors give God’s forgiveness themselves?   Yes.   Do God’s messengers simply forgive 70 x 7, whenever  a person may ask for forgiveness from them?  Yes.   They deliver to us the gifts won by Christ.  When it comes to confession and absolution, “we can take one another by our words, not having to probe into the vague area of  ‘sincerity,’ because we can take God, who is by nature sincere, by his Word” (a quote from a pastor I know).

For the Bible tells me so.  As such, knowledge of eternal life and peace with God are our inheritance.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/coolbite1/3596619861

God incarnate, Balaam’s ass, the book of Genesis, and faith like a child

Although the Christian rejoices to confess the Nicene Creed, for example, he rejoices to hear the Biblical narratives even more.  After all, the primary purpose of theological truth extracted from Scriptures in Creeds and Confessions is not to become the primary way of teaching the faith, but to fight error when it becomes necessary.

Hence, when Arius denies that the Son of God always was, the Church, in keeping with the Rule of Faith, goes back to the Scriptures to confirm the truth they have known, however tacitly or explicitly – that Jesus was the Son of God.  Likewise with the other Christological controversies.

For we live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  His words are Spirit and life.   We treasure every word of the Word incarnate.  We rejoice in every jot and tittle of the whole.

In regards to this, Luther said something to the effect that it would even be unacceptable to deny that Balaam’s ass spoke.

Of course, there seems to be a real difference here in denials.  If one says that Jesus was not God, this directly undermines the foundation of the Christian faith.  The person believing such a thing can have no confidence that such a Jesus is strong enough to save them.  It seems clear that denying that Balaam’s ass spoke would not necessarily undermine confidence in the same way.

And yet – it is easy to see how such a denial could have implications as well (this is not to deny that there are not “open questions”, which the LC-MS has never denied [though not all questions purported to be “open” really are….]).  When one picks at one thread through denial, it does not take long for all of it to come apart….  If a “Balaam’s ass did not speak” movement arose and gained momentum, it seems to me that such a notion might need to be addressed in the Church’s confession.

Very interesting here are the comments of Origen (c.185-254 A.D.), commentating on Genesis 1-3 (located here):

What intelligent person can imagine that there was a first “day,” then a second and a third “day”—evening and morning—without the sun, the moon, and the stars? [Sun, moon, and stars are created on the fourth "day."] And that the first “day”—if it makes sense to call it such—existed even without a sky? [The sky is created on the second "day."]

Who is foolish enough to believe that, like a human gardener, God planted a garden in Eden in the East and placed in it a tree of life, visible and physical, so that by biting into its fruit one would obtain life? And that by eating from another tree, one would come to know good and evil? And when it is said that God walked in the garden in the evening and that Adam hid himself behind a tree, I cannot imagine that anyone will doubt that these details point symbolically to spiritual meanings, by using an historical narrative which did not literally happen. (p.71)

Cited from Origen’s “De Principiis“ 4.1.6, translated by Marcus Borg, “Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously But Not Literally“ (2001).

Hmm.  What does it mean to be child-like? Childish? (literalistic?)

On this thread, which inspired this post, one woman said the following

Joanne, at comment #82:

The New Testament writers and Jesus take God’s creation account at face value. They believe it. The Hellenes found that account and pretty much all of the plan of salvation to be a scandal. The Hellenes great philosophical knowledge (we call much of it science), convinced them that the world simply does not agree with God’s account.

From day one, Christians maintained the creation account against the erudite Hellenes. As the quotes from Origen so clearly indicate, highly educated Hellenes who converted to Christianity were deeply embarrassed by its simplicity and its simple Greek. Surely, collating Christian belief with Hellenic philosophy, what we would call science today, would greatly improve Christianity in the eyes of the wise.

By which I mean to say that the unbelievers have always been modern and wise in the knowledge of this world. It was not in their nature to believe miracle stories or simplistic accounts of creation. In every age the believers are a stumbling block to the Jews and a scandal to the Hellenes.

And God’s simple message just might be, “believe my simple stories and you will live with me forever.”

On the other hand, another, Kitty at comment #84, said this:

It’s almost like we earn extra points for being crass literalists. Or was metaphor a product of our fallen nature? Or perhaps it’s the handiwork of the devil?

The whole thread is worth reading, I think.

What does it mean to be child-like? Childish?

And what do we make of the fact that Luther, for example, evidently believed animals died before the fall (see comment #2 and this for more)?

The Roman penitential system and the emergence of Reformation doctrine (part II of II)

In a penitential act, Luther climbs the "Scala Sancta", supposedly the stairs "that led up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem" (Wikipedia), and brought to Rome in the 4th c. by St. Helena (from the 2003 Luther movie)

Yesterday’s and today’s posts are a summary of some of the core elements of an introduction to a forthcoming book on confession and absolution from Lutheran Press by Pastor Holger Sonntag, where he claims “in studying his modifications of the sacrament of penance one can see how Luther’s ‘reformation breakthrough’ unfolds”, and demonstrates the same.  All quotes are from Pastor Sonntag unless otherwise noted, and all citations are taken directly from the introduction, and have not been checked by me.  I realize the connections between this and “theology like a child” may not be readily apparent to all readers.

Part II

Other important notes and factors involved here, prevalent in Luther’s day:

• “an enumeration of all known mortal sins committed since the last confession” was required  (for the 2^nd work)
• “’secret’ sinners, that is those in mortal sin whose state is known only to God and themselves, ought to refrain from taking communion lest they commit another mortal sin.” (S. Th. III, qu. 80, 6)
• “the performance of some sort of temporal punishment for the sins of the penitent which had been imposed by the priest”, depended on the gravity of the sin committed (for the 3^rd work)
• priests would be guilty of mortal sin for offering communion, for example, to persons known to have not received the sacrament of penance – including the fulfillment of the imposed works of satisfaction.
• “the ‘quest for a gracious God’ led to the inclusion of a petition for long life into the common prayer for forgiveness (publica absolutio) that was read by the priest after the sermon” (to do one’s part “to shorten the stay of one’s agony in purgatory”)
• concupiscence, or wrongful desire, was not understood as sin but only as an inclination to sin (CCC, para. 404-405, 1734-1736) – it was considered to be in the same category as things like disease, death, and weakness of character – these remaining “consequences” of original sin (“penalties” in Thomas: S. Th. III, qu. 69, 3) were all seen as helpful for training in godliness (for all 3 works: contrition, confession and satisfaction)
• while standard works of satisfaction given by priests merited in themselves remission for punishment, works done to gain an indulgence merited this remission due to the “treasure of the church” (a bank of good works) administered by popes and bishops (S. Th. Suppl. III, qu. 25, 2, see also the 1343 bull Unigenitus Filius Dei by pope Clement VI).  Indulgences made works of satisfaction “easier”
• by becoming a Lutheran one was automatically excommunicated
• the excommunicated could not be absolved by his priest, but needed to wait until the competent authorities had lifted it, at which time works of satisfaction could commence
• excommunication, unlike acts of penance, is not an expiatory punishment, but is “medicinal”, meaning that it is not meant to be, in part, a “payment of reparations to self, neighbor, and God by doing good deeds.”  It was not normally done by mere priests, and was not just a withholding of communion from the impenitent, but a severing of all communion between him and the church (to bring him to his senses)  – though starting in 1418 (Council of Constance) a person could associate with the excommunicated again

Who or what will finally save me in the last judgment?  Based on the information above, it does not seem unfair to say that for Rome, “faith in the divine mercy” means not the free forgiveness of all sins for Christ’s sake, but “God’s gracious acceptance of man’s works of virtue to blot out man’s sins” (Sonntag, summing up Chemnitz, Examen, 438).   Really, is the perfect love required in contrition and the following acts of penance possible for a person even after the word of absolution?  As Pastor Sonntag writes, “love seeking to fulfill the demands of the church, not trust in the gospel of Christ, was the common denominator of all such contributions of the sinner “ and “[the] human contribution to confession rendered its practice perpetually uncertain both as to the ultimate effectiveness of the works prescribed by the church’s human authority (“How can I be certain that these particular works will do the job, given that none of this is found in God’s Word?”) and the quality of their performance (“How can I be certain that I was in the right state of mind when doing what is required of me, have I given an accurate description of the circumstances of all my (mortal) sins, so that the priest’s evaluation would be accurate?”)”.  As Chemnitz argued following the Council of Trent (which did not condemn or even discourage the practices above, save the excesses on indulgence sales), “because the relation between faith and God’s certain word of promise was denied, faith, understood as assent to doctrines taught by the church, needed to be made valid by man’s uncertain love” (Sonntag, summing up Chemnitz, cf. Examen, 181, 190-192)

And for consciences like Luther’s – which were particularly attuned to both the teachings/requirements of God’s Law and those of the Church – this could only mean the necessary emergence of the doctrinal distinctions of the Lutheran Reformation- for the knowledge of the grace of God in Christ obliterates categories that obscure it.  As Pastor Sonntag sums things up: “one realizes that Luther became the ‘Lutheran’ and Reformer of the church he was in the context of his wrestling with the traditional sacrament of penance in light of God’s biblical Word.”

In sum:  “God… wants his free – that is, free for man, but costly for Christ – gifts to be received simply by faith in the gospel.”

(Think this was interesting?  Fair?  If so, now read this and this)

The Roman penitential system and the emergence of Reformation doctrine (part I of II)

In a penitential act, Luther views the head of John the Baptist in the 2003 Luther movie

Today’s and tomorrow’s posts are a summary of some of the core elements of an introduction to a forthcoming book on confession and absolution from Lutheran Press by Pastor Holger Sonntag, where he claims “in studying his modifications of the sacrament of penance one can see how Luther’s ‘reformation breakthrough’ unfolds”, and demonstrates the same.  All quotes are from Pastor Sonntag unless otherwise noted, and all citations are taken directly from the introduction, and have not been checked by me.  I realize the connections between this and “theology like a child” may not be readily apparent to all readers. 

Part I

Information about penance prior to the Reformation follows.

As Pastor Sonntag says, [the sacrament of penance’s] importance for the whole life of the Christian at the time of Luther can hardly be overestimated”.  Meritorious prayers, fasting, and alms drove the whole show/system, even during the mass, where the prayers could be a work of satisfaction (S. Th. III, qu. 79, 7).  Perhaps this is less so today, but I am no expert here.

In sum, Scripture + Aristotle (per Thomas) -> Roman penitential system -> necessary emergence of Reformation doctrine.  Luther’s “reformational breakthrough took place when God made him realize that this question – What do I have to do in order to get a gracious God? – was  wrong.” (italics and bold mine, G. Martens, “Agreement or Disagreement on Justification by Faith Alone,” Concordia Theological Quarterly 65 (2001): 218)

Indulgences – those Reformation-starting things – were a part of the Roman Catholic teaching and practice of the sacrament of penance, which is private confession before a priest (they were technically “extra-sacramental” but presupposed the sacrament).  Buying (yes, this language was widely used) indulgences did not obtain the forgiveness of guilt and its eternal consequences, but the forgiveness/alleviation of the temporal consequences of sin – perhaps all temporal consequences (for example, not only “works of satisfaction” given by the priest [this is what “loosing and binding” meant: works of satisfaction], but all the punishment in purgatory a person needed to complete) – assuming proper contrition and confession of course.  Those who only committed “venial sins” had only temporal consequences (including purgatory) to be concerned about.  Therefore, in the sacrament of penance, the distinction between mortal and venial sin was critical (Cf. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Summa Theologica (S. Th.), I-II, qu. 88; CCC, para. 1854-1864, 1955).

Let us look at the sacrament and virtue of penance in more detail.

When committed, mortal sins – sins vs God’s Law done with full knowledge and consent – destroyed the baptized man’s love of God (charity) – though not the spiritual orientation towards God he received in baptism (see below)  – putting him on a path to hell (love alone makes alive and ties together all the other virtues – including faith – of the Christian – see S. Th. II-II, qu. 23, 6-8; CCC, para. 1827-1828).  Enter the solution of penance, which strictly speaking, was not necessary for venial sin (though commendable).  The sacrament was effectual/valid if the hell-bound sinner was made worthy by doing three “meritorious acts”: contrition of the heart, confession of the mouth, and satisfaction or compensation by good works – and the priest absolved him (absolution would usually take place before the third act, but its validity/effectiveness was contingent on the subsequent actions of the penitent).  Note again that the forgiveness given in the sacrament takes away the guilt and eternal punishment of a particular moral sin, but not the entirety of its temporal punishment.

Actually, penance began with the desire to blot out one’s sins before God with opposed acts of virtue –  this was a “special virtue”  in that it was not just “a good habit or a perfection of the capabilities of man’s soul” that all men could share, but one that became “theological” by an infusion of divine grace, a spiritual substance given freely by God.  Here, faith, hope, and love – but especially love, or charity – began to take effect in the fallen baptized, creating the inner sorrow over sin – purely out of love for God – which leads to contrition for one’s mortal sin(s).  This was made possible in part not only because original sin had been removed at baptism, but also because baptism had created in man – though a union with the divine nature (II Peter 1:4) – the ability and disposition to act like the divine nature.   If the fallen sinner, who still had this stable orientation/habit given at baptism, also resolved to attend confession as soon as possible, this could remove the guilt and punishment (all of the eternal, some of the temporal) of mortal sins (someone who did penance only out of fear of punishment was only “attrite” – better than nothing).  Where is the meaning of Jesus Christ’s work here?  Christ’s life and death made this all possible: “divine grace was the heavenly orientation and assistance earned by Christ on the cross and infused into man by means of the sacraments”. So, “grace alone” and “Christ alone” in this sense.

The third necessary act – satisfaction by good works – was prompted by the moral virtue of justice itself (which all men shared), and this required that there be a “just exchange of things” and “compensation”.  In other words, a “balancing of the scales” with God by good works, or acts of virtue, namely prayer, fasting, or almsgiving (or “works of superogation” if another who had surplus works shared their merit with you).  God’s justice demanded that sin be atoned for by offering an equivalent compensation, and God, using both the priest and other means, imposed this punishment upon the sinner (all punishment embraced in patience could function as a work of satisfaction, to pay for one’s own sins – and beyond!).  According to the rules of commutative justice, either the sinner or someone in his place (*not Christ*) had to offer an act of virtue (see Thomas Aquinas, S. Th. I-II, qu. 87, 6. ; see also the S. Th. Suppl. III, qu. 12, and qu. 13, 1-2).  In such fashion God’s grace could be merited (by grace alone of course), and the forgiveness of the guilt and punishment or wages of their sins obtained.

To be continued tomorrow…

Nice Christmas greeting

Christmas greetings from the President of the institution where I work.  Very nice.

Knowledge first and foremost: baby King David vs. adult St. Thomas

related posts: Forgiveness free and true: the crux of the Reformation, the essence of the Christian life,  Babies in Church: the arrogance of the infant (a), and (b)

When we speak of what it means “to know”, what are the most important things that can and should be said?

I have been discussing the issue of knowledge and certainty, or “certitude”, with RC apologists.

Here is a section from the Catholic encyclopedia on certitude:

Metaphysical certitude is that with which self-evidently necessary truth is known, or necessary truth demonstrated from self-evident truth. The demonstrative sciences, such as geometry, possess metaphysical certitude. The contingent fact of one’s own existence, or of one’s present state of feeling, is known with metaphysical certitude.

For theologians such as Thomas Aquinas, this metaphysical certitude – along with the teachings of the Church – can alone be called knowledge in the strict sense – they are absolutely immune from doubt. All other things, since they are “contingent”, are “opinion” – even though this opinion may be something that, practically speaking, is either immune to doubt or should not be doubted (i.e. it is “certain” in a different sense).

First of all, this elevation of metaphysical certitude  seems wrongheaded to me.  If we can talk about “scientism” we can also talk about “metaphysicism” (also, considering the “laws of nature” to be more certain than the occurrence of well-known events in history – since “the laws of human nature” are “subject to occasional exceptions” – seems wrongheaded as well).

Second, when presenting theology for Christians especially, all philosophical discussions about certainty should take a back seat.

Why?  What we are to know and in fact already know in part should start with essential Christian doctrine.  My argument builds on truths like those exemplified in Psalm 22:

“…you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
  On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”

Note that when we are talking about the faith of the little ones (the foremost example now being the baptized) we are not really talking primarily about matters of the intellect, but rather personal trust in Another.

Note that David can assert that he trusted the Lord at His mother’s breast.  In which case, did not David know the Lord – really and truly – even then? (in a John 17:3 kind-of-way, of course: saving knowledge).  It seems clear that he did, for we can’t trust a person without knowing them to some extent.  Here then, we see that it is personal trust in God that pertains to the highest knowledge.  This seed of knowledge is then continually developed in us by wise teachers.  We come to understand how Christian doctrine, the Scriptures, and the Rule of Faith are those things that continually nurture us in the world, that make sense of our relationship with God, and keep us from going “out of bounds”.

Presumably any older, well-socialized (i.e. non-feral) child could readily determine the items of “metaphysical certitude” discussed above with little guidance.  On the other hand, it would take more guidance for even an older Christian child to understand – and then recognize as true – what is said to be essential Christian doctrine (RC apologists talk about how “the certitude of faith” is even more certain than the metaphysical items discussed above – an unquestioned adherence to Roman Catholic dogma is in view here).

Nevertheless, is not the only reason that we have any knowledge in the world at all because of the love of God – because of His design for us, as well as His continual involvement with us? And is not the faith that is passed on to cradle Christians from the beginning meant to be that which guides us as regards all other kinds of knowing?

I think so, in spite of what Thomas Aquinas might say or how he might want to frame things.

Why is this all so important?  In RC theology a person may have a “moral certainty” that they are in a state of grace – but this can only be determined by evaluating of one’s own [moral] character and conduct – not by clinging to the external Promise alone (of course after calling what God calls sin “sin”– ie. that thing and those particular things which separate us from Him).  As Cardinal Cajetan (who I believe was the foremost Thomist scholar of the day) told Luther, “one could never be certain that one’s contrition was sufficient to effect the forgiveness one hoped to receive” (Scott Hendrix, Luther and the Papacy).  Some in Rome may insist that Trent, when it dealt with this issue, did not mean what Cajetan meant, but I have yet to see convincing evidence of this (for example, in this Catholic Encyclopedia article, the moral certitude that might at first seem to be real knowledge of some kind eventually comes to be coupled with “practical certitude”, and this seems to involve things that were previously labeled “opinion” in the article…so, is this opinion something that is immune to doubt or should not be doubted or not?). Regarding Aquinas himself, he may have well thought that Christians could have real certainty (knowledge?) that they were on firm footing in their relationship with God (i.e. a “state of grace”), but he also laid the groundwork for the intricate labyrinth of the Roman penitential system that brought Luther to the brink of despair.

But what was the answer Luther finally found and clung to?  As I wrote before:

“In sum, there is nothing greater than the certainty – the knowledge of eternal life – that the received Promise creates in the individual believer.  Here of course we are not talking about mathematical certainty, or that certainty which can be derived from axioms or discerned patterns (based on repeated experiments and observations), but rather personal certainty, personal knowledge – knowing a Person.  And borrowing the language of law courts, one may believe that one’s parents truly love them ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’, but the Promise brings us into a realm beyond even that – into the realm of a loving and secure relationship that exists ‘beyond a shadow of a doubt’.“

To enter, become like a child, not a philosopher.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/55628191@N04/6511657459/

Gory, gory, gory! (Glory, glory, glory!)

In this post I said that I remembered my mom singing “God loves me dearly” to me at night.

I asked her “Is my memory right?  When we sang this in church for the first time about 1.5 years ago, memories came flooding back…”

She emailed me back:

“Yes, I did sing it to you.   Perhaps, not all the verses but the first four for sure.  Another time in your infant life.  After we finished the liturgy one morning, you praised God in a very loud, yet firm voice, saying  “gory, gory, gory!”  The faith of an infant…..love you  much.”

I was 20 months old.  Christmas 1975.  The things moms remember.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/evilpeacock/5883676870/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Sons of God by nature?

I was listening to lectures from a Roman Catholic apologist and he talked about how we can’t say that human beings are children or sons of God by nature because that is pantheism.  I think I have also heard Lutherans say that we can’t call human beings children of God, but from our tradition, it would be because this is reserved for believers, not fallen man in general.

Interestingly, the Scriptures go so far as to say we are all not just sons of God, but gods ourselves.  But it does not shy away from calling all men sons of God either, as Paul points out to the Athenians:

“…he is not far from any one of us.  ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’  As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill…”

(Acts 17:27-29)

Those Biblical writers don’t seem so concerned with the philosophical categories some of our theologians want to push on us.  Sit down Aristotle, huh?  We should be thinking a bit more like a child: the brotherhood of man indeed! (but note the freight that comes with that phrase, OK?).  We are all one blood and bought with the blood of the one Son, who though Divine (valid category!) took on created flesh (as the Eastern Orthodox say, “Salvation is created”) for our salvation.

I have heard one man say that hell will be full of forgiven sinners.  In like fashion, it will also be full of children of God.