"We can’t build a tower to heaven, but God did build a bridge to earth." Oh, you're bringing the teachings of St. Catherine of Siena into the discussion--I love it! Her writings on Christ as the Bridge are wonderful.
St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas (and I'm sure other great Catholic thinkers) stated the same truth as you brought to light in this great article: "Why, then, would anyone choose hell? Maybe for the same reason that some people choose to go to prison. You could object that no one ever sets a life goal of spending decades in the clinker. And you’d be right. Instead, someone chooses something else that they think is good, but which is not."
Evil perpetrated in this world is a twisting of what a person perceives as a "good." However, "he is mistaken, and life in prison is the consequence. He chose prison, but he might not see it that way."
There's much more I could say about this article, but I'll limit myself and merely state -- excellent!
I think week doctrines of sin has been one of the worst things to happen to the church. Most people don't know what the word 'pelagian' means, but it seems to be rampant in modern Christianity and even secular society. The idea of human sufficiency is only going to harm us long term. Teaching strong doctrines of sin like original sin and total depravity needs to come back to church life.
I mostly agree, though as I understand it, total depravity is a Calvinist doctrine that the Council of Trent criticized for conflicting with free will.
I'm Arminian, so I agree that human free will exist because that would implicate God in the fall of Adam and therefore all mankind. I just have also seen very relaxed view on sin even in the reformed tradition so that's why I also said total depravity.
Thank you Mr. Dubay. Your article was well worth the read. I had never thought through the fundamentalism versus relativism differences/similiarities in that way. May Grace be with you.
"We can’t build a tower to heaven, but God did build a bridge to earth." Oh, you're bringing the teachings of St. Catherine of Siena into the discussion--I love it! Her writings on Christ as the Bridge are wonderful.
St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas (and I'm sure other great Catholic thinkers) stated the same truth as you brought to light in this great article: "Why, then, would anyone choose hell? Maybe for the same reason that some people choose to go to prison. You could object that no one ever sets a life goal of spending decades in the clinker. And you’d be right. Instead, someone chooses something else that they think is good, but which is not."
Evil perpetrated in this world is a twisting of what a person perceives as a "good." However, "he is mistaken, and life in prison is the consequence. He chose prison, but he might not see it that way."
There's much more I could say about this article, but I'll limit myself and merely state -- excellent!
Thanks. I need to read more St Catherine, after I get to the rest of my reading list.
You can read my novel when it's published in a few months. :)
Absolutely!
I think week doctrines of sin has been one of the worst things to happen to the church. Most people don't know what the word 'pelagian' means, but it seems to be rampant in modern Christianity and even secular society. The idea of human sufficiency is only going to harm us long term. Teaching strong doctrines of sin like original sin and total depravity needs to come back to church life.
I mostly agree, though as I understand it, total depravity is a Calvinist doctrine that the Council of Trent criticized for conflicting with free will.
I'm Arminian, so I agree that human free will exist because that would implicate God in the fall of Adam and therefore all mankind. I just have also seen very relaxed view on sin even in the reformed tradition so that's why I also said total depravity.
Thank you Mr. Dubay. Your article was well worth the read. I had never thought through the fundamentalism versus relativism differences/similiarities in that way. May Grace be with you.
Well said!