18 Sep 2017
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
"Theosis" and "deification" are culpably ambiguous terms. On the other hand, using one of them in the title did get you to click on the link, did it not? There are unobjectionable (as well as objectionable) ways of construing the concept behind the term, and there were senses in which the Reformers...
Read more → 13 Sep 2017
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
Before Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in April 1521, Martin Luther famously said, "Here I stand." Or maybe he didn't. We do know, however, that he said the following: Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason--I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted...
Read more → 24 Jul 2017
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
Will we need a Mediator even after the perfection brought about to God's people after the Resurrection and the Last Judgment? In an interpretation of 1 Cor. 15.24 ("Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority...
Read more → 05 Apr 2017
Posted by Steven Wedgeworth 
From time to time, the Protestant Reformers, especially the Calvinists, found it necessary to clearly distinguish the ways in which the two natures of Christ operate in His work of redemption, even explaining which aspects of the work were properly carried out by Christ's divine nature, which were carried...
Read more → 30 Jan 2017
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson
Augustine was not a legal positivist, which is to say, he knew that human laws and customs could not be ultimate. If they are out of accord with a higher law (viz. natural law or divine law), they are not truly binding because not truly just. The opposite of this position, of course, is the position...
Read more → 29 Dec 2016
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
On to the next verse of the Advent/Christmas hymn Intende, qui regis Israel. Text and Translation Veni, redemptor gentium, ostende partum virginis, miretur omne saeculum, talis decet partus Deo. Come, redeemer of the nations, show forth the virgin's parturition; let all the world stand in awe: such...
Read more → 15 Dec 2016
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
Two days ago, I made some introductory remarks about the famous hymn of Ambrose known to many speakers of English as "Savior of the Nations, Come," and focused specifically on its authenticity and ancient witness. Today we will look at the first stanza of the hymn, which is omitted from our modern version. This,...
Read more → 13 Dec 2016
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson
Over the past few years I've posted Latin Advent and Christmas hymns with English translation and some comments. This year we're going to look at Ambrose's hymn Intende, qui regis Israel. Parts of this hymn are familiar in English as "Savior of the Nations, Come," which my family has recently been...
Read more → 13 Oct 2016
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
A couple of months ago there was a lot of discussion as to whether the Son, or Word, as such stands in a relation of obedience to the Father. The suggestion was also floated a couple of times that there was a wealth of patristic support for such an idea. The following passage from Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration...
Read more → 11 Oct 2016
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
I've noted before that the so called extra calvinisticum is really the extra patristicum, that is, that it's an idea found already in the Christology of the Fathers. One place we see this is in Athanasius, On the Incarnation 17: For [the Word] was not, as might be imagined, circumscribed in the body,...
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