The Calvinist International
In his stimulating The Pretenses of Loyalty, John Perry conveys a seminal moment in John Rawls’ life from autobiographical comments: To the extent that Christianity is taken seriously, I came to think it could have deleterious effects on one’s character. Christianity is a solitary religion: each is saved or damned individually, and we naturally focus […]
Because, you know, it’s that time of year. But, of course, the topic is never out of season. There was a dilemma involved in the restoration of man from sin. Only man was obligated to pay what was owed to God, but man was unable to do it. The Son of God was willing to […]
The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism famously asks what man’s chief end is: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Anselm of Canterbury makes a similar point at the beginning of Book 2 of Cur Deus Homo, and connects man’s rationality and original justice to this chief end, […]
A few days ago, I noted the connection Anselm of Canterbury makes between election and the transformation of the world–that is, the world will not be transformed and perfected (his word) until the number of the elect is complete. Later in the same chapter of Cur Deus Homo (1.18) he makes a similar connection between election […]
Anselm, on the connection between the transformation of the physical world and the completion of the full number of those whom God foreordained to election: We believe that the physical mass of the world is to be transformed for the better and that this will not occur until the number of elect men is filled […]
Discussions of human nature in its original state and the donum superadditum today seem arcane and a minor point at best. This was not the case, however, just one hundred years ago. When one reviews the great American systematic theologies from the Reformed tradition, he will find thorough discussions of anthropology, even (or perhaps especially) the […]