Posted in Aquinas, Bible, Mind/Body, Sacramentology, philosophy, tagged Wright, baptism, metaphysics, forms, leithart, 1 Corinthians on July 11, 2008 | No Comments »
Peter Leithart and others have noted the post-modern phenomenon of what I shall call the impenetrable ego. In his book on baptism Leithart notes that the idea that the ritual actually affects the person (socially, psychologically, ontologically) seems eerie because we have this idea that “who I am is deep down inside and cannot be touched by [...]
Read Full Post »
[In baptism] the infant, a silent preacher of the doctrine of St. Paul, cannot even appear to be performing a work of righteousness, it only “suffers the divine love.” The child of nature’s womb has first of all to be re-formed in the Church’s womb, elevated to the point of being able to have a [...]
Read Full Post »
I recently presented (in class) a study concerning the placement of Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin within Henri de Lubac’s historical scheme (in his Corpus Mysticum). I concluded that they were men of there times but that they both retained a strong ecclesiology. I also concluded the following: Neither Thomas nor Calvin believed Christ’s presence [...]
Read Full Post »
Commenting on Ephesians 5:26 Calvin declares:
When Paul says that we are washed by baptism, his meaning is, that God employs it for declaring to us that we are washed, and at the same time performs what it represents [...] Others again suppose that too much importance is given to the sign, by saying that baptism [...]
Read Full Post »
In the great American debate between John Williamson Nevin and Charles Hodge, the problem [of predestination and the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist] resurfaced as an inner-Reformed controversy. Hodge was a predestinarian Calvinist, Nevin a sacramental Calvinist, and their debate may make one wonder if it is possible to be both at once. [...]
Read Full Post »
In explaining the relationship between the sign and the seal in the sacraments Calvin shows the similarity between the sacramental offer to unbelievers and the free offer of the gospel to unbelievers:
They are not reasoning closely enough when they argue that the sacraments are not testimonies of God’s grace because they are also offered to [...]
Read Full Post »
Being in communion with someone means to receive the body of the Lord with them. Being united with the saints in the Church and participating in the Eucharist, being part of the common Kindgdom, and sharing in the holy mysteries go together in tandem and it can be said that they are one and the [...]
Read Full Post »
Catherine Pickstock has demonstrated that the aporia of learning, the proverbial gap between neumena and phenomena, is solved by Aquinas in the personal desire created by the tension between presence and absence of Christ in the Eucharist. If there is no anticipation of presence then desire would be turned to apathy. If there is no [...]
Read Full Post »
I’m presently combing modern Thomist interpretations of the Eucharist in an effort to find similarities between St. Thomas and St. Calvin (as one professor here calls him). I’ve realized that Thomas’ commentary on the Gospel of John is a good place to start. See this quote, for instance:
What our Lord said about eating his flesh [...]
Read Full Post »
Q: Does faith unite one to Christ?
A: Yes
Q: Is Christ God?
A: Yes
Well, there you have it. Now one must go on to question what sort of union believers have in Christ. I haven’t quoted Nevin in a while, and I’ve recently been looking back through his The Mystical Presence. What an excellent book. This paragraph [...]
Read Full Post »
