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Augustine on the Presence of Christ
When people try to claim that Augustine held to the modern Roman view of transubstantiation, one particular problem for them may be in dealing with Augustine’s comments regarding the presence of Christ. The following are comments from Augustine that demonstrate that he did not hold to the idea of a bodily, carnal, fleshly, physical presence,…
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Augustine – Christ's Words in John 6 are Figurative
The following are some quotations from Augustine on the question of whether Christ’s words in John 6 are figurative. I’ve numbered the quotations for ease of reference, if anyone wishes to remark on them in the comment box. Augustine’s writings are quite extensive, so I don’t promise that this is a complete list of all…
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Augustine – Christ’s Words in John 6 are Figurative
The following are some quotations from Augustine on the question of whether Christ’s words in John 6 are figurative. I’ve numbered the quotations for ease of reference, if anyone wishes to remark on them in the comment box. Augustine’s writings are quite extensive, so I don’t promise that this is a complete list of all…
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Varieties of "Two Kingdoms" Positions
The idea that there are two kingdoms (the civil magistrate and the church) is a distinction that goes back, in terms of historical theology, at least to Augustine (leaving aside the Biblical question, which is an important one). There are, however, a variety of positions with respect to the two kingdoms. 1. Ultramontanism The ultramontanist…
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The "Little Extra" of Believing the Word of God
Over at the interesting, and often thought-provoking, non-Calvinist blog “Diglot” (anonmyously authored), I found the following statement: I think that today’s Christianity in large part has fused the basics of the Christian gospel message together with many peripheral beliefs. When you become a Christian in today’s Western culture, you are not merely “accepting Christ” but…
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The "Little Extra" of Believing the Word of God
Over at the interesting, and often thought-provoking, non-Calvinist blog “Diglot” (anonmyously authored), I found the following statement: I think that today’s Christianity in large part has fused the basics of the Christian gospel message together with many peripheral beliefs. When you become a Christian in today’s Western culture, you are not merely “accepting Christ” but…
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Addressing Two Responses to the Cosmological Argument
The cosmological argument argues for the existence of an uncaused cause that is eternal and unchangeable. There are two main responses to this argument. 1) That doesn’t mean that the uncaused cause is Jesus. There’s no particular reason to argue with this response. We know about Jesus from the Bible, not from the cosmological argument.…
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Built on the Wrong Foundation
Francis Beckwith explains (in a blog entry / column titled: “Transubstantiation: From Stumbling Block to Cornerstone“): The Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist is a real stumbling block to some Protestants who are seriously considering Catholicism. It was for me too, until I explored the subject, historically and scripturally. Transubstantiation is one of those Roman dogmas…
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Sola Scriptura in Cyril of Alexandria's "Against Those Who are Unwilling to Confess that the Holy Virgin is Theotokos"
The Orthodox Research Institute has published an English translation of Cyril of Alexandria’s work, “Against Those Who are Unwilling to Confess that the Holy Virgin is Theotokos.” It’s not a huge tome, weighing in at about 50 pages of English text. Nevertheless, I think it serves to illustrate the Sola Scriptura approach of Cyril. Most…
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Sola Scriptura in Cyril of Alexandria’s "Against Those Who are Unwilling to Confess that the Holy Virgin is Theotokos"
The Orthodox Research Institute has published an English translation of Cyril of Alexandria’s work, “Against Those Who are Unwilling to Confess that the Holy Virgin is Theotokos.” It’s not a huge tome, weighing in at about 50 pages of English text. Nevertheless, I think it serves to illustrate the Sola Scriptura approach of Cyril. Most…