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What is Sin?

The topic of sin is an interesting thing. On one hand I think your common person on the street would quickly answer that they know exactly what sin is. It’s something you’ve done that’s bad or maybe something that you’ve done that hurts another person. But, I think if you press most people to start defining what bad is and even when something crosses from good, to neutral, to bad; you’ll start to see how complex the topic of sin actually is.

Seeking a Charitable Orthodoxy

Knowing and owning one’s theological lens is a good thing in pastoral ministry. Theological lenses, however, become problematic in chaplaincy and other ecumenical contexts. In my time as a chaplain at a nursing home and now in a jail, I have personally struggled with how to minister to those with differing theologies from mine while maintaining and affirming my own Anglican commitments. How can I “conform to the Doctrine, Discipline and Worship of Christ as this Church has received them” as the ordinal directs while also ministering within a non-Anglican context?¹ How can I maintain the received theologies of the Catholic faith on ecclesiology, sacraments, and ordained ministry — which I wholeheartedly believe to be true and right — while also affirming the work of the Holy Spirit all around me?

Practical Guidance for Anglicans in Ecumenical Eucharistic Worship

This is part four of a four part project. The final project is here.

The genesis of this project starts with my confusion and unease communing at a Disciples of Christ led ecumenical Eucharist service inside a jail each week. Starting with the Chicago statement of Protestant Episcopal Church in 1886 and culminating with the great ecumenical work Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry coming out of Lima in 1984, much academic and theological work has been done within and outside the Anglican Christianity on the path towards visible unity in the Church. Unfortunately, outside of the guidance provided on intercommunion at Lambeth 1930 and the Intercommunion To-day coming out of the Archbishops’ Commission on Intercommunion of the Church of England very little clear, pragmatic direction has been given to laity and clergy.

Plene Esse, the Holy Spirit, & Intercommunion

This is part three of a four part project. The final project is here.

“For a long time the Conference on Faith and Order shied away from and avoided directly addressing this problem [ecumenical Eucharist]. It was the type of issue so loaded with emotional dynamite, that we feared it might with the first little thrust set off a spark that would explode our entire movement into pieces.” Dr. Leonard Hodgson.¹

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Posted: Wed, Oct 10, 2018, Words: ~2800, Reading Time: 14 min

Tags: #church #Anglican #validity #communion #bishops #succession

Charitable Apostolicity

This is part two of a four part project. The final project is here.

As a chaplain, I find myself worshiping and serving during the week more often in contexts outside of my own tradition than I do within. Weekly I face the question of whether a non-catholic¹ minister’s orders and, thus, the sacraments she or he presides over are valid — partially or otherwise. At the onset of this project, I described my main concern as finding a path towards a generous orthodoxy. A generous orthodoxy is a path that allows me to maintain my Anglican ecclesiology and theology in the context of the non-Anglican ministries I find myself a part of. Specifically, I sought to find a way of resolving my personal theological conflict with the sacramental validity of the ministers and chaplains I work alongside.

Seeking a Charitable Orthodoxy (Definition)

This is part one of a four part project. The final project is here.

My journey through Vanderbilt Divinity School (VDS) has been a difficult one. Deep within the inner workings of progressive Christian theology and politics, I quickly learned that traditional liberal values of tolerance, free speech, free thought, and civil debate were more easily affirmed — if even affirmed — than lived. In the words and deeds of many of those around me, it was made clear that there was little space for certain theological questions or viewpoints. In the early semesters of VDS there were many times I almost left. My sense of call and deep financial investment, however, kept me pressing forward.

Why Worship with a Book of Common Prayer?

The English Church, her descendants, and her colonial heirs worship with a common book of prayer for a few historical and theological reasons. It might come as a surprise to many North American Christians, but liturgical worship is by far the norm in contemporary Christianity and, prior to the Reformation, was the universal form of worship in the Church. Before the upheaval of the Reformation, East, West, Ethiopian, Syriac, and more all worshiped God using liturgies attributed to the saints and apostles.

Holy Money contra Empire

St. Timothy teaches in 1 Tim 6:10 that “the love of money is the root of all evils.” In an economy as complex as ours with as many variables and systems at play, can money be the root of the evils of oppressive empire and economics? By exploring the origins and history of money and banking, money’s fall from grace at the hands of empire is vividly apparent. By understanding where we are and how we got there, it is possible to take money ad fontes to God’s original gifting intent of creation. In the light of God’s sovereignty and eternal gifting, humanity can see empire, banking, and money in their full as they indeed are — false idols. The economic powers of empire seek to enslave and impoverish humanity for a brief taste of an imagined creative act. Taking root out of God’s creative sovereignty, the value of all humanity and the need for the Body to live as one, establishing sound money and banking will set the foundation for just and thriving economies for all of God’s children.

Las Casas: Hope in Sin's Darkness

For the modern theologian, Bartolomé de las Casas presents quite a number of difficulties. Las Casas’ turn from a participant and supporter of the Spanish encomienda system of Indian enslaved labor to an ardent opponent and the theology behind it is to be greatly admired. Las Casas’ theological anthropology provides a foundation for a theology whose trajectory points to the imago Dei within each human being and the equality of value of all within the Kingdom of God and all who the Kingdom looks upon. However, in the same era of his life that las Casas was fighting in word and action for the liberation of the Indians and their recognition ontologically and theologically as human beings of equal worth to Spaniards, las Casas continued to support the enslavement of Africans and others. The struggle for those engaging with las Casas is how to recognize the light and surplus of his theology without “tainting” the engagement with the deathly theologies and worldviews that support enslavement. Las Casas’ turn of heart towards African slavery later in his life presents a platform to reevaluate his theological anthropologies directed towards Indians. Starting at a point of grace, las Casas’ change of opinion towards African slavery presents a path towards talking about race in theology and to a hope of reconciliation between theological opponents.

Martin Luther: Christological Implications to Eucharist

Martin Luther’s Small Catechism – though short and concise – presents a clear window into Luther’s understanding of Christ’s nature and how that nature works itself out in the ordo salutis. Historically, Luther’s writings on the Sacrament of the Bread and Wine followed the path of the Reformation debates on the Mass as a sacrifice and how – or even if – Jesus was present in the Eucharistic elements. Theologically, however, Luther’s views on Sacraments, specifically the Eucharist, can best be understood through his Christology. Martin Luther rejected the Mass as a sacrifice and strongly affirmed the corporeal presence of Christ in the bread and wine of Eucharist. Luther rejected both Catholic and Reformed Eucharistic theologies because of his deeply incarnational Christology. For Luther, because Jesus was fully divine and fully human and because he suffered and died on the cross for humanity’s salvation, the Mass simply could not be a salvific sacrifice and the Eternal Word could not be separated from his final testament of bread and wine.

Parables, Desire, and Salvation: A Counter-Reformation Reading of Mark 4:10-12

In the Synoptic Gospels, each Evangelist narrates an event where Jesus explains to the Disciples and the other people standing around him the reason for his use of parables (Matt 13:10-17, Mark 4:10-12, and Luke 8:9-10). Jesus says that he teaches those who follow him the μυστήριον τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ θεοῦ¹ — the “mystery of the kingdom of God” (Mark 4:11). To those outside of his circle, however, he does not reveal God’s mystery. To outsiders, Jesus instead teaches in παραβολαῖς — parables — “μήποτε ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἀφεθῇ αὐτοῖς τὰ ἁμαρτήματα” — “lest at any time they should turn, and their sins should be forgiven them” (Mark 4:12 GEN). For John Calvin, this pericope teaches sovereign predestination and places Jesus as the “executor of reprobation” to the un-elect². Calvin’s reading of this pericope, especially Mark’s rendering with μήποτε in 4:10-12, renders Jesus using parables expressly to prevent — through obscuration — some people from receiving the mysterium that leads to forgiveness of sins.

Baptism: Sacramental Ark of Holiness and Salvation

The Articles of Religion of the Church of England state in article XXV that sacraments are “not only badges or tokens of Christian men’s profession” but that they are “sure witnesses,” “effectual signs of grace, and God’s good will towards us.” Further, sacraments work “invisibly” in humanity and “not only quicken but also strengthen and confirm” humanity’s faith in Jesus. It is within these bounds that Lancelot Andrewes preaches his sermon on the Holy Spirit on Pentecost — Whit-Sunday — in 1625. In a sermon ostensibly about the Holy Spirit, Andrewes presents a strong scriptural and theological case for baptismal regeneration — baptism with actual effects — and salvation through adoption. Andrewes accomplishes this while maintaining space for faith — the Reformation’s sola fide —, ensuring God’s initiative, and resisting ex opere operato understandings of sacraments. In his sermon, Andrewes presents baptism as an act whereby God creates the ark that makes his adopted children holy and leads them to salvation in Jesus Christ.

Anglican Baptism: Regenerative and Salvific Through Sacrament and Faith

Anglicanism is a diverse and varied tradition. Before the Reformation, Anglicanism refers to whatever Christians were doing¹ in the British Isles. Post-reformation, Anglicanism applies to the ecclesial bodies identifying with the pre-denominational Christianity of Britain and continuing to live in that communion.² Anglicanism, on the one hand, identifies as an ancient expression of the Christian faith existing before the Great Schism. Thus, Anglicanism is — with the Roman and Eastern churches — a Catholic and apostolic body. Further, however, the Anglican Communion did not resist the Reformation. It accepted and adopted many reformational tenants; Anglicans identify — to varying degrees — as at least Reformed, but also Protestant. Reformed and yet Catholic is the lived middle way — via media — of Anglicanism.

Adopted into a Holy Family of Love

Humanity’s adoption by God as his children is a theme throughout Hebrew and Christian scripture. By his own free will God has chosen Israel and the Church established on her foundation to be his children. God’s adoption of humankind gives theological richness to what it means for people to be in relationship to God, to live a life of holiness, and to be free.

Relationship

Throughout Scripture, God is time and time again referenced as Israel and Christians’ father and parent. In Isaiah the prophet praises God on behalf of the remnant of Israel declaring “thou, O LORD, art our Father” (Isa 63:16, ʀꜱᴠ). In Jeremiah 31:9 God says that he is “a father to Israel” (ʀꜱᴠ). In Galatians 4:6 Paul teaches that believers are God’s children — sons — and that we should call God “father.” Jesus, too, teaches this when he demonstrates to his followers how to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven, ” “Father, hallowed be thy name” (Matt 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4).

Humanity & the Church

Introduction

Humanity and the Church or, to cast them in more theological terms, theological anthropology and ecclesiology, are highly related doctrines that often get overlooked in the Christian theological community. First providing a brief history to setup a framework for theological discourse, I seek to better understand what humanity is in the eyes of and relationship to God and to define what the Church is and is called to be in the world. With a clear framework in place and the doctrines sufficiently defined, I will place Christian anthropology into conversation with ecclesiology and tease out the common theological thread in both sources that lead to a theology of Divine relationship as the true telos of the human creature and the Church.