the space in between

N.T. Wright's insight on Hell

Following up on J.I. Packer's take on hell I found this good insight from leading New Testament scholar N.T. Wright

I first encountered J.I. Packer when my Sunday School teacher gave his book Knowing God as a prize for getting the highest score in our exams.

James Innell Packer is a British-born Canadian Christian theologian in the low church Anglican tradition. He currently serves as the Board of Governors' Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is considered one of the most influential evangelicals in North America.

Who would have known that a German prisoner of war in a British camp during World War II, would eventually re-orient contemporary understanding of hope and eschatology into something that focuses on the hope that the resurrection brings.

This was the highlight of the theology of Jurgen Moltmann whose theology was formed out of his experience as a prisoner of war. It was also in the camps that Moltmann met Christian chaplains, was given the New Testament and Psalms to read, and had his first introduction to Christian theology. He gradually felt more and more identification with and reliance on the Christian faith. Moltmann later claimed, "I didn't find Christ, he found me."

The word Eschatology often invokes fear as it is often associated with the mystic symbolism of John’s apocalyptic visions of the end of the world in the Book of Revelations.

However I would like to suggest a more, well thought-of insight on eschatology that is – not merely looking at it as the doctrine of last things, or the end times, but also as the rebirth of creation as instituted by Jesus and continued by his disciples, a historical phenomenon, based on N.S. Fujita’s observation on the Gospel of John’s distinctive:

Kuya Danny

Last Sunday I attended the morning service and learned that Kuya Danny Asi just passed away...

It only took me now to process the thought of his passing.

Not many in Grace Bible Church remembers him now.

But I do.

Bruno Forte was seen as the possible successor to become Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, after Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was elected to become Pope Benedict XVI.

Here is his brilliant definition of the Church as a communion in the Spirit of Christ:

PTL!

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. " - Psalm 100:1

Three of the blogs that I write in are among of the finalists for the Philippine Blog Awards =)

Soli deo gloria!

Benedict J. Groeschel on justification

The Franciscan friar Benedict J. Groeschel whom I’ve first encountered thru channel surfing on cable TV via his program on EWTN, is one of the many reasons why I believe (contrary to what most Evangelical Protestants) that Catholicism is a legitimate expression of the Church that Christ established in the New Testament.

I’ve found his writings insightful and have found comfort in his books especially during the first time that I really felt discouraged at my local church where I accidentally read a portion of his book Arise From Darkness that deals with instances that the church lets us down.

Those who studied in Roman Catholic schools are quite familiar with the term ‘salvation history’ as it is one of the emphasis in their required theology classes, which most of the time students don’t really try to understand or at the (very least) care to give a hard look at the subject since in the first place it does not make sense to them, and whether they or the teacher is to blame for that lack on interest in the subject one thing is certain – it is in the Bible.

This I think is one of the mistakes that people make into articulating theology and its terms, they make it seem that they stand alone, and are only articulated in the latter works of more popular theologians rather than as spiritual truths that are already revealed in sacred Scriptures that speaks of God’s self-revelation in the history of Israel and in that of Christ’s time and in the Apostolic Church.

Heaven knows how many times a preacher have scared the living daylights out of me whenever the topic of Lordship has been preached in the church’s pulpit. I can’t even count how many times I’ve raised my hand or almost came and marched in front of the sanctuary to acknowledge Christ’s Lordship whenever a preacher would utter the cliché’ ‘if Jesus is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all’.