Almost done with Wright’s book. Just one more installment after this. One of Wright’s arguments is that righteousness is not imputed to us because righteousness “is not that kind of thing.” But this is just modernist reductionism. And because Wright is an orthodox Christian, he refuses to give way to that kind of reductionism elsewhere. …
True Moral Choice
Book 2/Chapter 2 More on free will (section 26) 1. Choice belongs to what sphere in our makeup? 2. What is necessary before we can say that a true moral choice has been made? The need for the Holy Spirit (section 27) 1. Does Calvin believe that the description in Romans 7 is of a …
Hans Brinker and the Text
I am listening through a series of lectures by N.T. Wright on Jesus, and am enjoying them very much. I am working through this book of his on justification, and am frequently bewildered at how someone as astute as Wright could be missing the kinds of things he is missing. I have said something like …
Calvin and Natural Law
Book 2/Chapter 2 What natural law is for (section 22) 1. Does Calvin take the Gentiles in Romans 2:14-15 to be Christians or not? 2. Does Calvin believe in natural law? 3. How does he define it? 4. What is natural law for? General and particular (section 23) 1. Can unregenerate men affirm the right …
Darkness After Lightning
Book 2/Chapter 2 A summary (section 17) 1. What is proper to our nature? 2. What must we avoid claiming as our own? Limits of understanding (section 18) 1. What are the 3 characteristics of spiritual insight? 2. What illustration does Calvin use to describe non-believers when they have a true insight concerning God? Spiritual …
All Truth is the Lord”s
Book 2/Chapter 2 Two kinds of understanding (section 13) 1. What are the two kinds of understanding according to Calvin? 2. What is included in the former? 3. The latter? Understanding arts and science (section 14) 1. What does virtually every human being possess? 2. What do we learn from imbeciles? 3. What is a …
Three Fold Humility
Book 2/Chapter 2 Refusing to rob God (section 10) 1. When a man is utterly cast down in himself, what has he gained? 2. What is the problem with a man retaining to himself some of the honor found in “free will”? 3. Who may receive God’s blessings? True humility (section 11) 1. What did …
Paul Right Off the Grill and Still Hot
In the next section (pp. 185-190), I continue to be edified by what Wright affirms, and mystified by what he denies. This is the section where he discusses the surrounding context of Romans 3:28, which says, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” Describing the run-up …
The Phrase “Free Will” As Stumbling Block
Cooperation with grace (section 6) 1. What is necessary before men can do good works truly? 2. What ambiguity does Calvin object to in the teaching of Lombard? Absence of compulsion (section 7) 1. What does Calvin think about “contentions about words”? 2. So why then does he reject the words free will so strongly? …
A Little Theological Stir Fry
I got some questions on this N.T. Wright business last night that made me think of a couple things, things that should be tossed into the theological hopper. So here goes. The first is that the theological criticisms I have made of the “union with Christ” model as a stand-alone model for imputation are criticisms …