“To think that having ‘all grace’ except for persevering grace is somehow reassuring is to have a wildly skewed sense of priorities. ‘Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?’ How is God’s withholding of perseverance not a refusal of grace? If we say that the grace was forfeited by those who subjectively resisted …
Whose Interpretation Is Being Gored
“A hermeneutical rule of thumb (and quite a good one, I might add) is that unclear verses should be interpreted in the light of the clear ones. But however wise this is — and it is wise — we also have to distinguish between verses which are unclear, and verses that are excruciatingly clear but …
Echoing Scripture
“Not only do we speak biblically when we call the baptismal font the laver of regeneration (which it certainly is), we also speak biblically when we say of multitudes who have been presented at that very same font, that they are vipers, sons of the devil, unwashed pigs, whitewashed tombs, blind guides, tares planted by …
And the Organ Music . . .
“We might be accused of leaving the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, and if we are accused of this, we might reply that the marble floors, the guttering candles, and all the dead bodies had started to creep us out” (Against the Church, p. 180).
Just a Good Idea
“This is life in the visible church, and I really think our discussions of clerical garb should always start with the muck boots” (Against the Church, p. 178).
The Spirit Blows Where He Wills
“There are plenty of born again people who wouldn’t call it that, and there are plenty of evangelicals who need to get saved. Life is messy” (Against the Church, p. 175).
55 If You Are Lucky
“The long and winding road between now and the Last Day is thousands of miles long, but it is a road down which no living man will be able to kick any cans farther than fifty yards” (Against the Church, p. 164).
Converging on the Intersection
“Suppose the Great Eschaton is ten thousand years off. It remains a stubborn but persistent fact that my launch into that Eschaton is no more than fifty years off . . . The eschatological scythe harvests every individual long before it harvests the world” (Against the Church, p. 163).
Taking All the Texts Together
“Covenant faithlessness in no way removes or erases covenant obligations or connections. There are multiple texts that show that the baptized faithless are connected to Christ in an important and very real sense. This is why it can truly be said that I believe in the objectivity of the covenant. But there is another sense …
Not Whether Efficacious, But What Kind of Efficacy
“Baptism is never empty; baptism is never a meaningless act. I deny that baptism operates ex opere operato for blessing, but I do affirm that it operates ex opere operato in formally ratifying the baptizand’s relationship to the covenant” (Against the Church, p. 161).