tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7617525341761466610.post1824435363877495409..comments2023-07-16T05:05:29.285-04:00Comments on Paredwka: Catching the Ball: Wrath and JustificationUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7617525341761466610.post-37549023516421181972010-09-04T12:57:47.032-04:002010-09-04T12:57:47.032-04:00Mr. Gormley,
Thank you for sharing with us the Ro...Mr. Gormley,<br /><br />Thank you for sharing with us the Roman explanation of salvation in Jesus Christ. I'd like to make a couple points about your posts.<br /><br />Merit<br /><br />NewAdvent.org defines <i>merit</i>: "By merit (meritum) in general is understood that property of a good work which entitles the doer to receive a reward from him in whose service the work is done."<br /><br />So, while you assert that good works done in faith do not earn eternal life but rather merit such, it follows that Roman Catholic language lays a claim of <b>entitlement</b> to eternal life based on one's faithfulness (i.e. faith working through the commandments). <br /><br />In Orthodoxy, our good works never entitle us to anything. Christ explicitly states in St. Luke 17:10, "<i>So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.</i>'" God promises to reward those who serve Him, but God's promise to give is not the same as an entitlement to take. God's promise to give is mercy, because no matter how much good is done, we are still sinners being healed by God's mercy and unworthy participants in His Grace. There is no room for entitlement.<br /><br />However, when you speak about being in a special relationship with God, this would be closer to an Orthodox understanding of the term "merits." If a person were to have any special "merit" with God, this would not be a quantity to be calculated, but the quality of a relationship of faith and love in the sanctification that comes from union with God. Thus, in this sense, the Blessed Virgin Mary could be said to have her own unique merit with God, meaning she has a special relationship of faith and love in holiness that surpasses that of all other people. But in Orthodoxy this never means she is entitled to anything, nor has she earned more than she needs. This is not Orthodox language. This is not the Scriptures.Benjamin Harjuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05488550358197684209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7617525341761466610.post-82892405512453136812010-09-04T06:50:39.594-04:002010-09-04T06:50:39.594-04:00When did Jesus drink the last cup?
Jesus drank fr...<b>When did Jesus drink the last cup?</b><br /><br />Jesus drank from 3 cups during the Last Supper, but the last - the fourth - he did not drink from then. <br /><br />Matthew 27:48, Mark 15:36, Luke 23:36, and John 19:30 show Jesus drinking vinegar or sour wine on the cross, from a sponge placed on a hyssop branch. <br /><br />The hyssop branch was symbolic of the sprinkling of the Passover lamb's blood using a hyssop branch - see Exodus 12:22. <br /><br />So Jesus was truly the Passover Lamb; then he said, <b>"It is finished." </b><br /><br /><a href="http://webpages.marshall.edu/~trimbol3/4thcup4.htm" rel="nofollow">THE 4TH CUP</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07940745178193985942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7617525341761466610.post-33123497642952058962010-07-20T00:07:58.333-04:002010-07-20T00:07:58.333-04:00Oruaseht,
I'm going to have to move my explan...Oruaseht,<br /><br />I'm going to have to move my explanation into yet another post, because it's too long to fit here.Benjamin Harjuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05488550358197684209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7617525341761466610.post-47543338495410353182010-07-19T18:39:23.399-04:002010-07-19T18:39:23.399-04:00I am still wrestling with the Orthodox concept of ...I am still wrestling with the Orthodox concept of wrath and trying to put something together. Your post is helpful. I detect though a "differing spirit" between Fr. Stephen's blog posts on the Wrath of God, Kalomiros' article on the River of Fire and Fr. Hopko's podcast on the Wrath of God.<br /><br />Fr. Stephen & Kalomiros almost go so far as to deny the wrath of God or that God has any kind of wrath in Him and that people who bring it up are not worthy of the faith: "Those who insist on exalting His wrath as a threat, inevitably misportray God and use anthropormorphism as a substitute for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Intricate theories of the atonement which involve the assuaging of the wrath of God are not worthy of the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ." (http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/gods-wrath/)<br /><br />Hopko though says: "And God is well pleased in His Son, Jesus, because the Son takes upon Himself the sin of the world, and assuages divine wrath and redeems humanity and saves creation..." (http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/hopko/the_wrath_of_god_-_part_2)<br /><br />So it is difficult for me to grasp where Orthodoxy actually stands on God's wrath. I get the non-penal, non-propitiation emphasis. But the Father's I quoted above are contradicting each other.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7617525341761466610.post-74390919457642580672010-07-15T23:24:50.069-04:002010-07-15T23:24:50.069-04:00Thus, for God to impute Abraham (or anyone) with r...Thus, for God to impute Abraham (or anyone) with righteousness is to consider him to be a participant in God's own life and manner of existence. And if God imputes sin it is for God to consider us to be non-participants in His life and manner of existence.<br /><br />Listen to a good explanation at Ancient Faith Radio: Matthew Gallatin's <i><a href="http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/pilgrims/imputed_righteousness_2" rel="nofollow">Imputed Righteousness - Part 2</a></i> (of 12).Benjamin Harjuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05488550358197684209noreply@blogger.com