The Value And Limitations Of Dogmatic Propositions

Last updated on: October 25, 2024 at 4:58 pm By Henry Karlson

Discussing and explaining the Christian faith requires positive declarations, declarations which come out of and use human conventions. While the faith transcends such propositions, and so should not be confused merely with the memorization and declaration of them, we should recognize that such propositions help Christians express what their faith is about and share it with others. That is, there is some value in making them so long as we understand the limitations involved in their declaration. When official propositional... Read more

The Righteousness Of James

Last updated on: October 23, 2024 at 2:26 am By Henry Karlson

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Eastern tradition says that James, the brother of the lord, is Jesus’ brother, not by blood, but because he was Joseph’s son from a previous marriage. That is, it suggests Joseph was a widower who had many children of his own before he became Mary’s husband and guardian. It is because he was both a holy man and had experience raising his own children, he was prepared to raise Jesus. This is why when we see James mentioned as one... Read more

PRS* XXIII We Must Not Normalize Trump

Last updated on: October 23, 2024 at 1:26 pm By Henry Karlson

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I don’t understand how anyone could treat the current presidential election in the United States as normal. I can understand why those who want Donald Trump to win would want us to believe it is normal and do everything to act like it is normal. I can appreciate why those who own some media services and want Trump to win will do all they can to make the public think he is normal, hiding all the that he does which... Read more

Legalism, Liturgy, And Paul: Being Open To Grace

Last updated on: October 20, 2024 at 2:12 am By Henry Karlson

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Often, we find many of our fellow Christians looking down upon us with disdain due to the fact that we do not follow their expectations of us, expectations which are not based upon basic Christian morality, such as the way of love, but rather due to some obscure preferences they have which they want everyone else to not only embrace, but follow in a legalistic fashion. This often happens in liturgical debate; we find in them that there are many... Read more

Christianity And The Dignity Of Women

Last updated on: October 18, 2024 at 5:20 pm By Henry Karlson

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Christianity teaches the dignity of every human being. Everyone is made in the image and likeness of God. Historically, this has led Christians to promote the poor, the oppressed, social outcasts, indeed, those whose dignity have been unjustly trampled upon by society. This is why, in the earliest era of Christian history, we can see Christianity promoting a revolutionary understanding of women, one which gave them power and authority that had been denied them by society. Christianity made it clear... Read more

No Salvation Outside Of The Catholic Church?

Last updated on: October 17, 2024 at 2:29 am By Henry Karlson

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There are many doctrinal and dogmatic statements made by the church which., while true, they are true only when the meaning of those statements are properly understood. If the original intent is ignored, and the words are engaged in a literal fashion, according to other meanings of those words other than originally understood by the authors of such statements, those same statements can lead people to believing something which is false, indeed, heretical. For all dogmatic statements, all doctrinal statements,... Read more

PRS* XXII Politics

Last updated on: October 15, 2024 at 2:25 am By Henry Karlson

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If I had my way, I would find myself staying away from politics and all the intrigue which comes from it, leaving it for someone else. For, by nature, I tend to be semi-hermitic, wanting to stay to mostly myself. I also know I can’t do that. I know that I have a responsibility to the world I live in. I am to help take care of it and preserve it for future generations. I am expected to be a... Read more

Clericalism, And The Canons Of II Nicea

Last updated on: October 13, 2024 at 2:25 am By Henry Karlson

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What people most often remember about ecumenical councils, if anything, are the dogmatic questions and debates which preceded them, and the authoritative responses the councils gave to those debates. Sadly, many do not know how to read the conciliar responses; they interpret them in a very literalistic fashion, thinking the letter of the text, as they interpret it long after the text was written, exhausts the meaning intended by the text itself, despite the fact that those involved in establishing... Read more

Freedom, Kenosis, And Love

Last updated on: October 11, 2024 at 2:31 am By Henry Karlson

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When we pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we pray for the temporal creation to be united with and penetrated by the kingdom of God so that God will be all in all. It is the goal that God has for creation. As God created the world out of an act of pure love, God has given creation its own freedom, a freedom, to be sure, which is not absolute (as only... Read more

PRS* XXI Recognizing The Limitations Of Theological Systems

Last updated on: October 9, 2024 at 2:15 am By Henry Karlson

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Throughout all my life, I have been drawn to theological pursuits. When I was an adolescent, and a Baptist, that meant reading Scripture, trying to understand what I read, and then taking that understanding and establishing my own systematic presentation of the faith. It was, to be sure, a rather limited and simplistic theological endeavor, and yet at the heart of it was a yearning for the truth. It is that yearning which has led me to pursue a wide... Read more