We are not so raw as not to know that the sacraments, inasmuch as they are helps of faith, also offer us righteousness in Christ. Nay, as we are perfectly agreed that the sacraments are to be ranked in the same place as the Word, so while the Gospel is called the power of God unto salvation to eveyone that believeth, we hesitate not to confer the same title to the sacraments.
-- John Calvin, Sermons on Acts
-- John Calvin, Sermons on Acts
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The Knowability of God
1. Is God knowable? Yes, Scripture teaches this: โthat we may know the One who is trueโ (1 John 5:20), although it also reminds us of the limited character of our knowledge (Matt 11:25).
2. In what sense do Reformed theologians maintain that God cannot be known?
โข Insofar as we can have only an incomplete understanding of an infinite being.
โข Insofar as we cannot give a definition of God but only a description.
โข On what ground do others deny Godโs knowability?
On the ground that God is All-Being. They have a pantheistic view of God. Now, knowing presumes that the object known is not all there is, since it always remains distinct from the subject doing the knowing. Making God the object of knowledge, one reasons, is equivalent to saying that He is not all there is, that He is limited.
What response is to be made against this view?
โข The objection that this view presents stems entirely from a philosophical view of God, as if He were All-Being. This view is wrong. God is certainly infinite, but God is not the All. There are things that exist, whose existence is not identical with God.
โข It is certainly true that we cannot make a visible representation of God because He is a purely spiritual being. But we also cannot do that of our own soul. Yet we believe that we know it.
โข It is also true that we do not have an in-depth and comprehensive knowledge of God. All our knowledge, even with regard to created things, is in part. This is even truer of God. We only know Him insofar as He reveals Himself, that is, has turned His being outwardly for us. God alone possesses ideal knowledge of Himself and of the whole world, since He pervades everything with His omniscience.
โข That we are able to know God truly rests on the fact that God has made us in His own image, thus an impression of Himself, albeit from the greatest distance. Because we ourselves are spirit, possess a mind, will, etc., we know what it means when in His Word God ascribes these things to Himself.
1. Is God knowable? Yes, Scripture teaches this: โthat we may know the One who is trueโ (1 John 5:20), although it also reminds us of the limited character of our knowledge (Matt 11:25).
2. In what sense do Reformed theologians maintain that God cannot be known?
โข Insofar as we can have only an incomplete understanding of an infinite being.
โข Insofar as we cannot give a definition of God but only a description.
โข On what ground do others deny Godโs knowability?
On the ground that God is All-Being. They have a pantheistic view of God. Now, knowing presumes that the object known is not all there is, since it always remains distinct from the subject doing the knowing. Making God the object of knowledge, one reasons, is equivalent to saying that He is not all there is, that He is limited.
What response is to be made against this view?
โข The objection that this view presents stems entirely from a philosophical view of God, as if He were All-Being. This view is wrong. God is certainly infinite, but God is not the All. There are things that exist, whose existence is not identical with God.
โข It is certainly true that we cannot make a visible representation of God because He is a purely spiritual being. But we also cannot do that of our own soul. Yet we believe that we know it.
โข It is also true that we do not have an in-depth and comprehensive knowledge of God. All our knowledge, even with regard to created things, is in part. This is even truer of God. We only know Him insofar as He reveals Himself, that is, has turned His being outwardly for us. God alone possesses ideal knowledge of Himself and of the whole world, since He pervades everything with His omniscience.
โข That we are able to know God truly rests on the fact that God has made us in His own image, thus an impression of Himself, albeit from the greatest distance. Because we ourselves are spirit, possess a mind, will, etc., we know what it means when in His Word God ascribes these things to Himself.
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"Fairer is He than Baldur the Beautiful, greater than Odin the
Wise, kinder than Freya the Good. Since He has come the sacrifice ended. The dark, Thor, on
whom you have vainly called, is dead. Deep in shades of Niffelheim he is lost forever. And now
on this Christ-night you shall begin to live."
-St. Boniface
Original Poster: @reformed.presby on Instagram
Wise, kinder than Freya the Good. Since He has come the sacrifice ended. The dark, Thor, on
whom you have vainly called, is dead. Deep in shades of Niffelheim he is lost forever. And now
on this Christ-night you shall begin to live."
-St. Boniface
Original Poster: @reformed.presby on Instagram
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If early church fathers like Augustine were alive today, to which church body would they most likely belong?
Anonymous Poll
11%
Eastern Orthodoxy
14%
Roman Catholicism
43%
Confessional Lutheran
8%
Anglican / Episcopalian
16%
Reformed / Presbyterian
1%
Methodist / Wesleyan
4%
Baptist / Nondenominational
4%
Pentecostal / Charismatic
The Ausburg Confession, Article IV (Of Justification):
Also they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christโs sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christโs sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4.
Also they teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christโs sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christโs sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4.
โก10
A blessed All Saints Day! The Collect:
Almighty God, who hath knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord: Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those unspeakable joys, which thou hast prepared for them that unfeignedly love thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
https://youtu.be/_BjxfCCcCe0?si=6HavZCEKCRgAEFkb
Almighty God, who hath knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord: Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those unspeakable joys, which thou hast prepared for them that unfeignedly love thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
https://youtu.be/_BjxfCCcCe0?si=6HavZCEKCRgAEFkb
YouTube
For all the saints (Sine Nomine)
"For all the saints" (Sine Nomine) sung in procession on All Saints' Day. (It is sung in two parts here, verses 1-4 before a station at the font, and vv. 5-8 after.)
1. For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessedโฆ
1. For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessedโฆ
โก3
Read the article: How to Survive in Leftist- Controlled Institutions
https://protestantpost.substack.com/p/how-to-survive-in-leftist-controlled
https://protestantpost.substack.com/p/how-to-survive-in-leftist-controlled
๐4
Forwarded from ๐ฑ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐๐๐ (Minen Werfer)
463 years ago today Guido de Bres threw his Reformed confession of faith (The Belgic Confession) over the castle wall in Tournai for the governor to find. Five and a half years later he was killed as a martyr for his faith.
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