QOTD

Towards Believing Rightly

~ Mike Skinner ~ 1 Comment

“What we find when we read the story of the wilderness temptations closely is that Satan is not so much tempting us to disbelieve as to believe unfaithfully. Again and again, he entices Jesus to use God’s word against him, to claim God’s truth in a false way. And the same holds true for our temptations: Satan wants us to take God’s promises to mean what they do not in fact mean, so that we are confused about what we can and should expect from God. 

Perhaps that is where we too often find ourselves: believing strongly — but in misunderstandings of God’s word. We trust God as provider, but rely on our own sense of need. We trust God as healer, but assume we know what health is. We trust God as deliverer and protector, but expect that deliverance to come on our own terms and in our own time. In these and in countless other ways we are so much of the time taxed by false expectations and bad desires, waiting on God to do what God is not going to do — at least not in the way we expect it to be done. And so we move from suffering to suffering, from frustration to frustration, from disappointment to disappointment, not because God is unfaithful, but because our expectations of God are stubbornly perverse. We have turned the bread of God’s promises into stones of distrust. 

What are we to do, then? How do we right our expectations? We must contemplate the living God as he has made himself known to us in Christ. And we must give time for that contemplation to convert our imaginations, to free us from the illusions that blind us and from the passions that enslave us.” – Chris E.W. Green

[From Surprised by God: How and Why What We Think about the Divine Matters, pp.39-40. These short theological essays are devotional, wise, and challenging. I highly recommend this book for all.]

Should Christians Pray for the Dead? (Cyril of Jerusalem and John Chrysostom)

~ Mike Skinner ~ 5 Comments

I was invited to say a few words at a funeral recently. I was not very close to the family – which made it both an honor to be invited and also meant that I wast not involved in any of the planning of the ceremony. During the course of the service, many prayers were offered and many of them were directed towards the recently deceased. The helpless theologian I am, I couldn’t help but begin the mental conversation over this classic question:

Should Christians pray for the dead?

It’s vital to realize that this is a very personal and pastoral question, as well as a theological issue. While I was thinking this question over, I ran across the following thoughts about prayers for the dead from two classic Church Fathers:

Cyril of Jerusalem: “We pray for the holy fathers and bishops who have fallen asleep, and in general for all those who have fallen asleep before us, in the belief that it is a great benefit to the souls for whom the prayers are offered… In the same way, b offering to God our prayers for those who have fallen asleep and who have sinned, we offer Christ sacrificed for the sins of all, and by doing so, obtain the loving God’s favor for them and for ourselves.” [4th Century text on Eucharistic Liturgy]

John Chrysostom: “Let us help and commemorate them (the dead). After all, if the children of Job were purified by the sacrifice of their father (Job 1:5), why should we doubt that our offering for the dead bring them any comfort? … Let us not hesitate to help those who have died, and to offer our prayers on their behalf.” [Homily at the very end of the 4th Century]

What do you think about Cyril and John’s beliefs about the effects of prayers for the dead and the reasoning they offer for the practice?

What do you think: Should Christians pray for the dead?
Why or why not?

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Christianity is (always) in danger of extinction!

~ Mike Skinner ~ 1 Comment

“With every generation, the church is in danger of extinction. There may be no church after the deaths of living Christians: those things that demonstrate what it means to be a Christian are always one generation from loss unless they are renewed by those who come next. Christian living, worship, the regard for Scripture, the demonstration of reading it – these are all practiced in partial view of the fact that those who will learn them today will teach them to others tomorrow. If there are no more learners, tomorrow will be absent the church of God.”

– Craig Hovey, To Share in the Body, pp. 29-30.

Salvation as Restoration of Human Nature

~ Mike Skinner ~ Leave a comment

“Through his sin Adam perverted human nature by causing humanity to lose the ‘glory of God,’ which corrupted our reflection of God’s image. Salvation is not a further diminution of human nature, for we do not simply leave our bodies behind us as our souls float up to heaven. Rather, salvation is a restoration of human nature as God intended it. He raises believers from the dead bodily, just like Christ, by restoring their participation in divine glory with Christ.”

– Ben Blackwell, Reading Romans in Context, p. 112.