Category Archives: Preaching

Pascha and the Gospel of Atonement

Posted on 24 March 2024 by Fr Aidan Kimel

What is the atonement? When I look back on my years as a full-time pastor and preacher in the Episcopal Church, I find that at no point did I consistently preach a single soteriological model that answers the questions that … Continue reading →

Posted in Preaching, T. F. Torrance, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Preach the Offense of Insistent Grace!

Posted on 1 August 2023 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Pastor Petri Samuel Tikka Dear readers of the marvelous and well-nigh miraculous blog Eclectic Orthodoxy, I have been greatly and almost incomprehensibly honoured by your host, Father Aidan Kimel, to write something for this apparently non-theological blog. As is … Continue reading →

Posted in Grace, Justification & Theosis, Preaching, Universalism and Eschatology | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Preaching Gospel as Gospel: Antinomianism and the Nothing of Faith

Posted on 20 May 2023 by Fr Aidan Kimel

There is an old story about a Lutheran pastor who, after a long ministry of rightly distin­guishing law and gospel, announced on his death bed: “I shall most certainly go to heaven, as I cannot remember ever having done a … Continue reading →

Posted in Grace, Justification & Theosis, Preaching, Robert Jenson | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Preaching Gospel as Gospel: A Pentecost of Promises

Posted on 16 May 2023 by Fr Aidan Kimel

The gospel is the story of Jesus Christ proclaimed in the performative mode of promise. What this means practically for the preacher is this: each week, through prayer, study, and meditation on the appointed biblical text, he or she must … Continue reading →

Posted in Grace, Justification & Theosis, Preaching, Robert Jenson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Preaching Gospel as Gospel: Rightly Divide Law and Promise

Posted on 13 May 2023 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Unconditional and Conditional Promises The language of unconditionality has become so commonplace when speaking of the love of God that it is very easy to mistake the statement “God is unconditional love” as an expression of gospel. Perhaps the speaker … Continue reading →

Posted in Grace, Justification & Theosis, Preaching, Robert Jenson | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Preaching Gospel as Gospel: The Good News of the Resurrection

Posted on 9 May 2023 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Since my first encounter with Robert Jenson’s construal of justification as metalinguistic rule back in the late 70s, I have sought to proclaim the gospel in the mode of unconditional promise. I have often not been successful nor consistent—it’s harder … Continue reading →

Posted in Grace, Justification & Theosis, Preaching, Robert Jenson | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Preaching Gospel as Gospel, or Why the Churches Still Need the (Lutheran) Reformation

Posted on 7 May 2023 by Fr Aidan Kimel

I presume we are all acquainted with the saying long-attributed to Martin Luther: “Justification by faith alone is the doctrine on which the Church stands or falls.” Although it does not appear in Luther’s extant writings, it accurately states his … Continue reading →

Posted in Grace, Justification & Theosis, Preaching, Robert Jenson | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 40 Comments

Praying for the Consuming Fire of Love

Posted on 13 March 2023 by Fr Aidan Kimel

It is a fantastical fantasy, I know. Even so, I fantasize: If every Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant pastor were to read the Unspoken Sermons of George MacDonald, the Church of Jesus Christ would experience an extraordinary revival in the Holy Spirit. … Continue reading →

Posted in George MacDonald, Grace, Justification & Theosis, Preaching | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments