Tag Archives: grace

St. Augustine on the Freedom to be Saved

Posted on 25 February 2024 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Jesse Couenhoven, Ph.D. St. Augustine of Hippo has seemed, to many of his modern readers, to be a theologian who tied himself up in unfortunate self-contradiction. Although he is widely recognized as a great theologian of freedom, and perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in Augustine, Universalism and Eschatology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Universal Salvation and the Idolatry of Hell

Posted on 31 December 2023 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Jacques Ellul I am taking up here a basic theme that I have dealt with elsewhere but which is so essential that I have no hesitation in repeating myself. It is the recognition that all people from the beginning … Continue reading →

Posted in Universalism and Eschatology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Gospel, Grace, and Hopeful Universalism

Posted on 5 December 2023 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Society of the Holy Trinity Retreat: Talk #1 4 December 2023 Introduction It is a great joy to be with you for this gathering. I have a deep fondness for the Lutheran tradition, as it was one of your great … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert Farrar Capon, Robert Jenson, T. F. Torrance, Universalism and Eschatology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Predestination to Glory, Reprobation to Hell

Posted on 23 October 2023 by Fr Aidan Kimel

As with St Augustine of Hippo, the anti-Pelagian commitment of St Thomas Aquinas comes to decisive expression in his doctrine of predestination.1 Contrary to free will theodicy, which detaches the decisions and actions of human beings from divine causality, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Philosophical Theology, Roberto De La Noval, Universalism and Eschatology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 63 Comments

Grace and Merit in Origen of Alexandria and St Ephrem the Syrian

Posted on 13 September 2023 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Charles Austin Rivera, Ph.D. For many Christians, “grace” is a word often heard and rarely defined. It greets us in the opening of Paul’s epistles (“grace and peace to you…”) and in the apostolic blessing with which he closes … Continue reading →

Posted in Patristic and Byzantine theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Grace Alone!

Posted on 13 August 2023 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Pastor Petri Samuel Tikka For by grace we have been saved and even faith is not our own. It’s the gift of God for us and not the works that we have done. Don’t let anybody boast of this, … Continue reading →

Posted in Grace, Justification & Theosis, Universalism and Eschatology | Tagged , , , , | 13 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: 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