Tag Archives: John Calvin

Apprehending Apokatastasis: Predestinating to Perdition

Posted on 13 February 2020 by Fr Aidan Kimel

No theological topic provokes more angst, consternation, and passionate debate than the Latin doctrine of absolute predestination (yes, even more so than apokatastasis). No matter how carefully formulated and gently proclaimed, what we hear is this: from the mass of … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, David B. Hart, Universalism and Eschatology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Clinging to Externals: Weak Faith and the Power of the Sacraments

Posted on 8 January 2020 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Phillip S. Cary, Ph.D. Behind the debates about the objectivity of Christ’s presence in the Reformed view of the supper are crucial pastoral questions about the nature of faith, and I think it will bring clarity to the debate … Continue reading →

Posted in Sacraments | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Gospel, Mortal Sin, and the Search for Assurance

Posted on 15 February 2017 by Fr Aidan Kimel

The problem with mortal sin is that it’s so damned mortal. It scares me—as it rightly should. Mortal sin is nothing less than a state of spiritual death and impenitence. I know that the reason I was initially drawn to … Continue reading →

Posted in Grace, Justification & Theosis, Preaching | Tagged , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

Is God Properly Described as “Love” in the Theology of John Calvin?

Posted on 27 October 2016 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Thomas Talbott, Ph.D.  When I first began to wonder how the Calvinists might interpret the Johannine declaration that God is love (see 1 John 4:8 and 16), I turned immediately to Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, large portions … Continue reading →

Posted in Theology, Thomas Talbott | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Calvin and Luther: Is Jesus REALLY Present in the Supper?

Posted on 21 October 2014 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Phillip Cary, Ph.D. Is Christ’s body objectively present in the sacrament, according to John Calvin? Unfortunately, that depends on what you mean by “objective,” which is a slippery and ambiguous word with no exact equivalent in the 16th-century discussion. … Continue reading →

Posted in Sacraments | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Oecumenical Grace: The Protestant Gospel

Posted on 19 June 2014 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Compared to the previous chapters in The Theology of Grace and the Oecumenical Movement, the chapter devoted to the Protestant understanding of grace is too brief and to my mind unsatisfactory. In the ecumenical dialogue from which this book arose, … Continue reading →

Posted in Grace, Justification & Theosis | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments