Sep 22 2009

Evangelical Catholics?

Category: religion,theologyharmonicminer @ 9:24 am

If you have a short attention span, or are easily bored, don’t bother to click the link below, but if you’re interested in hearing two brilliant people discuss the “state of play” between evangelicals and Catholics, you will find this discussion between Francis Beckwith and Timothy George to be completely fascinating.

5 Responses to “Evangelical Catholics?”

  1. Old Cop says:

    Interesting discussion. I found Dr. Beckwith’s explanation as to why he returned to the Roman Church difficult to comprehend. Over all the presentation was a learning experience. Thank’s for posting it.

  2. Katherine says:

    Can somebody else clarify the difference between “infusion” and “imputation” for me? Is there any equivalent to the idea of infusion in Protestant theology, and is there any equivalent to the idea of imputation in Catholic theology? For both cases, we are talking about means of justification, right? So, Catholics are saying that sanctification= the gradual process of justification, based on the grace of God through Christ but continually dispensed through the sacraments of the Church?

  3. harmonicminer says:

    Here is a discussion of it. I’m sure there are many more on the web. Just Google “infusion and imputation.”

  4. enharmonic says:

    I haven’t yet watched the Q&A part but what strikes me about Dr. Beckwith is two things:

    1. He never speaks of being “Born Again”, which is central to Evangelical Christianity and the very term Jesus used.
    2. He never explains why he left the Catholic Church to begin with.

    I am puzzled as to why he was ever chosen to be the President of whatever association of Evangelicals he was.

    I like Timothy George for the most part, but he also left out the term “born again” in his explanation of what it means to be Evangelical.. As a matter of fact, I can’t remember the last time I heard the term used in my own church. I hear, “commit your life to Christ”, or “come to faith” or other phrases that seem to me just as meaningless. I believe that the Catholic/Protestant fusion prevalent today is based on the failure of Evangelicals to articulate correct doctrine in their churches for the last 25 to 30 years because their television saturated congregants simply didn’t want to hear it.

  5. harmonicminer says:

    Interestingly, to me, the normal understanding most evangelicals have of “born again” seems to imply “infusion” almost more than “imputation” a la Martin Luther. That is, it isn’t merely a symbolic usage, designed to imply only that God sees us differently, but rather that we are changed, transformed, and have the expectation of continually growing in the Spirit from that point. That’s why the term “regeneration” is so often used. Not that we have become perfect… but we are changed, and, we hope, continually changing as the Spirit works in us and we seek Him.

    Mainline protestants have often stressed the “imputation” approach, if I understand correctly, which may be one reason why evangelicals and practicing roman catholics, who take church doctrine seriously, so often line up on many moral and social issues in opposition to many mainline protestants.

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