Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'theology'

May 16, 2012

Earthly Vocation and Eternal Salvation

One of the issues that arose during last week’s law and religion symposium (in the questions following Wim Decock’s thorough and engaging paper on Leonardus Lessius’ engagement of commercial affairs from the perspective of moral theology and philosophy) had to do with the understanding of the relationship between material pursuits and eternal salvation. Continue Reading...
April 05, 2012

Musings for Good Friday

A marvellous and mighty paradox has thus occurred, for the death which they thought to inflict on Him as dishonour and disgrace has become the glorious monument to death’s defeat. ~ Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word. Continue Reading...
March 30, 2012

No ‘Impersonal’ Christian Love

From the first chapter, titled “Preparation for Lent,” of Fr. Alexander Schmemann’s Great Lent: Christian love is the “possible impossibility” to see Christ in another man, whoever he is, and whom God, in His eternal and mysterious plan, has decided to introduce into my life, be it only for a few moments, not as an occasion for a “good deed” or an exercise in philanthropy, but as the beginning of an eternal companionship in God Himself. Continue Reading...
February 22, 2012

Since Christ Died for Us

Yesterday my son asked me why today is called “Ash Wednesday.” In that question I could hear the echoes of another question, “Since Christ has died for us, why do we still have to die?” Continue Reading...
January 16, 2012

Uncommon Acts of Common Grace

In connection with the current Acton Commentary, over the last week I’ve been looking at what I call the “the overlap and varieties of these biblical terms” like ministry, service, and stewardship. Continue Reading...
January 12, 2012

Ministry, Service, and Stewardship in Biblical Perspective

In this week’s Acton Commentary, “Ministers of Common Grace,” I note that in addition to ministry, “Another scriptural term, that of stewardship, can helpfully describe the pluriformity of God’s grace, both special and common: ‘Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms’ (1 Peter 4:10 NIV).” Continue Reading...
January 10, 2012

Review: Blue Collar Intellectuals

“Stupid is the new smart,” and “Pop culture is a wasteland” are just a few lines from Daniel J. Flynn’s introduction to Blue Collar Intellectuals: When the Enlightened and the Everyman Elevated America. Continue Reading...
December 19, 2011

Handel, Messiah, and Entrepreneurship

With its subject, use of Scripture, and majestic soaring choruses, George Ferederic Handel’s Messiah is easily the most recognizable musical piece in Western Civilization. It is also perhaps the most widely performed piece of classical or choral music in the West. Continue Reading...