Considering the Eastern Orthodox View
By: Jay Dyer
Distinction isn't tension and often times this distinction I've been writing about is characterized as an opposition. Human nature, even fallen, isn't in opposition to grace, but it the effects of the Fall do bring about a tendency towards sin and opposition to God. In the Catholic view, synergism, which is the human will following and conforming to the divine will is always is always upheld, even if one takes the Thomistic and Augustinian view that there is operative or efficacious grace. The human will never can and never does lose its own natural energy. But the natural energy of the human will isn't sufficient to cause divine grace or life, and this is where we differ with both the Calvinist and the Orthodox concerns the need and power of divine grace. I know the Orthodox would not say that the human will causes divine grace, but in the final analysis, salvation, whether the beginning of faith or the persevering therein is ultimately in the hands of man. This is the point where we differ.
Continue reading "The Importance of the Nature/Grace Distinction, Pt. 3" »
By: Jay Dyer
In part one, I was discussing the implications of classical, Reformation Protestantism's skewing of the nature/grace distinction into erroneous views that ultimately end up with a heretical Christology. I intended on making that post much longer and filled out, but had to leave in the middle. Let's move to the pre-lapsarian man to further show the implications of these different views.
Oddly enough, both Pelagianism and Calvinism have the same views of pre-lapsarian man. Man in the garden, for both Pelagius and Calvin, is not in a situation to need grace. For Catholic readers, I'm not avoiding using the term "sanctifying grace" because I deny it, but because most Calvinists don't know about the Catholic view to begin with, except that whatever the Catholic view is, they hate it. Anyway, its undeniable that both Calvin and Pelagius viewed man in the garden in the same way-in no need of what Catholics call the donum superadditum, the super-added gift of grace, which is the divine life itself--the Holy Spirit. Man in the garden was created naturally good and thus needed no grace. Now where Calvin and Pelagius differ is the fall, and most of us know the rest of this story.
Continue reading "The Importance of the Nature/Grace Distinction, Pt. 2" »
By Jay Dyer
We all intrepret phenomena in our experience according to certain criteria that make up our worldview. This fact is inescabpable, but this is important because I have noticed a common-thread problem in various groups that I have been affiliated with and debated and dialogued with. The problem I am speaking of is philosophical in nature, and deals with one's perception of others as well as their own psychological/existential situation in the given belief system in which they are involved. This problem often revolves around errors regarding the all-important nature-grace distinction that is so foundational for Catholicism. It seems, in my experience, that various anti-Catholic groups all share this same fundamental philosophical flaw (and I myself shared this same flaw for many years).
Continue reading "The Importance of the Nature/Grace Distinction, Pt. 1" »
By: Jay Dyer
The question of St. Thomas Aquinas' use of Platonic ideas has arisen often in Thomistic circles. Often, incorrectly, its assumed that St. Thomas was a slavish follower of Aristotle, neglecting truths in the more prevalent neo-platonic tradition of the early middles ages that preceded the Aristotelianism of his day. This is important for East-West issues, including the via negativa, since many might find St. Thomas' discussion of Dionysius quite surprising. In fact, as McInery notes, its Dionysius who is quoted the most in the Summa!
Continue reading "Aquinas' Prologue to Dionysius' On the Divine Names" »
Or, Jay Refutes Jay
[Note: this post has been tweaked]
By: Jay Dyer
As some readers now know, I have decided not to become Eastern
Orthodox. Though I confessed it for the past two and a half years and
was a catechumen, I chose not to be chrismated, and thus not
technically becoming Orthodox. I have, after much reflection and
prayer, decided to return to Catholicism. I was also instructed by my
spiritual advisors to publish this retraction. Let me say that also
that this isn’t being posted as a subtle “challenge” to get Eastern
Orthodox friends to spark a debate. I’m just not really as interested
in that as I was as a 21 year-old Calvinist. I’m more interested in
union with Christ nowadays, than debating every naysayer.
In the debate with Josh Brisby, Josh changed his position on infant
baptism (not because of me), while he likewise presented me with many
quotes from key Eastern theologians concerning the papacy that I simply
could not answer. He also made the key point that I believe is
ultimately correct: the Orthodox are not able to adequately deal with
legal categories such as expiation, propitiation, etc. The fact that a very learned Orthodox writer had to point us to an obscure article in a seminary journal on what exactly the Orthodox view on these concepts illustrates the point. I have likewise
changed my position. While some of the quotes can be explained as
references merely to St. Peter himself, many cannot. I also doubt that
they are all forgeries, as this is very unlikely.
Continue reading "My Retraction of Eastern Orthodoxy" »
Or, the 'gods' are Real
By: Jay Dyer
A strange title for an article, indeed, but they told us in high school to make your opening line catchy, so hopefully that will bring sweat to the brow of some Calvinist. It’s quite surprising to see that many biblical theologians refuse to admit the existence of the angelic realm, given that it’s so prominent in Sacred Scripture, both in the New and Old Testaments. But this is to be expected since higher criticism is the norm. We will examine below the prominence in Scripture of both sides of the angelic: the holy and the demonic, and see from many scholars of various Christian traditions that the correct biblical and historical view of the hierarchies is quite a diverse realm.
I hope for this to be eye opening to many Protestants who for whatever reasons have failed to understand the biblical and historical case for this legitimate area of theology. I know from my own experience that Calvinist circles tend to be completely unaware in practice, at least, of the influence and action of secondary angelic agents, such as angels or demons. This is because Calvinism thrusts all of its theological focus on the divine will, and usually upon the immediate causality of the divine will, even if mediate, secondary causes are professed intellectually. For proof of this, I challenge the reader to name one Calvinistic exorcist. Case closed. Thus we find this to be an area of radical difference in both Orthodoxy and traditional Catholic teaching when compared with Protestant theology, even of its more conservative stripes. It’s also very telling to me that it’s generally the Churches with Apostolic Succession that actually do exorcisms.
Continue reading "The Biblical Case for Liturgy, Lillith, and Satyrs" »
Recent Comments