Defending The Faith

But they, like Erdman, want to avoid being part of a restrictive church. Christians who lapsed again into grave sin after they had been formally reconciled found themselves without recourse. “Now,” your local bishop or priest informed you, “you are left to the mercy of God.” The early Church feared that allowing sinners to be sacramentally reconciled more than once would encourage sin. But the rigors of penance and the practice of allowing Christians to receive the sacrament of penance only once had an unforeseen and highly problematic effect. Many people postponed their baptism for decades, because baptism offered forgiveness for a whole lifetime’s worth of sins without the rigors of penance.

Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

But reconciled penitents were expected to continue some penitential practices, such as abstinence from sexual intercourse, for the rest of their lives. Those who had been thus reconciled could not be admitted to the clergy or to most public offices. They remained permanently in a somewhat inferior position within the Church, partly for social reasons and partly as an explicit reminder of their lapse. Moreover, such a reconciliation was permitted no more than once in a lifetime, and it was required only for what were regarded as mortal sins, such as murder, adultery, and apostasy. Those guilty of what we now call venial sins were not expected to undergo any formal process; instead, they found forgiveness for their sins by participating in the Eucharist, almsgiving, and seeking forgiveness from those whom they had offended. Nevertheless, the Church Fathers soon realized that they needed a way to deal with post-baptismal sin because many baptized Christians were slipping back into their old way of life.

Lutherans have closer ties to their seminaries, Presbyterians are all over the place , and Anglicans rely often on evangelical and mainline institutions. Then there is the question of the laity and where they receive formal theological education. Hart’s presentation of the history of the Protestant influence in American politics and the current debate about separation of church and state is rather interesting, although I did find it a little tedious at times. Nevertheless, his position that Christianity harold raley blog can flourish in any political system, and that Christians are a people living in exile while awaiting a new kingdom is well worth considering. Whether one agrees with the author or not, A Secular Faith is worth the read for those facing the challenge of being Christians in a pluralistic America. Confessional Protestants are again NOT in the news thanks in part to a new survey that breaks the white Protestant world in the U.S. down into either evangelical or mainline Protestant camps.

We hope that by replying to them you’ll get some answers. You may find this blog useful for taking on the time and pressure to write your own blog. I can give you the answers to all of your questions if you think it’s worth the time. Darryl has been a big fan of my blog for a while now, and now it’s his turn to share his thoughts as well. I’m so glad that we are both on the same page as far as the importance of mindfulness in our lives and how it’s essential for a healthy way of life.

But Reformed Protestants designate some days as holy and may even elevate the week as a way of marking time over the rotation of the earth around the sun. All this and maybe a little more on the latest recording of paleo-Protestants talking. G. Hart take the temperature of confessional Protestants. The notion of a “hot” Protestant has less to do with sexual appeal than with intense piety. Michael Winship’s book on the Puritans uses “hot” to describe those English Protestants who were eager to carry out the reformation in the Church of England as well as in the lives, families, and vocations of believers.