Here is the towering saint of the 4th-5th centuries AD. You might not know who he was, but he has influenced your life indirectly by the way the western world has seen the teasing out of his theology and philosophical musings in Church and state. An obvious example is the time of the Protestant Reformation. The better-known Reformers held strongly to Augustine's view of God's sovereign grace in saving man, seeing it as inconsistent with Roman Church's system of conferring grace through the sacraments. The Roman Church held strongly to Augustine's view that there is only one Church and salvation could only be found inside that Church, so that the Reformers were violating the unity and integrity of the Church.
Even though Augustine had some crazy ideas, he also had some brilliant meditations and explanations of sound doctrine. If you have not, you should at least read his partial autobiography, The Confessions.
I bring all this up because I am reading a few books by outstanding Reformed scholars ("Reformed" in relation to Protestants usually is a way to say that one is related to core theological views that can be traced back to John Calvin). I have learned a tremendous amount about God from Reformed scholars and preachers. In many ways, I consider myself Reformed. But there is a frustrating view common among Reformed scholars [and, I am admitting that they are smarter than I] that I ran across again today - what they make of Jesus' teaching about "the kingdom of heaven/God." And, to be fair, I find serious problems with the way standard Dispensationalists [not going to explain this term!] treat Jesus' teaching on the kingdom as well.
Personal anecdote: when I was an intern at Beltway Park Baptist Church in Abilene, Jesus' teaching about the kingdom captured my attention. It was everywhere in Matthew, Mark and Luke! But Christians don't talk about what the kingdom is. At least I hadn't heard about it. Plus, (as Matt Chandler encouraged me to grapple with it,) the Apostle Paul speaks very little about the kingdom in his letters. How does the kingdom relate to Jesus' cross? Where does the Church fit with those two?
Augustine said (and many Reformed scholars today say) the kingdom is the Church. The parables in Matthew 13 are made to say strange things if the kingdom is the Church. I'm curious how you folks make sense of Jesus' teaching on the kingdom.
Even though Augustine had some crazy ideas, he also had some brilliant meditations and explanations of sound doctrine. If you have not, you should at least read his partial autobiography, The Confessions.
I bring all this up because I am reading a few books by outstanding Reformed scholars ("Reformed" in relation to Protestants usually is a way to say that one is related to core theological views that can be traced back to John Calvin). I have learned a tremendous amount about God from Reformed scholars and preachers. In many ways, I consider myself Reformed. But there is a frustrating view common among Reformed scholars [and, I am admitting that they are smarter than I] that I ran across again today - what they make of Jesus' teaching about "the kingdom of heaven/God." And, to be fair, I find serious problems with the way standard Dispensationalists [not going to explain this term!] treat Jesus' teaching on the kingdom as well.
Personal anecdote: when I was an intern at Beltway Park Baptist Church in Abilene, Jesus' teaching about the kingdom captured my attention. It was everywhere in Matthew, Mark and Luke! But Christians don't talk about what the kingdom is. At least I hadn't heard about it. Plus, (as Matt Chandler encouraged me to grapple with it,) the Apostle Paul speaks very little about the kingdom in his letters. How does the kingdom relate to Jesus' cross? Where does the Church fit with those two?
Augustine said (and many Reformed scholars today say) the kingdom is the Church. The parables in Matthew 13 are made to say strange things if the kingdom is the Church. I'm curious how you folks make sense of Jesus' teaching on the kingdom.
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