Monday, July 15, 2024

It is the 15th of July 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

Hey everybody- happy Monday- happy Summer if this is your thing and you are above the equator. I’m not scared, but I’d like some extra spare time…. 

I got an email from Elliot in North Carolina- great state- I’m a big fan- but I had never heard of “High Point” as if that were a proper name for a town… but Elliot is from there, or at least lives there- it was home to Will Hayes, one time Defensive End for my LA Rams and he doesn’t believe in Dinosaurs, but he does believe in Mermaids.

High Point was the one-time home of John Coltrane, has its own university, and sits in central North Carolina just southwest of Greensboro.

Eliot asked a question about the relationship via Protestants and Catholics with regards to the early creeds and church unity. From his email I’ve isolated this question: “was there a shared understanding of salvation before the Reformation?”

Proponents of the Reformation like yours truly and your friends at 1517 will be quick to say that the Reformation was a “re-forming” of the church- it was not innovation, but calling her back to her initial teachings.

When you hear about Reformation distinctives you will sometimes hear about the “Solas” or the “Alone’s”- that is Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura… (Grace, Faith, Scripture) and the “Alone” was meant to push back against creeping traditions, works, etc…

In Reformation debates it wasn’t uncommon to read a Catholic praising salvation by faith and by grace. But when pressed, if they followed the official party line would have the hardest time saying salvation by “faith alone”- this on account of the reaction to the Reformation teachings. Is it faith + works? Are receiving the sacraments counted as a work? This stuff gets messy fast-

But- as Elliot in High Point asks: was there a shared understanding of “how it all works” with regarding salvation in the early church.

Answer: Yes and No. Let me explain.

“A shared understanding” is tough to find because it’s tough to define. I can always find disagreements between people. How much understanding is needed for a “shared understanding”?  

But what DO we know. Well- the church councils- the earliest ecumenical and the likes of the Second Council of Orange (we did that last week) do seem to have some kind of understanding that the WHOLE point of the matter is God coming to us in Jesus- the motion is downward. The answer to our problem is a gracious God who has given us his Son.

But do they teach faith “alone”?

The early centuries of the church asked different questions than the early modern centuries, so it’s not like we have a set of questions and then approved answers.

The question to take to the church fathers is “who is doing the saving and how?” And we can certainly read in them of the places of good works and ask if those are considered meritorious. 

But it takes more than “proof-texting” for either side- it takes an examination into the Fathers to uncover the words and questions they had and see how we might translate that into the present. 

Furthermore, it's tough because no Christian of any stripe is going to say, “Of course, I’m saved by works” and “God has adopted me because he found me suitable and fit”- it is more subtle and takes close inspection. And lucky us- Thomas Oden- featured last Summer on a Weekend Edition- created a few books- two for our purposes: the Justification Reader and the Good Works Reader- both examinations of these core doctrines with brief explanations and quotations from the church fathers.

Elliot- it’s a great question and a fair fear (and one I share). I’m not the weird one in the small little cult, am I? We are heirs of a great tradition- and not only one from 1517 but reaching farther back to the life of Christ, the Apostles, and the Early Church.

You can send me your questions at danv@1517.org- questions, ciphers, recipes, Zelda walkthroughs, memes or NFTS….

 

The last word for today is from the first chapter of the letter to the Ephesians:

11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. 

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 15th of July 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who believes in mermaid dinosaurs… Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who knows that “mermaid dinosaurs” is an anagram for “unrimmed dioramas”- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.