Yes Yes YES! Now you see it! This is the problem with so much of the mainline - even, sadly, us Lutherans. We stay in the Law and never make our way to the Gospel, to the absolution. And if that’s the case, then when is it done? “It is finished” is not the end of justice, but the beginning. In fact, I can only go forward in good works for my neighbor BECAUSE I have been forgiven of my sins, such that my eyes can be on my neighbor’s needs instead of my own failures. Huzzah!
Thanks Loren. I think the Law/gospel dialectic is vital to faith and growth but we wallow in the law (its many expressions) and often deny the power of the gospel. That's why CRT appeals to some, and worries others.
The part i feel like lutherans miss (and i was schooled in their tradition) is that the law only comes after salvation. To use the 10 commandments as an example "because I saved you live like this." The law never promised to save, not in the old testament or anywhere else in the story of God, only as a response to the saving God has already done. My biggest issue with CT is that it is so often used as a new paradigm, a new religion and it just fails as you say so succinctly to offer true salvation. Good article!
I would suggest that critical theory provides a framework for understanding the Law and its application. I was taught that there are three uses of the Law. As a guide to define righteous living. As a curb to restrain sin and evil. As a mirror to convict a person of their sinfulness. Critical theory provides a strategy for understanding how the Law guides, curbs, and reflects. Dr. Craig Nessan offers insights into what he calls God’s two strategies to bring about the kingdom of God in his 2022 book “Free in Deed: The Heart of Lutheran Ethics “ and addresses liberation theology in the 2011 book he edited “Liberating Lutheran Theology: Freedom for Justice and Solidarity in a Global Context”
I recommend a highly readable (for literature of the 19th Century) The Proper Distinction of Law and Gospel by CFW Walther. Published by Concordia Publishing House. He does a nice job through nightly lectures with theology students. It may also be available through Logos. Blessings!
Yes Yes YES! Now you see it! This is the problem with so much of the mainline - even, sadly, us Lutherans. We stay in the Law and never make our way to the Gospel, to the absolution. And if that’s the case, then when is it done? “It is finished” is not the end of justice, but the beginning. In fact, I can only go forward in good works for my neighbor BECAUSE I have been forgiven of my sins, such that my eyes can be on my neighbor’s needs instead of my own failures. Huzzah!
Thanks Loren. I think the Law/gospel dialectic is vital to faith and growth but we wallow in the law (its many expressions) and often deny the power of the gospel. That's why CRT appeals to some, and worries others.
Yes, stay tuned for a follow-up on that theme next week!
Looking forward to it!
The part i feel like lutherans miss (and i was schooled in their tradition) is that the law only comes after salvation. To use the 10 commandments as an example "because I saved you live like this." The law never promised to save, not in the old testament or anywhere else in the story of God, only as a response to the saving God has already done. My biggest issue with CT is that it is so often used as a new paradigm, a new religion and it just fails as you say so succinctly to offer true salvation. Good article!
I would suggest that critical theory provides a framework for understanding the Law and its application. I was taught that there are three uses of the Law. As a guide to define righteous living. As a curb to restrain sin and evil. As a mirror to convict a person of their sinfulness. Critical theory provides a strategy for understanding how the Law guides, curbs, and reflects. Dr. Craig Nessan offers insights into what he calls God’s two strategies to bring about the kingdom of God in his 2022 book “Free in Deed: The Heart of Lutheran Ethics “ and addresses liberation theology in the 2011 book he edited “Liberating Lutheran Theology: Freedom for Justice and Solidarity in a Global Context”
I recommend a highly readable (for literature of the 19th Century) The Proper Distinction of Law and Gospel by CFW Walther. Published by Concordia Publishing House. He does a nice job through nightly lectures with theology students. It may also be available through Logos. Blessings!
Oops! Thank you for the correction!