Re: [asa] Anabaptist (alleged) error

Briefly -

Merv & Dave O -

Please read the list of caveats I included. Of course the power of the state can be abused & there can come a point where Christians are called upon to refuse to obey or to resist it. Luther recognized this - & that should come as no surprise from someone who believed that in the "realm" - the church - God's ministers could err & obedience might have to be denied them - "We must obet God rather than men." This does not negate the general principle that it is through the civil authorities through whom God normally operate to maintain some semblance of justice in the world, as Romans 13 clearly says.

Or put it this way: How_does_ God act to maintain justice in the world? It has to involved human agency in some way. Does God inspire some kind of vigilante activity or is it ordered in some way? Presumably you're not going to say that God just isn't involved in maintaining order in society.

Dave S -

Yes, I know some of the history, though I'm sure not as well as you do. As I indicated in my caveats, the Anabaptist (& to be thorough one should include other groups - e.g., Quaker) tradition isn't monolithic. To the extent that any of them do see the stste as a means through which God works my criticism clearly doesn't touch them.

Your final statements seriously misrepresent my view of the sacraments. I never said that they work inexorably to produce faith, any more than I would say that about the preached word. Why some people don't come to faith when God "desires that all men be saved & come to the knowledge of the truth" is a tough question but not one that particularly strikes the idea that the sacraments are means of grace.

Shalom,
George
    

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Received on Sat Nov 8 20:54:22 2008