Post-2007 feed of DawningRealm.com:
http://dawningrealm.wordpress.com/feed

The old RSS feed will no longer be updated, but will be retained for archive purposes.

DawningRealm.com remains the main URL of the Theologia Crucis blog.

What do visitors of the Dawning Realm web site believe?

Remain "anonymous" if desired.

Footnotes added to "What Does it Mean to Seek the Kingdom of God?":

[1] This interpretation overlooks the Father's provision for the unjust (Matthew 5:45; Luke 6:35-36; Acts 14:17). A more solid exposition distinguishes how to overcome anxiety—believe the Father will feed and clothe you (Luke 12:22-24, 27-30)—from why to overcome anxiety—it serves no purpose (vv. 25-26) and distracts you from seeking the treasure of the kingdom (vv. 31-34). The unconditional promise that your compassionate Father will satisfy your needs frees you to seek with abandon what is truly valuable (vv. 30-31; 10:38-42).

[2] Nonetheless, the Triune God sincerely offers salvation to those who will ultimately refuse it (Luke 13:33-34; Acts 7:51).

An Anglican gives a remarkably accurate summary of a key difference between Lutheran and Reformed (including American Protestant) doctrines of assurance. Which of the following promises by a groom would elicit his bride's trust?
1. "I will love, honor, and cherish you." (She simply believes him.)
2. "I will love, honor, and cherish you if you really believe this promise with sincere faith." (She must not only believe him, but must also believe in her own belief. Must she then believe that she believes in her own belief?)...

[Broken link to "surprisingly accurate" Tridentine summary replaced with link to "remarkably accurate" Anglican summary.]

Last modified 1/2/06 except for adding and removing hyperlinks on 10/13/07 and 10/20/07. The page was originally written from a Reformed perspective, but now better represents the "late Roman" and Lutheran positions.

Broken ARP Synod links from this page and from the following pages were removed:
http://dawningrealm.org/sacraments/calvin/baptism.html
http://dawningrealm.org/sacraments/calvin/supper.html
http://dawningrealm.org/pray/model/
http://dawningrealm.org/reign/
http://dawningrealm.org/reign/author.html

Please report any other broken links.

Directory of Calvinistic pages penned before DawningRealm.org was converted into a monergistic Lutheran website. The Reformed vestiges are retained to foster communication between Christians of different confessions, not to promote Calvinism.

Confessional Lutheran: A Wikipedia page
Lutheran Liturgical Wiki: An encyclopedia of Lutheran Liturgy
LutheranWiki: An interactive Lutheran dogmatics
Wittenberg Wiki: Will edit a directory of online Lutheran articles

Christians of Reformed heritage, including Arminians as well as Calvinists, obviously differ from Lutherans on sacramentology. More foundationally, to the extent that they maintain their distinctiveness, they disagree on exactly what gospel (good news) the apostles proclaimed:

[click the above link to view the PDF comparison chart]

According to consistent Arminians, even though the atonement is universal, the gospel in itself does not tell you that you are forgiven; rather, they hold that you will be forgiven only if you make the right decision by your free will. Consistent Calvinists agree that the gospel in itself does not absolve; rather, in spite of their affirmation of the efficacy of the atonement, they say you also need some subjective evidence that you are among the elect for whom Christ died. In either case, something about you must be added to the good news before you can know your sins are forgiven.

By contrast, the Lutheran Church stresses both the universality and the efficacy of the atonement, empowering her to announce the gospel that itself unconditionally promises the forgiveness of sins. All who believe that truly good news enjoy salvation (Romans 1:16)...

How to search blogs of the Augsburg Aggregator:
1. Follow the new "Lutheran blogs" link of the above page or the "search" link of AugsburgConfession.com.
2. Type your search terms in the second search box, the box that has "baptism."

"Also [the confessors] teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered. And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike. As Paul says: One faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, etc. Eph. 4, 5. 6." (Augsburg Confession, Article 7)

AugsburgConfession.org is dedicated to the memory of those whose tragic death on September 11, 2001 still cries out against every theology of glory.

"To begin with, I have said that in addition to the confession which we are discussing here there are two other kinds, which have an even greater right to be called the Christians' common confession. I refer to the practice of confessing to God alone or to our neighbor alone, begging for forgiveness. These two kinds are expressed in the Lord's Prayer when we say, 'Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,' etc. Indeed, the whole Lord’s Prayer is nothing else than such a confession. For what is our prayer but a confession that we neither have nor do what we ought and a plea for grace and a happy conscience? This kind of confession should and must take place incessantly as long as we live. For this is the essence of a genuinely Christian life, to acknowledge that we are sinners and to pray for grace." (Luther)

AugsburgConfession.org is dedicated to the memory of those whose tragic death on September 11, 2001 still cries out against every theology of glory.

The baptismal font at Holy Cross Lutheran Church reminds viewers that "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Making the sign of the cross at the beginning of church and home worship services is another way to remember the promises of Trinitarian baptism.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our Father who art in heaven,

In whose Triune name we were washed with water by the word,
Hallowed be thy name.

Our Father who art well pleased to give us the kingdom,
Thy kingdom come,

Our Father, who is not willing that any should perish, but that all come to repentance,
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Our Father, who feeds the birds of the air, which neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,
Give us this day our daily bread.

Our Father, who so loved the world that you gave your only Son that we might not perish, but have everlasting life,
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Our Father, who will not allow us to be tested beyond what we can bear,
Lead us not into temptation,

Our Father, who in our Lord Jesus Christ conquered sin, death, and the devil,
Deliver us from evil.

Our Father, you who give us your Holy Spirit that we lack no good thing, we trust you will graciously answer all these petitions, for we bring them in the name of your beloved Son, whom you hear always,
Amen.

"Do not separate the head from its members, that is, Christ and his apostles and all Christendom. Every single Christian… accomplishes such great things that he can rule the whole world in divine matters, help and benefit everyone, and perform the greatest works that ever were effected on earth. For God thinks more of him than of the whole world; for his sake God gives and preserves to the world all it has… But if you are baptized, says Christ, and believe in me, you are the man who has and can do more and greater things, yea, who does the very works and greater ones than I do… For I shall make of you believers lords whose works shall count for more and accomplish more than those of any king or lord on earth; you shall bring about and achieve whatever you desire and shall help me rule spiritually over souls for their salvation, and also as to the material things you shall obtain through your prayer all that is on the earth…" (Luther)

Reformed theologians have argued that since the Lord’s Supper was instituted in the context of the Passover and since some of the words of the Passover liturgy have figurative meanings, Christ’s words of institution should likewise be interpreted figuratively. But in those words, Christ also said that he gave his life as a ransom for many... the bearing of the Passover on the interpretation of the words of institution requires careful examination...

"That the body of Christ is eaten, in fact must be eaten, as the body of the true Passover lamb is understandable if the parallel between the Passover in the Lord’s Supper is really to be valid. But the idea of partaking of blood had to cause most serious offense for those whose thinking was schooled in the Old Testament. For partaking of blood was strictly forbidden in the Old Testament, and even the parallel between the covenant blood in Exodus 24:8 and the covenant blood in the Words of Institution is seriously distorted when the latter is given to the disciples to drink..." (Sasse)

"Preaching the kingdom of God and the image of a new creation are the primary ways Jesus speaks of his apocalyptic invasion into our world as the creator come to his creation in order to set it free from the bondage to sin, death, and the devil."
(Arthur Just quoted to preface the paper on seeking the kingdom)

"The privileged few maintain the status quo even at the expense of their integrity, telling the others how they can better themselves. The people long for relief from an administration that levies excessive taxes for wasteful spending programs while enforcing a legal system that favors the wealthy. Many find hope in a man who proclaims freedom through a new regime, a man not afraid to expose the greed and arrogance of the current leaders. He tells them their respectability in the eyes of society is a facade, noting that they take advantage of the most helpless for monetary gain..."

Excerpt added to main page

"The One Who Is Just By Faith Shall Live"
Posted per the request of Rev. Brett Cornelius of Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Marion, Ohio (LCMS)

Luther quote added as Addendum 2: "...the Ten Commandments are written in the hearts of all men; the Creed, however, no human wisdom can comprehend, but it must be taught by the Holy Ghost alone..."

"...after Jesus revealed himself to Martha as the Resurrection and the Life, he asked her, 'Do you believe this?' She confessed her faith in that objective fact, which was true before she believed and would have remained true had she not believed it (John 11:25-27). However, she received that eternal life by believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (John 20:31). Her faith did not rest in her own faith, decision, inner desires, or in anything else subjective, but in something outside her, the preached good news of the kingdom. Jesus commended her for seeking that kingdom by hearing his word instead of anxiously seeking the cares of this age, as the nations do (Luke 10:38-42; 12:22-31). Thus, by faith in Christ’s word, Martha received the kingdom of God like a little child learning the catechism, and the kingdom will not be taken away from her..." (PDF reader required)

Topic-specific links are provided for use in external websites.

"By believing the Scriptures to be both true and clearly read and interpreted..., I see that I do not doubt my salvation as often or as strongly as I once did. By thinking that the passages on baptism and the Lord's Supper were to be interpreted symbolically, I wondered what other Scriptures were supposed to be interpreted symbolically. As a result, I always felt a pressing, urgent need to hear a variety of scholarly pastors and read a large array of books on Scripture and the Christian life so that I could learn from these sources and have them interpret Scripture for me. I hoped that by doing these things..., I could then understand more symbolism I had not been taught and be sure I understood what varying passages in the Scriptures really meant. Believing the Scriptures are clear has helped me in two ways..."

An aid to learning the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds

The "Lutheran wiki" link was added to the left sidebar of the Dawning Realm site.