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| "I thought you said Gorilla Lutheran." |
Bored writes:
Do you think that when President Obama said that our grandchildren would remember that "this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal" he tempted God too much?
Poetic justice certainly seems to be in play with the recent weather and I'm wondering if you'd parse out this theological question:
The Lutheran position is that God only deals with individuals through the Means of Grace. But does God affect history via means beyond the Sacraments and the Word? (Weather, war, etc.) Plenty of Kings, and storms for that matter, not knowing the Word or the sacraments have affected human history, and in many cases, the acts of these Kings have had spiritual consequences. So does God provide for some manner of fate or chance, by which the structure of the world is ordered? Or are some kings (or storms), apart from the Means of Grace, controlled or influenced by God as mere actors on the grand stage? When we say that God only deals with man through the Word and Sacrament, is that Justification-specific, or are we talking about a larger scope?
Martin Luther was apparently trapped under a lightning-struck tree, and promised God to become a monk; the result of this event led him directly into the Word, and the Holy Spirit led him to discover the truth of Justification by Faith alone (but NOT to a Universal Objective Justification…). I can see how one might say that God caused the storm, and that God caused Luther to be there, under the tree that gave its life (so the story goes) for Lutheranism. So how is the storm and the electricity and the tree NOT as much of God’s work as the Word in Luther’s ultimate conversion?
Believe me when I say that I am not doubting the pure Efficaciousness of the Word-that-is-God, but how ought one approach and understand the holistic nature that is God-in-the-cosmos? I suppose I am questioning what seems to be the western tradition of isolating theology from human existence…
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GJ - Yes, Obama was displaying his divine self-image. He suffers from narcissism. The majority wanted easy slogans instead of proven leadership.
God certainly acts through history. He uses evil people to chasten an apostate people. He gives grace only through the Means of Grace, but His Hand controls all human events.
Pat Robertson got a big specific when he prayed a hurricane away from his location and rejoiced that it turned and spared his campus and headquarters. That was some years ago.
Luther was a genius who was incredibly productive in his work but also faithful to God's Word. It was providential that Gutenberg turned a wine press into a printing press at that time.
It was providential that the Muslim armies threatened Europe and drew Charles V away from the Reformation for many years.
