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“Life is a gift to be received with gratitude and a task to be pursued with courage.”
March 7, 2024
Quite unexpectedly, Reformed Theology has become my favorite class. We’ve read some of the creeds and confessions and there is much good to be gleaned.
I was especially touched by the Confession of 1967, a restatement of what the American Presbyterian Church stood for in that time of dramatic upheaval in the United States and the world. Although much of the language is dated, the Confession addresses many issues we continue to grapple with today. I admired the church’s attempt to update their focus and mission, and I found sections of the Confession quite compelling. From section 9.17:
“Life is a gift to be received with gratitude and a task to be pursued with courage.”
That’s a long way of saying that since moving our focus off John Calvin, I have found much to appreciate about Reformed Theology. I found Friedrich Schleiermacher’s stance as a Universalist squarely in line with mine. I’m encouraged. But there’s an ugly side to what I’m finding in my research.
The spiritual abuse I experienced was at the hands of the Southern Baptists and then later, with that branch of the family who were ardent Reformed Baptists. (I stay far far away from the Baptists.) I’ve come across a new strain of…
