Theology of Grace

The answer to the question posed by the title of Randal Rauser’s new book, What’s So Confusing About Grace? is “a whole lot,” especially if you grew up, as Rauser did, in the North American evangelical subculture of the 80s and 90s. Rauser’s spiritual memoir recounts his life-long struggle to understand both the foundational and the superficial issues of Christian faith (the two are easily confused, as is made amply evident throughout the book).

While each of the different traditions had very different beliefs on the details of angelology, such as the exemplified Catholic and Protestant differences, each agreed upon the necessity of angelology, which West reveals through the words of John Calvin. Beyond the question of the rank, West expounds upon controversies about the nature, purpose, substance, ability, activity, and humanity of angels throughout every age of history from the Greek and Roman empires to Milton’s seventeenth-century England to both contextualize the book’s subject for readers and to illuminate the significance and depth behind John Milton’s own literary representation of angels.

Dr. Tuttle does a marvelous job as he breaks down the deep theological ideas of John Wesley into simple applicable illustrations. In the book Sanctity Without Starch, Tuttle lays out the ideas of John Wesley and grace by explaining it by stating, “it is a good news, bad news, good news story” (Tuttle, 27). Tuttle then elaborates on this idea and breaks it down in following chapters.

"What is grace? In the New Testament grace means God’s love in action towards men who merited the opposite of love. (Definition of God's Grace)

Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, and Martin Luther draw from their historical contexts and the writings of previous theologians to form conclusions on sin, grace, and human freedom. Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk and took ideas both from Augustine and Aquinas. Likewise, Thomas Aquinas drew from Augustine, and they share many similarities in thought. From these three theologians’ ideas on sin, grace, and human freedom people began thinking about Christianity outside the church.

The Grace That Keeps This World, by Tom Bailey, is an enthralling novel about the Hazen family who have lived in Lost Lake their whole lives. In this novel Kevin Hazen, a young man of 19, is searching for where he belongs in the world and in his own family. He wants more for his life than the life of survival that his parents have lived their whole lives. The story of the Hazen family is centered around the first day of deer season. For the Hazens, this hunt is more than just a sport. They use the meat of every deer they shoot to help them survive through the winter.

As a young man Luther struggled with his conscious and finding peace with God. During some very difficult years while living in the monastery he would discover that the more he tried to do for God, the more he became aware of his own sinfulness. However, he would get the opportunity to study the Bible as a professor of Biblical Theology at the University of Wittenberg. It was there, while studying the bible over several years, that he would conclude that there was nothing he could do to obtain Salvation through the rules of monastic life, works of men, or by anything other than the Scriptures alone by Grace through Faith alone. He now understood saving faith based on the promises of God found in the Word of God. The free Grace of God for sinners was the revived message that Luther and the Reformers stressed to anyone who would listen. Luther made it clear that it was a falsehood to believe that only the the pope may interpret scripture, but rather the whole community should be able to interpret scripture. A message that was welcomed and readily accepted by

Luther wrote about his ideas because he saw several faults in how the church was run. He didn't do anything for personal gain, but rather for the good of Christians as he thought the churches had taken away the bases of Christianity. For example, they started selling letter of indulgences, which is something he disagreed on majorly as it is never mentioned in the bible. Luther didn't think it was right that the church could judge you and grant you forgiveness if you paid them, and he thought the only one who could judge anyone was God himself. According to Luther, God didn't care about any letter of indulgences, only your actions.

God’s grace is a word frequently used to refer to “gift from God”. In many circles, it is theological defined as God’s unmerited favor (Hughes, 1998, Ryrie, 1963). Within this

He strongly debate the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He also debated that anyone can have a direct relationship with God. A lot of people will agree that it is true that we cannot pay money to take away our sin. As a Christian and from what the bible said we do good things and pray to take away our sins. The righteousness of God does not condemn sinners but save them and bring them closer. So it is not ok for man to punish other man for their sin. In other word nobody is perfect and we should not judge people. Luther teaches the people about free will, he recognized the Erasmus's literary superiority. Luther claim that faith alone makes someone just and fulfills. In order words you can worship and pray God without going to church. Most people will agree with this one, but we do not have to go to church to be a Christian or to have faith in God. We just need to live according to the bible and not the pope as Luther said. As long as we have faith in our heart it is enough but some people will disagree because we as a Christian we have to worship together and it is more powerful to be

Through scripture alone Luther taught the people that scripture was what they needed, not the pope. Faith alone taught that everyone had to put their faith in God. Everyone puts their faith in something and Luther was there to tell the people to put their faith in God. He also told the people that Christ was their mediator and was the only way to heaven. Luther said that everyone deserved death but eternal life was given through God’s grace.

John Winthrop and Jonathon Edwards both present examples of irresistible grace in their sermons. Winthrop does this in “A Model of Christian Society” by explaining that with God’s grace and one’s own ability to live according to his plan they will be successful. Edwards does this in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by showing the sinners that it is only God’s irresistible grace that is keeping them from being cast into hell. Although Edwards portrays God as “angry,” both Winthrop and Edwards believe that He is a just God, they just want their people to live right.

Grace is defined as “divine help or strength … given through the mercy and love of God.” This grace can help us serve beyond our capacity to love, and in the scriptures grace is frequently used to connote a strengthening or

American mythologist and writer Joseph Campbell can be quoted, “Computers are like Old Testament (gods), lots of rules and no mercy.” Sadly enough, many people, even some Biblical scholars, hold to this stereotype that the Old and New Testaments display different foundational characteristics of God: law versus grace. As will be examined here, the stories of the OT are abundant in both God’s grace and His holiness, and the histories within these books are saturated with the theological themes of covenant, kingship, grace, sacrifice, and prophetism. Each of the five subsections listed will first answer the “who, what, why, when, where, and how” questions. After a thorough explanation of the historical and theological significance of each theme, this exposition will address a crucial debate concerning the theme, if such is applicable. We begin with the theme of covenant in this study of five prominent OT themes.

Minit-Lube operates among a market that offers oil changes, lubrication services, tune-up, and other related automobile services (Heizer & Render, n.d.). Minit- Lube and other like automotive services service more than 250 million vehicles within the United States (Heizer & Render, n.d.). With this ever increasing vehicle population many other businesses offer like services. Business such as Mobile-Lube, Jiffy-Lube and other vehicle dealerships have developed specific services to attract consumers to their place of business. Minit-Lube does in fact provide like services, however, Minit-Lube attempts to gain customer notoriety by providing interior cleaning services in a spotless clean environment (Heizer & Render, n.d.). This service category offers a bit of distinction away from the competition. To further present this service to consumers that are unfamiliar with this notable distinction, Minit-Lube painted the building’s exterior white (Heizer & Render, n.d.). In conjunction with a nicely landscaped exterior further developed the experience that customers may enjoy while obtaining service on their motor vehicle (Heizer & Render, n.d.). Furthermore, the fast service offerings that Minute-Lube provided with the three bay garage, further encouraged consumers to use their services above other verisimilar competitors. Upon a customer entering Minut-Lube’s place of business, they were greeted by a representative