Blog - Page 37 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Must the Reformation Wars Continue? (Part Four)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:35-05:00May 15th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Church Tradition, Discipleship, Faith, Gospel/Good News, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, The Church|

The recent debate about whether the pope is a true Christian reminded me of the helpful book written by my friend Mark Noll, Is the Reformation Over? An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008). I am honored that he mentions me as one person who believes the “Reformation Wars” are over. Mark did not know my church affiliation at the time he wrote this book but he got my story right. It is a tiny part of the whole narrative that he tells very well. I encourage you to read the book.

Various comments that readers recently posted on Michael Mercer’s original iMonk post – “The War Is Over” – moved from responding to the anti-Catholic rhetoric of Tim Challies to making comments about what they felt prompted this debate. One such comment said:

Can all Neo Cals (neo-Calvinists) please never mention Tolkien or Chesterton ever again? This will clear up lots of confusion. Or maybe those are the only two Catholics in heaven or maybe the Neo Cal doesn’t actually think […]

Must the Reformation Wars Continue? (Part Three)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:35-05:00May 14th, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|

Though there are significant differences between Catholic and Protestant theology I am personally convinced that the gospel is officially believed by the Catholic Church and this gospel is compatible with a solid biblical and evangelical understanding of the good news. This is the real elephant in the room in the debate advanced by blogger Tim Challies in his post about Pope Francis not being a true Christian. I fully realize that there are some modern neo-Calvinists, and more than a few old-school fundamentalists, who disagree with my analysis. I am going to try to show you why I believe they are wrong.

Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920), one of the most prominent Christian leaders of his era, gave the famous Stone Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1898. These lectures were edited to become one of the most famous modern books ever published on the subject of Calvinism. It bears the simple title: Lectures on Calvinism. In this highly regarded, and genuinely original, book Abraham Kuyper wrote: “I am not ashamed to confess that on many points my views have been clarified through […]

Must the Reformation Wars Continue? (Part Two)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:35-05:00May 13th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Apologetics, Church History, Church Tradition, Personal, Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, Roman Catholicism, The Church|

In a blog that I published here last week, on May 7, I linked to an article by pastor and blogger Tim Challies. His blog argued that Pope Francis was not a Christian. I debated for days with myself about responding to this sadly uninformed post. To be completely honest I do not like to engage with this kind of Internet “yellow” journalism. I honestly believe that the claim of Tim Challies is so preposterous that it is virtually unworthy of a response, yet after a few days I changed my mind. Why? Simply put, I feel that someone who has a personal history with a mindset like that of Tim Challies should attempt to help non-theologically trained readers grasp a very different evangelical perspective on Catholicism, one that does not promote the “Reformation Wars” of the last five hundred years. My perspective is that Challies’ arguments are so profoundly flawed that any careful reader of the sources, and of the stories that come from real Christians who live in the present, will readily alter genuinely open minds. The kinds of arguments Challies […]

What Is the ACT3 Luncheon Series?

By John Armstrong|2015-01-23T16:23:59-06:00May 12th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3|

At the beginning of 2014 we relaunched a series of mid-day luncheons for clergy and laity on Tuesdays. We have had three of these so far (February – April). We call these meetings the ACT3 Luncheon Series. The final lunch of these four will take place on Tuesday, May 20. If you live in the Chicago area please consider joining us. You can register for this final luncheon event at www.act3network.com.

We have not yet decided how, or even if, we will do these events in the fall. We might do them but have them less frequently. We might even attempt to do them in the evening, especially if more of you tell me that you would attend them if this was an evening event rather than a daytime one. I am inclined to do four to six of them a year. Please let me know your response.

The Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:36-05:00May 9th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Church History, Church Tradition, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Spiritual Warfare, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

The Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology is an ecumenical organization that seeks to cultivate faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the churches. The Center nurtures theology that is catholic and evangelical, obedient to Holy Scripture and committed to the dogmatic, liturgical, ethical and institutional continuity of the Church. The Center was founded through the collaborative efforts of Robert W. Jenson and Carl E. Braaten, two outstanding Lutheran scholars. I have had the distinct privilege of meeting with both of them over the years. They are two of the misty gifted theological writers of our time. I know Carl Braaten more personally since he came to Dubuque, Iowa, in 1999 to speak at our first Catholic-Evangelical Theology conference at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. This is the same event that I mentioned in my blog yesterday. We had five plenary speakers at this Conference on Catholic and Evangelical Renewal – Carl Braaten, Donald Bloesch, J. I. Packer, William Abraham and myself. I was clearly out of my league I confess but I enjoyed every […]

Missional-Ecumenism in Dubuque

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:36-05:00May 8th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, The Christian Minister/Ministry, The Church|

I have spent the last two full days in Dubuque, Iowa. I have been visiting the University of Dubuque. Today I will meet with Dr. Les Longden, a professor who retires this term after fourteen years in Dubuque. I will teach his final class of the term on missional-ecumenism. (I am honored to teach this final class and to spend much of this day with Dr. Les Longden, a devout Methodist scholar and serious ecumenist!)

Dubuque is about 160 miles northwest of my home in the Chicago suburbs. I have a lifetime of memories connected to this old city located on the Mississippi River where Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin converge. My first trip here in the 1970s was to make a “blind” attempt to meet the well-known Protestant theologian Donald Bloesch (1928-2010). All I could do was leave a note under his door. But a relationship was eventually begun. Bloesch became a very good friend who supported my work, both financially and personally. I was in his home, and he in my home, many times. We interacted deeply as […]

Must the Reformation Wars Continue? (Part One)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:36-05:00May 7th, 2014|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Church Tradition, Creeds, Current Affairs, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

I confess that I do not read the popular blogger Tim Challies. I was aware that he writes blogs which are very popular among conservative Christians, especially extremely conservative Reformed Christians. (I do not think my choice of words here is offensive and think Challies would accept this designation based upon how he presents himself!)

Before last week I was aware that Tim Challies covers a lot of ground in his blogs and touches on many “hot button” issues. He also alerts his readers about great deals on books and kindle specials almost daily. This is a very clever way (and I do not mean this in a flattering way) to increase online traffic and to draw readers back to his site and to reach new readers. I wish I was this clever (and had so much time) but I am not a blog-marketing writer. I obviously do blog but I am content to use this social medium as a side-line for my more important face-to-face friendships, public and academic teaching, networking and permanently published writing of new books, articles and academic papers.

Tim Challies is currently serving […]

Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:36-05:00May 6th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Current Affairs, Missional-Ecumenism, Personal, The Church, Unity of the Church|

I have a deep personal commitment to being catholic before I am Protestant. I also have a deep commitment to being Protestant before I am evangelical. These commitments are very easily misunderstood. The common and popular tendency is to conflate these three terms, or at least the last two, and then to insist that agreement on every matter of faith is essential to any collaborative work for Christian unity.

Furthermore, some evangelicals do not want to be called catholic in any sense of the term. This is especially true of those who are deeply conservative in their evangelical or fundamentalist expressions of the Christian faith. The reverse is true for some of my deeply conservative Catholic friends. They often oppose the word evangelical because it is not their word thus it “feels”to them to be very non-Catholic. A wonderful exception to this can be seen in how the devout Catholic writer George Weigel who has chosen to use the term evangelical as a very positive word in his recent book: Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church (New York: Basic Books, […]

Should I Host a Unity Factor Forum in My Community?

By John Armstrong|2015-01-23T16:23:59-06:00May 5th, 2014|Categories: ACT 3, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, The Church, Unity of the Church|

One of the most fruitful strategies that I believe God has given to the ACT3 Network is what we call a Unity Factor Forum. This event is a five-and-a-half hour gathering which allows participants from a given area to gather around the theme of John 17:21-24. My role is not to create something new, or to insert ACT3 into your ministry, but to gather Christians in an area and then help them to envision how partnering together might help them to have a much stronger witness than they’ve had when they have not worked together.

I began hosting Unity Factor Forums in January 2013. At first I lectured for about half of the time (three full presentations). We shared questions over a meal and a few others were asked to tell their story of unity in mission. After leading several of these, and after a faithful friend encouraged me to reshape the event and do less teaching in oder to allow more participation, I saw clearly how this was a far better approach. Now a Unity Factor Forum begins with my story and the prayer of Jesus in John 17. Then […]

Do You Have Enough to Retire?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:14:37-05:00May 2nd, 2014|Categories: Money & Stewardship, Personal|

Recent estimates suggest that the traditional $1 million life savings target before retirement is just not enough. Financial planners suggest that we now need $2 million to have “financial security.” In Monday’s (April 28) USA Today a report on this led to the response of various people. A person who seemed to be in the know about these matters said, “A $1 million nest egg along with Social Security isn’t really that much. Some accident or calamity would have the potential to drain away a big chunk of your principal, after which you can be destitute.” If you think this is crazy talk you should read the mainstream financial columns and see the advice that major investors give on these matters.

Another respondent to this story wrote: “We all need to take a hard look and figure out how to put away more for retirement.” Still another, “I now put away the maximum amount in my 401(k) that my employer will match. I also ditched a $275-a-month whole life policy in favor of a different policy for $25 […]