Blog - Page 112 of 318 - John H Armstrong

A Lunch with Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R.

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:31-05:00June 22nd, 2011|Categories: ACT 3, Roman Catholicism, Spirituality, Unity of the Church|

Several weeks ago I had the privilege of spending some wonderful days in New York. Because of my friendship with Rev. Colleen Holby, chaplain at Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry (Wheaton ‘55), I was introduced to Fr. Benedict Groeschel, who has been a friend of Colleen’s for many years. Fr. Groeschel has been a huge supporter of the ecumenical work done at Children’s Village, a residence for young teens since 1851.

The mission of The Children's Village has been to work in partnership with families to help society’s most vulnerable children so that they become educationally proficient, economically productive, and socially responsible members of their communities. The teen boys at Children’s Village often have this one last opportunity before they may go to prison. (I toured Children’s Village later on the same day that I had lunch for Fr. Benedict.) There is a chapel program at […]

What is the Future of a Post 9-11 World for America?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:31-05:00June 21st, 2011|Categories: America and Americanism, The War on Terrorism|

The war in Iraq has been a disaster from almost every perspective worth considering. And the war in Afghanistan, combined with the severity of the Great Recession, have profoundly impacted the minds of most leaders on the need to rethink the role of American military might in the world. I welcome this new direction.

Consider that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, has called the national debt the "biggest single threat to national security." (Read that again!) The Pentagon, which is often the last to admit that it should ask for cuts, actually proposed its own cuts several months ago. On April 13, weeks before the death of bin Laden, the president announced his proposal to reduce defense spending. He framed this proposal—cuts as great as $400 billion over ten years—not only as a response to the fiscal crisis but also as part of a "fundamental review of America's missions, capabilities and our role in a changing world." Only the most […]

Why Are More and More People Pro-Life?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:31-05:00June 20th, 2011|Categories: Abortion|

According to the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute 576 measures related to abortion have been introduced (in 2011) in 48 states. Most of these will never pass committee. Yet by early April, 142 abortion-related provisions had passed at least one chamber of a state legislature, compared with only 67 in 2009. More than half of these 142 bills introduced this year seek to restrict abortion access, compared with only 38 percent in 2010.

About 40 new anti-abortion laws were passed into law by mid-April. These include:

expanding the waiting period requirement in South Dakota from 24 hours to 72 hours, and requiring women to visit a crisis pregnancy center in the interim.
requiring a physician who performs an abortion in South Dakota to provide counseling on all risk factors related to abortion.
allowing any hospital employee in Utah to refuse to "participate in any way" in an abortion.
making it a felony in Arizona to perform or provide money for abortions sought because of a baby's race or sex.
prohibiting insurance plans that participate in the state insurance exchange from including abortion coverage in Virginia, Arizona, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, […]

A Theology of Negation

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:31-05:00June 19th, 2011|Categories: Mysticism, Patristics, Personal, Postmodernity, Spirituality|

In the fourth century three eminent Greek theologians, called the Cappadocian Fathers, gave birth to a theology that has remained in the church through the centuries. I am quite persuaded that a recovery of this theology is underway among some Christians in the West. Let me explain.

Two brothers, Basil of Caesarea (icon at left) and Gregory of Nyssa, together with their close friend Gregory of Nazianzus, began to stress the incomprehensibility of God. This emphasis, which was later called apophatic theology (from the Greek for negation), reached a climax by the end of the fifth century in the divine darkness of Dionysius. It was Dionysius who introduced into theology the terminology of mysticism. For Dionysius the word theology meant wisdom, indeed theology was the highest form of wisdom. Theology was not an end in itself but a wisdom that should be used to serve and love God. The word mystical is thus derived from the word mystery. In mystery there is a hidden, dark and ineffable sense […]

Peter Gammons Agrees: “Wrigley Field is a Dump!”

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:31-05:00June 18th, 2011|Categories: Baseball|

When I wrote several weeks ago that Wrigley Field was a “dump” I knew some real baseball fans would think I was off my rocker. Well, one of the greatest fans and commentators of the game agrees with my analysis, using the exact same word.

In a radio interview on Friday, June 10, MLB Network analyst Peter Gammons specifically called Wrigley Field “a dump.” In the interview, which was done on WSCR-AM 670 Chicago, Gammons said that new owner Tom Ricketts has to do more than rebuild personnel. He needs to deal with the ballpark sooner than later.

The Cubs have previously said they would renovate the 97-year-old park, but the Sporting News reported last week that the club is looking at ways to finance proposed changes. Lot’s of luck in getting public money right now. It will not happen, especially in Chicago. And the family does not have the cash or credit, so it seems, to really do what should be done.

“They have to make that ballpark livable,” Gammons said. “It’s a dump, Wrigley Field. They’re […]

The Day-to-Day Work of Ecumenism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:32-05:00June 17th, 2011|Categories: ACT 3, Unity of the Church|

I’ve written this week about the importance and role of ecumenism in the modern church. I am persuaded that there are two great needs in the church today.

First, we need to recover the centrality of the triune God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ. We have a weak or nonexistent understanding of the Trinity and almost as weak an understanding of Jesus. We have so many religious parties and sects that it amazes me we cannot agree that the only solution is to recover the person of Jesus as central to faith and from Jesus see that he revealed the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The early church developed a doctrine of Trinity precisely because there was no other adequate way to respond to the person of Jesus. He had an intimate relationship with the Father and spoke of being one with the Father. He spoke as well of the Father sending the Spirit when he departed and that he, that is Jesus, would still be with his disciples. This is the Trinity. One God, revealed in three persons: Father, Son and Spirit. No […]

Who Are the Real Christians?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:32-05:00June 16th, 2011|Categories: Jesus, The Church, Unity of the Church|

I wrote on Tuesday about how a particular evangelical responded to an address I gave on Christian unity last week. The issue, for this earnest brother, came down to the issue of faithfulness to the gospel. I was calling for something (unity) that would involve compromising the gospel thus my appeal might include Roman Catholics. This compromise must be wrong, so wrong that he felt strongly he must openly oppose it out of love for the truth. The gospel, in his thinking, was at stake. (By the way, this is one way I try very hard to be a better listener and not a judge of motives or character. This brother really did believe that he was acting wisely and in character with the truth of the gospel.)

If we appeal to the letters of St. Paul himself we can readily see that a major point of division in the early Church surrounded the issue of circumcision. This was no minor matter if the context of the debate […]

James MacDonald Goes After Congregationalism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:32-05:00June 15th, 2011|Categories: American Evangelicalism, The Church|

Mega-church pastor James MacDonald posted (June13) a deliberately provocative article: “Congregational Government is from Satan.” In a note introducing his thoughts, which serves as a warning about what follows, MacDonald writes, “The tone of this post is intentionally aimed at engaging those who are engulfed in this system of church government that neither honors the Scriptures nor advances the gospel.” MacDonald calls the congregational form of church government a “forum for divisions,” and says that voting by church members is “not biblical.” This form of criticism is not new. Several well-known mega-church leaders have said the same for decades now. Some even teach churches how to rid themselves of this form of government in seminars aimed at ending congregational practice. (I’m not making this up!)

I have seen more than one local church division in the midst of such a heated debate over the form of government a church will adopt. While I am no friend of congregationalism, per se, I have to wonder why we need […]

Who Gets Into Heaven?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:32-05:00June 14th, 2011|Categories: Missional-Ecumenism, Roman Catholicism, Sacraments, Unity of the Church|

I wrote yesterday about a recent experience of sharing my vision of unity with a large group of conservative Protestant leaders in Chicago. Some were very positive. A few reacted not so positively. The flash point became whether or not Roman Catholics are included in the work of ecumenism. (I am not making this up! Some of you on other sides of this subject may find this amusing but it is how some conservative evangelicals really do think and respond to this discussion about ecumenism.)

The context was an address that I gave on John 17:20-23. I suggested, as I always do, that relational unity was what Jesus prayed for in the context of this prayer. Just as he and the Father were in a perfect relationship so we should pursue relationship with one another in Christ in order for the world to see that the Father had sent the Son. I have explained these points elsewhere, especially in my book, Your Church Is Too Small.

After I […]

The Conversation of Ecumenism

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:17:32-05:00June 13th, 2011|Categories: Missional-Ecumenism, Unity of the Church|

I am deeply persuaded that the Christian Church should be one. I am likewise convinced that disunity always damages the credibility of the church, especially in the modern West.As a realist I know that there is little or no consensus on how we should get from where we are to where we want to be, or where we believe God wants us to be. But I will press on trying because I believe this is what Jesus wants from me and the whole church.

The word ecumenical offends some and troubles others. But it excites those of us who understand it. The word is actually derived from the Greek οἰκουμένη (oikoumene), which means "the whole inhabited world.” It was historically used with specific reference to the Roman Empire. A Christian ecumenical vision comprises both the search for the visible unity of the Church (Ephesians 4.3) and the commitment to gospel unity and mission throughout the “whole inhabited earth'”(Matthew 24.14). Both should be the concern of all Christians. If […]