brick-a-brack 05/10/11 Love Wins Special Edition

It is probably pretty obvious that I haven't had much time this year for reading or writing blogs, one day I'll tell you all about it.  But I really do appreciate you keeping me in your feedreaders, and promise (foolishly) that one day it will all be worth it . . . until then I give thanks for the creativity of others . . .
like Alex Baker . . .

. . . and Angus Wordsworth Duncan

. . . not to mention John Birch

And if you haven't yet read enough reviews of Love Wins you might like to check out my friend Rhett's review.  And BTW I have no opinion on the matter but I do wear glasses and try not to be too dogmatic about the ultimate fate of rabid Bible thumping fascists. 

Two posts on Mark's Gospel

Steve Douglas discusses equal opportunity salvation,

Neither the rich nor the poor are demonized, because the author understood a focus on class or status to be missing Jesus’ point.

And James McGrath has a hunch (AKA an essay) as to how the gospel story ended in Mark's mind if not on paper.

CS Lewis' Purgatory was about Sanctification not Justification

Roger Olsen has posted some valid thoughts about the half baked way reformers Calvin, Zwingli and Luther, and along the way wonders if CS Lewis' modified doctrine of Purgatory might provide an answer to his dilema.  This sent a number of folks in a tizzy, not least Michael Patton.  What they both miss, in my humble opinion is that Lewis' doctrine was more concerned not with "are you saved, can you come into heaven?" but with "how can you enjoy heaven if you are not yet fully sanctified?"  Which is a very different question.  I'm not saying Lewis was right about this, but if there is to be some sort of continuity between the fallen sinful human being who dies and the the glorified one in the Father's presence, there must presumably be some process by which they are transformed that maintains their identity.  Few of us believe total sanctification is acheivable this side of death (I certainly don't) but if it is the case that we will suddenly without process be transformed into our new selves at the moment of truth why bother with sanctification now?  The truth is, many of those in the half way reformed traditions are so focussed on justification that discipleship or sanctification gets passed over as a secondary matter to salvation, which is a great pity.

By the way if you have never read The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis, drop everythng and do it NOW!

Let me know what you think :-)