Decision Theology

Three things from Basic Christianity by John R. W. Stott

Levi Henkel on Feb 8, 2014

·      Stott’s discussion of graveclothes proving the ressurection is new to me. He suggests the translation “He saw, as they were lying (or ‘collapsed’), the strips of linen.” Rather than the picture of a bundled up head cloth separate from the body, the separation could refer to the gab between the body and the head, where the neck had been.

·      The parallel of I Peter 2 and Isaiah 53 is phenomenal.

o   “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth” AND “He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.”

o   “They hurled their insults at him.” AND “He was despised and rejected by others.”

o   “He himself bore our sins.” AND “He bore the sins of many.”

o   “By his wounds you have been healed.” AND “By his wounds we are healed.”

o   “You were like sheep going astray.” AND “We all, like sheep, have gone astray.”

·      “Reaching a decision” in chapter 10 gives a little different perspective to “decision theology” which I would reject in another context. “If anyone hears my voice and opens” is Stott’s primary passage of exegetion, and certainly a proof text for many decision theologies. The concept of choice is clear in Stott’s context. Maybe not all, but I think most, do reach a place in life where the gospel is clear and it is rejected or embraced. To embrace is certainly primarily an act of faith not works, but that faith is one that does something as Abraham proceeded to sacrifice Isaac. That doesn’t make it a salvation by weighing works, but rather a faith that embraces reality. “Take up your cross” Christ says. One cannot have faith without some measure of that movement, lifting the wooden beam of faithful obedience that displays a choice has been made. I have repented and now face a new direction. I now follow Christ.

Blessed

Have we come up with two definitions of "blessed" based on either a one-syllable or two-syllable pronunciation? This is my musing, and really my question for you (please respond!)

1) Blessed (blest) v. 1, made happy, fortunate, or prosperous. An action towards mortal man from a greater being. This pronunciation is used in terms of God blessing a person or a person blessing another. "God b. the person with favorable circumstances" or "James b. Kelsey by changing the tire on her car." A given trait.

2) Blessed (blesid) adj. 1, worthy of worship or reverence. "B. is he who comes in the name of the Lord" or "the b. virgin Mary." An inherent trait.

While these are not dictionary definitions, do they not accurately display the usage with which you are familiar, if you will the "slang?"

I submit that it has totally confused the theological spectacles through which we look. God is considered blesid. We certainly cannot add to his worth, make him fortunate or prosperous. However, we are not entirely sure how we can bless the Lord (Psalm 34, Psalm 103), so we throw out an accurate, but shallow definition of giving praise. The virgin Mary is not seen as blest by God in her role as the mother of God, the bearer of Christ, so much as she is seen inherently worthy. She is blesid. Poorness of spirit in the beatitudes is not seen as a blessing from God, but something that makes one holier, blesid.

I do think a breadth of meaning is used in Scripture through the word "blessed," but as one who who  sings a Psalm at four services a week, I am interested in the continuity of soloists and choristers alike magically using blesid when referencing God, Christ, and in many cases Mary, while using blest when referencing actions towards man from above. They didn't learn it in a seminary class and they actually never learned it from their music director (I've asked). It's something that they've learned from the repetition of God's word since they were a toddler in the last pew on the right. Somewhere in the subconscious it has meaning. Is it accurate meaning?