tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post7871872686449800808..comments2024-03-28T13:06:46.297+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: 'Failing' as a ChristianBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-61364436411480580242019-10-10T20:43:39.189+01:002019-10-10T20:43:39.189+01:00"It is because we need to learn from failing ..."It is because we need to learn from failing that we are alive. If we could live without failing - there would be no need to live."<br /><br />Bravo!Davidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-1191299683443877732019-10-10T20:34:10.934+01:002019-10-10T20:34:10.934+01:00I needed this exactly now! Thank youI needed this exactly now! Thank youDavidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-4647530962403195682019-10-10T20:22:32.582+01:002019-10-10T20:22:32.582+01:00I think this is only part of the story. It's ...I think this is only part of the story. It's not enough just to learn the right lessons as you go through life. There needs to be the assurance that once you learn the lessons (ie. turn towards God) then God will give you all of your hearts true desires. Either in this life or the next. Example, see Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Once Scrooge was finally awakened and his heart softened, his life was restored and given back to him. And even though we don't see it, we're certain he'll be reconnected with those from his past at some point. <br /><br />-Andrew E.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15071413357901396149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-36688781296552591212019-10-10T19:50:04.414+01:002019-10-10T19:50:04.414+01:00@Francis - It is because we need to learn from fai...@Francis - It is because we need to learn from failing that we are alive. If we could live without failing - there would be no need to live. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-55804259112207084162019-10-10T18:23:56.230+01:002019-10-10T18:23:56.230+01:00What you outline in this post is of immense import...What you outline in this post is of immense importance. If failure is necessary and inevitable, then Christians should aim to be "successful failures." Francis Bergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11063224017320651978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-11212768766139898272019-10-10T12:59:40.737+01:002019-10-10T12:59:40.737+01:00@BB - Well - in this respect I would say that Roma...@BB - Well - in this respect I would say that Roman Catholics are prone not to bother striving for ideal behaviour, and then to start saying that sin is not sin - and then a virtue (because their practice is based around the Mass; while serious Protestants tend to become desperate and perhaps despairing (and maybe give up) because they cannot be perfect in mortal life (because their practice is based on living by Biblical injunctions). <br /><br />On the other hand, the great strength of serious Evangelicals (among protestants) is the appreciation that the slate is always and evry-time wiped completely-clean by faith (including repentance). Where they are strict about behaviour is among those with pastoral responsibility. e.g. The sin of divorce may be forgiven, but that person may well be permanently excluded from pastoral responsibility. 'Church order' is very important, in other words (this being the given reason why women are excluded from pastor positions - i.e. because women pastors tend to destroy church order). <br /><br />The combination of a striving for perfection and the inevitable failures of living can be that strange doctrine of salvation depending upon the state of one's soul at the instant of death ... 'the tree lies where it falls' - which makes all of life a worry about that moment. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-38579507156071506492019-10-10T12:10:12.074+01:002019-10-10T12:10:12.074+01:00“Another way that failure wrecks a life is when it...“Another way that failure wrecks a life is when it is assumed that each failure to live by the ideal standards (e.g. never to sin) or to live in the ideal way (e.g. always to be at the highest level of consciousness) invalidates the ideal.<br /> The way it goes is that: "Since I am incapable of perfection, I am a fraud; since my life is not wholly transformed by my faith - my faith is a sham. Because Christianity cannot abolish sin in me (or him, or her) it is useless. No matter how hard I try, I always keep failing; therefore it is futile to try."<br /><br />This is common in the evangelical understanding of Christianity because of Calvinist (and probably Lutheran) influence. Catholicism and Orthodoxy teach the living of a Christian life and the practice of virtue and practice of the faith. Evangelical churches seem to assume (implicitly) that a person who has a genuine conversion will be possessed by the Holy Spirt, have no concupiscence, magically turn from sin. They see the necessity of practicing virtue, gaining command of the will, cultivating faith, etc. as “works salvation.”<br />Bruce B.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-3720531470228550322019-10-10T10:44:50.171+01:002019-10-10T10:44:50.171+01:00Thank you for this. For me, it was very timely. An...Thank you for this. For me, it was very timely. And it reminded with force of some of my own tendencies which have in the past tossed me upon rocks of my own making. It's helpful to be reminded of transcendent realities.S.K. Orrhttp://www.steepletea.comnoreply@blogger.com