The Iona School for Ministry

Nature and Grace(Human Nature & Sin)

Third YearFebruary 16, 2013

The Very Rev. Douglas Travis

Study Guide

1. Give a concise summary of the main issues at stake in the Pelagian controversy.2. Why did Augustine believe in original sin?3. Imagine that you are explaining the idea of “grace” to a non-theologian with a limited

attention span. What could you say about the idea in 200 words or less?4. Martin Luther is associated with the doctrine of “justification by faith alone.” What did

he mean by this? And what were the alternatives he rejected?5. “If your aren’t predestined, then go and get yourself predestined.” How does this

Calvinist attitude relate to Weber’s thesis concerning the origins of capitalism?6. Why was Darwinism such a powerful challenge to traditional Christian belief? And

how has Christian theology responded to this challenge?7. Read each passage to yourself several times. Then, in your own words, answer the

questions following the passage.

Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. 15I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.

Questions: You’ve been ordained a priest or a deacon, and you have in your office a parishioner deeply frightened of his own sinfulness and his fear of going to hell. How do you explain this passage to him?a. What does Paul mean when he writes that he has been sold into slavery under sin?b. What does Paul mean when he says that he does not understand his own actions?c. What is flesh? What is spirit?d. Why does evil lie close at hand when Paul wants to do the good?e. What is the mind for Paul?f. What does this passage teach us about free will?g. What does this passage teach us about God?h. What possible pastoral comfort can there be for your parishioner in this passage?

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Nature and Grace(Human Nature & Sin)February 16, 2013The Very Rev. Douglas TravisPage 2

2 Corinthians 5:16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Questions: With the same parishioner, what comfort is there in this passage?a. What is the human point of view? What alternative viewpoint is there?b. What does it mean to be “in Christ”?c. Whose primary ministry is the ministry of reconciliation?d. What does it mean to be an ambassador for Christ?e. What does verse 21 mean?!

Romans 5:15 But the free gift [is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace [] of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. 16And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. 17If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. 19For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

a. Question: Finally, with the same parishioner, how might this passage provide comfort? What is the relationship between the word “grace” and the word “gift”?

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