Open Theism Discussion Board

Open Theism Discussion Board > Public Forums > General Chat > About half the time...Calvin (on "glories")

Forum Quick Jump

[ << Previous Thread | Next Thread >> | Show Newest Post First ]

PotOnWheel
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 9890

Posted 6/25/2007 12:59 PM (GMT -6)

I appreciated Pastor's mentioning the things God allows us to do that
"add to his reputation" - which is effective witness.

What came to mind from that was when I did some word searches on
ccel.org pages of Calvin's writings for how he used the word "glory".
I'd heard that some of the time when Calvin uses the word "glory" (and
there could be translation issues) one can see that it means
"reputation." But other times it fits with the sort of glory that is
maybe more like in "shekinah glory." Kallistos Ware has a footnote
saying that when Calvin used "glory" it was (as what Greek Patristic
writers mean when they say) "divine uncreated energies/God's acts" --
that is God's Spirit "acting" directly, and not just through an
intermediary.

This second definition paints another sort of picture than "reputation"
does. This picture is one where in "glorifying God" we become more
"reflective" of God's Light and Love and Life, and therefore we can
"reflect" more of God's "glory" out into the world. This may or may not
immediately add to the "reputation" factor -- as that is dependent
partially on the subjective receptiveness of an audience. But God's
glories are "ever present and filling all things" and when we allow God
to clean "clean our surfaces" we can better (and here's the grammatical
gymnastics that translation forces on me) we can better "glorify" God.

about half the time Calvin, it seemed to me when I looked" used glory
THAT second way. The first definition means that glorification is given
to God (to God's reputation), while the second means that "God's glory"
is "glorified"/projected through us.

Swede in Chicago

(o)

Forum Information

Currently it is Monday, November 09, 2026 3:54 PM (GMT -6)
There are a total of 97,718 posts in 6,040 threads.
In the last 3 days there were 0 new threads and 0 reply posts. View Active Threads

Need Support? | Forum Help Manual