Questions and answers for readers of Real Grace for Real People
(In some cases, more than you really wanted to know!) We anticipate updating this section repeatedly each month, so check back.
1. What is Augustinianism?
Augustine was the Bishop of the city of Hippo. His teachings, especially concerning topics such as original sin and prophecy, had an immeasurable impact on Christian thought for a millennium and longer. His writings were voluminous. In the 1200s the Augustinian order was launched within the Roman Catholic Church—with the purpose of fighting heresy and upholding Catholic doctrine and inculcating the Augustinian variety of spirituality among the general populace as they could be so influenced. Augustinianism may also be said to be the following and promulgation of the teachings of Augustine. Interestingly, before martin Luther left the Roman Catholic Church and launched the Reformation, he had been an Augustinian monk. John Calvin had also read deeply in Augustine's writings and used them as the basis for several points in his own teaching. Augustine was truly one of the most preeminent persons in history to influence Christianity—alas, largely in a mistaken direction. Protestantism was thus infected with several of Augustine's core mistaken notions concerning salvation from the very beginning!
2. How can Jesus have the same human nature that we do and that not make Him a sinner?
At the bottom line, the issue is, is all this an equipment problem, or a problem of disposition and will? Are we condemned for being born with a fallen nature, or for acting in solidarity with the inclinations of our fallen nature? The answer we give will determine the shape of the gospel we adhere to; the question is truly that decisive. For Bible answers and some historical background to this question, see the following two links:
Axe of the Ages. http://www.collisionwithprophecy.org/journey/cwp3.html.
Misunderstood Texts On Sin. http://www.collisionwithprophecy.org/afl/afl3.html.
3. You assert that the differences between the Roman Catholic's and the Protestant's views of salvation were not really so great. Can you say more in regard to this?
That is absolutely correct. Keep in mind that most of Luther's 95 theses of objection were about abusing the plan of indulgences and other abuses, rather than strictly in relation to his view of righteousness by faith. (For those interested, here is a link to a translation of Luther's original 95 theses. NOTE: This is a link that takes you off of our website.) For a careful presentation of this issue which goes a bit deeper than we do in Real Grace for Real People, click on the following link: Grace, Protestantism, and Catholicism. http://www.collisionwithprophecy.org/sermons/pri-gpc.php3, by Dennis Priebe (Pastor Priebe is mentioned on both the back cover of the book and on the dedication page as well.)
4. You mention the Sabbath repeatedly in the book. Are you suggesting that Christians today should observe the seventh day Sabbath?
As you read the book, you must have noticed that my approach is to endeavor to let the Bible provide to us the interpretive principles Heaven built into it. Also, that after first ascertaining that we are “rightly dividing” it, we take seriously all of God's Word and counsel. If you would like to learn my specific views on whether Christians should observe the seventh day Sabbath, please read and weigh the materials provided in the following links:
No Rest for the Wicked. http://www.collisionwithprophecy.org/journey/cwp10.html.
The Sealing. http://www.collisionwithprophecy.org/journey/cwp14.html.
America in Prophecy. http://www.collisionwithprophecy.org/journey/cwp16.html.
5. You mention a "heavenly sanctuary" which I have never heard of. Can you tell me what this is all about?
We have two presentations that address this online, at the following links:
Yom Kippur and Bible Prophecy. http://www.collisionwithprophecy.org/journey/cwp5.html.
The Longest Time Prophecy in the Bible. http://www.collisionwithprophecy.org/journey/cwp6.html.
6. Views like those you espouse in the book are putting Christians back under the law and into destructive legalism. As soon as you include conditions in a person's being saved you have introduced salvation by works. Can't you see that?
On the contrary, we feel that from a biblical perspective, we have adhered carefully to the teaching of the Bible and of the New Testament in particular. Perhaps one day we will finish our manuscript on Ephesians, Galatians, and James and offer additional evidence in favor of the Bible-centered view of the gospel we shared in Real Grace for Real People in its place in the gospel of Christ.
7. Will you write more books similar to Real Grace for Real People?
That is the plan. But let's see how everything goes with the current book.
8. There are several places in the book where it appears either an error or an unusual form of expression is used. Which is it?
What you are probably referring to are similar expressions appearing on pp. 3, 4, 6, 10, 17, 18, 31, 39, 47, 73, 85, and 107. Here is the explanation:
At several points in the book I use a literary device to express emphasis which might be called the “offset phrase.” These are occasions in the manuscript where I set apart a word or a phrase seemingly as a one-sentence paragraph. Actually, they are not one-sentence paragraphs. A paragraph is more of a container for a whole idea or a set of expressions that portrays an idea roughly in a unit. My offset phrases are more a form of emphatic literary device.
Where we often have used bolded print or italicized print or underlined or added an exclamation point to indicate emphatic expression, my offset phrases have a similar character, but they use space on the page to achieve a similar effect. They are set apart—offset from the above and below text—almost as if having the status as a second paragraph, but they are really connected in thought to the paragraph directly above them. They are a device by which an author may seek to convey to the reader a spoken style of delivery, but represented in a way that attempts to portray that in the written form.
They should not be indented as paragraphs because they are by their nature usually fragmentary ideas linked to the paragraph directly above them. They are simply a different kind of literary device. They are not indented but begin with a capitalized word. They are fragmentary in nature but not obscure or difficult to understand as they go with what was written immediately before. The end of the line just preceding the offset phrase receives an em dash at the end, serving also as a written cue to the connection of the next phrase with the same paragraph.
Last updated 30 July 2003
