不灭的火焰

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• At other times,he battled his doubts by writing a relevant Bible verse on his wall,on a piece of furniture,or,indeed,any-thing to hand. Again, it is highly revealing. He knew that within himself there was only sin and doubt. All his hope lay outside himself, in God's word. There his security before God was unaffected by how he felt or how he did. And so, when facing doubt, he would not look within himself for any comfort (that would be faithlessness and sin, the origin of all anxiety, not thecure!); instead, he would hold before his eyes this unchanging, external word. (查看原文)

  barrstroud 2022-05-08 19:51:48

• Erasmus'cool,dispassionate style.He thought Erasmus had been worryingly glib about the key issue:are we able to do anything toward our salvation?In complete contrast to Erasmus,Luther was adamant that,for all we freely choose to do,we never naturally choose to please God,and therefore all our salvation must be God's doing,not ours. The difference is evidenced in the words used by the two men to describe their depressions.Luther called his Anfechtung.The word suggests an assault from without,an attack by the Devil.The only hope lay in a conquest from without by Christ,who for us overcame the Devil,Death,and Hell.Erasmus called his depressions pusillanimitas,literally,weakness of spirit,faint heartedness,for which we have the little-used English derivative pusillanimity.This implies a weakn... (查看原文)

  barrstroud 2022-05-08 20:28:10