17 October 2020

Luther and Lewis

For through the power that I shall have at the right hand of the Father, being of the same divine Majesty and openly transfigured and shown forth as very God and Lord over all creatures, I shall work in you who believe in Me and who, having received My Word, Baptism, and Sacrament, steadfastly abide in them. And as I am Lord over sin, death, the world, the devil, and everything, so shall you be also, so that you will be able to glory in the selfsame power, not that you will have it because of your worthiness or strength, but solely because I go to the Father. Through the Word and through prayer, My Word will work mightily in you.—Martin Luther, Exposition Jn xiv, xv.

Christians, then, believe that an evil power has made himself for the present time the Prince of this World. And, of course, that raises problems. Is this state of affairs in accordance with God’s will or not? If it is, He is a strange God, you will say: and if it is not, how can anything contrary to the will of a being with absolute power?—C. S. Lewis, Business of Heaven, p. 260.

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