Introduction
Our next installment in my series on mere Christianity comes from Eric Reitan. Dr. Reitan is Professor of Philosophy at Oklahoma State University and author of The Triumph of Love: Same-Sex Marriage and the Christian Love Ethic and Is God A Delusion?: A Reply to Religion’s Cultured Despisers. He is also coauthor of God’s Final Victory: A Comparative Philosophical Case for Universalism. I interview Dr. Reitan on the topic of universalism here. You can visit Dr. Reitan online at his blog, “The Piety that Lies Between.”
Eric Reitan on Mere Christianity
“Luther said, ‘So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: “I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!”‘ The assurance of God’s grace, received in faith on account of Christ, is the heart of the Christian message. The rest–how does Christ’s work atone for sin? How many will, in the end, subjectively open themselves to this unconditional grace?–is theology, and important. But mere Christianity is the act of trusting in the grace of God extended through and displayed in Christ’s work.”