Sermon on the Plain

Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man: Church Fathers, Reformers, and Commentators
Bible Stories and Parables

Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man: Church Fathers, Reformers, and Commentators

04/16/2025 Bruce Strom 0

James Boice teaches us: “It is true that the rich man’s riches worked to his hurt, for he lived for those and nothing else. It is hard for the rich to enter heaven, as Jesus said elsewhere in Luke. It is also true that Lazarus’ poverty worked to his spiritual good, for lacking earthly joys and comfort he turned his eyes to heaven and sought divine consolation.”
James Boice remarks on the contrasts in the parable. Spiritually, “the rich man was actually poor, and the poor man was actually rich. This contrast continues after their death: the poor rich man grew poorer, and the rich poor man grew richer.” “The final contrast is between the hopelessness of the rich man’s condition after death and the hopefulness of his condition before. After death there is no possibility of change, but in this life there is.” […]

CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity: Forgiveness, Pride, and Envy. Can Pride Ever Be Good?
CS Lewis

CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity: Forgiveness, Pride, and Envy. Can Pride Ever Be Good?

06/06/2024 Bruce Strom 1

CS Lewis notes that in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer we pray: “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” He observes: “There is no slightest suggestion that we are offered forgiveness on any other terms. It is made perfectly clear that if we do not forgive, we shall not be forgiven.”
Indeed, immediately after the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew, Jesus exhorts us: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” […]

Biblical Interpretation

Blessed Are the Poor, Woe to the Rich, and Other Woke Compassionate Bible Verses

12/14/2022 Bruce Strom 1

Among the Church Fathers, St Ambrose teaches us,
“Blessed are the poor. Not all the poor are blessed, for poverty is neutral. The poor can be either good or evil,” unless he is the blessed pauper described by Proverbs 19:22, “’A righteous poor man is better than a rich liar.’ Blessed is the poor man in whom the prince of this world finds nothing. Blessed is the poor man who is like that poor Man who, although he was rich, became poor for our sake,” […]

Philosophy

Why This Old White Christian Abandoned the Republican Party

01/07/2022 Bruce Strom 0

The absolute disrespect shown to our President Barack Obama by many Republican Congressmen, Fox News, and the Tea Party movement was both deeply offensive and also reminded me of similar insults thrown about during the Jim Crow lynching years of our ugly history. It was the rise of the Tea Party movement that meant I now had an ugly choice, I could either support the party of morals, or I could support the party of compassion, but the choice was not really that ugly, because if you are not compassionate, than any morals you wear on your sleeve for show are fake morals, because compassion and morals go together. […]