Tim Keller would regularly talk about relocating our identity. The book I'm reading now by Walter Marshall, _Gospel Mystery of Sanctfication_ puts a high premium on the "effectual means" or mga effectve na endowments ng Diyos for our own sanctification most especially that we "be well persuaded of our reconciliation with God, and of our future enjoyment of the everlasting heavenly happenings, and of sufficient strength both to will and perform all duties acceptably, until we come to the enjoyment of that happiness."
Naka connect din ang reflection ko na ito sa recent na readings ko kay Weber (_Spirit of Capitalism and the Protestant Work Ethic_) kung saan yung sociological analysis niya sa growth ng economy ng English empire was due to the spiritual identity that the Puritans have placed on the dignity of work rooted in their calling or vocation predestined by God. Para kay Weber, mere utilitarianism lang daw will never be able to sustain and account for this "spirit" to emerge out of a working class environment.
Yung work and progress daw naka ugat sa self-understanding ng mga tao kung ano sila at sino siila "sub specie aeternitatis" (under the perspectiive of eternity).
It is interesting to note that this was a counter-argument against the foundation of the economic theory of Marx na kailangan mo muna iset-up ang economic-material base ng isang society para ito mag progress and then saka ka gumawa ng religious super-structure. Kay Weber baliktad. Yung religion ang nagturo kung paano magkaroon ng stable na economic base dahil sa "spirit of capitalism" na resulta ng "Protestant work ethic."
To wrap it up, the saints of old (as is Keller) puts a high premium on our self-understanding as saved elect as the starting point of fruitful work. Para kay Marshall this type of thinking is ay bahagi ng "effectual means" na divine "endowment" sa atin. For Weber grappling with the causality ng sociological phenomenon ng capitalism, na trace niya itong self-understanding na ito as the "psychological stimulus to the development of their ethical attitude." He further explains, "The community of the elect with their God could only take place and be perceptible to them in that God worked (operatur) through them and that they were conscious of it. That is, their action originated from the faith caused by God’s grace, and this faith in turn justified itself by the quality of that action."
Kumbaga, they can know judge what is correct work and how to be motivated for that work based sa self-understanding na ito na sila ay "called" (German "beruf") by God and as such endowed by effectual means to His desired end.
#MorningPrinciples
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