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Journal : Jurnal Penelitian Progresif (JPP)

AN ANSELMIAN METHOD FOR CONTEMPORARY SOTERIOLOGICAL DEBATES Evans Winata; Jonathan Octavianus
Jurnal Penelitian Progresif Vol 5 No 1 (2026): SEPTEMBER 2025 - FEBRUARY 2026 (Call for Papers)
Publisher : CV Naskah Aceh

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.61992/jpp.v5i1.288

Abstract

Reformed Epistemology successfully defends the rationality of Christian belief against evidentialist objections. Plantinga demonstrates that belief in God can be properly basic and warranted without inferential justification. But this apologetic achievement leaves a methodological gap: believers know they are rational to believe, yet lack rigorous tools for adjudicating between competing doctrines. Both Calvinist and Arminian can claim warranted beliefs about salvation; Reformed Epistemology offers no criteria for choosing between them. This paper argues that Anselm's fides quaerens intellectum fills precisely this gap. Beginning with faith and deploying reason to explore internal coherence, Anselmian method provides constructive theological tools that complement Reformed Epistemology's defensive posture. Three case studies demonstrate the method's utility: the logical order of salvation, the relationship between justification and sanctification, and the grounds of assurance. In each case, Anselmian analysis clarifies underlying commitments, reveals logical structures, and enables more productive theological dialogue. The paper concludes that this medieval method addresses a critical need in contemporary evangelical thought—transforming apologetic defense into constructive systematic theology.
SALVATION WITHOUT CULTIC MERIT: THE CHILD FIGURE IN MATTHEW 18-19 AS DECONSTRUCTION OF TEMPLE MERITOCRACY Felicia Oetomo; Jonathan Octavianus
Jurnal Penelitian Progresif Vol 5 No 1 (2026): SEPTEMBER 2025 - FEBRUARY 2026 (Call for Papers)
Publisher : CV Naskah Aceh

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.61992/jpp.v5i1.328

Abstract

This study explores the significance of the "little child" figure in Matthew 18-19 as a radical soteriological statement that deconstructs the cultic meritocracy of the Temple. In first-century Judaism, although covenantal theology emphasized the grace of election, Temple practice had been corrupted into a system based on ritual and economic worthiness. Through socio-historical exegetical approaches and grammatical analysis, this study demonstrates that by placing the little child—a subject lacking both ritual and economic capacity—as the owner of the Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew performs a total subversion of the cultic hierarchy. Analysis of προσέφερον (prosepheron) and ἐπιθῇ τὰς χεῖρας (epithē tas cheiras) reveals Jesus as the new mediator who provides direct access without the mediation of the priestly system. The contrast with the rich man (Matt 19:16-30) reinforces that access to salvation does not depend on cultic performance or possession of wealth, but on radical dependence like that of a little child. These findings conclude that Matthew does not reject works, but rejects making cultic practices the exclusive basis for Kingdom access; the child figure shifts the locus of worthiness from ritual performance to a relationship of dependence on Christ as the sole mediator.