Word: meritable
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Lutheran theologians have been toiling since 1967. Some of the Vatican's fine print was shockingly critical of the text, but it let stand without objection the Declaration's grandest statement: "Together we confess: By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works." Half a millennium of strife is not instantly undone; last week's participants, unlike the Regensburgers, didn't imagine they were reuniting the church...
Luther's doctrine of justification by grace was his solution to two problems. One was personal: the era's Catholic practice presented divine forgiveness and salvation as earned, a function of one's merit. Like many people, Luther was periodically paralyzed by fear that his merit might fall short. He was also angry that the church, as age-old intermediary between believer and God, was profiting from this fear. For a price, the appropriate cleric would perform merit-building practices like prayer, penance or pilgrimage on one's behalf. The sale of such "indulgences" financed many a medieval cathedral. Retreating...
...over the media voicing her controversial opinions on the sex wars. Feminism wasted time trying to persuade us that men are tameable, she proclaimed. Relish sexual power, she told women, but don't go to frat parties expecting men to be saints. The argument was powerful and full of merit, but deployed by lesser minds it quickly devolved into an excuse for media-hungry would-be feminists to share their adventures in the mall or in bed. So let us survey the full post-Paglia landscape...
...Justices ruled today that by instructing the NEA to consider decency as well as artistic merit in making grants, Congress had not infringed on the First Amendment rights of artists. In other words, while the government can't interfere with complainant Karen Finley's right to smear chocolate over her naked body in the name of art, it's not obliged to pay for her Hershey bars either...
Westinghouse spokesman Will Callicott says the charges have no merit, and he says company officials believe the courts will rule in their favor. Westinghouse also disputes the lawsuit's contention that only 1% of senior staff and management is black. The company, however, has not produced statistics to counter the claim...