On the Threshold

Boersma speaks on nature, real presence

By Glen Argan

Special to the Prairie Messenger

EDMONTON — A deeper understanding of the intertwining of nature and the supernatural can provide insights that will bring Catholics and Protestants closer together, says a Christian Reformed theologian from Vancouver.

“Nature is never strictly or purely natural,” said Dr. Hans Boersma, a systematic theologian at Regent College and author of several books on the Fathers of the Church. “God is always present, really present, sacramentally present with his gracious purposes within the natural world.”

Catholic theology prior to the Second Vatican Council, however, tended to draw a line separating supernatural, spiritual things, such as grace and the sacraments, from ordinary, everyday things, he said.

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