page 10
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, October 15, 1980
THE
,8 fc
Celebrates
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"Charge In" For
50s Gans 50s Uisod Drinlss
Tonight: Wed., Oct. 15
Theologian says things should
be related to God's ordering
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By Mary Louise Knapp
Man's fundamental purpose is to relate to his life the
will of God, a theologian said Tuesday.
In a lecture entitled "Toward a Theocentric vision,"
James M. Custafson discussed the theology of John Calvin
and his own beliefs concerning Calvin's doctrines.
Gustafson's lecture, the second in the Atkinson Theo
logical Lectures series, was sponsored by the Religious
Studies Committee of the UNL College of Arts and
Sciences. The Atkinson lectures are the first theological
lectures to be presented at UNL.
"All things ought to be properly related to God's or
dering," Gustafson said.
This does not mean that man cannot help himself, he
explained. Man should also accept help from others.
"We are not hindered from putting our affairs in order,"
he said.
Gustafson is an ordained minister of the United Church
of Christ and a professor of theology at the University
of Chicago.
Conscience can err
Gustafson said that man's conscience is usually his
guide, but can err at times.
"This is why we were given a written law," he said.
There are three elements of the "reform tradition" of
Calvin in which Gustafson said he believes.
The first of these states that God is an all-powerful
other who has complete knowledge of everything that
happens and who has a purpose for every event.
"Nothing happens by chance," Gustafson said.
Gustafson said the qualities of God-foreknowledge
of events and the ability to control events, are to some ec
tent present in man, but, because of human limitations,
man does not have the power to completely control every
thing in his life.
"The possibilities of human action are severely limited
by who and where we are, but we can sustain and alter die
course of events to some extent," he said.
The second element refers to the "centrality of piety."
"When I speak of piety, I do not mean ostentatiously
living or pretending to live a religious life," he said.
'Piety is respect and devotion to God, which implies
the acceptance of duties and responsibilities," he said.
Gustafson said that piety is evoked by the presence of
God and the realization of his power.
Pervasive sense
4,Calvin was aware of a pervasive sense of piety, of the
knowledge of God brought by the experience of God"
through observation of the natural laws, he said.
"It is meaningless to make a case for the existence of
God andour obligation to him, and for ethics and morality
unless piety exists," he said.
The third element is the relation of a man's life to the
will of God.
"We obey (God) out of gratitude and knowledge of
what is displeasing to him," Gustafson said. "We are not
to follow the mind's caprice."
Gustafson said that while he agreed with the basic
principles of Calvin's theology, he questioned some points
of belief.
He said that while tragic events can result in some ben
efit or meaning for those affected by them, these events
were not designed solely for-that purpose.
"Some reformers believe that God wills only what is
good for man," he said. "God is for man in the sense that
man's possibilities- depend on what God gives him, but
God's will is not always for our benefit."
Piety, faith, and moral virtue that results from them,
which are given by God's grace alone, in the attainment
Gustafson said that eternal life provides rewards for
those who did not receive all that they should have in this
life, and retribution for those who received more than
they should have.
UN
11
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B : h
WEDNESDAY ROYALTY ELECTION East Campus, East
Campus Union, 9 a.m. -5 p.m.
MARX BROTHERS MOVIE "Horsefeathers,"
Nebraska Union Centennial Room, 9 p.m.
FRIDAY HOMECOMING DISPLAY JUDGING, 2-4 P.M.
CAMPUS PARADE, 7 p.m.
PEP RALLY Union Mall, 7:30 p.m.
HOMECOMING DANCE Featuring Blackberry
Winter, 8 p.m., Nebraska Union. Introduction of
Homecoming Royalty Candidates at 8:45 p.m. An
nounce winners of Display Contest at 9:45 p.m.
SATURDAY LIVE ENTERTAINMENT on the Union Mail,
10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
FOOTBALL Cornhuskers vs. Oklahoma State
Cowboys, 1:30 p.m. Memorial Stadium. Home
coming Royalty will be crowned at Half-Time.
ALL-ALUMNI Postgame Homecoming Gathering,
after the game in the Hilton Hotel Ballroom.
Presented by the All University Homecoming Committee
Com Cobs O Tassels O Student Alumni Board O Union Program Council o Yell Squad
O Residence Hall Association O Panhellenlc Association o Intorflratemity Council
ham3 hqS grad walbrafcioGis