In her The Body in Pain, Elaine Scarry describes the “aversiveness” of our experience of pain. By that, she means that pain is sheerly negative, experienced as something set against us. Even though it is in us, it’s not us. Scarry writes: The first, the most essential, aspect of pain is its sheer aversiveness. While other sensations have content that may be positive, neutral, or negative, the very content of pain is itself negation. If to the person in pain... Read more
Writing in The Australian, Paul Kelly views the state of American politics from Down Under. He gets some things wrong, I think, but he also nails some of the cultural and political toxins of which the 2016 Presidential debate is symptomatic. He lays much of the blame on American leaders. The Presidential campaign exposes “the abandonment by the US ruling class, in particular the political class, of its responsibility to exemplify and uphold standards of character, integrity, competence and civility... Read more
Derek Rishmawy is on to me. In a charitable review of The End of Protestantism, he sees through my effort to make a proposal that is “pre-emptively impervious to critique.” He’s right that I admit “that any number of my worries are indeed possible, but insists that we should try anyways.” Derek spins off a plausible thought experiment. Churches attempt, as I’ve suggested, to work as a unified communion of congregations at a local level. That project may end up... Read more
The Chronicler’s account of David bringing the ark of the covenant to Zion takes up several chapters of 1 Chronicles. Chapters 13-15 describe two ark processions, and chapter 16 describes the organization of the ark tent and its worship in Jerusalem. The first section, chapters 13-15, is chiastically organized: A. First, abortive attempt to bring the ark to Jerusalem, 13:1-14. B. David builds a house and household, 14:1-7 C. David’s wars with the Philistines, 13:8-17 B’. David’s house, 15:1 A’.... Read more
The thesis here is: Inclusion in the sacraments is a necessary privilege of membership in the covenant people. There is no covenant membership except one that is sealed by participation in covenant signs and rites. I immediately concede any number of qualifications and exceptions to this claim. A baptized and believing woman on life support, for example, cannot receive the elements of the Supper, but is not thereby cut out of the covenant. But the refusal to admit infants or... Read more
Summarizing Russell Moore’s 2016 Erasmus Lecture, Rod Dreher writes: Moore is “saying that the best way to influence the culture for Christ is to stop trying to ‘influence the culture for Christ,’ but rather to be deeply and thoughtfully Christian, and to allow your countercultural life to be your testimony.” I haven’t listened to Moore’s lecture. From Dreher’s account, it sounds as pitch-perfect as most everything Moore has been saying and writing of late. But I want to register an... Read more
Paedocommunion not only implies that the church is the new Israel, but that the church is the new humanity. To say the one is to say the other, for Israel was chosen from among the nations to be Yahweh’s instrument to reverse the sin at Babel, the sin of the sons of God, the sin of Cain, and the sin of Adam. That reversal only takes place through the faithfulness of the true Israel, Jesus Christ. In Christ, we are... Read more
Paedocommunion not only implies that the church is the new Israel, but that the church is the new humanity. To say the one is to say the other, for Israel was chosen from among the nations to be Yahweh’s instrument to reverse the sin at Babel, the sin of the sons of God, the sin of Cain, and the sin of Adam. That reversal only takes place through the faithfulness of the true Israel, Jesus Christ. In Christ, we are... Read more
All paedobaptists agree that the church is the new Israel, formed as the body of the Risen Christ. But paedocommunion reinforces this point dramatically, for it insists that the admission requirements to the church’s meal are exactly the same as the admission requirements to Israel’s meals. Ancient Israel celebrated many different meals with various rules for admission. Some food, classified as “most holy,” was reserved exclusively for priests (e.g., Lev. 24:5–9), and “holy food” could be eaten only by the... Read more
All paedobaptists agree that the church is the new Israel, formed as the body of the Risen Christ. But paedocommunion reinforces this point dramatically, for it insists that the admission requirements to the church’s meal are exactly the same as the admission requirements to Israel’s meals. Ancient Israel celebrated many different meals with various rules for admission. Some food, classified as “most holy,” was reserved exclusively for priests (e.g., Lev. 24:5–9), and “holy food” could be eaten only by the... Read more
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