Now to ‘Achav [were] seventy sons in Shomron And wrote Jehu’ scrolls And he sent [to] Shomron to the princes of Yizre’e’l, the elders And to the trustees of ‘Achav, saying, “Now you yourselves according to the entering of this scroll to you And with you [are] the sons of your master And with you the chariotry and the horses and a city of fortification and the armory: And see the good and the upright from the sons of your... Read more
Explaining the meaning of the image of God, Calvin writes, “there is no solidity in Augustine’s speculation, that the soul is a mirror of the Trinity, inasmuch as it comprehends within itself, intellect, will, and memory. Nor is there any probability in the opinion of those who place likeness to God in the dominion bestowed upon man, as if he only resembled God in this, that he is appointed lord and master of all things. The likeness must be within,... Read more
In his account of the beginning of World War I, Europe’s Last Summer , David Fromkin notes that globalization was already well underway prior to 1914, and in fact was in some ways more advanced than at any time since: “You could go to practically anywhere in the world without anyone’s permission. For the most part, you needed no passports, and many had none. The French geographer Andre Siegfried traveled all around the world with no identification other than his... Read more
I have been deeply skeptical about the arguments of Jacques Ellul and others concerning our enslavement to technology, as well as the arguments of Peter Berger about the “heretical imperative” that modernity imposes on us. Technological modernity tempts us, as Craig Gay has argued, to act as if God does not exist, but this is just another of many temptations that need to be resisted. Modernity is another form of worldliness; nothing fundamentally new here. On the other hand, there... Read more
Ronald Simkins has distinguished between “high context” and “low context” societies. In the former, the members of the society share many cultural assumptions and meanings; in the latter, the shared meanings are much thinner and more sporadic. Of course, the distinction is not absolute, since within a relatively “low context” society there may be groups that are “high context” – Amish within modern America, for instance. But the distinction, rough as it is, is useful. Simkins helpfully suggests that these... Read more
2 Kings 5:17: Naaman said to Elisha, “Your servant will no more offer burnt offering nor will he sacrifice to other gods, but to Yahweh.” Naaman, we noted in the exhortation, was a baptized Gentile convert. That baptism in the Jordan healed him of his leprosy. That baptism was an act of humiliation, and marked and effected a change in character, as the “great man” was reborn as a “little boy.” Naaman illustrates the fact that all baptisms are infant... Read more
When he finished his Pentecost sermon, Peter urged the Jews how to respond to his message: “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ,” he said, “for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Peter says that when we repent and are baptized we are forgiven and receive the gift of the Spirit. That’s a lot of power for a little bit of water. But it is... Read more
ECUSA has recently released its response to the Windsor Report’s invitation to explain “from within the sources of authority that we as Anglicans have received in scripture, the apostolic tradition and reasoned reflection, how a person living in a same gender union may be considered eligible to lead the flock of Christ.” It is masterfully slippery. At the heart of its case, the ECUSA report (entitled, clumsily, To Set Our Hope On Christ ; hereinafter, “The Report”) claims that members... Read more
This is out of order from the other posts on Hart. David Hart, Beauty of the Infinite Part 2, section 1: Trinity Thesis 2: Different and distance in Christian understanding are understood in Trinitarian terms. In this light, peace is the true form of difference, and beauty is the true form of distance. i. Divine Difference. Rahner’s Rule not only encourages a Trinitarian theology that moves from Jesus to the nature of the Trinity, but also one that moves from... Read more
Troubled parishioner: I know that God is utterly reliable. He always keeps his promises. I just don’t know if the promises are for me. Pastor: But you hear the absolution every week, right? TP: Sure, but how do I know that God is talking to me? Pastor: You hear the absolution, right? TP: Yes. Pastor: That’s God’s word. TP: Sure, but how do I know God is talking to me? (more…) Read more
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