Steve Martin, The Pleasure of My Company . New York: Hyperion, 2003. 163 pp. In his second novel, Steve Martin (yes, the actor) tells the story of the “redemption” of Daniel Pecan Cambridge. Daniel is a narcissistic neurotic so frightened of walking off curbs that he maps out a serpentine route to the Rite Aid (the only store he can get to by a curbless path) to purchase his multiple prescriptions and to ogle the pharmacy clerk, Zandy. Something of... Read more
As mentioned in an earlier post, Paul says that God works out salvation through the cross and resurrection so that “God might BE just and the justifier of those who are of the faith of Jesus.” That “be” is crucial; God would not BE just if He did not manifest His justice and righteousness in the world. It seems that this provides a deep ground for “postmillennialism”: By creating the world, He has committed Himself to seeing His creation through... Read more
As mentioned in an earlier post, Paul says that God works out salvation through the cross and resurrection so that “God might BE just and the justifier of those who are of the faith of Jesus.” That “be” is crucial; God would not BE just if He did not manifest His justice and righteousness in the world. It seems that this provides a deep ground for “postmillennialism”: By creating the world, He has committed Himself to seeing His creation through... Read more
Eucharistic Meditation, Feb 1: Luke 17:26-29 Jesus describes the coming of the Son of Man by comparing it to the coming of the flood in the days of Noah and the rain of fire and brimstone on Sodom in the days of Lot. One of the main points of the comparison, as we’ve seen, is that in all these cases, many are unprepared for the judgment that falls on them. They are going about their regular business, eating and drinking,... Read more
Exhortation for February 1: Jesus has many things to say about faith in our sermon text this morning. One of the main things has to do with the power of faith: He says that anyone who has faith the size of a mustard seed can say to a deeply rooted tree “Be uprooted and be planted in the sea,” and it will happen. Jesus is not talking about magic tricks here. Jesus is talking about a fig-mulberry tree, which is... Read more
God did not need to make the world. But once He’s made it, He cannot be a righteous God unless He deals righteously with sin (by punishing it) and righteously with His people (by justifying them). This is why Paul says the cross demonstrates God’s righteousness so that He might “be just and the justifier.” God’s demonstration of righteousness is not merely for the sake of MANIFESTING righteousness; it is for the sake of BEING righteous. Given the fact of... Read more
God did not need to make the world. But once He’s made it, He cannot be a righteous God unless He deals righteously with sin (by punishing it) and righteously with His people (by justifying them). This is why Paul says the cross demonstrates God’s righteousness so that He might “be just and the justifier.” God’s demonstration of righteousness is not merely for the sake of MANIFESTING righteousness; it is for the sake of BEING righteous. Given the fact of... Read more
Jim Jordan suggests that justification as forgiveness of sins always also includes glorification. The “robe” that covers us (imputed righteousness) is likewise a garment of glory and beauty, so that we are invested for office at the same time we are glorified. He wants also to relate this to the OT conception of “covering” or “atonement” as including both elements. That fits with a number of emphases in the NT: 1) Reception of the Spirit is linked with justification in... Read more
The story of the 10 lepers in Luke 17 is not just about Jesus demonstrating that He is powerful to save, cleanse and heal. He is powerful for all those things; He DOES have mercy on the unclean and the outcasts. But Luke tells the story of the healing almost incidentally: “as they were going, they were cleansed” (v. 14). The emphasis is largely on the response of the one, Samaritan leper. And this part of the story shows that... Read more
Part of the Renaissance recovery of history was an emphasis on mutability and change. Few themes so dominate the poetry of Spenser or the sonnets of Shakespeare as the fear that Time will gobble up everything good. This was continuous with ancient (and medieval) conceptions of the world, since changeability was seen as an offense and a grief rather than simply accepted as a feature of God’s good creation. In any case, the Renaissance differed from the ancient world largely... Read more
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