TF Torrance in a selection from the anthology noted in an earlier post describes the rationale for the distinction of active and passive obedience in Reformed theology. They don’t differ with regard to time – Christ begins to suffer His passive obedience with the incarnation. Jesus is the Subject of both. Torrance says, “They are set in mutual unity in the whole life of Christ. Since this is so we must speak of the active obedience as actio passiva and... Read more
In the Romerbrief , Barth pre-channels Wright on Romans 1:17: “In the Gospel is revealed the great, universal secret of the righteousness of God which presses upon every man of every rank. In Christ the consistency of God with Himself – so grievously questioned throughout the whole world, among both Jews and Greeks – is brought to light and honoured. What men on this side resurrection name ‘God’ is most characteristically not God. Their ‘God’ does not redeem his creation,... Read more
Jesus gives two sets of instructions in the Sermon on the Mount. Some works, He says, are like lights on a lampstand, which shine before men to bring glory to the Father in heaven. Some works (fasting, prayer, alms), though, must be done in secret, before the Father alone, in the dark as it were. A student, Daniel Finley, notes this distinction and links it to the separation of day and night in the creation account. Jesus’ words are words... Read more
Jesus says we should deal with lust with violent decisiveness. If the eye, or the hand, or any other body part offends, it should be removed. The motivation Jesus gives is that it is better for us to enter life disabled than to have our entire body burned in the lake of fire. Is Jesus teaching a sexual ethic centered on self-interest? Is he telling us to avoid lust for our own good? That’s certainly part of it. But I... Read more
“The market may have its martyrdoms,” wrote John Ruskin. Guided by Ruskin, I offer some Lenten reflections on business at http://www.firstthings.com/ Read more
Some observations on Acts 10-12, stimulated by student papers on the subject. First, the narrative pattern in these chapters is intriguing. Chapter 10 and most of 11 are about Peter and Cornelius, but then Peter’s story is interrupted in 11:19 by the reference to the Christians who end up in Antioch preaching to Gentiles. The parallel is clear, but then the Antiochene Christians, Saul, and Barnabas, leave the scene for a bit while the narrative returns to Peter (12:1-24), before... Read more
In his History and Spirit: The Understanding of Scripture According to Origen , de Lubac highlights the centrality of anagogy in Christian interpretation: “It will not be enough to ‘allegorize’ . . . the events and persons of the Old Testament so as to see in them figures of the New if we continue to see in them only other events, other persons. Israel is the figure of spiritual things. In its turn, then, in order to be understood as... Read more
Some early spring flowers from Danielou. “In the gradual unfolding of God’s design, there appears a system of analogies between his successuive works, for all their distinct self-sufficiency as separate creative acts. The Flood, the Passion, Baptism and the Last Judgment are closely linked together in one pattern. In each instance, though at different levels, there is a divine judgment on the sinful world, and a divine clemency whereby aq man is spared to be the beginning of a new... Read more
A morning’s harvest from the de Lubac garden. “Under the opposition of the letter and the spirit, or of the shadow and the truth, in its varied and sometimes, for us, paradoxical expressions, there is always the opposition of two peoples, of two ages, of two regimes, of two states of faith, of two ‘economies,’ which is affirmed. There are two peoples, two ages, two states, two regimes, two economies, which, however, are opposed to each other in a real... Read more
The final chapter of the Song of Songs is filled with imagery of birth, and rebirth. The Bride longs to be as near to Dodi as a sister to her brother, united in a mother, nursing at the same breasts (v. 1). She wants to take Dodi into the “house of my mother,” where she will serve him spiced wine (v. 2). After many warnings about rousing love, she finally rouses Dodi under the apple tree, his awakening a kind... Read more
Leithart
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In