In his commentary on the Sentences, Thomas says that “The science [of theology] develops from these first principles [of faith] and also includes the universal [natural] principles. It possesses no means to prove them, but only to defend them against detractors.” It’s the comparison that’s arresting: “Just as no artist can prove the axioms of his art.” Thomas, the aesthetic theologian. Read more
My son had a dream last night. There was some mayhem and some police action, and the dream ended with him hearing a police siren. He woke up and his alarm was going off. What happened? Two possibilities, as far as I can see. The first is that he had been dreaming for some time before his alarm went off and then the dream somehow dovetailed with the alarm going off. That would be either be an uncanny coincidence, or... Read more
When Rebekah sends her younger son to her husband, she clothes him in goat skins (Genesis 27:15-16). To this point in Genesis, the only other people to be clothed were Adam and Eve, clothed with skins as they left Eden (3:21). Rebekah stands in the place of Yahweh to “invest” her son. In the light of later uses of this verb, we can infer that Rebekah is clothing her son as a priest. She “fills his hand” with savory food,... Read more
Leviticus 8-9 are organized by repetition of phrases about Yahweh’s commandments. Everything in the ordination rite is done “as Yahweh commanded Moses” (8:5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 29, 36; 9:6, 7, 10, 21). It works: When Israel does as Yahweh commands, the glory appears and eats the ascension and the fat. Yahweh eats with obedience people. Then 10:1: “Nadab and Abihu . . . offered strange fire before Yahweh, which He had not commanded.” Sin is breaking rhythm. Read more
Evan Almighty is amusing in spots, but often cheesy, preachy, and predictable. But it does have one of the best put-downs of liberal theology I’ve seen anywhere. On God’s instructions, Evan Baxter has built a gigantic ark in the empty lots near his new DC-area home, endured the ridicule of the world and the skepticism of his family. The day of the flood comes, and it rains for a few moments and then clears. Evan’s wife suggests that Evan may... Read more
David Hart notes, in a discussion of Derrida and Milbank on gift, that “absolute ‘selfless’ gratuity, which will not submit to reciprocation, is pure power; but interested exchange – even though sin inevitably corrupts all exchange with the shadow of coercion and greed – is not simply an economy over against which the impossible gift stands as a dialectical encounter, but is able rather to manifest a more primordial free gesture . . . that underlies and ultimately exceeds any... Read more
In my sermon notes from last week, I took the position that Jesus makes a transition in verse 14 to talking about a final judgment, and the time between Jesus’ ascension and the end of this creation. Two details hint that Jesus has changed theme. First, 25:13 matches 24:42, and thus closes out the section about the “day and hour” that is coming within “this generation.” Second, the master in this parable is gone for a “long time” (v. 19).... Read more
INTRODUCTION The three parables in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse all emphasize that Jesus assesses His disciples according to their performance. The judgment scene at the end of Matthew 25 makes the same point: The ones who enter life are the ones who have acted righteously toward the least of Jesus’ brothers. THE TEXT “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy [ c ] angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His... Read more
Matthew 25:21: His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your lord. The master in the parable of the talents distributes talents based on ability right from the beginning. He gives the talents “each according to his own ability” (v. 15), and His rewards are also proportionate. When the servants are faithful in little, they receive... Read more
Matthew 25:3-4: The kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks with their lamps. The history of the Bible is a history of siblings, and sometimes of twins. At the beginning, the siblings are frequently at war. Adam and... Read more
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