The most mysterious of all the church fathers is a man whose identity we only know by the pen name he used. In fact, when modern historians discovered that the author who calls himself Dionysius was not in fact the man mentioned in Acts 17, they began calling him “false-” or Pseudo-, Dionysius. That’s not quite fair, holding ancient writers accountable to modern intellectual property laws. In fact, I think this annoyance missed the point. So I prefer just to... Read more
To be a believer, for Saint Paul, is to be part of a family formed by a trust in the mystery that lies at the heart of all things. Church as Extended Family In his pastoral epistles to Timothy, Paul shows that he only barely intends us to think of “family” as a metaphor. The second letter opens with a recollection of his own ancestors who served God, and of the faithful service of Timothy’s mother and grandmother. I say... Read more
Do Dogs Go To Heaven? Last week I received a very serious and very sad theological question from a former student. His family had just said goodbye to Amos, their 13 year-old Great Dane. What does our Christian faith have to say about such loss, Cody wondered? He said that his reading and reflecting leads me in some way to believe that animals have souls, and that their salvation is linked to us becoming conduits of grace upon their existence.... Read more
“At Plainsong Farm, God is remaking Christianity. And we get to be part of that.” -Nurya Love Parish This past week, Seminary of the Southwest had a visit from a remarkable human being. Nurya Love Parish is a priest whose ministry consists in farming. She heads a team of five people, along with a host of volunteers, whose Plainsong Farm in Michigan is a ministry of the Episcopal Church. Our students invited her to come for an annual endowed lecture.... Read more
The Humiliation of the Son of God “What kind of descent into humiliation is that?” This question, from Cyril of Alexandria’s commentary on the Gospel of John, made me pause. It made me scrunch my eyebrows and scribble something illegible (sorry, Mrs. Wodock, I never learned penmanship) in the margin. The fifth century Church Father is wrestling here with the baptism scene in John. Specifically, the Spirit’s “descending like a dove” onto Jesus. He’s also got Philippians 2 open in... Read more
“But I am struggling to return from this far country by the road he has made in the humanity of the divinity of his only Son.” -Saint Augustine Saint Augustine’s theology pulses with motion. From the relay of signals among created things, to the loving gift-exchange whom he calls God, everything moves. When I read his sermons and treatises, I find myself in a world flowing with God’s love. And I find myself challenged to let this love move me... Read more
“The world of angels occupies in creation a place which makes it impossible to neglect its consideration without rendering the intelligibility of the universe impossible. . .” –Etienne Gilson Angels in the Architecture Just across the river from the Eiffel Tower, shaded by some trees, stands one of Paris’s more dramatic monuments. It’s not, that is, dramatic in terms of size, visibility, or even artistic design. The lines of the stone are soft and weathered. It’s difficult to make out... Read more
Why does God give us language? That may not be a question you’ve ever wondered about, or thought of wondering about. The “point” of language seems obvious enough. It’s how we get by. It turns needs into acquisitions, isolation into community. And not just for humans. We’re discovering the complex ways plants and animals use language, with audible, visual, and subtle forms of messaging. Language is a survival adaptation. The Gift of Language But what if we assumed that words themselves... Read more
It’s easy to trust the God of light. I am learning to trust the God of darkness. Why God Loves Metaphors God is light. God is darkness. Both of those images, of course, are metaphors. Scripture contains more metaphors than I can count. In one of my favorite passages from Thomas Aquinas (OK, I have several), he asks whether this is appropriate. Shouldn’t Scripture just tells us the truth in plain language? No, Thomas answers his own question. Metaphor is... Read more
I wrote earlier about the Transfiguration of Christ as an unveiling of what God experiences when we pray. Now I’d like to take another look at that same story as an insight into what St. Luke was trying to say about the Christian way of reading Israel’s scriptures. Specifically, what is going on when Moses and Elijah appear on the mountain with Jesus? Isn’t it odd, though, that Christian’s even get to interpret Israel’s scriptures? Families of Interpretation The key... Read more
The Diagonal Way
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