the singularity of being and nothingness
Theology
A Broken Ethic of Love
May 3rd
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; but rejoice when they get a bullet to the head — Jesus, Matthew 5:44
I’m late to the party. Bin Laden is dead, and everyone and their mother has blogged their brains out about it. Alas, it cannot be helped…
I’m at a loss for words because I’m genuinely filled with sadness about this day. I’m saddened because I’ve seen Christians–many of them unwittingly–rejoice and exult in the death of Bin Laden. I sincerely don’t mean this in a judgmental way–I have enough flaws of my own to not waste my hypocritical breath on others. But I’m saddened because my tongue-in-cheek revision of Jesus’ directive to love seems to have actualized itself in far too many ways.
I’m saddened because barely one week after Easter, we’ve forgotten the profundity of forgiveness and the depths of divine love (did we realize it to begin with?) that was displayed unconditionally to an infinitely twisted, broken, hostile, rebellious, and murderous race.
I’m saddened because on Divine Mercy Sunday, where all are invited partake of the Eucharist and find salvation, hearts are yet closed and actually rejoice in the destruction and presumed damnation of a human person…even if he was an More >
Auto-Tuning Theology: The Disappearance of Death
Dec 14th
Continuing with Athanasius, we come across an outstanding passage from On the Incarnation of the Word wherein Athanasius brilliantly lays out the reason for Christ’s Incarnation. But for Athanasius, the importance of the Incarnation is of more importance than the mere appearing of God in the person of Christ. Rather, he sees an indelible link between the manner in which Christ has come (in the flesh), and the work which he accomplishes.
To Athanasius, the assumption of human nature is the means by which the corruption and dissolution which has infected humanity can finally be undone. Through his suffering and death, Christ tastes the annihilating power of sin and death. Yet because he is at the same time the incorruptible Word of God made manifest in the flesh, the corruption of sin and death which would normally obliterate the human person severed from God is of no permanent effect on him. By virtue of his justification and “grace” in the resurrection granted to him by the power of the Father, Christ reveals the powers of sin and death to be ultimately vacuous, and in this triumph over the grave, he crushes forever their claim on his brothers, the race of humankind that has been More >
Athanasius: Mortality and the Problem of Unbecoming
Dec 13th
Throughout theological history, there have been many theories set forth regarding the origin and theological meaning of human mortality. Some, seeing mortality as the result of a departure from a pristine existence in the Garden of Eden, root the advent of human mortality in the “fall” of Adam and Eve by virtue of their disobedience of God’s commandment not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Others, especially those influenced by reflections upon the theories of biological evolution, understand human mortality as something which is the natural state of existence, the peculiar aspect which all things in the impermanent universe share in common.
For those who have read my previous thoughts on the subject, it should be plainly obvious where I come down on the issue, and I have argued strenuously that I believe it is possible to assume the latter position while still putting forward a thoroughly biblical and theologically tenable understanding of the nature of human existence in relationship to God, the problem of evil, and the ultimate purposes of God within the universe.
Nevertheless, I was extremely intrigued to come across a fairly developed argument from St. Athanasius on this very topic. The selection More >
Auto-Tuning Theology: The Trinity
Dec 4th
St. Athanasius – First letter to Serapion
More Athanasius! In this installment, Athanasius–in his distinct way–nicely summarizes some of the more important aspects of Trinitarian theology. Definitely a great passage 🙂
Listen to the TrackIt will not be out of place to consider the ancient tradition, teaching and faith of the Catholic Church, which was revealed by the Lord, proclaimed by the apostles and guarded by the fathers. For upon this faith the Church is built…
Light, radiance and grace are in the Trinity and from the Trinity
Light, radiance and grace are in the Trinity and from the Trinity
We acknowledge the Trinity, holy and perfect, to consist of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
In this Trinity there is no intrusion of any alien element or of anything from outside, nor is the Trinity a blend of creative and created being.
Light, radiance and grace are in the Trinity and from the Trinity
Light, radiance and grace are in the Trinity and from the Trinity
It is a wholly creative and energizing reality, self-consistent and undivided in its active power,
For the Father makes all things through the Word and in the Holy Spirit, and in this way the unity is preserved.
Light, radiance and grace More >
Auto-Tuning Theology: Theosis
Oct 25th
St. Athanasius – On the Incarnation of the Word, 54
In the second part of Auto-Tuning Theology, we stick with Athanasius and select a passage for which he is probably most famous: his outline of the doctrine of Theosis.
Listen to the TrackAs, then, he who desires to see God Who by nature is invisible and not to be beheld,
May yet perceive and know Him through His works,
So too let him who does not see Christ with his understanding at least consider Him
In His bodily works and test whether they be of man or God.
If they be of man, then let him scoff; but if they be of God, let him not mock at things which are no fit subject for scorn,
But rather let him recognize the fact
And marvel that things divine have been revealed to us by such humble means,
That through death deathlessness has been made known to us,
And through the Incarnation of the Word the Mind whence all things proceed has been declared,
And its Agent and Ordainer, the Word of God Himself.
He, indeed, assumed humanity that we might become God.
He, indeed, assumed humanity that we might become God.
He, indeed, assumed humanity that we might become God.
He, indeed, assumed More >
Auto-Tuning Theology: Christ’s Death
Oct 25th
St. Athanasius – On the Incarnation of the Word, 26
This selection is from St. Athanasius’ famous On the Incarnation of the Word, section 26. This paragraph is an introduction to the argument which Athanasius makes regarding the necessity and efficacy of Christ’s death and resurrection.
Listen to the TrackShare this:Fitting indeed, then, and wholly consonant was the death on the cross for us; And we can see how reasonable it was, And why it is that the salvation of the world could be accomplished in no other way. Even on the cross He did not hide Himself from sight; Rather, He made all creation witness to the presence of its Maker. Then, having once let it be seen that it was truly dead, He did not allow that temple of His body to linger long, But forthwith on the third day raised it up, IMPASSIBLE and INCORRUPTIBLE
The pledge and token of His victory.
The Imaging of God and the Creating Word
Aug 21st
The Creating Word
In describing the mechanism of God’s creative energy, the writers of the biblical creation narratives may have employed any number of devices to communicate the unfathomable act of creation ex nihilo. Unlike other narratives that imagine creation taken from the body of a deity, or even one in which the universe springs forth from pure, divine thought, the whole of creation in the biblical drama issues forth from the spoken word of the Creator. This is profound, for speech is ultimately not an act of isolated engagement, but as Heidegger notes, is equally speaking and listening, a hearing and uncovering, an equal state of showing and beholding.
In this way, the speaking-Creator in the act of primal, universal becoming signifies something of the way in which the Creator is related to the creation. Because the spoken word underpins the entire drama and energy of the universe’s becoming, that which is brought into being–the spoken-into–is made to participate in the one who speaks. Through its emerging existence, the creation forms a conversation with the Creator, concomitantly the outcome of the word and the reason for it.
Moreover, the logic of this creating/becoming conversation unveils a suggestion of the meaningfulness of the creation to More >
Two Swords and an Interpretive Dilemma
Aug 6th
Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered.
He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors'[b]; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”
The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.” “That is enough,” he replied.
(Luke 22:35-38)
If you’ve ever studied this passage from Luke 22, you’re sure to have come away with, at the very least, a modicum of uncertainty and perhaps a fair amount of confusion as well. While it’s quite simple in its construction, the ridiculously large number of interpretations that are assigned to it makes it a troubling passage from an exegetical perspective.
What makes this passage so difficult to interpret, however, is not the obscurity of its words, but rather the ends to which different interpreters press the passage. Principally, this passage is used by many to advocate something of a justification of Christian violence-through-self-defense, while others use the passage More >
“Son of the Morning,” by Oh, Sleeper
Aug 3rd
This outstanding track by Oh, Sleeper can be found on the new Tooth and Nail Solid State Sampler (just click on “Free Sampler”).
To me, this is one of those tracks that epitomizes how lyrical meaning can be radically extended by the medium in which it is delivered. While I think the lyrics on their own merits are pretty profound, their execution against the shrill guitars and angst of the vocal performance infuse them with a level of intensity and meaning that could not be captured otherwise. This is definitely one of my new favorite songs.
SynopsisThis song is basically a conversation between Satan and the crucified Christ, or rather a monologue from two radically different perspectives.
Throughout the song, the devil exults in his apparent victory over the “weak forgiver,” the supposed savior who has been vanquished by the devil’s hand in the grave. Satan continues by mocking the dead Christ, intimating that he should have used his power to save himself, rather than “wasting power on grace.” And having triumphed over Christ in death, the devil promises that the same end which now enfolds the body of the redeemer will be that toward which he will lure all those Christ came to More >
Some More on Apologetics
Jul 31st
In my last post on the subject of apologetics, I argued the true spirit of apologetics should be focused on laying out the place of Christian beliefs within the context of the life and community of faith. Instead of trying to “convince” non-believers about the “reasonableness” of the historicity or phenomenology of some point of doctrine, I suggested that the “reasonableness” of Christian belief can only be fully realized in the articulation of these doctrines as emerging from the experience of the faithful themselves. In this way, then, beliefs about the Incarnation, resurrection, etc. are not “truths” that necessarily exist independently of the profession of faith of the community of believers, but rather find their truthfulness and meaningfulness from the mission and identity of the body of Christ within the kingdom of God in the world.
I suggest that the purpose of apologetics was never intended to be about converting others to one’s way of thinking through logic and argumentation. Rather, to recall the famous Petrine passage, Christians are to give an answer “…to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (I Peter 3:15). The words in bold are important, for they frame the course More >
