Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
A few years ago at an academic conference in San Antonio I sat in on a debate between a scholar who had just offered a paper on the reformer John Calvin and a questioner in the audience. The presenter had argued that Calvin’s ideas were “pre-critical.” The questioner respectfully disagreed; and a productive exchange went …
Read More Comfortably non-CartesianI confess: in days past I’ve used a laser pointer with our family cat. You know the trick. A jiggling laser dot on the floor can entertain us and frustrate a bewildered pet for minutes at a time. It only takes a bit of human perversity and the cat’s preying instincts to have Mitsy pouncing …
Read More Chasing DotsHow many of us grew up with a “grumpy God” syndrome. I’m thinking mainly of those among us who have a rigorous religious heritage. So that the child’s Christmas question of “who’s been naughty or nice” is a year-round preoccupation. And God is the great moral inspector in the sky. If that’s you, consider having …
Read More An InvitationI have a question about selfishness. Is it useful or destructive? Let’s set aside any in-between options as unhelpful. The question isn’t about gray uncertainties but about trajectory. What’s the basic direction of our ongoing choices? So, once again, is it ever okay to follow the selfish path, or does that path always lead to …
Read More A question of faithThe final verse of the book of Revelation—and the completion of my read-through—ended with a double calling: “Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.” Jesus is the focus of both calls—one that speaks of the future and the other of the present. In the first call John exhorts Jesus …
Read More “Come, Lord Jesus!”In the Bible the Son comes to us through a set of self-disclosures: as the Christophanies in the Old Testament; as the newborn baby in the New Testament; as the Logos-Word in his coming out; as the adult prophet, Jesus, hiking the Palestine hills with a clan of fringy followers, calling, challenging, and stirring hearts; …
Read More Seeing the SonIn “The Marriage Feast Between Christ and his Church”—a published sermon series by Richard Sibbes (1577-1635) in his Works, 2:437-518—the puritan preacher linked a promised feast in Isaiah 25:6-8 to the ultimate wedding feast of the Lamb promised in Revelation 19:9. Sibbes points to the main feature of this feast, the end of death: “the …
Read More The FeastIsaiah is a special read in the Advent season. The book offers a spiritual GPS or Satnav in a world with muddled moral maps. It sets out a reassuring bigger picture of life: in the end everyone will get to a proper destination. Amid job losses, Brexit votes, uncertain elections, crumbling social values, broken marriages, …
Read More The BranchChristians and non-Christians alike hear the siren call of personal glory. Jesus, on the other hand, calls us to the highest delight of giving—of elevating others. Let’s compare these callings. Adam launched the monument-making impulse by wanting to be like God. Since Adam we all celebrate personal significance at some level. Yet the impulse divides …
Read More MonumentsLast week I used some ordinary jargon in a conversation: “Churches seem more anthropocentric than ever.” My friend was puzzled, “anthro…what?” “Sorry,” I said, “they seem more human-focused and less God-centered—‘theocentric.’” Why the jargon? Using obscure terms when normal speech works is a bad habit. And that, in turn, can fog a conversation. If, for …
Read More “Anthro…what?”