Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
In Jonathan Edwards’ Religious Affections we find his list of “Twelve Distinguishing Signs” of God’s authentic work in transforming souls. Every Edwards biography will supply context for this work—as in George Marsden’s, Jonathan Edwards: A Life, chapter 17. Our aim here is simply to review Edwards’ call to an affective and effective Christian spirituality. This post takes up …
Read More Edwards’ Twelve Signs – the FirstWhat do I mean by Christian “affections” in the heart-based theology of this website? A big influence has been Jonathan Edwards (1703-58). His writings on Religious Affections were collected as a single volume (v. 2) in The Works of Jonathan Edwards (Yale, 1959). In the weeks to come I plan to survey some of his …
Read More Edwards’ Religious AffectionsIn a recent sermon on Proverbs 3:5-6 I probed the contrasting features of verse 5 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” How does understanding differ from the heart here? Do our hearts compete with our understandings at times? Is this a call for us to trust feelings …
Read More On Proverbs 3:5-6Recently I received a notice from Amazon, the owners of WordPress (my Spreading Goodness platform). They plan to drop “Feedburner” – the subscription system many use to receive my blogs – and haven’t offered a replacement. Shucks! And I don’t have my own replacement, or a website engineer who knows how to chase options for …
Read More A noticeGod, as creator, gifts all of us with growth. Paul attributed this to Jesus in the broad context of creation in Colossians 1:16-17—“all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Julie Canlis, in Calvin’s Ladder, tells us of the church father, Irenaeus, …
Read More Growth in ThanksgivingRichard Sibbes’ portrayal of faith was trinitarian and Christ-centered. An English Puritan (1577-1635), he shared a deep concern about a question still alive today. How do we engage God? Do we matter to him? And if so, what does he want from us? Sibbes’ answer was biblical and personal. God the Father wants a bride …
Read More A bride for JesusIn Gentle and Lowly Dane Ortlund wrote, “He [Jesus] sends his grace to us, personally, individually, eternally. Indeed, he sends himself—there’s no such ‘thing’ as grace …” (p.211). Yes, Jesus shares God’s grace with us by the Spirit, so divine grace is his expansive love. And while we may recognize many special acts of divine grace, together …
Read More Finding GraceWe end our reflections on Affective Theology by embracing the hope of glory offered through God’s love. Glory, a word that intrigues and invites Bible readers, has a dimension still out of reach. It represents the far horizon of the end times. Paul, for instance, spoke of the “hope of glory” in both Romans and …
Read More God’s Love and Glory – 7 of 7We continue in our reflections on Affective Theology by turning to God’s expansive love. God’s triune self-giving was his ground for both creation and salvation—and why the seventeenth century Puritan Richard Sibbes spoke of God’s “spreading goodness.” God’s expansive aims are evident throughout the Bible. At our creation humans were told, “Be fruitful and multiply …
Read More God’s Expansive Love – 6 of 7This reflection on Affective Theology considers the Church. Christ’s love, through his Spirit, unites the many members of the Church into one body. In Ephesians 5:25-27 Paul used human marriages as his key analogy: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having …
Read More God’s Love for His People – 5 of 7