At the beginning of Book 6 of de Trinitate , Augustine begins to examine 1 Corinthians 1:24: Christ is the Wisdom and Power of God. Throughout Books 6 and 7, he asks whether this means that the Father possesses His Wisdom “relatively,” that is, in the Son, or absolutely in se . At the . . . . Continue Reading »
Augustine is often charged with a quasi-unitarian, quasi-modalistdoctrine of God. The one substance so dominates the three Persons that the latter are reduced to inflections or operations of what amounts to a single divine Person. Augustine’s discussion of substance, accidents, and relation . . . . Continue Reading »
INTRODUCTION Beginning in chapter 13, Isaiah proclaims a series of “burdens” against the nations. He begins with Babylon (13:1; 14:4), and in chapter 21 he returns to Babylon, now called the “wilderness of the sea” (21:1). In these oracles, Yahweh shows that He is Lord of . . . . Continue Reading »
1 Corinthians 11:18-20: when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the . . . . Continue Reading »
The men of Babel set out to make a great name for themselves, and after them Achilles, Alexander, Caesar, and countless others sought an everlasting name on the battlefield, by sexual conquests, or by political success. Making a name is what ancient heroism was all about. We have not outgrown this . . . . Continue Reading »
In City of God 5.11, Augustine rhapsodizes concerning the works of God the Triune Creator. His works are works of gift-giving. Three times Augustine uses the verb “gave” ( dedit ), and the gifts go from angels to men to animals to seeds to stones, and include intellectual gifts, beauty, . . . . Continue Reading »
In his contribution to In the Shadow of Empire: Reclaiming the Bible as a History of Faithful Resistance , Richard Horsley notes that “the temple-state had been set up in Jerusalem in the sixth century by the Persian imperial regime,” and that through the Roman period the Jerusalem . . . . Continue Reading »
Some scattered notes on Books 1-5 of City of God , dependent to a large degree on Gerard O’Daly’s Augustine’s City of God: A Reader’s Guide . 1) Book 1 is the book most focused on the particular circumstances of the fall of Rome and the sufferings of Christians in that . . . . Continue Reading »
I wrote this early this morning and forgot to press “Publish,” First Things posted an exchange between Christian Smith and me on the topic of biblicisim: http://www.firstthings.com/ . . . . Continue Reading »
Garments cover nakedness for the Laodiceans (Revelation 3:18). The only other place in the book where garments and nakedness are mentioned together is 16:15, where Jesus warns that He is coming like a thief and will surprise the sleeping and those who are found naked. The Laodiceans buy garments in . . . . Continue Reading »
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