This is My Son

Thoughts inspired by Hans Holbein’s “Body of the Dead Christ”: The Father sees His crucified Son, and says “This is my Beloved Son.” He regards the corpse of Jesus, blue, bruised, scarred, twisted, hands and feet blackened like claws, sightless eyes lolling upward, jaw . . . . Continue Reading »

Paphnutius the Protestant

In his Church History , Socrates Scholasticus exemplifies the character of the renowned miracle-worker Paphnutius, bishop of Upper Thebes and victim of the Diocletian persecution by recounting a speech he made at Nicea: “It seemed fit to the bishops to introduce a new law into the Church, . . . . Continue Reading »

Lyn Lusi

The Economist has the best obits, but they’ve outcome even their usual standards with the March 31 obituary of Lyn Lusi, a Baptist missionary in Congo, who died on March 17. The obit includes this moving description of the beginnings of HEAL Africa, the ministry that Lusi and her husband Jo . . . . Continue Reading »

40+ Reasons for Lent

An exaltation of tweets. To observe Lent rightly, we have to be persuaded that we already stand in God’s favor. Ash Wednesday reminds us to number our days. It helps us gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12). We keep Easter to manifest and deepen our prior share in resurrection. We observe Lent . . . . Continue Reading »

Suffering king

The “kings of the earth” who rebel against Yahweh are mentioned at the beginning of the Psalms, and Yahweh’s response is to install His own king on Zion (Psalm 2:2, 6). Then Yahweh’s king drops out of the picture for awhile. Yahweh is identified as King (Psalm 5:2; 10:16) . . . . Continue Reading »

Interpretive play

Weinsheimer explains how Gadamer can think of interpretation as “play” while avoiding the bogeyman of an interpretive “free-for-all”: “In playing, we do not stand over against the game; we particular in it. A player who does not get fully involved in the game is called . . . . Continue Reading »

Objective subjectivism

Joel Weinsheimer ( Philosophical Hermeneutics and Literary Theory ) neatly summarizes Gadamer’s argument that objectivism and subjectivism are the same thing: “Governing itself by rule, objectivity tries methodologically to eliminate bias, prejudice, and all the distortions that go by . . . . Continue Reading »

Iconoclasm

Sara Ruth, Parker’s wife in Flannery O’Connor’s “Parker’s Back,” represents a confluence of religious themes. She is an uncorruptible Eve, who won’t be tempted to premarital sex even after accepting an apply from Parker. With her “icepick” eyes, . . . . Continue Reading »