Exhortation, Christmas Day

As Pastor Wilson will remind us in the sermon this morning, the Christmas gospel announces the coming of day. Those in darkness see a great light, as the Sun rises with healing in His wings. The light has come into the world that lightens every man, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in . . . . Continue Reading »

Luther Christmas Sermon

Here is a selection of a 1530 Christmas Sermon by Martin Luther. You have heard the story from the Gospel of St. Luke of how it came to pass that our Lord Christ was born and then also the message of the angel, who announced who the boy was who was born. You have heard only that the child was born . . . . Continue Reading »

The Nestorian Shuffle

In his book on Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy (St. Vladimir’s, 2004), John McGuckin describes the Nestorian reading of the gospels. The gospels describe the birth and growth of the man Jesus, and also describe a person whose powers are beyond human powers - the . . . . Continue Reading »

How much does God care?

Gerard O’Collins points out that Arian and modern neo-Arian Christologies have significant implications for our understanding of the extent of God’s favor toward us. According to traditional Christologies, “God so valued us and our historical, space-time world that the Son of God . . . . Continue Reading »

Christ’s nature

Conceptual difficulties that arise from attempting to express incarnation in categories drawn from the Greeks. Sarah Coakley points to one such problem in a discussion of the work of Richard Norris on the Chalcedonian settlement. She finds fault with some of Norris historical analysis, charging . . . . Continue Reading »

Introduction to Christology

Below are some notes for an introductory lecture on Christology. INTRODUCTION Christology is frequently divided into two sections, the first dealing with the person of Christ and the second dealing with the work of Christ. That division is far from sharp; Jesus?Ework depends on Jesus?Eidentity. But . . . . Continue Reading »

Embodied Torah

Basil Studer ( Trinity and Incarnation , pp 36-37) points to the use of biblical titles for Jesus among early Christians influenced by Judaism. Among these is the designation of Jesus as “law” or “covenant”: “the Shepherd of Hermas, the Kerygma Petrou and Justin name . . . . Continue Reading »

Will and Nature

Is the begetting of the Son an act of God’s will or nature. Barth, with the tradition, says that it is not an act of God’s will if will means the freedom to be thus or not to be thus. “God cannot not be God,” and Barth is correct that this is identical to the statement . . . . Continue Reading »

Wedding Homily, December 30

In the past week, we have celebrated Christmas, commemorating the human birth of the Only-begotten Son of the Father. At this feast, we were reminded of central mysteries of Christian faith: The Son who is eternally in the bosom of the Father is born from the bosom of a virgin; the firstborn of the . . . . Continue Reading »