Denial

Observing that Christians today “sing songs of orientation in a world increasingly experienced as disoriented,” Walter Bruggemann suggests that the church is in a state of denial:“The church is less an evangelical defiance guided by faith, and must more a frightened, numb denial . . . . Continue Reading »

Holistic Mission

Registration is now open for the Easter term intensive course on holistic mission at Trinity House. The course will be held at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, March 17-21, 2014.The goal of missions is to build holistic, sustainable, and self-propagating Christian communities, or to use . . . . Continue Reading »

Cultured God

Jenson makes the remarkable claim that God is Himself culture (in a contribution to God, Truth, and Witness: Engaging Stanley Hauerwas, 160-1):“What it is to be God is given in the Father’s eternal begetting of the Son and enlivening through the Spirit, in the Spirit’s eternal . . . . Continue Reading »

Atonement and church

The aim of Jesus’ death and resurrection is to form the church. Jesus’ death and resurrection establish the foundation for a people conformed by the Spirit to the crucified and risen Lord, freed from the powers, united in one new man.The church is the final cause of the atonement. . . . . Continue Reading »

Acedia

In analyzing the challenges facing evangelization, Francis points to the danger of fatigue: “The problem is not always an excess of activity, but rather activity undertaken badly, without adequate motivation, without a spirituality which would permeate it and make it pleasurable. As a result, . . . . Continue Reading »

Proprium et commune

James of Viterbo ( From Irenaeus to Grotius: A Sourcebook in Christian Political Thought ) distinguishes between two modes of priesthood. “Individual” ( proprium ) priesthood belongs to “each of the faithful” insofar as each “offers to God for himself a spiritual . . . . Continue Reading »

Church as kingdom

James of Viterbo ( From Irenaeus to Grotius: A Sourcebook in Christian Political Thought , 381) says that the church is not only metaphorically a kingdom, but “properly called a kingdom.” He explains by citing 1 Corinthians 15:24, where the kingdom of God that is delivered to the Father . . . . Continue Reading »

Baptized Kings

Explaining how spiritual lordship exceeds natural, Giles of Rome argues that the church makes kings through baptism and penance: “Though the sacrament of baptism, which is the direct remedy against original sin, and through the sacrament of penance, which is the remedy against actual sin, you . . . . Continue Reading »