N.T. Wright on soteriology

" [some say that] the way to be saved is by believing in Pauline soteriology ('justification by faith'). For Paul, that would be reductio ad absurdum. The way to be saved is not by believing that one is saved. In Paul's view, the way to be saved is by believing in Jesus as the crucified and risen lord."

From Saint Teresa of Avila

"Christ has no body on earth but your, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now."

The Practice of Worship

From Worship Old & New, by Robert E. Webber:

We must always remember that worship has a horizontal as well as a vertical dimension. It is important for us to enact the work of Christ as an offering of praise and thanksgiving to the Father. But is is equally important that we act on what we have enacted ... the pattern of the world is one of injustice, inequality, discrimination, war, hate, immorality and all those human abuses that the New Testament and the early church fathers described as the way of death. The true worship of God inevitably leads the people of God into positive social action. Our calling is to worship God not only with our lips but with our lives.

NT Wright on Onesimus

"That is why, finally, [Paul] does not refer to Onesimus as a "fugitive." That is not the category in which he wants Philemon to see his former slave, even for a moment. No: he is Paul's beloved son and therefore Philemon's beloved brother. Those who have read this letter without seeing the profound, and profoundly revolutionary, theology it contains should ponder the social and cultural earthquake which Paul is attempting to precipitate."

Book Review

This review originally appeared at Alan's Eyes & Ears:

Mary Through The Centuries, by Jaroslav Pelikan.

I am a little late in writing this, as I usually try to read a book like this (about Jesus or Mary, or the Christmas story) around Christmas, but to be fair, this book is not a quick read. This is not to say that this is a book written solely for scholars, but it is clearly a book written by a scholar.

Jaroslav Pelikan is a retired historian from Yale, and he brings his scholarly mind to the topic of the Virgin Mary. This book traces the extent of her importance in theology, in history, and in the arts. He makes a strong case that Mary is the most influential and inspiration woman who ever lived. He contends that despite a general lessening of religious influence in the modern world in the last century, Mary's influence remains as strong as ever, and may even be growing. As Pelikan says in the last chapter, "It is impossible to understand the history of Western spirituality and devotion without paying attention to the place of the Virgin Mary."

He contends that considerations of Mary has continually driven theological development. Basic Christian doctrines (to Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox) such as original sin, grace, and the dual natures of Christ all had to deal with Mary's position, either as example or exception. She has continued to have a role in post-Reformation Catholicism, as doctrines such as Mary's Immaculate Conception have been made dogma by Rome. Mary even had a role in affirming the doctrine of Papal infallibility.

The chapter on Mary's portrayal in the Quran is especially interesting, as the chapters covering the Virgin's appearances in literary works of Dante, Spenser, and Goethe. I struggled with parts of these chapters, as they revolve around some literary works that I am less familiar with (in the case of Spenser, not familiar with at all). But Pelikan never lets himself get lost in the academic nature of these discussions. He is able to bring the discussion back to his main point of demonstrating the Virgin's continual relevance to these works of art, and how these works of art reflected theological views, and perhaps even fostered theological views. 

Each chapter begins with a full-page piece of black-and-white art, that Pelikan later references in the chapter. In addition, there are 16 color pages of beautiful Marian art, including works by Fra Angelico, El Greco and Salvador Dali. These also help the book seem less academic, giving the reader a visual cue as to the content of the chapter.

I enjoyed this book very much, and expect to look into Pelikan's earlier, similar work on the life of Jesus. Perhaps next Christmas.

God and Light

From Lauren Winner:

"I am attending a lecture, at a divinity school in New England, about light. The lecturer is a physicist, an expert in black holes ... During the Q&A, someone asks how light can be both a particle and a wave. The questioner seems perplexed. It seems to me that anyone who worships a being who is both God and man should not have so much trouble with light."

Full submission

From J.D. Greear's book, Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart
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"You don't follow Jesus like you follow someone on Twitter, where you are free to take or leave their thoughts at your leisure. Following Jesus is not letting Him come into your life to be an influence, even if it's a significant influence. Following Jesus means submitting to Him in all areas at all times regardless of whether you agree with what He says or not."

How Long Ago?

Read this quote, and you'll realize who little has changed in the millenia and a half that has passed since an anonymous hermit wrote this in the desert.
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"The prophets wrote books, then came our fathers who put them into practice. Those who came after them learnt them by heart. Then came the present generation, who have written them out and put them in their window seats without ever using them."

Props to This Church

I don't go to Gloryland Nazarne Church. I don't know anybody who goes there. I know almost nothing about the church.

But the little I do know, I like.

I drive by the church regularly, and the variety of musical events they host is terrific. Last Friday, the church hosted its semi-annual Christian rock night. The flyers I saw for the event listed 5 local bands, and bragged about how loud the music would be.

The sign in front of the church is currently advertising the upcoming "spaghetti dinner and old-time gospel sing."

Hard rock one week, and a traditional gospel sing the next? A church with that much musical range must be a good church.

Good for you, Gloryland Nazarene Church.

On assurance

J.D. Greear, from his book Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart
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"No matter how you feel at any given moment, how encouraged or discouraged you feel about your spiritual progress, how hot or cold your love for Jesus, what you should be doing is always the same -- resting in the gospel. Rest in His finished work. That's all you can do. It's all you need to do. It's all God has commanded you to do."