St. Spurgeon on Theosis

The Eastern Orthodox concept of theosis is much maligned and mis-understood.  I was startled to find no less an authority than Charles Spurgeon waxing eloquent on the topic, sounding like an Orthodox church father:

“Partakers of the divine nature.”—2 Peter 1:4.

“To be a partaker of the divine nature is not, of course, to become God. That cannot be. The essence of Deity is not to be participated in by the creature. Between the creature and the Creator there must ever be a gulf fixed in respect of essence; but as the first man Adam was made in the image of God, so we, by the renewal of the Holy Spirit, are in a yet diviner sense made in the image of the Most High, and are partakers of the divine nature. We are, by grace, made like God. “God is love”; we become love—”He that loveth is born of God.” God is truth; we become true, and we love that which is true: God is good, and He makes us good by His grace, so that we become the pure in heart who shall see God. Moreover, we become partakers of the divine nature in even a higher sense than this—in fact, in as lofty a sense as can be conceived, short of our being absolutely divine. Do we not become members of the body of the divine person of Christ? Yes, the same blood which flows in the head flows in the hand: and the same life which quickens Christ quickens His people, for “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Nay, as if this were not enough, we are married unto Christ. He hath betrothed us unto Himself in righteousness and in faithfulness, and he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Oh! marvellous mystery! we look into it, but who shall understand it? One with Jesus—so one with Him that the branch is not more one with the vine than we are a part of the Lord, our Saviour, and our Redeemer! While we rejoice in this, let us remember that those who are made partakers of the divine nature will manifest their high and holy relationship in their intercourse with others, and make it evident by their daily walk and conversation that they have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. O for more divine holiness of life!”  (Charles Spurgeon, Morning By Morning)

A most apt way to describe what Orthodox Christians mean by theosis!

To learn more about what Orthodox Christians really believe about theosis, I would recommend Light from the Christian East (ch. 8),  Eastern Orthodoxy Through Western Eyes (ch. 6), and Eastern Orthodoxy Christianity: A Western Perspective (ch. 6).

The Eucharist & Ecumenism

The Eucharist and Ecumenism: Let us Keep the Feast by George Hunsinger

Hunsinger is amazing. Not only is he a top-knotch theologian who finds significant common ground between the Reformed, Roman Catholics, and Eastern Orthodoxy, but he also manages to argue for women’s and gay ordination in a logical and level-headed way. I disagree stridently with him on women’s and gay ordination, but he is still a model for peaceful discussion. There is a time for calling down the wrath of God, but we must also demonstrate that we aren’t frothing-at-the-mouth fundamentalists.

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The Primacy of Peter-Review

The Primacy of Peter: Essays in Ecclesiology and the Early Church by John Meyendorff

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Although this book is a collection of essays by Eastern Orthodox writers, it is useful for Protestants who are rediscovering their family history, namely the history of the Church. The Orthodox churches have preserved many ancient traditions. We should seek to understand them, at the least, and not dismiss them out of hand. There is also much valuable information for countering the claims of Roman Catholics. The Orthodox claim to be “catholic,” but not Roman. There is a plethora of misinformation about Romanc Catholicism, and the authors in this volume write in an irenic and sympathetic tone. They sincerely desire unity among all Christians, and not mere platitudes about “catholicity.” For some, “catholicity” seems to mean that we can all just affirm the Apostle’s Creed, and then go our separate ways. This is not what “catholicity” meant to the Church Fathers, nor do I believe the Apostles would be pleased with our reductionism. Lastly, for those of us in the CREC, I believe this book contains gems of insight into the importance of the “local church,” and how the primacy of the local church relates to “catholicity.” Highly recommended for the stout of heart!

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St. Basil on Worship

St. Basil – “If the ocean is beautiful and worthy of praise to God, how much more beautiful is the conduct of this Christian assembly, where the voices of men, women, and children, blended and sonorous like the waves that break upon the beach, rise amidst our prayers to the very presence of God.” (Frederick Morgan Padelford, Essays on the Study and Use of Poetry by Plutarch and Basil the Great, Yale Studies in English 15 [1902] pp. 33-43.)

The Church Fathers Knew the Bible!

The Fathers quoted Scripture constantly.  Bruce Metzger notes: “so extensive are these citations that if all other sources for our knowledge of the text of the New Testament were destroyed, they would be sufficient alone for the reconstruction of practically the entire New Testament.”[1]

We might criticize some of the father for this or that doctrinal oddity, but we should respect their deep knowledge, and reverance for, the Scriptures. 

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[1] Meztger, The Text of the New Testament, 3^rd ed., 86, qtd. in Lightfoot, How We Got the Bible, 106.

Tertullian on Sleep and the Soul

Interesting theology of sleep (as a typology of death) – A Treatise on the Soul, chap. 43:

 

If you receive your instruction from God, (you will find) that the fountain of the human race, Adam, had a taste of drowsiness before having a draught of repose; slept before he laboured, or even before he ate, nay, even before he spoke; in order that men may see that sleep is a natural feature and function, and one which has actually precedence over all the natural faculties. From this primary instance also we are led to trace even then the image of death in sleep. For as Adam was a figure of Christ, Adam’s sleep shadowed out the death of Christ, who was to sleep a mortal slumber, that from the wound inflicted on His side might, in like manner (as Eve was formed), be typified the church, the true mother of the living. This is why sleep is so salutary, so rational, and is actually formed into the model of that death which is general and common to the race of man.  God, indeed, has willed (and it may be said in passing that He has, generally, in His dispensations brought nothing to pass without such types and shadows) to set before us, in a manner more fully and completely than Plato’s example, by daily recurrence the outlines of man’s state, especially concerning the beginning and the termination thereof; thus stretching out the hand to help our faith more readily by types and parables, not in words only, but also in things. He accordingly sets before your view the human body stricken by the friendly power of slumber, prostrated by the kindly necessity of repose immoveable in position, just as it lay previous to life, and just as it will lie after life is past: there it lies as an attestation of its form when first moulded, and of its condition when at last buried-awaiting the soul in both stages, in the former previous to its bestowal, in the latter after its recent withdrawal. Meanwhile the soul is circumstanced in such a manner as to seem to be elsewhere active, learning to bear future absence by a dissembling of its presence for the moment. We shall soon know the case of Hermotimus. But yet it dreams in the interval. Whence then its dreams? The fact is, it cannot rest or be idle altogether, nor does it confine to the still hours of sleep the nature of its immortality. It proves itself to possess a constant motion; it travels over land and sea, it trades, it is excited, it labours, it plays, it grieves, it rejoices, it follows pursuits lawful and unlawful; it shows what very great power it has even without the body, how well equipped it is with members of its own, although betraying at the same time the need it has of impressing on some body its activity again. Accordingly, when the body shakes off its slumber, it asserts before your eye the resurrection of the dead by its own resumption of its natural functions.  Such, therefore, must be both the natural reason and the reasonable nature of sleep. If you only regard it as the image of death, you initiate faith, you nourish hope, you learn both how to die and how to live, you learn watchfulness, even while you sleep (emphasis added).[1]

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[1] http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.iv.xi.xliii.html

Interesting Typologies

I’m reading through the Orthodox Study Bible this year.  Each year I’m trying to read through a different translation/study Bible.  After a few years of reading the KJV, I read through the ESV last year.  Now, it’s a year in Orthodoxy!  Part of the reason is a research project I’ve been working on.  The other reason is that the Orthodox consider the Septuatgint to be the inspired and authoritative version of the OT.  So, since I teach Greek, I’m trying to become more familiar with the Septuagint. 

 

We Exist for the Love of God

The medieval mystic, Julian of Norwich (circa 1373), claimed to see a series of visions, all related to the “Divine Love.”  While much of it is medieval nonsense, there are some gems: “And he showed me more, a little thing, the size of a hazelnut, on the palm of my hand, round like a ball.  I looked at it thoughtfully and wondered, ‘What is this?’  And the answer came, ‘It is all that is made.’  I marvelled that it continued to exist and did not suddenly disintegrate; it was so small.  And again my mind supplied the answer, ‘It exists, both now and forever, because God loves it.’  In short, everything owes its existence to the love of God,” (Revelations of Divine Love, chap. 5).

Academic Mission Opportunity

I came across an exciting mission opportunity for academics. This organization sends Christian teachers into other countries, finding positions for them in secular universities. A quote on their home-page says it all:

“The university is a clear-cut fulcrum with which to move the world. Change the university and you change the world,” declared Dr. Charles Malik, former president of the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council.

Living Stones & Historical Irony

Going through my journal of my trip to Italy (5 years ago), I remembered a bit of history which is fascinating and ironic:  the evil Emperor Nero had a fantastic “Villa of Gold” built for himself but, after he died, Titus (I think) destroyed it.  Ancient Romans had a tidy custom of wiping out the monuments of evil rulers.  Titus (I think) then used the stones from Nero’s villa to build the Colosseum.  When the Church finally conquered Rome, stones were plundered from the Colosseum to build St. Peter’s Basilica.  Apparantly, Bernini even used some of the stones to build the magnificent altar.  So the stones which witnessed Christian martyrs torn to shreds eventually became part of the earthly center of the Western church. 

1 Peter 2:5, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

(The choir I was touring with sang during a Mass in St. Peter’s.  Quite an amazing experience.  I can relate to the emissaries from Russia who saw Hagia Sophia for the first time and decided to convert to Christianity because it looked like heaven on earth.  Our architecture really does express our worldview.)

Ascension and the Lord’s Supper

The Ascension of Christ is essential to our understanding of the Lord’s Supper.  Of course, most of what happens to us at this Table remains a mystery, but we can say a few things, given what we know about Christ.  We know that Christ is in heaven, seated at the Father’s right hand.  We also know that Jesus Christ still has a resurrection body.  Many Christians have never thought about this, but it is true.  John says that we don’t know what the resurrection will be like, but we know that we will be like Jesus (1 Jn. 3:2).  And we know that Jesus had a real body that Thomas could touch and feel.  Jesus ate and drank after his resurrection.  This table prepares us for heaven.  Revelation tells us that heaven will be the wedding feast of the Lamb.  We will eat and drink with Jesus in heaven.  We are eating and drinking with him now, in the Church.  But, we often assume heaven will be less than what we know now.  We think we’ll float around, playing harps.  But, what if heaven is an eternal banquet with tastes and pleasures that would make your mind explode now?  Perhaps, when Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding at Cana, he was bringing a little bit of heaven to earth.  Whatever heaven will be, we must guard against the gnostic heresy, which says our bodies are not important to our salvation.  Christ came to save the world, including our bodies.  In the Ascension, Christ took a human body back up to heaven.  Things have changed at the center of the universe.  We can’t go back.  A grand and glorious party is coming.  Don’t be left behind.  If you’ve been baptized, and are not under church discipline, then you are already wearing the wedding garments, and you need to come to this party.

Unity and the Devil

I usually try to stay away from You-Tube, but this video is dead-on.  Just substitute the names “Christ Church” and “Doug Wilson” for a little extra fun!

To balance out my support of mindless pop-culture and gnostic media, here’s a quote on unity in the Church from the great medieval theologian, Hugh of St. Victor:

“We must also take into account that at the time of our change of life we declare perpetual warfare against the devil.  Now there is nothing he fears so much as the unity of charity.  For if we give away all we possess for God’s sake–this the devil does not fear, because he himself possesses nothing.  If we fast, he has no fear of our action because he does not use food himself.  If we make long watchings, again he is not alarmed, for he himself never slumbers.  But when we are united in brotherly love, then he is intensely affrighted–because we hold firmly here upon earth the treasure that he thought light of keeping in heaven” (Explanation of the Rule of St. Augustine, 5-6).

Concrete Catholicity Credo, No. 2

2. Concrete Catholicity is pursued best by identifying with a local church, not through reading tons of books, web-sites, or assenting to abstract dogmas.

It is assumed that all churches this side of heaven are growing in maturity, grace, and understanding.  After all, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit, who would guide us into all truth.  However, the temptation is to put the Spirit on our rigid schedule, and expect radical change the day before yesterday.  This is especially a problem for young men who read too much theology (like myself).  Reading big, fat books does not give you credibility or persuasiveness.  Loving your wife as Christ loves the Church and raising godly children is a powerful apologetic.  Living as a faithful father is more persuasive than quoting the fathers. 

Catholic, But Not Roman

The understated, but undeniable, universalism of the Roman See is one reason I’m not Roman Catholic: “Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved.  It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity” (Catechsim of the Catholic Church, 321).  Talk about presumptive regeneration!

Concrete Catholicity Credo, No. 1

1. Baptism is the bond of Christians, and thus the ground of catholicity (Eph. 4:4-6).

As a foundational post, let me quote that crazy Federal Visionist A.A. Hodge: “Above all the narrow, meagre patriotism on earth is the large, free, ecumenical patriotism of those who embrace in their love and fealty the whole body of the baptized.  All who are baptized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, recognizing the Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, the incarnation of the Son and his priestly sacrifice, whether they be Greeks, or Arminians, or Romanists, or Lutherans, or Calvinists, or the simple souls who do not know what to call themselves, are our brethren.  Baptism is our common countersign.  It is the common rallying standard at the head of our several columns.  It is our common battle-flag, which we carry forward across the enemy’s line and nail aloft in the heights crowned with victory.  We will be confined in our love and allegiance by no party lines.  We follow and serve one common Lord.  Hence there can be only ‘one Lord, one faith, one baptism,’ and hence only one indivisible, inalienable ’sacramental host of God’s elect,’” (Evangelical Theology, 338).

Concrete Catholicity Credos

“Concrete Catholicity” will be the subject of posts for a while.  Perhaps I’ll flesh out the background for these musings at some point, but the basic question is this: how do I, a classical Protestant/reformed Catholic/protesting catholic, relate to other brothers and sisters in Christ locally, while growing in friendship and knowlegde with the rest of Christendom, both present and past?  Additionally, how can I, living in a southern suburbia, manifest catholicity in a concrete-dominated suburbia?  How do overcome the challenges of both schism and suburban sprawl?  I don’t have a complete answer, but I know I’m not the only one in this boat, and look forward (with fingers crossed) to any resulting discussion.

I should say that I’m inspired by The Craw’s Post-Reformed Credos.

Turretin and Catholicity

Reading Turretin’s “Preface to the Reader” in his Institutes (vol. 1) reminded me of Thomas Oden’s committment to unoriginaltiy: “For since each of the oldest things is most true, no description of better stamp can be given especially in sacred argument than that something has less novelty.  Old is best here and that which goes back to earliest antiquity… Let other books then, be commended by their novelty.  I do not want this statement to justify mine,” (xli-xlii).  One could brush this off as chronological snobbery, or an empty rhetorical claim to continuity with antiquity, but I think we should give Turretin (and the other reformers) their due and recognize their genuine concern to preserve cathol