What did my imagination do before
I started to live in this Spiritual war?
How was my heart anchored and fixed yesterday
Before with divine rhythm it began to sway?
Whose lofty purpose was I living out with zeal
And was anything about it significantly real?
Whose story did I live in and what did it mean
Before biblical players fleshed out the scene?
How foolish and ridiculous is the narrative of this
And yet blood-stained life is akin now to bliss.
It does not read well and the corners are frayed
And the prince in this story is horribly slayed.
And yet with a kiss awoken, beginning
Conquering confusion and stifling our sinning,
He rises victorious and gathers us round
As a hen does her chicks who were lost and now found.
Do we live in him or does he live inside?
There's a spiral of possession, so who now the bride?
He's enigma domesticated, given a structure
With noun, verb and adverb we carefully butcher.
He will escape all our theories as we fill up our shelves
With the scribbles of scholars which instead reveal selves,
So much of the angst which we spill through our pens
As our critical gaze holds him down under lens
Is a strangely unsettling, infectious disorder
Have mercy Your Highness on each merciless marauder.
How is it that others unfettered, float through
And yet I boast a freedom that is making me new?
That some accept a surface and over it skim
Whilst I plunge below where the light makes it dim?
For nothing is as complex as it was before,
Its now truthful nonsense with a realness that is raw.
It twists everything it touches upside down
On top of this world is a precarious crown.
So today I will hold him down a little longer
And shout at him argument until I feel stronger.
Knowing Masters degrees can not master my Master
I can't claim to know about impending disaster
I won't speak of election or predestination
A striking new Jerusalem and end-time tribulation.
Like you, I know nothing for clean is my slate
So for God, oh, we will simply sit together and wait.
31/12/2009
To all St John's Old Testament post-Christmas essayists
Just an overview of all that history
29/12/2009
Rich?
I have known relative financial stability and the 'not knowing how we're going to pay the electricity bill'. Relatively, just to have food on the table and a warm bed to sleep in each night, hot water and the ability to cook, makes me rich.
I have friends who have had times living on the street and are entering ministry with that experience to draw from, so that when we're encouraged in our second year at theological college to go and spend a day on the streets of Nottingham, with no money and stripped of all possessions, bar the clothes we stand up in, it strikes them as somehow too easy an experience because of what we know we go back to.
2009 has been a time of financial strain for many people. As a family, we have lived with hardly any income for six months, but this was our own choice. Encouraged to 'sign on' but never quite getting around to it because 'You never know, an order might come in' ... we didn't.
So we have gone cap in hand to family for some of the bills we were not allowed to stagger and 2010 will see us paying back these sums of money to the people who kindly lent to us.
We're back to having some income again now and we are starting to recover.
We have received a mixture of reactions to the way we have lived over the last 6 months. Some people have been shocked at our faith, suggesting we just sell up and start over, we were determined to stick it out. Some people have expressed shock that we could have lowered our pride to ask companies needing bills paying to give us more time. What we have learned is that if you deal fairly with people, prove that they can trust you by committing to payments that they can see are happening, that there is a way through. People do not actually want to see you in difficulties and usually a plan can be worked out. We have learned to be better at asking for help and we have learned that life has different seasons and your relationships with those closest to you and with God can see you through.
A piece of scripture I found particularly helpful over the second half of 09 was the Ephesians 1 blessing (1:1-14).
Blessings belong to believers 'in Ephesus'(v.1), who are also 'in Christ' and 'in the heavenly places' (v.3). Believers inhabit multiple realms, the physical realm of Ephesus where they are differentiated from Roman, pagan citizens and the heavenly realm where they live consecrated in Christ as citizens of his Kingdom. Paul is determined that believers appropriate their spiritual blessings (and the armour of ch.6) for the sake of security as they battle in the spiritual realm, particularly in their context, where the cult of Artemis1 wielded power. Harrison believes the 'grace' Paul extends in the greeting is deliberate because it is the power of the gospel set consciously in opposition to this 'magic'2.
Harrison's attention to Artemis' pagan influence exposes a subversiveness to Paul's blessing. The Ephesian goddess Artemis would, in return for her people's piety, ensure they were 'blessed for all time.'3 Part of Paul's technique is to present a God whose blessings far exceed those of Artemis, both temporally and spatially. God's blessings are experienced in the physical and 'heavenly' realms and are unconstrained by time, given before 'the foundation of the world' and realised at the eschaton. Pertinent too is that despite the material prosperity that came with being a successful trading centre, God has 'lavished' 'riches' upon the Ephesians. It is in these Spiritual blessings they are to understand their real security. In this way, this long, continuous sentence of 202 (Greek) words speaks into the surrounding pagan-cultural and economic context of the day. It also speaks into our context. If we can live in the knowledge of the security that we have in Christ, I think that we can live bravely. We need to understand the Artemis of our time, whom she might be and what she might be promising us and that what she offers is empty in comparison to the riches of the Spiritual blessings we have in Christ.
Churches imitating Paul will praise the Father, the Son and the Spirit and be truly trinitarian. There is no room here for the subordination of Jesus to the Father, for it in Christ that the whole cosmos will be recapitulated, or the dismissal of the Holy Spirit through whom we understand our status: his presence must be welcomed and exalted. Paul is unabashed by the exuberance of his worship in which he piles clause upon clause, aware that words can never enough convey our love for God. Churches might imitate Paul in this too so that they might more obviously testify to the security that is theirs as a consequence of their Spiritual blessings.
I have friends who have had times living on the street and are entering ministry with that experience to draw from, so that when we're encouraged in our second year at theological college to go and spend a day on the streets of Nottingham, with no money and stripped of all possessions, bar the clothes we stand up in, it strikes them as somehow too easy an experience because of what we know we go back to.
2009 has been a time of financial strain for many people. As a family, we have lived with hardly any income for six months, but this was our own choice. Encouraged to 'sign on' but never quite getting around to it because 'You never know, an order might come in' ... we didn't.
So we have gone cap in hand to family for some of the bills we were not allowed to stagger and 2010 will see us paying back these sums of money to the people who kindly lent to us.
We're back to having some income again now and we are starting to recover.
We have received a mixture of reactions to the way we have lived over the last 6 months. Some people have been shocked at our faith, suggesting we just sell up and start over, we were determined to stick it out. Some people have expressed shock that we could have lowered our pride to ask companies needing bills paying to give us more time. What we have learned is that if you deal fairly with people, prove that they can trust you by committing to payments that they can see are happening, that there is a way through. People do not actually want to see you in difficulties and usually a plan can be worked out. We have learned to be better at asking for help and we have learned that life has different seasons and your relationships with those closest to you and with God can see you through.
A piece of scripture I found particularly helpful over the second half of 09 was the Ephesians 1 blessing (1:1-14).
Blessings belong to believers 'in Ephesus'(v.1), who are also 'in Christ' and 'in the heavenly places' (v.3). Believers inhabit multiple realms, the physical realm of Ephesus where they are differentiated from Roman, pagan citizens and the heavenly realm where they live consecrated in Christ as citizens of his Kingdom. Paul is determined that believers appropriate their spiritual blessings (and the armour of ch.6) for the sake of security as they battle in the spiritual realm, particularly in their context, where the cult of Artemis1 wielded power. Harrison believes the 'grace' Paul extends in the greeting is deliberate because it is the power of the gospel set consciously in opposition to this 'magic'2.
Harrison's attention to Artemis' pagan influence exposes a subversiveness to Paul's blessing. The Ephesian goddess Artemis would, in return for her people's piety, ensure they were 'blessed for all time.'3 Part of Paul's technique is to present a God whose blessings far exceed those of Artemis, both temporally and spatially. God's blessings are experienced in the physical and 'heavenly' realms and are unconstrained by time, given before 'the foundation of the world' and realised at the eschaton. Pertinent too is that despite the material prosperity that came with being a successful trading centre, God has 'lavished' 'riches' upon the Ephesians. It is in these Spiritual blessings they are to understand their real security. In this way, this long, continuous sentence of 202 (Greek) words speaks into the surrounding pagan-cultural and economic context of the day. It also speaks into our context. If we can live in the knowledge of the security that we have in Christ, I think that we can live bravely. We need to understand the Artemis of our time, whom she might be and what she might be promising us and that what she offers is empty in comparison to the riches of the Spiritual blessings we have in Christ.
The Ephesians 1 blessing talks to us of
Paul's berakah forces each church today within the Church Universal to consider whether is is proclaiming as persuasively as Paul the status of its people in a language they understand. These truths need proclaiming constantly in the hope that Christians appropriate their Spiritual blessings and like the Ephesians resist promises made by alternative spiritualities and the illusory security of material prosperity.
To those who believe, perhaps the most difficult lesson for the Church is in Paul's hint in his blessing, fleshed out in the rest of the letter, to the unity that must exist amongst us. In our churches today we must guard against Spiritual superiority and realise that our language, our vestments and our traditions can be a barrier to those who are coming to know Christ for the first time. Whilst we must not abandon our heritage or fail to celebrate our journey, we must also make room for new expressions of worship so that there might be 'a love shown between the unlike who are in Christ'. 4
Churches imitating Paul will praise the Father, the Son and the Spirit and be truly trinitarian. There is no room here for the subordination of Jesus to the Father, for it in Christ that the whole cosmos will be recapitulated, or the dismissal of the Holy Spirit through whom we understand our status: his presence must be welcomed and exalted. Paul is unabashed by the exuberance of his worship in which he piles clause upon clause, aware that words can never enough convey our love for God. Churches might imitate Paul in this too so that they might more obviously testify to the security that is theirs as a consequence of their Spiritual blessings.
4 Buchanan 'Open to others', 31
28/12/2009
Gone off April 09
...so today, I was looking for some space to put all the boxes of chocolate we have acquired from Christmas. What usually happens in our house is we dispose of the Christmas chocolate to prepare for the Easter chocolate and we dispose of the Easter chocolate in preparation for the Christmas chocolate. It just doesn't get eaten, or we have packed it away into such obscure tins, so deeply buried in the back of cupboards, that we completely forget about it.
...so I figured I would just clear out one cupboard and seven hours later I finished tidying the entire kitchen, 12 shelves, 6 cupboards and very nearly the 'bits' draw, until I figured that everyone has a 'bits' draw so that one remained untouched. My girls helped for a couple of hours until they found something better to do.
I threw away so many things that had expired April 2009 and it got me thinking about 2009 and how nothing really got done anywhere since April 2009 apart from in my head! It made me feel happy in some ways but sad in others. This year saw me through DDO interviews from Feb until July and then Bap and then interviews at theological college and preparation for starting in September. It all just flew by and I didn't notice the food passing its sell-by date, the bits collecting in the cutlery draw and the backlog of chicken drum-sticks in the freezer and in some ways these things do not matter and in some ways they do.
There are a lot of things that I fear I might never do now in all the busyness that lies ahead. I hope to plan holidays again, like we used to without saying 'better not, you never know where we're going to be' and I want to learn how to make scones, I know, weird! It's all a bit random.
We have lived off very little money for the last 6 months because my husband has been building a new business, it's been really tight, like seriously, and yet our inability to buy anything apart from the basics has somehow coincided with a lack of desire to buy anything more than the basics and life has been so busy and fulfilling in all sorts of ways that we never anticipated.
Living in community has been intense but really great. Living with people who all centre their lives around God and punctuate each day in a regular way with prayer and worship has been ..., well...a relief. It feels like that...a kind of 'phew', yeah, this feels right. Being back at home for the three week break has reminded me of life before...
Living in community has also been pretty excruciating at times. You're encouraged to reflect, of course! You're encouraged to work on those aspects of your personality that might need refining and there's no hiding, they 'get' you. So they sussed I am a bit of a perfectionist and my friends worked out I can be a bit dramatic, a tad partial to hyperbole, and I am working on these things.
I also hope in some ways not to become too sucked in by the institution that is the Church, to see things somehow from the perspective of those who are not entirely comfortable with it, those who are not familiar with it and have little desire to be a part of it. I want to be conformed more into His likeness but that doesn't mean I will necessarily conform! I will not rebel for the sake of rebellion either but just continue to question and wonder why we do what we do and what it means for us and for God and for those who are only just coming to know him.
...so I look forward to 2010, its shape is not going to be one I can control. I'll shadow a hospital chaplain for the first part of it and late spring, I will be on main placement in a church somewhere and I'll keep churning out the essays as I go. I'll continue to struggle with a rule of life and I'll continue to look for God in the everyday details, the serious and the mundane, the God whose will we seek to discern, of whose mission we hope to be a part. I'll probably continue to ask as many questions of God as I will of the institution which claims to be his hands and his feet, imperfectly and at times strangely.
...so it that 'went off' in 2009, hopefully 'went off' in the right direction. With parts of my old life thrown away, there is room in more spaces for more of Him, how those spaces will be filled I do not know, only that like chocolate there will be that bitter-sweet fulfillment!
...so I figured I would just clear out one cupboard and seven hours later I finished tidying the entire kitchen, 12 shelves, 6 cupboards and very nearly the 'bits' draw, until I figured that everyone has a 'bits' draw so that one remained untouched. My girls helped for a couple of hours until they found something better to do.
I threw away so many things that had expired April 2009 and it got me thinking about 2009 and how nothing really got done anywhere since April 2009 apart from in my head! It made me feel happy in some ways but sad in others. This year saw me through DDO interviews from Feb until July and then Bap and then interviews at theological college and preparation for starting in September. It all just flew by and I didn't notice the food passing its sell-by date, the bits collecting in the cutlery draw and the backlog of chicken drum-sticks in the freezer and in some ways these things do not matter and in some ways they do.
There are a lot of things that I fear I might never do now in all the busyness that lies ahead. I hope to plan holidays again, like we used to without saying 'better not, you never know where we're going to be' and I want to learn how to make scones, I know, weird! It's all a bit random.
We have lived off very little money for the last 6 months because my husband has been building a new business, it's been really tight, like seriously, and yet our inability to buy anything apart from the basics has somehow coincided with a lack of desire to buy anything more than the basics and life has been so busy and fulfilling in all sorts of ways that we never anticipated.
Living in community has been intense but really great. Living with people who all centre their lives around God and punctuate each day in a regular way with prayer and worship has been ..., well...a relief. It feels like that...a kind of 'phew', yeah, this feels right. Being back at home for the three week break has reminded me of life before...
Living in community has also been pretty excruciating at times. You're encouraged to reflect, of course! You're encouraged to work on those aspects of your personality that might need refining and there's no hiding, they 'get' you. So they sussed I am a bit of a perfectionist and my friends worked out I can be a bit dramatic, a tad partial to hyperbole, and I am working on these things.
I also hope in some ways not to become too sucked in by the institution that is the Church, to see things somehow from the perspective of those who are not entirely comfortable with it, those who are not familiar with it and have little desire to be a part of it. I want to be conformed more into His likeness but that doesn't mean I will necessarily conform! I will not rebel for the sake of rebellion either but just continue to question and wonder why we do what we do and what it means for us and for God and for those who are only just coming to know him.
...so I look forward to 2010, its shape is not going to be one I can control. I'll shadow a hospital chaplain for the first part of it and late spring, I will be on main placement in a church somewhere and I'll keep churning out the essays as I go. I'll continue to struggle with a rule of life and I'll continue to look for God in the everyday details, the serious and the mundane, the God whose will we seek to discern, of whose mission we hope to be a part. I'll probably continue to ask as many questions of God as I will of the institution which claims to be his hands and his feet, imperfectly and at times strangely.
...so it that 'went off' in 2009, hopefully 'went off' in the right direction. With parts of my old life thrown away, there is room in more spaces for more of Him, how those spaces will be filled I do not know, only that like chocolate there will be that bitter-sweet fulfillment!
22/12/2009
...so what's my problem
...I have to take Isaiah apart. I'll be looking at the historical context of 53, its place in the OT canon and whether the Church's seeing its fulfilment in Christ is valid. No mean undertaking!
I have this pile of all these commentaries and all these people are arguing with each other. Some believe that God can do it, you know, he can gift us to see into the future...so Isaiah was some 8th century inspired chap, walking closely, if sometimes reluctantly with God, and predicting exile was on the cards. For others, he's definitely a sixth century dude, speaking into his own situation. The conservatives think one thing, the historical critics another, the rhetorical critics are interested in the persuasive dialogues: Isaiah's techniques, not caring quite so much which Isaiah they are talking about and the canonical critics, friendly with the higher critics and the redaction critics, are trying to hold a lot of things in tension and consider the big-picture Isaiah within the big picture of the entire Bible so that we don't accidentally lose the biblical message...and quite frankly, it's all driving me a bit crazy!! And that's just what I need to do for an introductory paragraph.
I also need to look at my servant song and then only a few lines of that and keep setting each smaller unit within its larger context.
So last night's reading was Isaiah 52:13- 53 - the end and today and tomorrow the children are in day-care so mummy can get a handle on all this and isn't amasing how inspired one suddenly feels to hoover up and food-shop instead ;-)
I am praying that I will start smiling at someone's commentary, that I'll get that warm and joyous feeling, that overwhelming desire to scribble notes in the margins and add exclamation marks (which is always dangerous when you're reading library books). This is what happens when I read Gordon Fee, why couldn't he have written on Isaiah?!*
It's not happening yet. I'm hopeful, I'm looking at Brueggeman. Goldingay, I get. But some of the other stuff is so turgid....and I've just noticed some very enticing piles of ironing...
....oh Lord!
I have this pile of all these commentaries and all these people are arguing with each other. Some believe that God can do it, you know, he can gift us to see into the future...so Isaiah was some 8th century inspired chap, walking closely, if sometimes reluctantly with God, and predicting exile was on the cards. For others, he's definitely a sixth century dude, speaking into his own situation. The conservatives think one thing, the historical critics another, the rhetorical critics are interested in the persuasive dialogues: Isaiah's techniques, not caring quite so much which Isaiah they are talking about and the canonical critics, friendly with the higher critics and the redaction critics, are trying to hold a lot of things in tension and consider the big-picture Isaiah within the big picture of the entire Bible so that we don't accidentally lose the biblical message...and quite frankly, it's all driving me a bit crazy!! And that's just what I need to do for an introductory paragraph.
I also need to look at my servant song and then only a few lines of that and keep setting each smaller unit within its larger context.
So last night's reading was Isaiah 52:13- 53 - the end and today and tomorrow the children are in day-care so mummy can get a handle on all this and isn't amasing how inspired one suddenly feels to hoover up and food-shop instead ;-)
I am praying that I will start smiling at someone's commentary, that I'll get that warm and joyous feeling, that overwhelming desire to scribble notes in the margins and add exclamation marks (which is always dangerous when you're reading library books). This is what happens when I read Gordon Fee, why couldn't he have written on Isaiah?!*
It's not happening yet. I'm hopeful, I'm looking at Brueggeman. Goldingay, I get. But some of the other stuff is so turgid....and I've just noticed some very enticing piles of ironing...
....oh Lord!
20/12/2009
Mummy, I don't get Santa
...Interesting conversations going on in our house at the moment.
My children's grasp of the gospel is developing. My 5 year old explains how... 'Jesus is God because when he was born he had God inside him and inside of that is the Holy Spirit and we have the Holy Spirit in us too.' My seven year old was confused by the people behind her at the church's Christmas carol concert because ...'they just didn't seem to get it...they kept talking and we were praising God.'
I'm hoping they're not to going to grow up too pious and I am helping them to understand that God loves us all, he is still just waiting for some people to love him back.
Our bedtime routine, which used to consist of a recap of the day's events before saying, 'Switch off all the lights and shut all the doors, I love you, night, night' has now been replaced with a 'What shall we pray for?' before the 'Switch off all the lights and shut all the doors, I love you, night, night'(!?*).
Daughter two has prayed that her verrucas would go away, all 8 of them, the very next week they disappeared. Daughter 1 has prayed for daddy to get a job, he has. And together we are praying for a chapped hand, a poorly thumb, various friends and relatives and into the random reflections of 5 and 7 year olds as they arise.
....and then
So last night we had...'mummy I just don't get it...does Santa live for ever?...He never seems to get old' and they are even wondering if he is omnipotent and omniscient because we've had, 'But he sees you when you're sleeping' and 'he knows when I am awake and whether I have been good or bad.'
So it's a very hard balance, keeping the magic alive but not feeling as though you're involved in some kind of major deception about Santa.
This year we have felt it necessary to include some corrolaries:
- That Santa is a guy with a job and when he retires, probably another chap takes over but mummy can't speak with any real confidence on this issue because she's never seen Santa.
- That all those Santas in the shops are his helpers and some are better at it than others.
- That mums and dads actually have to give Santa a cheque for all the stuff which explains why some children get bigger stockings than others.
- And that some people who only know Jesus as some little baby in a story, without realising he is the Saviour of the world get ever so confused about their theology and confuse Santa with God when they are writing songs to sing...that Santa can not see you when you are sleeping and he will come whether you have been good or bad seeing as 'works righteousness' is really pretty faulty.
Thankfully my kids are certain that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is/are a much worthier subject for our praises at Christmas time than some guy we have to pay who has trouble fitting down the chimney and decides how good little children have been and awards them accordingly!
19/12/2009
Latest Trinity Journal
Anyone know how I can get hold of M Bird's response on subordinationism in the trinity in the latest Trinity journal?
There are two articles in there written on this topic, see here
There are two articles in there written on this topic, see here
14/12/2009
Wow Jesus!
Abraham’s Seed (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:16).
Advocate (1 John 2:1).
Almighty (Revelation 1:8).
Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8; 22:13).
Amen (Revelation 3:14).
Angel (Genesis 48:16; Exodus 23:20,21).
Angel of God’s presence (Isaiah 63:9).
Angel of the Lord (Exodus 3:2; Judges 13:15-22).
Apostle (Hebrews 3:1).
Arm of the Lord (Isaiah 51:9; 53:1).
Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).
Author of eternal salvation (Hebrews 5:9).
Beginning of the creation of God (Revelation 3:14).
Beloved (Ephesians 1:6).
Beloved Son (Matthew 12:18).
Branch (Jeremiah 23:5; Zechariah 3:8; 6:12).
Bread of Life (John 6:35, 48).
Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15).
Bright and Morning Star (Revelation 22:16).
Captain of Salvation (Hebrews 2:10).
Captain of the Lord’s hosts (Joshua 5:14,15).
Carpenter (Mark 6:3).
Carpenter’s Son (Matthew 13:55).
Chief Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6).
Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4).
Christ (Matthew 16:20; Mark 14:16; Luke 23:2).
Christ Jesus (Acts 19:4; Romans 3:24; 8:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1:30).
Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39; 1 Timothy 1:12).
Christ of God (Luke 9:20).
Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11).
Commander (Isaiah 55:4).
Consolation of Israel (Luke 2:25).
Cornerstone (Matthew 21:42; Ephesians 2:20).
Counselor (Isaiah 9:6).
Creator (John 1:3).
David (Jeremiah 30:9; Ezekiel 34:23).
Dayspring (Luke 1:78).
Deliverer (Romans 11:26).
Desire of all nations (Haggai 2:7).
Door (John 10:7).
Elect of God (Isaiah 42:1).
Eternal life (1 John 1:2; 5:20).
Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6).
Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11).
Faithful witness (Revelation 1:5; 3:14).
First and Last (Revelation 1:17; 2:8).
Firstborn (Psalms 89:27; Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 1:5).
Forerunner (Hebrews 6:20).
Fountain (Zechariah 13:1).
Glory of the Lord (Isaiah 40:5).
God (Isaiah 40:9; John 20:28).
God blessed forever (Romans 9:5).
God’s partner (Zechariah 13:7).
Good Shepherd (John 10:14).
Governor (Matthew 2:6).
Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14).
Head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18).
Heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2).
High Priest (Hebrews 4:14).
Holy Child (Acts 4:27).
Holy One (Psalms 16:10, with Acts 2:27; 3:14).
Holy One of God (Mark 1:24).
Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 41:14; 54:5).
Horn of salvation (Luke 1:69).
I AM, (Exodus 3:14, with John 8:58).
Image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23).
Jesus (Matthew 1:21; 1 Thessalonians 1:10).
Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1).
Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 21:11; Mark 1:24; Luke 24:19).
Judge (Acts 10:42; 2 Timothy 4:8).
Judge of Israel (Micah 5:1).
Just One (Acts 7:52; 22:14).
King (Zechariah 9:9, with Matthew 21:5).
King of Glory (Psalms 24:7-10).
King of Israel (John 1:49).
King of Kings (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14).
King of peace (Hebrews 7:2).
King of righteousness (Hebrews 7:2).
King of Saints (Revelation 15:3).
King of Salem (Hebrews 7:1).
King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2; 27:37; John 19:19).
King of Zion (Matthew 21:25).
Lamb (Revelation 5:6, 12; 13:8; 21:22; 22:3).
Lamb of God (John 1:29, 36).
Lawgiver (Isaiah 33:22).
Leader (Isaiah 55:4).
Life (John 14:6; Colossians 3:4; 1 John 1:2).
Light of the world (John 1:8; 8:12).
Lily of the valleys (Song of Solomon 2:1).
Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5).
Living Bread (John 6:51).
Living Stone (1 Peter 2:4).
Lord and Savior (2 Peter 1:11; 3:18).
Lord Christ (Colossians 3:24).
Lord God Almighty (Revelation 15:3).
Lord God of the holy prophets (Revelation 22:6).
Lord Jesus (Acts 7:59; Colossians 3:17).
Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 11:17; 16:31; 20:21).
Lord of all (Acts 10:36).
Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8; James 2:1).
Lord of Hosts (Isaiah 44:6).
Lord of Lords (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; 19:16).
Lord our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6; 33:16).
Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3).
Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5).
Messenger of the covenant (Malachi 3:1).
Messiah (Daniel 9:25; John 1:41).
Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6).
Mighty One of Israel (Isaiah 30:29).
Mighty One of Jacob (Isaiah 49:26; 60:16).
Morningstar (Revelation 22:16; 2 Peter 1:19).
Most Holy (Daniel 9:24).
Nazarene (Matthew 2:23).
Offspring of David (Revelation 22:16).
Only Begotten Son (John 1:14, 18).
Our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Power of God (1 Corinthians 1:24).
Prince (Acts 5:31).
Prince of life (Acts 3:15).
Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6).
Prince of the kings of the earth (Revelation 1:5).
Prophet (Matthew 21:11; Luke 24:19; John 7:40).
Rabbi (John 1:49, 20:16).
Ransom (1 Timothy 2:6).
Redeemer (Job 19:25; Isaiah 59:20; Isaiah 60:16).
Resurrection and life (John 11:25).
Rock (1 Corinthians 10:4).
Root of David (Revelation 5:5; 22:16).
Rose of Sharon (Song of Solomon 2:1).
Ruler of Israel (Micah 5:2).
Savior (Luke 2:11; 2 Peter 2:20; 3:18).
Second Adam, Man (1 Corinthians 15:45, 47).
Seed of David (2 Timothy 2:8).
Seed of woman (Genesis 3:15).
Servant (Isaiah 42:1; 52:13; 53:11; Acts 4:30).
Servant of Rulers (Isaiah 49:7).
Shepherd (Mark 14:27).
Shepherd and Overseer of Souls (1 Peter 2:25)
Shepherd of Israel (Psalms 80:1).
Shiloh (Genesis 49:10).
Son of David (Matthew 9:27).
Son of God (Luke 1:35; John 1:49).
Son of Joseph (John 6:42).
Son of man (John 5:27).
Son of the Blessed (Mark 14:61).
Star (Numbers 24:17).
Stumbling Stone (1 Peter 2:8).
Sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2).
Sure Foundation (Isaiah 28:16).
Teacher (Matthew 23:8; John 3:2).
Tender Plant (Isaiah 53:2).
True God (1 John 5:20).
True Light (John 1:9).
True Vine (John 15:1).
The Truth (John 14:6).
The Way (John 14:6).
Wisdom (Proverbs 8:12).
Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24).
Witness (Isaiah 55:4; Revelation 1:5).
Wonderful (Isaiah 9:6).
Word (John 1:1; 1 John 5:7).
Word of God (Revelation 19:13).
Word of Life (1 John 1:1).
Advocate (1 John 2:1).
Almighty (Revelation 1:8).
Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8; 22:13).
Amen (Revelation 3:14).
Angel (Genesis 48:16; Exodus 23:20,21).
Angel of God’s presence (Isaiah 63:9).
Angel of the Lord (Exodus 3:2; Judges 13:15-22).
Apostle (Hebrews 3:1).
Arm of the Lord (Isaiah 51:9; 53:1).
Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).
Author of eternal salvation (Hebrews 5:9).
Beginning of the creation of God (Revelation 3:14).
Beloved (Ephesians 1:6).
Beloved Son (Matthew 12:18).
Branch (Jeremiah 23:5; Zechariah 3:8; 6:12).
Bread of Life (John 6:35, 48).
Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15).
Bright and Morning Star (Revelation 22:16).
Captain of Salvation (Hebrews 2:10).
Captain of the Lord’s hosts (Joshua 5:14,15).
Carpenter (Mark 6:3).
Carpenter’s Son (Matthew 13:55).
Chief Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6).
Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4).
Christ (Matthew 16:20; Mark 14:16; Luke 23:2).
Christ Jesus (Acts 19:4; Romans 3:24; 8:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1:30).
Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39; 1 Timothy 1:12).
Christ of God (Luke 9:20).
Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11).
Commander (Isaiah 55:4).
Consolation of Israel (Luke 2:25).
Cornerstone (Matthew 21:42; Ephesians 2:20).
Counselor (Isaiah 9:6).
Creator (John 1:3).
David (Jeremiah 30:9; Ezekiel 34:23).
Dayspring (Luke 1:78).
Deliverer (Romans 11:26).
Desire of all nations (Haggai 2:7).
Door (John 10:7).
Elect of God (Isaiah 42:1).
Eternal life (1 John 1:2; 5:20).
Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6).
Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11).
Faithful witness (Revelation 1:5; 3:14).
First and Last (Revelation 1:17; 2:8).
Firstborn (Psalms 89:27; Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 1:5).
Forerunner (Hebrews 6:20).
Fountain (Zechariah 13:1).
Glory of the Lord (Isaiah 40:5).
God (Isaiah 40:9; John 20:28).
God blessed forever (Romans 9:5).
God’s partner (Zechariah 13:7).
Good Shepherd (John 10:14).
Governor (Matthew 2:6).
Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14).
Head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18).
Heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2).
High Priest (Hebrews 4:14).
Holy Child (Acts 4:27).
Holy One (Psalms 16:10, with Acts 2:27; 3:14).
Holy One of God (Mark 1:24).
Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 41:14; 54:5).
Horn of salvation (Luke 1:69).
I AM, (Exodus 3:14, with John 8:58).
Image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23).
Jesus (Matthew 1:21; 1 Thessalonians 1:10).
Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1).
Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 21:11; Mark 1:24; Luke 24:19).
Judge (Acts 10:42; 2 Timothy 4:8).
Judge of Israel (Micah 5:1).
Just One (Acts 7:52; 22:14).
King (Zechariah 9:9, with Matthew 21:5).
King of Glory (Psalms 24:7-10).
King of Israel (John 1:49).
King of Kings (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14).
King of peace (Hebrews 7:2).
King of righteousness (Hebrews 7:2).
King of Saints (Revelation 15:3).
King of Salem (Hebrews 7:1).
King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2; 27:37; John 19:19).
King of Zion (Matthew 21:25).
Lamb (Revelation 5:6, 12; 13:8; 21:22; 22:3).
Lamb of God (John 1:29, 36).
Lawgiver (Isaiah 33:22).
Leader (Isaiah 55:4).
Life (John 14:6; Colossians 3:4; 1 John 1:2).
Light of the world (John 1:8; 8:12).
Lily of the valleys (Song of Solomon 2:1).
Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5).
Living Bread (John 6:51).
Living Stone (1 Peter 2:4).
Lord and Savior (2 Peter 1:11; 3:18).
Lord Christ (Colossians 3:24).
Lord God Almighty (Revelation 15:3).
Lord God of the holy prophets (Revelation 22:6).
Lord Jesus (Acts 7:59; Colossians 3:17).
Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 11:17; 16:31; 20:21).
Lord of all (Acts 10:36).
Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8; James 2:1).
Lord of Hosts (Isaiah 44:6).
Lord of Lords (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; 19:16).
Lord our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6; 33:16).
Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3).
Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5).
Messenger of the covenant (Malachi 3:1).
Messiah (Daniel 9:25; John 1:41).
Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6).
Mighty One of Israel (Isaiah 30:29).
Mighty One of Jacob (Isaiah 49:26; 60:16).
Morningstar (Revelation 22:16; 2 Peter 1:19).
Most Holy (Daniel 9:24).
Nazarene (Matthew 2:23).
Offspring of David (Revelation 22:16).
Only Begotten Son (John 1:14, 18).
Our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Power of God (1 Corinthians 1:24).
Prince (Acts 5:31).
Prince of life (Acts 3:15).
Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6).
Prince of the kings of the earth (Revelation 1:5).
Prophet (Matthew 21:11; Luke 24:19; John 7:40).
Rabbi (John 1:49, 20:16).
Ransom (1 Timothy 2:6).
Redeemer (Job 19:25; Isaiah 59:20; Isaiah 60:16).
Resurrection and life (John 11:25).
Rock (1 Corinthians 10:4).
Root of David (Revelation 5:5; 22:16).
Rose of Sharon (Song of Solomon 2:1).
Ruler of Israel (Micah 5:2).
Savior (Luke 2:11; 2 Peter 2:20; 3:18).
Second Adam, Man (1 Corinthians 15:45, 47).
Seed of David (2 Timothy 2:8).
Seed of woman (Genesis 3:15).
Servant (Isaiah 42:1; 52:13; 53:11; Acts 4:30).
Servant of Rulers (Isaiah 49:7).
Shepherd (Mark 14:27).
Shepherd and Overseer of Souls (1 Peter 2:25)
Shepherd of Israel (Psalms 80:1).
Shiloh (Genesis 49:10).
Son of David (Matthew 9:27).
Son of God (Luke 1:35; John 1:49).
Son of Joseph (John 6:42).
Son of man (John 5:27).
Son of the Blessed (Mark 14:61).
Star (Numbers 24:17).
Stumbling Stone (1 Peter 2:8).
Sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2).
Sure Foundation (Isaiah 28:16).
Teacher (Matthew 23:8; John 3:2).
Tender Plant (Isaiah 53:2).
True God (1 John 5:20).
True Light (John 1:9).
True Vine (John 15:1).
The Truth (John 14:6).
The Way (John 14:6).
Wisdom (Proverbs 8:12).
Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24).
Witness (Isaiah 55:4; Revelation 1:5).
Wonderful (Isaiah 9:6).
Word (John 1:1; 1 John 5:7).
Word of God (Revelation 19:13).
Word of Life (1 John 1:1).
Book recommendations for my next task
Any advice on books which will help me to look at the servant song from Isaiah 53 in its original context? Anything online? Any forums? Discussions? Blogposts? Etc before I start to tackle my NICOT?
I need to consider its use by the Church as finding fulfillment in Jesus, but for the most part, I need to look at what it meant in its original context.
Its a strange task but a necessary one, I understand. We are to be critical and scrutinising, it does feel slightly uncomfortable. My Goldsworthy 'Gospel-centred hermeneutics' will have to remain on the shelf for this one and I might have to read more about what this passage says to the Jewish people who are still awaiting the Messiah, if for most of my essay I am to uncover what/whom else it might point to than Christ himself.
I also really need to make sure that I do not digress into some kind of consideration of PSA again, which has a habit of taking over my thinking at times.
Cheers all.
I need to consider its use by the Church as finding fulfillment in Jesus, but for the most part, I need to look at what it meant in its original context.
Its a strange task but a necessary one, I understand. We are to be critical and scrutinising, it does feel slightly uncomfortable. My Goldsworthy 'Gospel-centred hermeneutics' will have to remain on the shelf for this one and I might have to read more about what this passage says to the Jewish people who are still awaiting the Messiah, if for most of my essay I am to uncover what/whom else it might point to than Christ himself.
I also really need to make sure that I do not digress into some kind of consideration of PSA again, which has a habit of taking over my thinking at times.
Cheers all.
13/12/2009
Priesthood and ontological change part II
Well, it's been a really weird twenty-four hours and not being afraid of being vulnerable (how is that?!), I'll bear a little more, possibly risking exposure...
I have had several conversations about this one now, with
a) People who did not know what I was talking about, so were of little help
b) With my husband, which was interesting but much too late at night
c) With those of a more evangelical persuasion who believe there is little in the NT to indicate a sacerdotal ontological change
d) Those more sacramentally-minded who consider something profound to happen
e) A couple of college tutors: St John's and Oakhill who have been very helpful
As regards my own experiences over the last twenty-four hours, prayer has been very helpful. I have discovered through it both how generous God is (this I knew already but I have a heightened appreciation now) and that there is something of an element of denial going on within me. That whilst I want to do nothing more than serve my Lord with every ounce of my being, I am also so mindful about staying connected with the people who make up his kingdom, that I am a little frightened about being set apart for fear of any barriers this might cause. In my humility (I hope that's where it comes from), I have difficulty with the whole idea of being 'revered'.
At the same time, it has struck me over the last twenty-four hours, more forcibly than perhaps ever before, that I am 'different' and God has called me, I can't help it and it does mean I feel a certain way, live a certain way and orientate my life around God in a way that is not the case for most of the people on this planet.
It has struck me forcibly because I have been at my church's carol service with many unchurched people in attendance because they were there to see their children sing in the choir.
To some of them, no doubt, Jesus will mean everything but for many he is just a cute baby in a cute story which forms some mythical backdrop to Christmas. As I took it all in I imagined they might all love Jesus, who am I to know the orientation of their hearts...? and I watched and I listened but I heard the 'now finally, can we get out of here' and the people behind me joking about how Christmas for them was all about X factor rather than + factor and you know, let's be honest...some people really have decided not to follow Jesus. So we have a job to do as Christians!
However much we want God to be everyone's experience on this planet (and indeed our wanting this to be the case so passionately is a part of the call), most people on this planet do not crave his presence in the very pit of their being most of the time, speak to him in a language that is not their own and mind not at all the idea of their own death - this is just not 'normal', whatever 'normal' means.
...so I am 'different.'
And so my baptism, confirmation and future ordination (God willing!) are the visible rites performed to testify to my ontological change. I am a child of the Kingdom.
As to whether there is some heightened change at ordination, I am not thoroughly convinced but on balance, I have decided to put this theological tangle into the same bag as the one about 'second blessing'. Theologically, 'second blessing' is problematic, even though I can point to the precise occasion of my being consciously first filled with the Spirit in a manifest way, in a way about which I was quite unaware when I was two years' old and Christened.
St Paul, however, explains how we are continually filled with the Spirit and I understand this to be the case from experience too. Being filled with the Spirit is also something which might not be manifest and experiential for everyone for Paul explains how the Gentiles and the converting Jews were filled with the Spirit the second they turned to believe (Ephesians 1). He does not mention whether there were any physical manifestations on those occasions, although the New Testament portrays it as very experiential elsewhere (Paul himself, Cornelius, Pentecost etc). Paul is more interested in the visible fruits of the Spirit which testify to the indwelling of the Spirit and what these fruits look like as they influence life in the home and in the world and in the ekklesia.
'Normal' 'New and Old Testament-style' is that the Spirit does indeed change us and his presence is 'experienced'. The Spirit of God can also be passed to others if it be God's will to use us as conduits, so I do not doubt that those hands pressing down and asking God for the Spirit at ordination would convey the gifts of a very generous God who is only too happy to lavish extra helpings of his Spirit upon those who ask for it so earnestly and have their hearts orientated towards him.
I think as with justification and sanctification, I will mull over the idea that ontological change happens when we realise we are God's children, that in his grace he has picked us out before the foundation of the world and out of gratitude we will praise him that in his grace he did this, we say 'yes' to his invitation and are changed from a place of darkness to light. We become children of God, in Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. As with all things 'now and not yet' (eschatological tension), our ontological change is not complete and we continue to change as we are sanctified, we transform into the likeness of Christ if we cooperate with his Holy Spirit. Now you would hope at ordination that there is rather a great deal of cooperation going on, hearts are prepared and orientated maximally towards the Lord's and so this rite might be a visible sign of the interior changes going on with very exterior manifestations, both in terms of the clothing accompanying the rite and the behaviours displayed which are more rather than less likely to be emotional.
To conclude, at this point in my journey, I understand ordination to change me socially (Thomas Renz Oakhill and Andii Bowsher St John's see Nouslife have interesting things to say about this) and I understand it to be a visible sign of an interior reality, what I am always going to be very careful about adding as addendums is that God has no favourites, that we are all 'in Christ' by grace and through faith and that we make up a body of diverse parts where some of us are called to be priests and some of us are called to do other things and God will equip us to bring in his Kingdom if we ask him.
I have had several conversations about this one now, with
a) People who did not know what I was talking about, so were of little help
b) With my husband, which was interesting but much too late at night
c) With those of a more evangelical persuasion who believe there is little in the NT to indicate a sacerdotal ontological change
d) Those more sacramentally-minded who consider something profound to happen
e) A couple of college tutors: St John's and Oakhill who have been very helpful
As regards my own experiences over the last twenty-four hours, prayer has been very helpful. I have discovered through it both how generous God is (this I knew already but I have a heightened appreciation now) and that there is something of an element of denial going on within me. That whilst I want to do nothing more than serve my Lord with every ounce of my being, I am also so mindful about staying connected with the people who make up his kingdom, that I am a little frightened about being set apart for fear of any barriers this might cause. In my humility (I hope that's where it comes from), I have difficulty with the whole idea of being 'revered'.
At the same time, it has struck me over the last twenty-four hours, more forcibly than perhaps ever before, that I am 'different' and God has called me, I can't help it and it does mean I feel a certain way, live a certain way and orientate my life around God in a way that is not the case for most of the people on this planet.
It has struck me forcibly because I have been at my church's carol service with many unchurched people in attendance because they were there to see their children sing in the choir.
To some of them, no doubt, Jesus will mean everything but for many he is just a cute baby in a cute story which forms some mythical backdrop to Christmas. As I took it all in I imagined they might all love Jesus, who am I to know the orientation of their hearts...? and I watched and I listened but I heard the 'now finally, can we get out of here' and the people behind me joking about how Christmas for them was all about X factor rather than + factor and you know, let's be honest...some people really have decided not to follow Jesus. So we have a job to do as Christians!
However much we want God to be everyone's experience on this planet (and indeed our wanting this to be the case so passionately is a part of the call), most people on this planet do not crave his presence in the very pit of their being most of the time, speak to him in a language that is not their own and mind not at all the idea of their own death - this is just not 'normal', whatever 'normal' means.
...so I am 'different.'
And so my baptism, confirmation and future ordination (God willing!) are the visible rites performed to testify to my ontological change. I am a child of the Kingdom.
As to whether there is some heightened change at ordination, I am not thoroughly convinced but on balance, I have decided to put this theological tangle into the same bag as the one about 'second blessing'. Theologically, 'second blessing' is problematic, even though I can point to the precise occasion of my being consciously first filled with the Spirit in a manifest way, in a way about which I was quite unaware when I was two years' old and Christened.
St Paul, however, explains how we are continually filled with the Spirit and I understand this to be the case from experience too. Being filled with the Spirit is also something which might not be manifest and experiential for everyone for Paul explains how the Gentiles and the converting Jews were filled with the Spirit the second they turned to believe (Ephesians 1). He does not mention whether there were any physical manifestations on those occasions, although the New Testament portrays it as very experiential elsewhere (Paul himself, Cornelius, Pentecost etc). Paul is more interested in the visible fruits of the Spirit which testify to the indwelling of the Spirit and what these fruits look like as they influence life in the home and in the world and in the ekklesia.
'Normal' 'New and Old Testament-style' is that the Spirit does indeed change us and his presence is 'experienced'. The Spirit of God can also be passed to others if it be God's will to use us as conduits, so I do not doubt that those hands pressing down and asking God for the Spirit at ordination would convey the gifts of a very generous God who is only too happy to lavish extra helpings of his Spirit upon those who ask for it so earnestly and have their hearts orientated towards him.
I think as with justification and sanctification, I will mull over the idea that ontological change happens when we realise we are God's children, that in his grace he has picked us out before the foundation of the world and out of gratitude we will praise him that in his grace he did this, we say 'yes' to his invitation and are changed from a place of darkness to light. We become children of God, in Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. As with all things 'now and not yet' (eschatological tension), our ontological change is not complete and we continue to change as we are sanctified, we transform into the likeness of Christ if we cooperate with his Holy Spirit. Now you would hope at ordination that there is rather a great deal of cooperation going on, hearts are prepared and orientated maximally towards the Lord's and so this rite might be a visible sign of the interior changes going on with very exterior manifestations, both in terms of the clothing accompanying the rite and the behaviours displayed which are more rather than less likely to be emotional.
To conclude, at this point in my journey, I understand ordination to change me socially (Thomas Renz Oakhill and Andii Bowsher St John's see Nouslife have interesting things to say about this) and I understand it to be a visible sign of an interior reality, what I am always going to be very careful about adding as addendums is that God has no favourites, that we are all 'in Christ' by grace and through faith and that we make up a body of diverse parts where some of us are called to be priests and some of us are called to do other things and God will equip us to bring in his Kingdom if we ask him.
12/12/2009
Priesthood and ontological change
Now, maybe we'll get a module on this! But I need a bit of help.
I am trying to get my head around the idea of the priesthood and the accompanying changes. Now, I always think of Tim Goodbody's ordination story, about how he was positively slain in the Spirit at his ordination and did not kneel before the Bishop out of duty but simply collapsed because he was so overcome. I do not doubt how powerful the work of the Holy Spirit must be at this moment. And to be honest, I am a little nervous about what might happen to me because I know how 'otherworldly' it can be and there will be quite a few people whom I'll be inviting for whom my falling over or tears will have them wanting to call doctors or console me, for they will not understand.
But I have a problem. I do not know whether I am happy thinking of what might happen as an ontological change. Perhaps I do not fully enough understand what the word 'ontological' conveys, when it is used in this sense. I have looked at its use in the sense of the ontological equality of the persons in the trinity and the ontological equality of the genders so I know that it conveys something about essence.
If, as I heard today at my ordinands' Christmas retreat, that ordination brought about an ontological change in the curate who stood at the front to tell us of his experiences, am I to understand that his essence is changed by this ceremony? Will I be ontologically changed? My essence - changed? If I deny that this can happen am I blocking the power of the Spirit - that I would never want to do? But if I think of myself as ontologically changed because I am a priest, isn't that almost like saying I am super-holy? I don't get it, aren't we all saints (Ephesians 1)? Aren't we all consecrated by God, set apart, if we are 'in Christ'? What does this kind of talk do to the idea of the 'ministry of all believers'? Didn't the reformation aim to break down some of the divides between laity and clergy and isn't a claim to clerical ontological change recreating the divide?
Can any one recommend any decent reading, Michael Ramsey aside? Can you share your views? Do you consider yourself ontologically changed and what do you mean by this?
Calvin wrote in the 1543 edition of the Institutes, “There remains the laying on of hands. I concede that it is a sacrament in true and lawful ordinations” but whilst it has no power or efficacy in itself it does have power and efficacy that “depend solely on the Spirit of God.”
...perhaps all I should really do with all this is leave it up to God, through the power of his Holy Spirit he will either ontologically change me or not.
I am trying to get my head around the idea of the priesthood and the accompanying changes. Now, I always think of Tim Goodbody's ordination story, about how he was positively slain in the Spirit at his ordination and did not kneel before the Bishop out of duty but simply collapsed because he was so overcome. I do not doubt how powerful the work of the Holy Spirit must be at this moment. And to be honest, I am a little nervous about what might happen to me because I know how 'otherworldly' it can be and there will be quite a few people whom I'll be inviting for whom my falling over or tears will have them wanting to call doctors or console me, for they will not understand.
But I have a problem. I do not know whether I am happy thinking of what might happen as an ontological change. Perhaps I do not fully enough understand what the word 'ontological' conveys, when it is used in this sense. I have looked at its use in the sense of the ontological equality of the persons in the trinity and the ontological equality of the genders so I know that it conveys something about essence.
If, as I heard today at my ordinands' Christmas retreat, that ordination brought about an ontological change in the curate who stood at the front to tell us of his experiences, am I to understand that his essence is changed by this ceremony? Will I be ontologically changed? My essence - changed? If I deny that this can happen am I blocking the power of the Spirit - that I would never want to do? But if I think of myself as ontologically changed because I am a priest, isn't that almost like saying I am super-holy? I don't get it, aren't we all saints (Ephesians 1)? Aren't we all consecrated by God, set apart, if we are 'in Christ'? What does this kind of talk do to the idea of the 'ministry of all believers'? Didn't the reformation aim to break down some of the divides between laity and clergy and isn't a claim to clerical ontological change recreating the divide?
Can any one recommend any decent reading, Michael Ramsey aside? Can you share your views? Do you consider yourself ontologically changed and what do you mean by this?
Calvin wrote in the 1543 edition of the Institutes, “There remains the laying on of hands. I concede that it is a sacrament in true and lawful ordinations” but whilst it has no power or efficacy in itself it does have power and efficacy that “depend solely on the Spirit of God.”
...perhaps all I should really do with all this is leave it up to God, through the power of his Holy Spirit he will either ontologically change me or not.
11/12/2009
Gnosticism and its impact on Christianity
Today we learnt about second century Gnosticism and how it has impacted Christianity.
Gnosticism formulates an ultimate god with inferior deities who act as intermediaries: angelic beings, some of whom have become rebellious and in rebellion created the material world. The material world is worse than Plato's imprisoning bubble of the soul, in Gnosticism, it is inherently evil and the result of the god of the Old Testament. In gnosticism we are to free ourselves of the material because it hampers the spiritual.
In Gnosticism, intermediaries are 'separating us from that One by an unbridgeable chasm' (Ehrman 120 2003).
Christianity has been infected by Gnosticism to some extent. The idea that the OT God, the creator God, is different to the NT God, is prevalent in our chuches.
Gnosticism and the incarnation
Gnostics doubted the very humanity of Christ, thinking that God could not integrate himself with man in his fleshiness. Gnosticism has serious problems with incarnation.
This what is so wonderful about Christianity, its redemption of the physical! God's care over every aspect of our life, his engagement with us on every level is something that needs proclaiming.
The Gnostic's goal was secret knowledge. Gnostics also divided the material from spiritual, thinking the true God truly Spirit and therefore completely unknown and unknowable.
Of course, the Bible presents a God who wants to make himself known very clearly. He gave us his Word, his Son and his Spirit so that we could know him and be in relationship with him.
Gnostics thought our ways of knowing are bound up with the material; rooted in material existence because we perceive with our senses. And so if we have a God who is completely Spirit, we can not understand him because we are bound by our senses. In Gnosticism there is a divine realm. The one Spiritual God propagates other deviant beings known as eons. Taken together they constitute the divine realm - the pleroma - the fullness. The fall and creation are myths and explain how one of the eons became an imperfect divine being, outside the pleroma who brought into being this material world. Hence, our material world is the product of this Eon - the disaster that took place led to the creation of this world.
Gnostics believe the divine spark is alive (imprisoned even) inside the beings (us). This divine spark is called Sophia (feminine principle in Gnosticism). She became trapped in human beings.
There is no room for a physical and bodily resurrection in Gnosticism.
But in our faith: Christianity there is no dualistic split between the spiritual and the physical. Instead we are caught in a different tension, an eschatological tension between the now and the not-yet.
The Church is a living parable of the Kingdom. The resurrection is hope realised and yet not realised. We have the first-fruits, the down-payment.
The Hebrew paradigm of salvation
The Exodus became the paradigmatic example of salvation. It was determinative of all Jewish election on salvation. It was sung in worship and reenacted in story. God's mighty acts of deliverance in history. It is very physical. This is salvation from oppression. Cosmic salvation. Bruggeman wants us to understand the lack of platonic dualism in the Old Testament scriptures. We should focus on this liberation of Israel from the oppression of a tyrant. God is implacably imposed to injustice. There is a power that defeats injustice and this is Yahweh's socio-political deliverance of a people. It should not be spiritualised. God is at work to bring wholeness and hope to those broken of body and not just spirit. This is liberation theology. Theologians use this example of the exodus narrative. Liberation is recreation and reodering of life as God aims it - the ontological liberation of a people. Deliverance is cosmic as well as socio-political.
The horizons widen in the New Testament and as there are huge empires oppressing people, God's solutions adapt. We have the recapitulation of the entire cosmos in the New Testament to Christ. Tom Wright talks about how salvation encapsulates the 'entire future hope' (Wright 300, 1992).
There are over 150 references to the kingdom of God on the lips of our Lord. He is announcing the eschatological realisation of the Kingdom of God, now and not-yet.
It is not a snatching out of history of people from the present evil age. The inauguration of the eschaton has happened in the death and resurrection of Christ. Paul was an eschatological prophet. He believed that the new creation is already in evidence. Rom 8:21 creation will be set free from the bondage of decay and 2 Cor 5:17 There is new creation...these two overlap. We are between. We are adopted. We wait for adoption. We have the downpayment. We are 'in Adam' and we are 'in Christ'.
Galatians 5 is a tricky passage for the Christian homegroup. There is a lot of talk of division. There shouldn't be. It is not a passage about escape. Pneuma and Sarx. We misinterpret this passage. We are doing strange things with Sarx. Paul's point is that the life-giving work of the Spirit will be completed not by escape from the body but by the redemption of the body. Life according to the flesh is life according to the present age. Life according to the Spirit is life according to the norms inaugurated by Christ. Not body and flesh split but present age and eschatological age split. In Adam/In Christ split. How shall we convey this? What can we do to explain sarx in a way that people will understand it? To describe it 'human nature' (GNB) is to make evil that which God made and declared good.
So there's a question for you!
We have a gospel to proclaim and we better make sure we do not separate a God of the Old Testament from a God of the New testament: he is one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We had better guard against creating dualisms elsewhere too. Our God is a God of the everything and he came to redeem us totally, not set us free from an inherently evil world and inherently evil bodies. We are not trapped spirits, our redemption will be an entire and cosmic redemption!
Gnosticism formulates an ultimate god with inferior deities who act as intermediaries: angelic beings, some of whom have become rebellious and in rebellion created the material world. The material world is worse than Plato's imprisoning bubble of the soul, in Gnosticism, it is inherently evil and the result of the god of the Old Testament. In gnosticism we are to free ourselves of the material because it hampers the spiritual.
In Gnosticism, intermediaries are 'separating us from that One by an unbridgeable chasm' (Ehrman 120 2003).
Christianity has been infected by Gnosticism to some extent. The idea that the OT God, the creator God, is different to the NT God, is prevalent in our chuches.
Gnosticism and the incarnation
Gnostics doubted the very humanity of Christ, thinking that God could not integrate himself with man in his fleshiness. Gnosticism has serious problems with incarnation.
This what is so wonderful about Christianity, its redemption of the physical! God's care over every aspect of our life, his engagement with us on every level is something that needs proclaiming.
The Gnostic's goal was secret knowledge. Gnostics also divided the material from spiritual, thinking the true God truly Spirit and therefore completely unknown and unknowable.
Of course, the Bible presents a God who wants to make himself known very clearly. He gave us his Word, his Son and his Spirit so that we could know him and be in relationship with him.
Gnostics thought our ways of knowing are bound up with the material; rooted in material existence because we perceive with our senses. And so if we have a God who is completely Spirit, we can not understand him because we are bound by our senses. In Gnosticism there is a divine realm. The one Spiritual God propagates other deviant beings known as eons. Taken together they constitute the divine realm - the pleroma - the fullness. The fall and creation are myths and explain how one of the eons became an imperfect divine being, outside the pleroma who brought into being this material world. Hence, our material world is the product of this Eon - the disaster that took place led to the creation of this world.
Gnostics believe the divine spark is alive (imprisoned even) inside the beings (us). This divine spark is called Sophia (feminine principle in Gnosticism). She became trapped in human beings.
There is no room for a physical and bodily resurrection in Gnosticism.
But in our faith: Christianity there is no dualistic split between the spiritual and the physical. Instead we are caught in a different tension, an eschatological tension between the now and the not-yet.
The Church is a living parable of the Kingdom. The resurrection is hope realised and yet not realised. We have the first-fruits, the down-payment.
The Hebrew paradigm of salvation
The Exodus became the paradigmatic example of salvation. It was determinative of all Jewish election on salvation. It was sung in worship and reenacted in story. God's mighty acts of deliverance in history. It is very physical. This is salvation from oppression. Cosmic salvation. Bruggeman wants us to understand the lack of platonic dualism in the Old Testament scriptures. We should focus on this liberation of Israel from the oppression of a tyrant. God is implacably imposed to injustice. There is a power that defeats injustice and this is Yahweh's socio-political deliverance of a people. It should not be spiritualised. God is at work to bring wholeness and hope to those broken of body and not just spirit. This is liberation theology. Theologians use this example of the exodus narrative. Liberation is recreation and reodering of life as God aims it - the ontological liberation of a people. Deliverance is cosmic as well as socio-political.
The horizons widen in the New Testament and as there are huge empires oppressing people, God's solutions adapt. We have the recapitulation of the entire cosmos in the New Testament to Christ. Tom Wright talks about how salvation encapsulates the 'entire future hope' (Wright 300, 1992).
There are over 150 references to the kingdom of God on the lips of our Lord. He is announcing the eschatological realisation of the Kingdom of God, now and not-yet.
It is not a snatching out of history of people from the present evil age. The inauguration of the eschaton has happened in the death and resurrection of Christ. Paul was an eschatological prophet. He believed that the new creation is already in evidence. Rom 8:21 creation will be set free from the bondage of decay and 2 Cor 5:17 There is new creation...these two overlap. We are between. We are adopted. We wait for adoption. We have the downpayment. We are 'in Adam' and we are 'in Christ'.
Galatians 5 is a tricky passage for the Christian homegroup. There is a lot of talk of division. There shouldn't be. It is not a passage about escape. Pneuma and Sarx. We misinterpret this passage. We are doing strange things with Sarx. Paul's point is that the life-giving work of the Spirit will be completed not by escape from the body but by the redemption of the body. Life according to the flesh is life according to the present age. Life according to the Spirit is life according to the norms inaugurated by Christ. Not body and flesh split but present age and eschatological age split. In Adam/In Christ split. How shall we convey this? What can we do to explain sarx in a way that people will understand it? To describe it 'human nature' (GNB) is to make evil that which God made and declared good.
So there's a question for you!
We have a gospel to proclaim and we better make sure we do not separate a God of the Old Testament from a God of the New testament: he is one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We had better guard against creating dualisms elsewhere too. Our God is a God of the everything and he came to redeem us totally, not set us free from an inherently evil world and inherently evil bodies. We are not trapped spirits, our redemption will be an entire and cosmic redemption!
10/12/2009
Me, the Lord and a bottle of purple nail varnish
So when silence came, everyone left the chapel apart from me. This often happens. I don't know where everyone goes...but anyway...they go somewhere and I usually stay.
So I prayed for a while and I was thinking about my rule of life and I was thinking about my life too and how amongst many things I had had a week of emotional ups and downs. It was as if the adrenalin that had kept me going since September suddenly wore off in one day. Tuesday was terrible. I had felt exhausted and a bit lost. I was lacking sleep and personal care, you know like neglected hair cuts and dental appointments etc
So I remembered my bottle of purple nail varnish in my bag and as I prayed I painted my nails. I would have no time to do so before the ball. I haven't done anything like that before and at first it felt a little strange. I was almost apologising to my Father-God, suspecting he might mind. Then, suddenly in a flash I became very conscious that I was being unfaithful by apologising, that in some ways, I was making God too small, ...like he will not listen as I speak because I am also putting on nail varnish?! Almost as instantly, I became conscious of my anthropomorphisation of God and in that always addressing him Father, and thinking him male, I imagine that nail varnish might be something that could be a barrier if it is also in my thoughts.
... so for the first time I thought about how it might feel if I thought about God's mothering qualities and as I painted my nails and prayed I couldn't help but smile as I addressed God 'Mother/Father God' and think that I have also made my God too small too, by always referring to him as Father.
So I am exploring a different dynamic to my relationship with God. It's not anything as extreme as me praying to God as Mother but it's in my realising that purple nail varnish is really the very last thing that I need to worry about as regards anything that might challenge my relationship with God, who is so very much bigger...
I feel very called to preach a God of the very minutiae of our lives. To God everything matters: there is no secular/sacred split. God cares about every part of us, even our nails! He became embodied as Jesus Christ and the whole of the cosmos will be redeemed to him and we will be resurrected bodily. It's all so very physical!
I shared news, tentatively, of my nail-painting silent hour with my fellowship group as we talked about living prayerfully and praying continually (1 Thes 5:17) which would be an improvement on a habitual pattern of empty prayer if it were that which constituted a rule of life.
Anyway, as I continued to reflect on my conduct throughout the rest of the day, the college slowly started to turn our chapel into a disco hall. The cross stayed in place as did the wall hangings about being baptised in water and spirit and waiting on the Lord and I started to become more and more conscious of this wonderful God who is present all the time, interested in everything.
I danced in that chapel with the cross behind me and disco lights in front and just when I was perhaps beginning to wonder afresh whether you can really paint your nails purple and be prayerful, the principal of our college: Christina Baxter, with Deans Ian Paul and Nick Ladd treated us to a wonderful performance of YMCA in full fancy dress and it was at that moment when it became most obvious how much God must laugh alongside us as we have fun and celebrate our lives, purple cloth behind a wooden cross for advent and purple nails on one sometimes rather uncertain ordinand, discovering so much more about her Lord.
Canon Dr CBE Christina Baxter Principal of St John's
07/12/2009
Controversial
...subordination in the trinity
...the feminisation of the church
...homosexual bishops
...penal substitutionary atonement
...male headship
...nope, nothing to say on the above
Controversial?
Controversial IS...
Jesus not giving two hoots for the religious elite, thank God
Jesus eating and drinking and loving to party
Jesus hanging out with the down-and-outs
Jesus not showing us how we get to heaven but how we might get caught up in bringing God's Kingdom to earth
controversy is....
...the feminisation of the church
...homosexual bishops
...penal substitutionary atonement
...male headship
...nope, nothing to say on the above
Controversial?
Controversial IS...
Jesus not giving two hoots for the religious elite, thank God
Jesus eating and drinking and loving to party
Jesus hanging out with the down-and-outs
Jesus not showing us how we get to heaven but how we might get caught up in bringing God's Kingdom to earth
controversy is....
05/12/2009
Art and Christianity meme
I've been tagged my Tim with this meme:
List an artwork, drama, piece of music, novel, and poem that express something of the essence of Christianity.
I tag
DDD III
Alistair
P G McCullough
Maggie Dawn
The vicar's wife
Artwork
I love this poem which reminds me of the prayer of preparation and affirms my position in Christ and has me remember myself as a brownie in church in my brown uniform, kneeling and clasping my hands together, so captured by the words 'not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs...'
List an artwork, drama, piece of music, novel, and poem that express something of the essence of Christianity.
I tag
DDD III
Alistair
P G McCullough
Maggie Dawn
The vicar's wife
Artwork
This painting is contemporary by Daniel Bonnell and it is owned by the Saint George Cathedral, Jerusalem. It is oil on canvas. I think it is beautiful, the light, the baptism by water and Spirit, Christ's arms outstretched, prophetic of the cross.
Drama: The Lee Abbey Easter drama, around the grounds. Involves corporate feet washing, passover meal, the arrest of Christ in dark torch-lit grounds and the journey to the hill of three crosses. You become a part of the scoffing crowd, which feels profoundly awful, but you also travel to a small cave on the Sunday to find it empty but for the grave-clothes. This really brought it all very alive for my young children, Easter, 2008.
Music: Handel's Messiah. I sat on 'quiet day' in a church in Attenborough, Nottingham and flicked through the sheet music of this eighteenth century oratorio. I am not musical but I love to sing. My exposure to live performances of this oratorio are dimly recollected. I would love to hear it in a huge concert hall. It resonates with me since my Old Testament Prophets lecturer played it to us in class as he taught from Isaiah. He also enjoyed telling us how he once blasted it loudly in a queue on the motorway from his car windows on a hot July day for the benefit and spiritual edification of the surrounding traffic, and I smiled in recognition of something that I have a tendency to do too, although with me, it's more likely to be something 'New Wine' or 'Spring Harvest', being less cultured than my lecturer.
Novel: 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' which speaks as powerfully now as it did when it was first written, resonates with so many people adults and children and like God reaches us all on different levels at different times in our lives.
Poem:
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I love this poem which reminds me of the prayer of preparation and affirms my position in Christ and has me remember myself as a brownie in church in my brown uniform, kneeling and clasping my hands together, so captured by the words 'not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs...'
02/12/2009
Advent Spirituality
O Come O Come Emmanuel
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
In 'Spirituality' this morning, Andi Bowsher led us in an exploration of this hymn and we responded with some of the following thoughts.
This hymn has a poignancy which we do not find in the other up-beat and rejoicing hymns. This hymn resonates, surely for those for whom Christmas really is a time of longing. This hymn carries some of this pain, it lacks that Victorian sentimentality which has flavoured many of our hymns. This hymn is all about Jesus but it doesn't explicitly use this as a title for him. Is this hymn more accessible for those for whom the word Jesus comes with a lot of baggage. This hymn is rooted in the past and yet is prophetic, in its pointing to the future. It encourages people to rejoice no matter how they are feeling. It is rooted in what has come before: the story of Israel.
It derives from the 9th century. There were 7 antiphons sung from the 17th to the 24th as part of the preparation for Chritmas itself - Christmas day is all about longing and anticipation. Symbolically we are constructing again the sense that Christ is imminent, even though we are living with him now and yet there is also the sense of a longing for the ultimate advent - his second coming.
There is a restrained joy, not an effervescence of emotion but a hopeful lamenting.
When does advent begin? The fourth Sunday before Christmas. In the Orthodox East they start the period earlier. The Orthodox begin the season forty days before Christmas. In the eastern Orthodox church they refer to this season as 'the little Lent'. 'Little Lent' captures this sense of disciplined preparation. In the Eastern Orthodox church, they refrain from sex and fast and do not consume meat.
In the Medieval West there was a focus on the four last things during this time: Death, Judgment, Hell and Heaven. If we think about advent in terms of these things then there is a penitential element to Advent. Not only are we to celebrate his arrival, we are to consider too the second coming and Christ's judgment of all things.
Liturgically in the west, this is the reason that we have the purple which is traditionally the colour for penitence. It also symbolises the purple of the royal robes and the coming King.
Some parts of the church use a blue cloth, it connotes Mary as we think about her at this time and the longing for heaven with which we associate blue.
How are the themes of joyful hope and penitential yearning expressed in yoyr own use of advent?
I am sensing more as the years go by a kind of yearning for the immediacy (I think intimacy is probably what I mean, DDD) of Jesus for other people and myself. Christmas makes Jesus 'other' for me at times, as the Spiritual reality of this Saviour with whom I have a daily relationship shrinks and becomes incorporated into hymns that are sung without us being conscious of whom we are singing to, or he becomes static and confined to a small basket in a crib scene, for many he has never been allowed to grow up and die on the cross for our sins. So I struggle with what Jesus becomes or even doesn't become in our secularised offerings which are so feeble and irreverent.
What does Christmas mean to you?
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