God, Salvation, and Word Pictures

Reading the Daily Common Lectionary, which is going through Hebrews at the moment, I am reminded that there are different metaphors for salvation, and those metaphors are not necessarily compatible with each other. If the metaphors are taken too literally or too far it will appear that there are contradictions within scripture. The four big …

A Story About How God Works

In the previous essay I talked about the incarnation being the pattern of all God's activity in the world. God works in creation by working through the stuff of creation. Preeminently, God works through the Church. This reminds me of a saying about the monks. But in order to appreciate the saying, one must realize …

Our Role (and lack of it) in the Kingdom of God

Here's an exercise in presuppositions. I have been reading the book, What Is the Mission of the Church?, by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert. On the chapter about the Kingdom of God, they ask whether there is a human role in God's work of establishing the Kingdom. Of course no one argues that we Christians …

Some Words about Words for God

I was combing through my library looking for a mis-shelved book when I ran across a forgotten book. The anthology Speaking the Christian God: The Holy Trinity and the Challenge of Feminism, edited by Alvin F. Kimel, Jr., was published  in 1992 toward the end of the battle in several mainline churches to change or …

On The Proper Day to Take Down a Christmas Tree

I know this is burning question (yeah, it’s a pun) for many of you. I now have an authoritative Orthodox answer. (And I know that's exactly what you've all been looking for. ha!) That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it! Growing up we went to the mountains (okay, hills … but they had pine …