Some Thoughts about Grace and Peace

Karl Barth, in his 1921-1922 university lectures on the book of Ephesians spends the first several lectures on the opening few verses of the book. Last week I took a deep dive into his surprisingly non-Reformed understanding of “faithful” (v 1). This is a place where he aligns with the ancient church rather than the …

Faith as Human Behavior

About fifteen years ago (although I just discovered it) Karl Barth’s lectures on Ephesians were published in English translation as part of a doctoral dissertation by Ross Wright (found here). In the third and fourth lecture he discusses the word “faithful” (“To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus” (1:1b). …

Dolphins and the Naked Jesus

Dolphins are shown jumping out of the Jordan River in some of the Theophany icons. (They don’t appear on the image above because the icons with dolphins I found were restricted use.) Since I am the sort of spoilsport who gets annoyed by people who are utterly woo woo about cute animals such as dolphins, …

About There Being No Room At The Holiday Inn

With Epiphany still several days away, this week I decided to focus on a couple other details of the Nativity icon: The cave, the swaddling clothes, and the “mountain” in which the cave is typically located. The twofold purpose of Jesus’ incarnation is to (1) unite all things to himself, so that he can be …