Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

A Mystical Thread: The Shekinah Tradition in J Moltmann - by Adam Arn

A MYSTICAL THREAD:
THE SHEKINAH TRADITION IN THE TRINITARIAN THEOLOGY OF JÜRGEN MOLTMANN

by Adam Arn

Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, in his book entitled Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and Buchenwald concentration camps, relates the following poignant and now almost legendary incident:

The SS hanged two Jewish men and a youth in front of the whole camp. The men died quickly, but the death throes of the youth lasted for half an hour. ‘Where is God? Where is he?’ someone asked behind me. As the youth still hung in torment in the noose after a long time, I heard the man call again, ‘Where is God now?’ And I heard a voice in myself answer: ‘Where is he? He is here. He is hanging there on the gallows.’1

Wiesel’s experience, in addition to inspiring a generation to cultivate a more compassionate and just humanity, has also engaged the imaginations of countless theologians, Jewish and Christian alike. For as this incident so clearly illustrates, post-Holocaust theology has had to revisit the enduring question of theodicy in the face of such massive and intentional human suffering. Furthermore, intrinsic to this question is the larger doctrine of God. If God exists, what can we say about God’s nature? What can we say about God’s being? God’s relationship to history, humanity, and our ostensibly precarious future? 

________

1 As quoted by Jürgen Moltmann in The Crucified God: The Cross as the Foundation and Criticism of Christian Theology, trans. R.A. Wilson and J. Bowden (London: SCM Press, 1974), 273-4.

To read the rest of this essay: Download A Mystical Thread_ The Shekinah Tradition in the Trinitarian Theology of Jürgen Moltmann

 

More, alas, to come! by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo

Paul
(early teens)

By an abandoned orchard,

of the forest trail,

          toward the peaks
          in silver grass
          in the hillside womb of afternoon;

the peace of death

curls around him

          far from the

wilderness

          of the world.

Silent now are the voices

that preached love,

          but killed him.

To download the whole collection, click link below:

Download More ALas, to come 

For Young Victims of Hate (Killed by Christians) - Archbishop Lazar Puhalo

For Trevor (14 yrs old)

 Wings close,

the swallow falls

          among

          abandoned avenues.

Glass cavern walls

          mirror him

swift on

shocks of air,

           hard pavement

           and a garden wall

cries of the heart

greater than any pain

            echo through the empty city

            invoking

the vanished

sun.

To Download the whole collection, click the link below:

Download FOR YOUNG VICTIMS OF HATE(Killed by Christians)

Invitation to the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Serge

YOU ARE INVITED

The first formal gathering of the

Fellowship of St Alban and St Serge, West coast Chapter

19-20 OCT 2012
MONASTERY OF ALL SAINTS OF NORTH AMERICA

Directors of the Fellowship Ron Dart and Archbishop Lazar warmly invite you to participate. Muffins and coffee will be available in the morning, and lunch will be provided (there will be a donation box)

Friday, 19 October at 17:00 (5 P.M.)

will be a “business” meeting of members or those who wish to be.

Saturday, 20 October, 9:30 A.M.

SISTER NONNA

Internationally known Orthodox nun from California
will speak on Patristics and our obligation to the larger community.

DAVID J. GOA

Orthodox Theological Writer and noted Canadian Philosopher Director of the Chester Ronning Centre, University of Alberta will also be a guest speaker.

ANGLICAN SPEAKERS

Will be Announced. CONTACT US:
For information and directions:

[email protected]

All Saints MONASTERY: (604) 826-9336 

Is the Anglican Way Protestant? Via Media with Ron Dart

The Vindication of Tradition and the Post-Secular Age with Ron Dart

The Abolishment of Retribution in the Church Fathers by Derek Flood

I have argued elsewhere that the Church Fathers’ understanding of the atonement was rooted in a model of restorative justice, rather than retributive justice.1 Recently, Garry Williams has written a rebuttal of my article, entitled ‘Penal Substitution and the Church Fathers’ that argues the opposite point.2 While both of our respective articles are focused on the patristic views of the atonement, there is a larger issue at stake which touches on the very core of our faith:

At stake here is not simply what the early church believed, but how we are to understand God’s justice, what the cross means, and how we are to be ambassadors of the crucified one. Is God’s justice ultimately retributive or restorative? Does the cross model God’s demand for retribution and violence, or does it model God’s act of nonviolent restorative justice? Our answers to these questions—whether we see divine justice as retributive or restorative—will naturally have profound ethical consequences, because the model of justice that we see in God will necessarily shape how we apply ‘justice’ in our world as well. Will we advocate for punitive violence in the name God? Or will we see the way of Christ calling us to towards a restorative model of justice? 

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Pussy Riot and the Temple Incident - by Brad Jersak

Pussy Riot and the Temple Incident by Brad Jersak

I’ve been asking afresh why the political and religious authorities of Jesus’ day thought it necessary to conspire in his death. What did he do or say that constituted a capital crime in their minds? It was certainly not because he preached love. The answer lies in two of Jesus’ most dramatic acts of performance art.

First came Jesus’ celebrated victory ride into Jerusalem on a donkey—an overt claim to kingship, referencing Zechariah 9. The second was his ‘occupy’-style protest in the so-called ‘cleansing of the temple.’ In fact, when Jesus overturned the tables, he was reenacting Jeremiah’s threat of the forthcoming destruction of the temple (by smashing pottery there, Jer. 19). Christ supplements his prophetic act of upheaval with the ‘little apocalypse’ (Mk.13), forecasting the demolition in which not one stone of the temple will be left on another. He delivers his ‘woes’ to the corrupt temple establishment and proceeds to occupy the grounds throughout Passion Week.

The combination of Jesus’ symbolic claim to kingship and his perceived threat to the temple were among the charges laid before the Sanhedrin and Pilate. The political and spiritual power brokers of Judea were responsible for keeping the peace during the Passover holiday, a volatile event considering the festival’s backstory of national deliverance. They saw Jesus’ capacity to attract and stir up crowds of enthusiasts as a real threat to public order, so they acted. Decisively. An arrest, a trial, a conviction and the sentence carried out in scarcely a day.

When I picture the temple incident, it’s a wonder that Jesus didn’t trigger a riot. He got rough. This was no spontaneous tantrum; he was deliberate, strategic. And yet … were his disciples and entourage so mesmerized that they just watched? Or did they join in the antics, upending tables and stalls as well? Why did the temple guards simply stand by? Why no immediate arrests? It must have been surreal.

A Christian Voter's Guide - by Brian Zahnd

A Christian Voter’s Guide

by Brian Zahnd on September 4, 2012

A Christian Voter’s Guide

Praise be to Nero’s Neptune
The Titanic sails at dawn
And everybody’s shouting
“Which Side Are You On?”

I am fine with a Christian voting for Mitt Romney if they feel that action best reflects their commitment to follow Jesus Christ. I know sincere Christians who will do this.

I am fine with a Christian voting for Barack Obama if they feel that action best reflects their commitment to follow Jesus Christ. I know sincere Christians who will do this.

I am fine with a Christian voting for someone else (Green Party, write-in, etc.) if they feel that action best reflects their commitment to follow Jesus Christ. I know sincere Christians who will do this.

I am fine with a Christian choosing not to vote because they don’t like any of the options and view it as inconsistent with truly believing that Jesus is Lord. I know sincere Christians who will do this.

I am not fine with a Christian who insists that their particular way of voting is the only faithful Christian response. Such Christians are narrow-minded partisans who divide the body of Christ over politics. This is a grievous sin.

“This is my commandment: That you love one another.” -Jesus

BZ

(The artwork is Puritan Place by Harold Town. The quote is from Bob Dylan’s Desolation Row.)