Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

But Did They Find the WMDs? Scripture Faithfully Questions Scripture - Brad Jersak

Back in February of 2010, while reading Eric Siebert's book entitled Disturbing Divine Behavior, I engaged in a stimulating e-exchange with two friends (Brian Zahnd and Brian Schmidt) about the implications of a Christocentric reading of the conquest / genocide narratives in the Book of Joshua (I now prefer the terms "Christotelic" a la Peter Enns or "Cruciform" which I first heard through Zahnd). We were challenged to pursue a high view of Scripture that takes seriously the Bible's invitation to and modeling of what Derek Flood would later describe as "faithful questioning" of the text (in his excellent book, Disarming Scripture). 

During that discussion, I claimed such faithful questioning did not begin with Christ and the New Testament authors who question Old Testament reports of divinely-sanctioned violence. In truth, we see the practice already at work in the Old Testament ... and not only when the Prophets question the Law (Jeremiah 7:21-23) or when the Chronicler contradicts earlier interpretations of David's life (compare 2 Samuel 24 with1 Chron. 21). Such faithful questioning of the Joshua conquest already occurs right within the book of Joshua. 

 

OT scholar, Matthew Lynch, would confirm this for us in a video interview with CWR here: https://vimeo.com/101826159. He followed that up with a fine series of articles that begins HERE.

 

At the time, I identified two competing voices at work within Joshua that I labelled state-sponsored spin texts versus investigative journalist texts.

Hermann Hesse: the Glass Bead Game Then & Now - Ron Dart

A) Then

1) Historic Context (Castalia and the Glass Bead Game)

2) The Game: Quest for a grand synthesis of historic thought across time, cultures and civilizations via music, literature, spirituality, philosophy

3) Integration of the beads of different perspectives into a unified vision

4) The Problem (Knecht and Tito)

B) Now

1) New Atheists (Science contra Religion)

2) New Physics and Spirituality (Capra-Steindl-Rast)

3) Evolution and Spirituality (Teilhard De Chardin)

4) Axial Ages (Karl Jaspers, Ewert Cousins, John Hick, Karen Armstrong, Bede Griffiths, Wayne Teasdale

5) Bahai Tradition

6) Primordial Tradition (Exoteric and Esoteric): Schuon, Guenon, Nasr, Smith

7) Political Liberalism: end of ideology, end of history, clash of civilizations

C) Hesse’s Warnings

1) The Quest for contemplative wisdom traditions and unity---contemplative/intellectual events

2) The realism of historic political events and power

3) The dilemma of integration, unity and synthesis

A Limitless Beauty - Jessica Williams

“... in the Beautiful no limit is to be found

so that love should have to cease with any limit of the Beautiful."

 –St. Macrina the Younger 

 “Our theology needs to be beautiful; if it’s more beautiful, it’s probably more true.”

 –Brad Jersak

As a young girl, I remember laying in my bed at night, gripped by fear and grief as I wept and prayed for the salvation of my family – the people I loved. I thought they were all going to hell. This is what my church taught me. My sweet country church on the hillside, who also taught my heart to sing “Jesus loves me this I know.” I believed them. If there is one belief that has plagued my experience in the church it is what has been taught about the final judgement. You see, it was the church who introduced me to a greater Love than I had ever known, and it was the church who taught me that that great Love was capable of incredible harm. I tried to hold these teachings together for a long time, because I loved this Love. Then one day I just couldn’t anymore.^[1]

I have found that the process of letting go of these beliefs is harder than it sounds. The things we are taught when we are young become deeply rooted in us and they are not easy to depart from. This has led me to believe that it is important to re-examine the emotionally destructive doctrines we teach and to be faithful to challenge a theology that is not good. I want to echo a Platonic thought that influenced the early church and some came to hold as a foundational truth: the belief that God is good and only good. This concept became a mirror, or a standard for interpretation. Later, Origen took this thought further by pointing to Christ as the mirror, perfectly reflecting what God is like. Bridging these two, we find Philo of Alexandria’s voice insisting that everything we say about God, must be worthy of God. It must be good.^[2]

It is holding this thought that gives me the courage to write about what has always been the deepest longing of my soul – a universal hope. I will use biblical text provided by St. Paul to explore how the early church mothers and fathers understood him. St. Macrina the Younger will be my chosen guide on a path of understanding toward a universal lens, as her thoughts had great influence on the Cappadocian fathers. I’ll briefly engage the countering thoughts of St. Augustine that influenced the western evangelical teaching of my youth and then connect this to what I think as one who deeply desires to be faithful to the Spirit within her. My goal in doing this is to encourage a more beautiful way of understanding Scripture that remains deeply rooted in ancient Christian wisdom.

Rim of the Visible World - Earth Day Reflection - Jason Upton

Isaiah's prophecy, cited by St Stephen:

 

"... the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says,

‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.

What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord.

Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?’ (Acts 7:48-50 NIV) 

Jesus Christ's prophecy:

 

"But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.

“It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship." (John 4:22-24 The Message Bible)

Or this excerpt from The Wisdom of Native Americans, by Kent Newborn:

There are no temples or shrines among us save those of nature. Being children of nature, we are intensely poetical. We would deem it sacrilege to build a house for the One who may be met face to face in the mysterious, shadowy aisles of the primeval forest, or on the sunlit bosom of virgin prairies, upon dizzy spires and pinnacles of naked rock, and in the vast jeweled vault of the night sky! A God who is enrobed in filmy veils of cloud, there on the rim of the visible world where our Great-Grandfather Sun kindles his evening camp-fire; who rides upon the rigorous wind of the north, or breathes forth spirit upon fragrant southern airs, whose war canoe is launched upon majestic rivers and island seas--such a God needs no lesser cathedral.

And this reflection by Jason Upton:

On the rim of the visible world 🌎 we go! Our God need no lesser cathedral. I wrote a Praise record on this -- it's called "On the rim of the visible world." This statement was made by Native American leaders who received Jesus, but just couldn't buy in to the "White Man's" idea that they needed to build houses for God! They thought it was ridiculous! 🔥 I love churches, especially really large and old Cathedrals. But, I also love this statement. Sometimes we just have to live with tension when following Jesus. Happy belated earth day.

God Enters Our Nightmare - Tom Belt

It’s a scene you’ve experienced if you have children. Your young daughter screams out in the night. You rush to her side and find her semi-awake, still trapped inside a nightmare, and crying out, “Daddy! There’s a monster chasing me!” What do you say? Do you say, “Run faster, Hunny, faster!” or perhaps “Hide behind a tree or under the staircase!”? Do you confirm the reality of her nightmare this way? Or perhaps you let her nightmare define you as well and pace the floor feeling as desperately forsaken as she does.

Here’s what you do. You hold her in your arms and say, “It’s alright my love, Daddy is here! Don’t be afraid; Daddy’s here,” and you gently rock her in your arms until her reality conforms to your reality, that is, until your reality defines her reality by putting the lie to her nightmare. You save her from her nightmare by exposing it as false, not by letting it falsify you. That’s a rough analogy, we believe, for how it is that God awakens us from our nightmare.

“But this doesn’t require incarnation,” you say. “To save us,” you insist, “God didn’t speak into our world from outside.” Quite right. To save us from our nightmare, God enters our nightmare. Or if we’re talking about my daughter who is stuck in a bad dream, then I enter her nightmare to rescue her. So let’s extend our analogy of the dream to include this. How might some such model be possible and maintain anything like an Orthodox, Chalcedonian Christology?

Actually, pretty easily.

CLICK HERE to continue

Greg Boyd's "Crucifixion of the Warrior God" - Review (1/3) by Rob Grayson

Today I have the privilege of beginning to review the long-awaited new book by Greg Boyd, titled The Crucifixion of the Warrior God, officially released on 1 April 2017.

Weighing in at some 1,400 pages, with no less than ten appendices, an extensive bibliography and copious footnotes throughout, this truly gargantuan work took Boyd around ten years to write: no surprise when you consider that, as well as being a prolific author (with over fifteen books to his name), Boyd pastors a large church in St Paul, Minnesota (USA) and is also an adjunct professor of theology.

To make my review as accessible as possible, I had originally planned to write it in a single post. However, given the size and scope of the book, I’ve decided to break my review down into three parts. In the first two parts, I will attempt to provide a concise overview of the structure and content of the book; in the third part, I will share  some thoughts on the book’s strengths and weaknesses as I see them. (I hope to post parts 2 and 3 over the next few days.)

Hearing Jesus in a Wheat and Tares Church - Sean Davidson

There is little doubt that the church has failed in its mission down through the ages. But it has also enabled prophetic critique and movements of renewal too. This is built in.

So the history of the church and the tradition that forms us are mixed.

There are some really good things, but even these are deeply flawed and require ongoing discernment as we seek to retrieve and adapt them for our own time.

Something important to remember: there is no way to get the good stuff pure and unalloyed, once and for all.

The Pharisees tried this by following the law to the letter, but they failed to notice how the project was underwritten by their own self-righteousness.

Can we hear Jesus speaking to us? The tares grow with the wheat, and it's not always easy to tell the one from the other ...

The fact is we are up against something bigger than a faulty ethic. All of us are in need of new birth--ongoing spiritual renovation and renewal, funded richly by scripture and ballasted by the long tradition that's formed us, for good and ill.

It's true--even the imperfections of the tradition are helpful for coming alive to God's grace and his enduring call to mission.

I worry that we'd think we can get it perfectly right if only for paring everything down to an essential kernel of teaching--whatever that may be.

That seems like a moralistic short cut--one that's been tried many times throughout the history of the church, often with disappointing results.

Let's draw widely and deeply, while discerning everything, as we are able. There are all kinds of hidden gems in the tradition that can help guide us to Jesus in our own time. Not simply for practicing an ethic that's been neglected but for discovering ourselves transformed by his grace, through and through.

Awakening: More Hard Questions on Hierarchy and Institutions by Brad Jersak

Awakening: More Hard Questions on Hierarchy and Institutions by Brad Jersak

One week ago, I published an article entitled, “Hard questions I ask myself about hierarchy and institutions.”  In it, I deliberately challenged the energy behind so much post-modern and progressive resistance to or rejection of hierarchies and institutions per se. I suggested that self-examination is necessary to discern the degree to which our kicking at the powers is rooted in a spirit of ambition, a history of wounding or the deeper problem of self-will. I identified in some measure with all three and issued heart-felt cautions regarding the perils of ‘gung-ho gurus’ and ‘one-generation faith.’

I chose to pause a full week so that the self-reflection about these themes could begin its good work in me and perhaps some readers. Holy Week is, after all, a time for death of false-selves (or the 'flesh' as the Apostle Paul would say). My hope is that where those internal and external dangers have been exposed, we will give adequate time and energy to discerning them, though that is only the first step in a much longer journey.

Now I’d like to offer part 2 to that discussion—a more difficult set of questions because, as with part 1, the people who tend to appropriate and apply them are often the last folks who should. That is, when we put the brakes on dismissing hierarchy and institution too easily, who listens? Too often, it is the most compliant, the most submissive, those most vulnerable to spiritual abuse or domestic violence, etc. Those who most need to question hierarchy and institution are frequently prepared to endure their most abusive forms for too long. 

So too with this follow-up piece. I am about to suggest a kind of transcendence of hierarchy, an awakening that summons some to let go and move on. But I’m loath to do so because, again, those who most need to learn submission and surrender will instinctively be first to grab hold of what's coming as a license to run amok in self-will. Meanwhile, those who would derive most benefit are more likely to find the implications worrisome for the same reasons I do.

The Harrowing of Hades: A Visual Retelling of the Orthodox Tradition - Review by B Jersak

The Harrowing of Hades: A Visual Retelling of the Orthodox Tradition 

Illustration and Design: Margie & Michael Elgamal

Story: Dalia & Reda Fayek (Creative Orthodox, 2017).

Available on Amazon

The Harrowing of Hades is a beautifully illustrated retelling of the Christian tradition of that same name. I became aware of the graphic novel while following Michael Elgamal's @CreativeOrthodox postings on Instagram. He is particularly good at educating believers about the gospel and the great saints of the church through icon-inspired, cartoon-styled illustrations and comments. He sometimes includes fascinating video footage of the artistic process.

The book itself begins with a foreword that starts out, "What I'm about to tell you may or may not have happened, but it is the truth."

Modern Western believers have a history of difficulty understanding how profound truth (theological or otherwise) can be conveyed through stories that may not claim to be factual history. They are often bothered by suggestions that biblical books like Job or Jonah might have been dramatic works of fiction. Or that the Genesis narrative is cast in the genre of mythology, as if that somehow made it less TRUTH. Orthodox Christianity, however, stewards a long-standing tradition of creating stories that communicate our most cherished theological treasures. This practice would be analogous to Christ's composition of parables, which we understand, but folks can get rattled when the stories include important historical figures as characters.

For example, ask a mature Orthodox teacher about the presentation of the Theotokos to the temple and you should hear a beautiful story of the Virgin Mary's childhood, her life in the temple, her experiences in the holy of holies, at so on. Ask them what the story means--the truth it tells--and you will be greatly enriched, especially in your Christology. But ask them whether they think it "actually happened" and you're likely to get a polite look of incredulity. If it's fiction, does that make it less true? Dostoevsky or Lewis fans know better.

So it is with the Harrowing of Hades. The narrative of Christ's descent into and conquest of hades is central to our understanding of who Christ is, what his death and resurrection mean, and how this accomplished for our salvation. The truth of that theology is embedded in our Scriptures, our theology and our liturgy. "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tomb, bestowing life." 

Did Christ actually conquer death and rescue the dead? Oh yes! Do we believe he died and was raised in fact? Of course. These events were, we believe, absolute truth and we would also regard them as historical facts, witnessed in time.

But in his death, did Jesus Christ literally go to a 'place' under the earth, confront a 'being' called Hades, work his way through a prison system with 'real' iron bars to break open actual locked doors? Did he descend all the way to the tombs of Adam and Eve and literally pull them out by the wrists and, with them, lead a parade of people out of the grave? Most of us doubt that the story happened in that way, but how better to witness to the truth it tells? We must visualize the mysteries of Holy Saturday and tell the story as best we can from our limited perspective. 

Elgamal states the matter better than I--what he says for the book applies to the whole tradition: 

This little book isn’t meant to be a historically accurate recollection of Christ’s descent to Hades, it’s a symbolic reimagining.

The narrative we call "the Harrowing of Hades" gathers together the prophecies of the Old Testament, apocryphal writings (esp. the Gospel of Nicodemus), an abundance of liturgy and teachings of the early Church, including Fathers such as Cyril of Alexandria, Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Ephrem the Syrian. 

Michael Elgamal consulted all these sources (and more) and gathered the pieces together in an attractive and imagination-provoking 42-page book. He walks readers through the story into the deeper truths the story tells. Here we meet Simeon, John the Baptist and Lazarus, prophets such as Isaiah and Daniel, King David and others, all proclaiming their hope in the One who would defeat the last enemy and ransom their souls from the grave in resurrection power.

The author granted me permission to post a few screenshots for this review, so readers can see the quality and simple style of his work.

After the narrative proper, the book includes appendixes with some beautiful excerpts from Macarius the Great and St. John Chrysostom's 'Paschal Homily.' These give us a sense of the rich sources the author is drawing from--hopefully teasers that will lead us to further study. To help us with that, he includes a page of 9 of his key references. Then he closes with 3 black and white pages for readers who enjoy contemplative colouring.  

All in all, an excellent introduction to the theological heritage of Holy Saturday that has been too long neglected as we rush from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. 

   

 

 

A Message to Those Who Kill Us: Holy Monday Homily after the Bombing of Coptic Churches - Father Boules George

d

What will we say to them?

THANK YOU

The first thing we will say is “Thank you very, very much,” and you won’t believe us when we say it.

You know why we thank you? I’ll tell you. You won’t get it, but please believe us.

You gave us to die the same death as Christ–and this is the biggest honor we could have. Christ was crucified–and this is our faith. He died and was slaughtered–and this is our faith. You gave us, and you gave them to die.

We thank you because you shortened for us the journey. When someone is headed home to a particular city, he keeps looking at the time. “When will I get home? Are we there yet?” Can you imagine if in an instant he finds himself on a rocket ship straight to his destination? You shortened the journey! Thank you for shortening the journey.

We thank you because you gave to us to fulfill what Christ said to us: “Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves” (Luke 10:3). We were lambs; our only weapons: our faith and the church we pray in. I carry no weapon in my hand. We are so grateful that you helped us fulfill this saying of Christ.

Paradise and Hell According to Orthodox Tradition - George Metallinos

"When Thou comest to earth with glory, O God, and all things tremble, then a river of fire will flow before Thy Judgment Seat, and the books will be opened, and the hidden things made public. Then deliver me from the unquenchable fire and grant me to stand at Thy right hand, O most just Judge."                                             - Judgement Sunday, Kontakion, tone 1

On the Last Sunday of Lent "we commemorate the Second and Incorruptible Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ". The expression in the Synaxarion, "we commemorate" confirms that our Church, as the Body of Christ, re-enacts in its worship the Second Coming of Christ as an "event" and not just something that is historically expected. The reason is that, through the Holy Eucharist, we are transported to the celestial kingdom, to meta-history. It is in this orthodox perspective, that the subject of paradise and hell is approached.

In the Gospels (Matthew, ch.5), mention is made of "kingdom" and "eternal fire". In this excerpt, which is cited during the Liturgy of this Sunday, the "kingdom" is the divine destination of mankind. The "fire" is "prepared" for the devil and his angels (demons), not because God desires it, but because they are without repentance [i.e., unwilling to turn, to re-think, and participate in redemption]. The "kingdom" is "prepared" for those who remain faithful to the will of God. The uncreated glory is Paradise (the "Kingdom"). "Eternal fire" is hell (v.46). At the beginning of history, God invites man into paradise, into a communion with His uncreated Grace. At the end of history, man has to face both paradise and hell. We shall see further down what this means. We do however stress that it is one of the central subjects of our faith — it is Orthodox Christianity's "philosopher's stone."

1.

Mention of paradise and hell in the New Testament is frequent. In Luke 23, 43, Christ says to the robber on the cross: "Today you will be with me in paradise". However, the robber also refers to paradise, when he says: "Remember me, Lord...in your kingdom". According to Theofylaktos of Bulgaria (PG 123, 1106), "for the robber was in paradise, in other words, the kingdom". The Apostle Paul (2Cor.12:3-4) confesses that, while still in this lifetime, he was "swept up to paradise and heard unspoken words, which are impossible for man to repeat." In Revelations, we read: "To the victor, I shall give him to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God" (2:7). And Arethas of Caesaria interprets: "paradise is understood to be the blessed and eternal life" (PG 106, 529). Paradise, eternal life, kingdom of God, are all related.

References on hell: Matthew 25:46 ("to everlasting torment"), 25:41 ("everlasting fire"), 25:30 ("the outermost darkness"), 5:22 ("the place of fire"). 1John4:18 ("...for fear contains toment"). These are ways that express what we mean by "hell".

Click here to download the full PDF of Paradise and Hell

Embracing the Whole Church - Fr. Kenneth Tanner

Hank Hanegraaff's embrace of Eastern Christianity has, by the looks of my Facebook feed, revealed how sad and pathetic our church divisions are during this sacred week of reentering the mysteries that save the world (in one of those rare years when East and West celebrate Easter/Pascha in the same week).

John Paul II understood that living as a Christian without the Christian East *or* the Christian West is like trying to exercise life-generating faith with only one lung.

As a fourth generation Pentecostal who finds himself worshipping in the Anglican tradition, I would have an impoverished view of Jesus Christ without worship experiences among Orthodox Christians and participation in their wisdom by reading and meditation.

I say this as someone who also cannot if I tried imagine our God without the vision of Jesus Christ that the Evangelical Calvinist T.F. Torrance had, or the Lutheran Robert Jenson taught me, or the Methodist Thomas Oden shared in evening conversations, animated by our mutual passion for the great gift that the whole church offers us when we listen to the whole church.

At present I learn almost weekly from Pentecostals (Chris Green, Cheryl Bridges Johns), Independents (Brian Zahnd, Jeff Turner), Evangelicals (Scot McKnight, Ben Myers, Fred Sanders, Oliver Crisp), Anglicans (Tom Wright, Rowan Williams, Sarah Coakley), Methodists (Jason Micheli, Taylor Mertins, Teer Hardy, Michael Gorman), Baptists (Russell Moore, Al Mohler, Hunter Baker), Roman Catholics (James Martin, Eleanore Stump, Scott Hahn, Benedict XVI, Ilia Delio), Episcopalians (Fleming Rutledge, Marilyn McCord Adams), Anabaptists (Norman Wirzba, Stanley Hauerwas), Reformed (James K.A. Smith, Peter Leithart, Hans Boersma), Mainline (Cornel West, Frederick Buechner), and Orthodox (Brad Jersak, John Behr, Stephen Freeman, David Bentley Hart, Al Kimel) Christians to name a few.

I encourage you to pray with and work with and worship with and befriend Christians of the whole church and from every church. Your life in Christ will grow strong and flourish.

It is my experience that we do not see everything that there is to see about Jesus until and unless we embrace the whole church. It is a curse originating in our pettiness that our view of Jesus is to that extent obstructed by a party spirit, as Paul teaches.

And don't grant much integrity to critics of any part of the church who fail to comprehend that part of the church by knowing and living and working and studying and worshipping with Christians from the church they are critiquing.

Just a word to those who seek wisdom.

Hard questions I ask myself about hierarchy and institutions - Brad Jersak

A word about hierarchies

"If the high Authority appoints you to an office, know this: every step upward on the ladder of offices is not a step into freedom but into bondage. The higher the office, the tighter the bondage. The greater the power of the office, the stricter the service. The stronger the personality, the less self-will." - Hermann Hesse, The Glass Bead Game.

In Orthodoxy, as everywhere (acknowledged or not), from the pre-school sandbox to the hair salon to multinational corporations, there exists a definite hierarchy. But as in Hermann Hesse's novel, The Glass Bead Game, it is a hierarchy of bonded service, and I use 'bonded' and 'service' advisedly. A higher rank in the hierarch entails a great weight of responsibility, with a corresponding lesser freedom. Indeed, for those of highest rank among monastics, the Great Schema monks--those 'dead to the world'--such notions as "rank" become silly terms for the downward mobility and ironic authority in Christ's upside down kingdom. The "greatest" in the kingdom is servant of all after the pattern of the King who lays down his life on the Cross as ransom for the world.

Hierarchy might be the wrong term for such an 'ascent' ... maybe 'lower-archy' would suit better, or Roger Mitchell's kenarchy? (i.e. kenotic leadership or self-emptying service)

Three types miss this dynamic altogether in their notions of hierarchy.

Hermann Hesse's "Stages" - poem read by Ron Dart

Hermann Hesse's "Glass Bead Game" - Ron Dart

Hermann Hesse's "The Glass Bead Game (part 1) analysis by Ron Dart

Hermann Hesse's "The Glass Bead Game (part 2) analysis by Ron Dart

Hermann Hesse and "The Christianity Without Religion" (CWR) Religion

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) was viewed, in the 1960s-1970s, in North America, as a spiritual and literary icon of sorts. He embodied the best of the counter culture in a probing and poignant manner. He was, as Theodore Ziolkowski rightly notes, “Saint Hesse among the Hippies”. There were few in the high noon of the counter culture who had not read Hesse. In fact, knowing Hesse was a rite of passage into the counter culture family. Hesse was the guru that many turned to for wisdom and insight in an age and ethos in which much seemed askew and out of joint. Many of Hesse’s early and more immature works seemed to pander to the “I’m spiritual but not religious” dogma that is so trendy today or he anticipated the Christianity without Religion (CWR) religion that is the cause de jour of many reactionary types (an ideological position more dogmatic than most 16^th century confessions).

Hesse won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946, and his more mature books, The Journey to the East and The Glass Bead Game are a missive and tome not to missive on the religious journey. There is a decided shift in Hesse’s writing in these two burnished gold beauties and such splendid works of literary art draw the reader into Hesse’s comprehensive fullness. The younger Hesse was a reactionary of sorts (turning his tender back against his German pietistic upbringing) who elevated the notion of the lone individual contra church, state, history and society (all oppressive) in search of meaning and purpose. But, by the time Hesse came to research, write and publish The Journey to the East and The Glass Bead Game, he came to recognize the folly, reductionism and thinning out of the pilgrimage by turning against religion, history, state, society and the vast riches of the institutions that carry civilization forward.. The lone individual isolated from such imperfect historic and communal dimensions tends to shrink and shut off fuller possibilities. The same theme, in English literature, was played out earlier by Bunyan and Milton (liberal individualism in its emerging phase--today a fragmentary viral postmodern reality).

The Apocalyptic Cross: Preaching Mark 13 - Martin Little

Mark 13 is the longest speech attributed to Jesus within this shortest of Gospels.  It is therefore highly significant for both Mark’s message and Christian tradition.  How might one preach this passage as good news today? Of what significance are contested historical, theology and literary issues?  This essay explores these challenges, settling on a crucicentric approach as both satisfying interpretation and appropriate kerygma for a contemporary world in need of the hope of Christ.  It does so largely within Fred Craddock’s ‘inductive’ model.

A Little Apocalypse?

Often designated Mark’s ‘Little Apocalypse’, Jesus’ speech addresses events in a future time using image, allusion, and parable with a tone of utmost solemnity, even doom.  Despite noting absences of some characteristics of Jewish apocalyptic, Hooker nevertheless argues there are enough hallmarks to designate this the principal genre.[1]  Craddock argues against biblical texts being ‘forced to fit a new frame’, suggesting that the genre of a sermon might be inspired in the first place by the genre of the biblical text being preached.  He gives narrative and parable as examples; one wonders, would he extend this to apocalyptic?[2] Within ‘mainstream’ Christianity, perhaps we feel uneasy about preaching in ‘apocalyptic voice’, where portentous overtones of judgement and destruction smell of fundamentalism.  Yet if Buttrick rightly laments that much contemporary preaching tends towards either ‘therapy’ or ‘management’, apocalyptic preaching may yet prove antidotal.[3]  Apocalyptic language and style is intrinsically ‘flexible’ and ‘multivalent’[4], qualities promising for Craddock’s ‘inductive’ preaching that breaks ‘the tyranny of the single perspective’.[5]  Jesus’ own ‘homiletic’ pivots on the exhortation to keep watch (v23; 35; 37) – it is less explanatory ‘conclusion’ than open-ended summons – and thus rather in ‘inductive’ mode itself.

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[1] Morna D. Hooker, The Gospel According to St Mark, Black’s New Testament Commentaries (London: A & C Black, 1991), 299.

[2] Fred B. Craddock, As One Without Authority, Second (Revised) (St Louis: Chalice, 2001), 121.

[3] David Buttrick, A Captive Voice: The Liberation of Preaching (Louisville, Ky: Westminster John Knox, 1994), 47.

[4] Richard Middleton, A New Heaven and a New Earth:  Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014), 120–21.

[5] Craddock, As One Without Authority, 28.  Though Craddock’s own style is rather more ‘folksy’ than ‘apocalyptic’!

CWR Magazine - April 2017

CWR Magazine - April 2017

 

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The art of French painter Miki de Goodaboom is featured on our cover and on pages 3-4,11,13-14. (UBP. Please honor copyright). 

In memory of her father, Jean Clément Fonvielle. The cross and tree themes remind us that the Cross is our Tree of Life. As the bronze serpent brought healing to those who beheld it, so we gaze on the Cross in faith and are set free. Her galleries are viewable at http://www.goodaboom.com

 

Links to articles in this issue:

 

The Wounds that Heal by Brad Jersak

 

Easter: the Game Changer by Cindy Brandt

 

The Shack: Interview with Paul Young

 

"Have I truly accepted Christ?" by Greg Albrecht

 

The Mother of Us All by Greg Albrecht

 

The Great Descent by Brad Jersak

We Are Not Alone - John 11 - Homily by Sean Davidson

From David Bowie, "Lazarus" We Are Not Alone

April 2, 2017 | The Rez

Good morning everyone, and welcome.

Over the last number of weeks, we’ve been journeying through the season Lent together. We’ve had a theme: “Broken is the beginning.” And we’ve been exploring that theme in John’s gospel. I’ve loved going back to the familiar stories. We began with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman in the opening chapters of the gospel. We then turned to Jesus’ healing of the man born blind. Today, we’re looking at the story of Lazarus.

As we’ve journeyed together, there’s one thing that’s stood out for me. It’s not all that interesting or profound. In fact it’ll likely seem trivial.

Have you noticed that these stories are really long?

It’s true, right? I usually realize it half way through the reading while we’re standing for the gospel. My mind drifts a little and I snap back. “My gosh, this is long.” And then I’m scrambling to figure out where we are. Yes, even pastors do this.

So here’s a question: Why do you think this is? Why are these stories so long?

Consider our reading today. The raising of Lazarus. The miracle seems to be the most important thing in the story. But we have all this extra detail about the news of Lazarus’ sickness, about waiting two extra days for Lazarus to die, about the decision to return to Bethany, about Jesus’ interaction with Mary and Martha, about the length of time that Lazarus has been in the tomb, about Jesus’ emotional state when he arrives to the tomb, etc.

Is all of this necessary? Couldn’t the story be told in half the length? What’s John up to?

“He annuled the curse, put an end to death, opened paradise, destroyed sin, flung wide the gates of heaven” - John Chrysostom

When the ten disciples were indignant with James and John for separating themselves from their company in the hope of obtaining the highest honor, Jesus corrected the disorderly passions of both groups. Notice how he did it.

“He called them to him and said: Gentile rulers lord it over their people, and holders of high office make their authority felt. This must not happen among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to be first among you must be last of all.” You see that what the two brothers wanted was to be first, greatest, and highest: rulers, one might almost say, of the others. So, revealing their secret thoughts, Jesus put a curb on this ambition, saying: “Whoever wants to be first among you must become the servant of all.”

If you wish to take precedence and to have the highest honors, aim for what­ever is lowest and worst: to be the most insignificant and humble of all, of less account than anyone else; to put yourselves after the others. It is virtue of this kind that wins the honor you aspire to, and you have an outstanding example of it near at hand.

“For the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

This is what will make you illustrious and far-famed. See what is happening in my case. I do not seek glory and honor, yet by acting in this way I am gaining innumerable blessings.

The fact is that before the incarnation and self-abasement of Christ the whole world was in a state of ruin and decay, but when he humbled himself he lifted the world up. He annuled the curse, put an end to death, opened paradise, destroyed sin, flung wide the gates of heaven, and introduced there the firstfruits of our race.

He filled the world with faith in God, drove out error, restored truth, caused our firstfruits to ascend a royal throne, and gained innumerable blessings beyond the power of myself or anyone else to describe in words. Before he humbled himself he was known only to the angels, but after his self-abasement he was recognized by the whole human race.

St John Chrysostom

With thanks to Al Kimel (https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2017/04/01/he-annuled-the-curse-put-an-end-to-death-opened-paradise-destroyed-sin-flung-wide-the-gates-of-heaven)