Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

Wayne Northey on Ken Dryden's "‘The Code’ of the NHL, and it has no cure for stupid"

Photo by Michael Barera, Wiki-Commons

Wayne Northey responds to Ken Dryden's Washington Post opinion piece, "'The Code' of the NHL, and it has no cure for stupid."

Wayne Northey: This of course is the story of humanity. We endlessly imitate the violence of the opponent, escalating it into something often far more monstrous, brutal, deadly . . .

As Ken Dryden indicates, a superb goaltender, gentlemanly player, NHL Hall of Famer, trained lawyer, Member of Parliament, author, motivational speaker . . . and dead-on in his analysis that boils down to: It’s ‘The Code’, Stupid!

The outstanding anthropological work on this was by French literary scholar and philosopher, René Girard. It is impossible to comment on Girard adequately and briefly at the same time. The following though is a teaser.

Girard understands the birth of all cultures, including Christendom and Christian culture, to arise from the unanimity achieved by scapegoating a victim or victims. ritual, prohibition, and myth dominant in all cultures religious and secular arise in the repeated exercise of a sacrificial mechanism designed to re-establish the peace. Cultic rites the world over in archaic religions and scapegoating interpretations of Christianity demonstrate the phenomenon; the Criminal Justice System (CJS) in a secular society serves a similar “scapegoating mechanism” function.

A classic treatment of the CJS in this respect is by Canadian Girardian scholar, and friend, Vern Redekop: Scapegoats, the Bible, and Criminal Justice: Interacting with René Girard.

So Mr. Dryden is right–indeed more right than he knows. But when in the article he states,

And mostly it works. But when it doesn’t, cops and judges intervene.–

he, a lawyer, doesn’t get it. For, just as in William Golding’s classic 1973 novel Lord of the Flies, what comes to the rescue of schoolboys during World War II stranded on a spectacular coral island after a plane crash–when some of the boys descend into unmitigated scapegoating savagery–is a British naval gunboat–that is, representation of an epitome of more savagery   . . . We read:

He saw white drill, epaulettes, a revolver, a row of gilt buttons down the front of a uniform. A naval officer stood on the sand, looking down at Ralph in wary astonishment. On the beach behind him was a cutter, her bows hauled up and held by two ratings. In the stern-sheets another rating held a sub-machine gun. The ululation faltered and died away. The officer looked at Ralph doubtfully for a moment, then took his hand away from the butt of the revolver. (pp. 181-182)

The surreal irony of the rescue of the remaining terrorized school children is caught here:

The officer grinned cheerfully at Ralph. ‘We saw your smoke. What have you been doing? Having a war or something?’ (p. 182)

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Jim Forest’s Eyes of Compassion: Learning from Thich Nhat Hanh - Review by Ron Dart

Ron Dart with Jim Forest

Jim Forest’s Eyes of Compassion: Learning From Thich Nhat Hanh

Orbis Books, 2021

Review by Ron Dart

When I was working for Amnesty International in the 1980s, I began a correspondence with Jim Forest (who was working for Fellowship of Reconciliation at the time) that continues to thrive and flourish. I also began in the 1990s a correspondence with Thich Nhat Hanh (certainly not as extensive as the one I have had with Jim over the decades). So, it was a delight and joy to meditatively read the much more extensive journey of Jim with Thich Nhat Hanh in Eyes of Compassion. The subtitle is apt indeed--Learning From Thich Nhat Hanh. I suspect Nhat Hanh has also learned much from Jim Forest. Such experiences do knit people together well and wisely.

Eyes of Compassion threads together about 70 short reflections on the journey of Thich Nhat Hanh and Jim’s pilgrimage with him. The period of time covered, obviously, cannot ignore the American involvement in Vietnam and the role of many seekers of justice and peace in the USA (and elsewhere) doing what they could to support Buddhist peacemakers like Thich Nhat Hanh (and other Buddhist monks and nuns inspired by his life and writings). There is a sense that this short book, replete with touching and telling back-white photos, is also a recounting of both dark times and those who were light-bearers in such a tragic period of history. Each of the short reflections (and they are just that) needs to be quietly sat with to fully appreciate their time tried wisdom and insights.              

The kindly and thoughtful, personal and tender, “Introduction” by Mobi Warren is well worth many a read. I mentioned that the many photographs in the book speak much about Jim and Thich Nhat Hanh’s journey together, but the many sketches in the book have both abundant literal and symbolic significance. In short, the combination of text, photos, and sketches makes this missive of a book an entrée of sorts into the deeper meaning of eyes, seeing, compassion, friendship, justice, and peacemaking—well worth the journey of understanding.

Amnesty International has a logo that states “Better to Light a Candle than Curse the Darkness”. There is a definite sense in which Jim Forest and Thich Nhat Hanh have been candles in such darkness and Eyes of Compassion: Learning From Thich Nhat Hanh highlights how they (and many others mentioned in the book) have been such flickering yet consistent and enduring lights.       

Thich Nhat Hanh has, for many in the West, become a symbol (like the Dalai Lama) of the Buddhist meditative and mindful way but few know about the nature of his more personal journey that Jim so thoughtfully recounts. And, as the notion of “Engaged Buddhism” has become prominent, compassion became even more essential as a corrective to the legitimate demands of justice. This seemingly small book is not so small when understood in its deeper meaning and significance. Do read and inwardly digest—much nutrition indeed for soul and society.

Fiat Lux

Ron Dart

WHY THE CROSS? Athanasius, Behr & Myers by Robert Fantauzzi

            Having completed the Pauline and Patristic Themes course, the time has come to answer the question: ‘Why the cross?’  according to Athanasius and other Patristic teachers. In the first two sections of this paper, I will focus on the thoughts and theology of Athanasius as interpreted by Fr. John Behr in his two ‘On the Incarnation’ lectures, and the two answers he outlines for ‘Why the cross?’ – 1) to restore life to humanity, and 2) to restore knowledge of God to humanity.  In the third section, I will examine Benjamin Myers’ theology of the Atonement and the Image of God which includes not only the thoughts of Athanasius, but also other Patristic thinkers such as Gregory of Nazianzus.

            Starting with the cross as a method to restore life to humanity, Athanasius tells us that the cross is the vehicle through which Jesus – Son of God – came to put an end to death.¹  However, given the level of decay and corruption that had seized the heart of humanity, the Word saw three things: 1) that this corruption could not be washed away except by everyone dying; 2) that the Word did not wish for this; 3) that the Word – as immortal Son of God – could not suffer and die unless he took an earthly body.² Thus, the solution for the Word was to take for Himself the flesh of humanity - which could die - so that His death would suffice on behalf of all humanity and wash away the corruption through the grace of resurrection.³ For Athanasius, the cross and Jesus’ crucifixion upon it was the death of death, whilst the resurrection is the promise of the eternal life that Jesus offers.⁴ 

The ultimate result of Jesus’ sacrifice for all of us upon the cross is that he brought peace to humanity as, through Jesus, all demons, evil, and idolatry were put to flight.⁵  Further, with Jesus being the Saviour of the universe, this meant the cross was not the ruin of creation but its healing; thus, for Athanasius, the cross is the crux of humanity’s salvation.⁶ If then, all idolatry and demonic activity is vanquished after the events of the cross, this means that the cross was essential, central, and critical to the restoration of humanity.⁷ Why the cross when it comes to the restoration of life to humanity? Because, simply put, it had to be the cross and Jesus’ dying upon it or it would not have been Jesus the Lord and Saviour.⁸ However, it is critical to remember that this is not a theory of debt-substitution, the wages of sin, or Atonement theory; rather, it revolves around humanity becoming one with the body of Christ.⁹

            Turning to the second reason to explain ‘why the cross?’ – to restore knowledge of God to humanity - we see that Jesus’ sacrifice upon the cross was the key event in which humanity’s collective mind and knowledge turned away from idolatry and corruption and was restored the knowledge of God’s love and mercy.  For Athanasius, we were created in the image of God in a physical sense, but also in the sense of our being rational beings who were created to contemplate God¹⁰ – the trouble was that we turned our heads away from our creator and towards idols of our own making.  What Athanasius seems to be describing is a view of ‘the fall’ not as a physical expulsion from the Garden of Eden, but more as a figurative fall as humanity turned its gaze from God the creator and towards wallowing in pleasures and decadence.¹¹ At the same time, the cross inverts the disbelief, scorn, or mocking of those who had turned their heads from God into a testament of Jesus’ divinity by showing humanity possibility wherein we had only seen impossibility beforehand.¹² Thus, the cross demonstrated, in unequivocal fashion, that Jesus was the Word of God – something that had been hinted at throughout the gospels but not actually proven until the cross and the resurrection¹³ – and the supposed degradations that Jesus suffered upon the cross actually showcased Jesus’ strength and divinity in His suffering for us.¹⁴

            Another way to view Athanasius’ take on ‘why the cross?’ is via a three-step process: 1) humanity was created in the image of God and in order to contemplate God; 2) over time, humanity turned its collective gaze away from God and towards human-created evils; 3) Jesus’ passion upon the cross was the singular event which turned the collective eyes of humanity back towards God and its contemplation.¹⁵ Further, Athanasius seemed not to believe in concepts of future or past but only in the present; for Athanasius, there is no past and no future and every moment is the end of time.  Thus, it was literally at the end of time when Jesus was on the cross and our collective gaze was turned back to contemplation of God,¹⁶ it is not something that we must continue to wait for.  At the same time, Athanasius saw the cross as an apology for his faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour against charges that such faith was irrational with the response that: 1) Jesus is the word of God or the logos of God; 2) because Jesus is the word or logos of God, the Christian faith is not, and cannot be, alogos or without a word and therefore cannot be irrational.¹⁷

            Turning to Benjamin Myers’ Atonement & The Image of God, the major theme that Myers’ theological interpretation revolves around when answering the question ‘why the cross?’ is Jesus’ need and sacrifice to save humanity from death.  In the case of Athanasius, he tells us that Jesus’ sacrifice upon the cross was “…on behalf of all, delivering his own temple to death in the place of all, in order to make all not liable to and free from the ancient transgression, and to show himself superior to death.”¹⁸ For Cyril of Alexandria, the atonement of the cross involved the salvation of the entire world and, as Jesus was beyond suffering, he chose to wrap himself in the fleshly cloak of humanity so that the suffering he would experience would truly be his own.¹⁹ For Gregory of Nazianzus, we hear similar echoes that, for humanity to live and be freed from chains of our own making, “[w]e needed a God made flesh and made dead that we might live.²⁰ Meanwhile, in his Catechetical Oration 26, the cross is seen as the ‘death of death’²¹ with Gregory of Nyssa stating that “…when death came into contact with life, darkness with light, corruption with incorruption, the worst of these things disappeared into a state of non-existence.²²

            When considering these views of ‘why the cross?’ it is important to keep in mind that atonement upon the cross is not a struggle between God and Satan, but rather it is the defeat of death with the proof of this (of death’s defeat) being shown in the Church, its continued existence, and within its twin powers of martyrdom and exorcism.²³ Thus, by Jesus offering himself to death upon the cross, with his body as  holy offering, Jesus was able to abolish death using his body as a substitute for all of humanity.²⁴ Again, it is vital to remember that this sacrifice for all of us is not atonement theory but merely describing what has happened, and that this is an event for everyone – it is not about how this occurred.²⁵  Lastly, the cross is not merely a solution to the fallen state of humanity but also acts as something of an escalator, moving humanity ever closer to God and towards a higher state then we were prior to the cross.²⁶

            The question this paper sought to explore was ‘why the cross?’ Starting with the theological analysis of Fr. John Behr and his take on Athanasius, we see there are two major reasons offered to answer this.  The first is that Jesus’ sacrifice upon the cross restored life to humanity, whilst the second reason is that Jesus’ passion upon the cross restored knowledge of God to humanity.  For Benjamin Myers and his theological analysis of Athanasius, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, and of Cyril of Alexandria, we see a similar theme in the belief that Jesus’ death upon the cross was the means in which the ‘death of death’ was achieved, and humanity thus moved beyond the grasp of death. Why the Cross?  Because, ultimately, to save humanity from the fallen state that we had led ourselves to and to successfully defeat death, it could not have been any other way.  Why the cross?  Because it had to be.

 

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FOOTNOTES

[1]  Athanasius, “On the Incarnation of the Word,” CHURCH FATHERS: On the Incarnation of the Word (Athanasius), 2020, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2802.htm. See Chapter IX.

[2]  Ibid.

[3]  Ibid.

[4]  John Behr, “Fr John Behr on St Athanasius' ‘On the Incarnation’ Talk 2,” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, December 30, 2017, https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2017/12/fr-john-behr-on-the-incarnation-pt-2.html. Timestamp: 52:24

[5]  John Behr, “‘On the Incarnation’ Lecture 1 - Fr. John Behr at Orthodox School of Theology (U of T),” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, December 23, 2017, https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2017/12/on-the-incarnation-lecture-1-fr-john-behr-at-orthodox-school-of-theology-u-of-t.html. Timestamp: 27:04

[6]  Ibid. Timestamp: 29:04.

[7]  Ibid. Timestamp: 31:38.

[8]  John Behr, “Fr John Behr on St Athanasius' ‘On the Incarnation’ Talk 2,” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, December 30, 2017, https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2017/12/fr-john-behr-on-the-incarnation-pt-2.html. Timestamp: 47:21

[9]  Ibid. Timestamp 36:30.

[10] John Behr, “Fr John Behr on St Athanasius' ‘On the Incarnation’ Talk 2,” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, December 30, 2017, https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2017/12/fr-john-behr-on-the-incarnation-pt-2.html. Timestamp: 39:21.

[11] John Behr, “‘On the Incarnation’ Lecture 1 - Fr. John Behr at Orthodox School of Theology (U of T),” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, December 23, 2017, https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2017/12/on-the-incarnation-lecture-1-fr-john-behr-at-orthodox-school-of-theology-u-of-t.html. Timestamp: 43:00

[12]  John Behr, “Fr John Behr on St Athanasius' ‘On the Incarnation’ Talk 2,” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, December 30, 2017, https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2017/12/fr-john-behr-on-the-incarnation-pt-2.html. Timestamp: 3:44

[13]  Ibid. Timestamp: 6:49.

[14]  Ibid. Timestamp: 7:45

[15]  John Behr, “‘On the Incarnation’ Lecture 1 - Fr. John Behr at Orthodox School of Theology (U of T),” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, December 23, 2017, https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2017/12/on-the-incarnation-lecture-1-fr-john-behr-at-orthodox-school-of-theology-u-of-t.html. Timestamp: 41:00

[16] John Behr, “Fr John Behr on St Athanasius' ‘On the Incarnation’ Talk 2,” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, December 30, 2017, https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2017/12/fr-john-behr-on-the-incarnation-pt-2.html. Timestamp: 24:00 – 26:00

[17] John Behr, “‘On the Incarnation’ Lecture 1 - Fr. John Behr at Orthodox School of Theology (U of T),” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, December 23, 2017, https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2017/12/on-the-incarnation-lecture-1-fr-john-behr-at-orthodox-school-of-theology-u-of-t.html. Timestamp: 31:07

[18] Athanasius, “On the Incarnation of the Word,” CHURCH FATHERS: On the Incarnation of the Word (Athanasius), 2020, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2802.htm. See Chapter XX

[19] Benjamin Myers, “Benjamin Myers: Patristic Atonement Models--Solution and Surplus,” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, January 27, 2016, https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2016/01/benjamin-myers-patristic-atonement-models-solution-and-surplus.html. Timestamp: 14:35.

[20] Gregory of Nazianzus, “Oration 45,” CHURCH FATHERS: Oration 45 (Gregory Nazianzus), 2020, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310245.htm.

[21] Benjamin Myers, “Benjamin Myers: Patristic Atonement Models--Solution and Surplus,” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, January 27, 2016, https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2016/01/benjamin-myers-patristic-atonement-models-solution-and-surplus.html. Timestamp: 18:35

[22]  Ibid.

[23]  Ibid. Timestamp: 22:50.

[24]  Athanasius, “On the Incarnation of the Word,” CHURCH FATHERS: On the Incarnation of the Word (Athanasius), 2020, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2802.htm. See Chapter IX.

[25]  Benjamin Myers, “Benjamin Myers: Patristic Atonement Models--Solution and Surplus,” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, January 27, 2016, https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2016/01/benjamin-myers-patristic-atonement-models-solution-and-surplus.html. Timestamp: 41:45.

[26] Benjamin Myers, “Benjamin Myers: Patristic Atonement Models--Solution and Surplus,” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, January 27, 2016, https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2016/01/benjamin-myers-patristic-atonement-models-solution-and-surplus.html. Timestamp: 47:00.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Athanasius. “On the Incarnation of the Word.” CHURCH FATHERS: On the Incarnation of the Word (Athanasius), 2020. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2802.htm.

Behr, John. “‘On the Incarnation’ Lecture 1 - Fr. John Behr at Orthodox School of Theology (U of T).” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, December 23, 2017. https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2017/12/on-the-incarnation-lecture-1-fr-john-behr-at-orthodox-school-of-theology-u-of-t.html.

Gregory of Nazianzus. “Oration 45.” CHURCH FATHERS: Oration 45 (Gregory Nazianzus), 2020. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310245.htm.

Myers, Benjamin. “Benjamin Myers: Patristic Atonement Models--Solution and Surplus.” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, January 27, 2016. https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2016/01/benjamin-myers-patristic-atonement-models-solution-and-surplus.html.

———. “Fr John Behr on St Athanasius' ‘On the Incarnation’ Talk 2.” Clarion Journal for Religion, Peace & Justice, December 30, 2017. https://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2017/12/fr-john-behr-on-the-incarnation-pt-2.html.

Ultimate Redemption: Resurrection and the End of the Ages - Florian H. Berndt

Introduction

As an increasing number of churchgoers deconstruct their beliefs, traditional evangelical doctrines concerning the future of creation have become one of the main targets of criticism in this global shift. Often rooted in a deep heartfelt conviction that the inherited narrative violates human conscience,  Spirit-led intuition recoils also from its incompatibility with the Abba of Jesus.

In contrast, the early fathers and mothers of the Church reveal a general hopefulness that exposes our shallow individualism. In their thinking and teaching they confront the question if the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a tragedy or a comedy – will Good prevail or will the universe be forever trapped in a dualistic state that allows evil to exist forever? Based on this question, I will determine what the Ancient Church believed concerning these matters in the light of its interpretation of the Apostle Paul’s discourse in 1. Corinthians 15:12-28.¹

I. Being Made Alive in Christ

Paul writes about the final defeat of death at the end of the ages and points to Christ’s resurrection as the proof for this hope (verses 12-25). Death will be swallowed up in the life of Christ. The “destruction” of death, is described by the Greek word katargeó, meaning “to nullify, discard, exempt, abolish, to make unproductive” (verse 26).² The text is speaking about more than just reanimation or resuscitation, as Paul compares the “making alive in Christ” to the resurrection of Jesus. Hence he writes that not all will be raised from physical death, but that all will be transformed by the life of Christ (verses 51-53). Gregory of Nyssa and Theodoret the Blessed testify:

 “The resurrection promises the restoration of the fallen to their ancient state, for the grace we look for is a certain return to the first life...”³

“For Christ has wholly destroyed the power of sin by his promise of immortality; for it (sin) cannot trouble immortal bodies.”⁴

II. A New Humanity

Christ is being presented as the new Adam, “the eschatological counterpart of the primeval Adam … the pattern or ‘prototype’ of Christ”⁵ in whom creation is being restored (verses 21-22 and Romans 5:15-19).  Hence both Jesus and Adam are called “son of God” (Luke 3:38), wherein the parental disposition of the Divine towards humanity is implied.  Origen and Gregory of Nazianzus write concerning this:

“For we must dare say that the goodness of Christ appeared greater and more divine and truly in accordance with the image of the Father ‘when he humbled himself and became obedient to death on a cross …’”⁶

“Our humanity was joined to and made one with God – the higher nature having prevailed – in order that I too might be made God as truly as he is made human.”⁷

"Israel, Palestinians, Middle East Politics, USA-Canada" - Ron Dart (CIVL Radio Interview)

CIVL Radio (UFV Abbotsford) interviews Ron Dart on "Israel, Palestinians, Middle East Politics, USA-Canada." Audio only.

Ron Dart CIVL Interview 2

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Radical Empathy - Felicia Murrell

“....when they suffer, we suffer with them.
Whether we know it or not, we suffer with them.”
--The Dearly Beloved, Cara Wall

I don’t know if this truth is THE key, but surely it’s a key to awakening compassion and radical empathy. To understand that when “they,” whoever “they” may be, suffers, I also suffer. That “they” are merely a part of me I do not yet know.” 

“They” are an invitation to be acquainted with the afflictions of another. To perhaps model the way of the Samaritan (man judged him “good”) who suffered in the suffering of a stranger, paid for his board and meal and medicine. Told the innkeeper he’d check back on his return trip to make sure the debt was completely paid. Surely this is the fellowship of suffering, or at least a part of it...

Any anti-racist work, any theology that does not allow for a person’s full humanity - the whole of their lived experience from triumph to tragedy is only skimming the surface and will never go deep enough to yield transformation. 

Circumstances all around present us with opportunities to suffer with. The pain and terror of the Palestinians and Israelis who fear for their lives. The trauma and terror of our transgender brothers, sisters, and non-binary siblings who fear for their safety and their right to exist in their bodies. The suffering of Black and Brown bodies who fear the police, who struggle to convince others that their experiences are real and not contrived, that they matter. 

The list can go on and on here, for truly no one is exempt from suffering. There is no hierarchy in suffering, at least there ought not to be. 

But there is an invitation to identify, to be with, to hold space for, to allow your heart to break open in the sorrow and pain of another. 

Love weeps with those who mourn. Are you awake to hear? 

May our ears become attuned to the cries of the suffering without the burden of false responsibility that demands we solve all of the world’s problems. May solidarity not turn into saviourism. May we be free from guilt and shame that detracts us from empathy and derails our participation in unconditional acceptance.

Canada's Shadow Army - Wayne Northey

Wayne Northey responds to Adnan Kahn's article, "Why Canada’s special forces ‘shadow army’ is still fighting ISIS" (Macleans, May 11, 2021). 

Wayne:

In short, Canada’s Special Operations Regiment (CSOR) is a bunch of trained hitmen. There is no declared war Canada is in¹. Testimonials are ubiquitous that intelligence gathered by CSOR and others by its very nature is often faulty, frequently manipulated, at best uncertain, at worst an invitation to open slaughter of innocents–not unlike drone warfare.

CSOR serves as judge, jury, and executioner against an “enemy” that appears and disappears and reappears like the smile of the Cheshire Cat. When the enemy is fluid, it is really invariably open season, with no one on-site to hold the killers accountable. Neither a positive code of morality nor ethics guides the killers. In the words of Nick Turse‘s arresting title, it is a policy given to permitting CSOR operatives and their ilk and partners to Kill Anything That Moves.

The Spec Ops Magazine has delightful titles like: ‘Official longest confirmed sniper kill.” How stirring a thing to know! How proud one feels of these Canadian homegrown assassins. What a wonderful skill set to return to Canada with! And “heroes” such as “American Sniper” Chris Kyle are tragically sick role models–Kyle himself a victim of an assassin . . . Little wonder that so many upon return home continue “open season” on their domestic enemies. After all, it really isn’t “murder,” just “poaching out of season” . . .

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John Cassian and the Israel-Palestine Conflict - T.S Wilson

John Cassian and the Israel-Palestine Conflict

John Cassian was a fourth-century Christian theologian who founded two monasteries, and wrote three major treatises: The Institutes, The Conferences, and On the Incarnation of Christ against Nestorius.  The Conferences, from which this short reflection draws, is written in a dialogical form that is common to antiquity. Much like Platonic dialogues, this means that cherry-picking certain passages can be problematic because the work isn’t put together as a straightforward argument. Rather, they ought to be carefully and discerningly read with an eye toward the whole. Yet, for the purposes of this paper, there are a few very basic points that are made that will help illustrate the tragic irony that occurs when the language of the Bible is used to justify the military occupation of Palestine and the horrors of illegal settlements.

Cassian’s exegesis relies on four categories of interpretation in The Conferences: literal-historical, allegorical, anagogical, and tropological. We are lucky enough that the example that Cassian uses when explaining his hermeneutic, which takes place in the 14th conference, is the words Israel and Jerusalem. The various ways Jerusalem is interpreted in what follows are Cassian’s, not my own.

 As you would expect, the literal-historical method examines the historical interpretation of the text. For example, that Jerusalem was the historical city of the Jews. While early Christian theologians like John Cassian did not deny the literal-historical interpretation of a text, theirs was a layered exegesis that engaged scripture on deeper and more meaningful levels than the literal-historical often offers. The other three categories of interpretation help us approach what Cassian refers to as the spiritual understanding that scripture conveys.

The allegorical refers to the revelatory sense of scripture. In this context, Jerusalem as a symbol prefiguring the Church of Christ. The tropological sense of the text refers to the practical moral lessons that we can derive from scripture – Jerusalem, as the soul of human beings who are in need of moral instruction. Finally, the anagogical interpretation approaches the mystical sense of scripture. In this case, Jerusalem is understood by Cassian as the “heavenly city of God, which is the Mother of us all.” The spiritual sense that key words like ‘Jerusalem’, ‘Israel’, and ‘Land’ carry, reveals how tragic and ironic the unequivocal support of the secular state of Israel by so many Christians is.

From an anagogical perspective, the ‘land of Jerusalem’ was understood by Cassian as the promised land of the soul which is the proper teleological end of the Christian faith. To illustrate the point, the exile of the nation of Israel from Egypt not only conveys the literal history of the ancient Jews, it symbolizes the exile that every Christian must make from the slavery of vice to the promised land of virtue. Reminiscent of Gregory of Nyssa’s classic work, The Life of Moses, Cassian argues the seven nations that the Lord promised to the children of Israel are, in a sense, symbols for the vices of gluttony, fornication, avarice, anger, sadness, acedia, vainglory, and ultimately, pride. In this sense, the nations promised to the children of Israel are understood by Cassian as a metaphor for the transfiguration of our being from the old Adam to the New. Cassian writes:

“We understand that we are commanded to possess the lands of those wicked nations for our well-being in this way. Each vice has its own place in our heart. Claiming this for itself, it destroys the Israel that is in the depths of our soul – namely, the contemplation of the highest holy realities, which it never ceases to resist. For virtue cannot live together with vice.”

-John Cassian. The Conferences. New York: Paulist Press. 1997. 14th Conference.

In the view of Cassian, it is in the transformation of the carnal vices into spiritual virtues that the ‘land’ of our soul is transformed from the figurative slavery of Egypt to the freedom of Jerusalem. The tragic irony that clearly reveals itself is that Biblical language that speaks of a promised land and Israel of our soul, most often associated with virtues such as mercy, forgiveness, compassion, justice, and charity, is used to justify murder, theft, and innumerable other injustices that have resulted from the occupation of Palestine. What would the prophets of old say?

There has been widespread support for the state of Israel from within the broad Christian community, and for this reason, Christians are complicit in the military occupation of Palestine. Let us consider how this injustice might distort and afflict the “Israel that is in the depth of our soul,” and the Jerusalem that is the “Church of Christ,” and see how we can turn away from injustice and promote peace in the Middle East. 

Scripture: Finished Painting or Artist's Palette? Richard Murray

What if the Bible is an "artist's palette" rather than a "finished painting?"

 

What if one of our callings here is to hone and develop an artist's loving eye with regard to reading the truths of Scripture?

 

What if our gut is that loving eye, our heart the tender brush, and our mind the conceptual canvass on which we paint our own inner image of God?

 

What if this Biblical palette, this Christological coat of many colors, contains all the dyes and pigments we need to paint a vibrant image of a fearlessly living and flawlessly loving God?

 

What if these Biblical hues MUST first be removed from their concentrated pools and be remixed, re-blended and re-applied with artistic awe in order to saturate our mind's canvass with the glow and complexion of Jesus?

 

What if the best way to remix the colors on this Biblical palette was by using allegory, typology, epiphany, insight, intuition, and imagination?

 

What if, in order to do paint anew and afresh, we had to abandon the "paint-by-numbers" literalistic approach which produces nothing but "dead letter" carbon copies of a stick-figure Christ?

 

What if we were ALL part of a huge spiritual "art class" where we were EACH called not just to "stare" at the finished divine art somebody else drew, but rather that we each are called to recreate, reimagine and reinterpret the Biblical colors for our own lives and generation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit?

 

Wouldn't THAT be fun? Get your palette (not to mention your palate) and brush ready and I will meet you by the Sea of Galilee’s shore of sacred imagination — where the best art teacher of all awaits to illuminate us with the messianic metaphors of a thousand miraculous masterpieces.

And Justice for All - the Work and Works of Wayne Northey - by Brad Jersak

Wayne Northey is among Canada's foremost activists and authors in the fields of restorative justice, prison reform, and international peacemaking. I first met Wayne in the early nineties when he was preparing me for an MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) observers trip to Haiti and Jamaica. His orientation to issues of Western political, economic, and military interference in Central and South America was a much-needed wake-up call for those who, like me, were raised on the "noble lie" of John Wayne world-police colonialism. 

Wayne's work included a long stint with M2W2, a ministry that creates one-on-one connections between incarcerated prisoners and caring folks on the outside. It's just one example of where he faithfully put his word to flesh on the ground, even while also continuing to do the historical and theoretical research required to bring a wise word to practitioners.

I speak in the past tense above, not because Wayne has departed, but because in his retirement (so-called), his focus has shifted to his written works. In addition to regular blog editorials and a magnificent novel, Chrysalis Crucible, Wayne is rolling out a substantive multi-volume series, Justice that Transforms, his collected and ongoing works specific to Restorative Justice. 

Wayne has regularly contributed to the Clarion Journal since its inception in 2003 but now also hosts his own blog at https://waynenorthey.com/category/blog/. Truth be told, I (Brad) cannot keep up with the opportunity to repost that Wayne offers, but we do our best to drive traffic to his powerful site. As an unwavering conscience, he can't be cubbyholed anywhere on the culture wars spectrum, whether politically or ideologically. This means on any given week, he could be holding feet from the left or right to the fire. Last week, he had both Donald Trump and Joe Biden in his sights, offering fact-checked examples of each leader's engagement in deception and violence across the globe. After all, Wayne is non-partisan in his revulsion over drone warfare--he doesn't care if a bomb is painted red or blue, or fired by an elephant or a donkey. And he says so.

To play catch-up, the following are direct links to some of his recent pieces, often editorial responses to the work of other journalists, excellent book reviews, and a lot of cross-referenced clicks for those who are ready for the deep dive. Enjoy:

Joe Biden’s War Powers: An examination of the president’s 50-year record on U.S. militarism, the CIA, and executive power.

Empire Politician: A Half-Century of Joe Biden’s Stances on War, Militarism, and the CIA.

Prolonged solitary confinement is torture. It’s time for all states to ban it.

Almost Everything Biden Said About Ending the Afghanistan War Was a Lie.

Out of Sight / Out of Mind. 

Book Review of: Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.

Tribes Want Medals Awarded for Wounded Knee Massacre Rescinded

Saving the salmon and Beauty: why the Gitanyow are creating a new Indigenous Protected Area; why Beauty Will Save the World

What white Christian support for Trump reveals about systemic racism: Exit polls suggest a legacy of white supremacy is still dividing the country. 

Hundreds gather to protest 13-year-old’s killing following release of body cam footage.

Everyone Belongs to God: Discovering the Hidden Christ. 

“I made an enemy of enmity and buried it in the ground” - Eric Janzen

If you will not love your enemy

This line will never move

Interrupt the pattern

Break the circle of pain

If you will not love your enemy

The horizon just looks the same

Interrupt the pattern

Be unexpected...transfigure and change

If you will not love your enemy

The words on the Mount crumble away

Interrupt your fear

Overthrow the tyrant in the mirror

Hear the voice in the desert,

“Come and join me,

I can help you love your enemy”

This is the final revolution that turns

The world and the universe upside down:

“I made an enemy of enmity

And buried it in the ground”

 

Eric H Janzen

The Risk of Hospitality - Lois Mitchell

The Risk of Hospitality*

Lois Mitchell (PhD)
Professor Emeritus
St. Stephen’s University

 

May 5, 2021

I’m not a risk-taker. I don’t buy lottery tickets. I don’t run for political office (well, actually I DID run for political office quite recently but with probably less than a 1% chance of being elected, so that doesn’t really count as “taking a risk”). I don’t engage in extraordinary life-threatening activities. I don’t carry a gun. I don’t negotiate with terrorists. I don’t cheat on my income tax or lie to customs officers. I don’t speed - well, hardly ever. I try not to offend people who think or believe differently than I do. Like I said, I’m not a risk-taker. I follow the rules. The most dangerous thing I do is teach. But that’s a subject for another day.

Here’s the thing: I don’t take risks because I don’t have to. I follow the rules because the rules are made by people like me to protect people like me.

My mother once said that I led a “charmed life” - by which she meant, I think, that things always seem to work out for me. She was right. I am educated, financially stable (as much as anyone can be these days), successful, white. Sure, I have setbacks, but they tend to be minor and manageable. They serve to remind me that I'm not God and, more and more these days, that I'm getting older. I’ve sometimes quipped that any sense that we are in control of our lives is just an illusion. But it’s an illusion that tends to work well for me.

It’s not all Hollywood and happy endings, but the reality of my life is unbelievably easier than the reality of the lives of billions of people on this planet. And it's not because I'm somehow better than other people - more virtuous or closer to God. The fact is, I don’t need to offer a bribe in order to secure medical help for myself or a loved one. I don’t need to choose between acting within the confines of a Judeo-Christian morality OR having enough food to eat. I don’t need to lie, cheat, steal, or kill in order to make it through the day. And if I should choose to lie, cheat, steal or kill, it’s not about survival but about justifying a self-centeredness that wants to get ahead – to be seen as “better”, wealthier, smarter, more powerful, stronger. A step above those around me.

No, I’ve never had to chip away a fragment of my integrity for a piece of bread, or surrender my good conscience for a night’s sleep. But that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t or that somehow I’m immune from the sordid, risky actions of the desperate. I haven’t sold my soul, or even my inheritance, for a bowl of stew,[i] because I’ve never been THAT hungry.

I’m comfortable and content. And I – or at least people like me – continue to make and enforce the rules – rules that make sure that the game doesn’t change. I suppose it’s fair to say that we have a vested interest in the status quo, even as we see its inconsistencies and lament its misdeeds.

Sure, I can see injustices, and I can even speak against them, but at the end of the day I'm still well-fed, comfortable, and secure. And to be honest, I'm thankful for that. I don't want to be tested. I really don't want God to ask me to give that up (even as I sing, “I surrender all”. I might try to convince myself - and you - that if it should come down to it, I'd be willing to give up anything and everything if I know for sure that it's God that’s asking. And really, that’s not a great risk since there is so very little that I know for sure… beyond a reasonable doubt… (you see how that works?).

When I read the story of the Rich Young Ruler,[ii] I tell myself that I wouldn't have gone away sad from that encounter. That I would have done just what Jesus asked - sold everything I have, given the money to the poor, and followed Jesus. Surely I would have! But the truth is, I'm hiding in the crowd, head down, hoping to stay comfortably below the radar. I'm not going to rock the boat or draw attention to myself.

As I write this, I realize that it probably sounds a bit like self-flagellation. Why beat myself up? It's not my fault that I lead a “charmed” life. And for sure I can think of lots of people who have more to give up - or hold onto - than I do. But that's not really the point.

Where I'm going with this has more to do with my attitude toward those whose reality is far different than mine - those who have to take risks, and make choices, and do things that are shameful. If God calls us into a community of believers - to be brothers and sisters with men and women from all walks and classes of life - the challenge is to adjust my attitude so that I can form good, healthy relationships across all kinds of barriers.

I think what is missing in my life – and maybe in the lives of many of us - is a genuine understanding of the biblical principle of hospitality.

When we are willing to take the risk of hospitality, we extend favour to another - not because they deserve it but because they need it and simply because we have the capacity to meet that need, whatever it may be. And when we do it out of our love for Christ and obedience to his command that we ought to love our neighbours as we love ourselves - no questions asked - maybe that's what a life of faith looks like.

Hospitality isn't just getting together with friends and family over a meal. It's denying ourselves - even to the point of laying down our lives - so that we can bring the blessing of community to those in our path. I can't help thinking that our faith would have a whole lot more credibility if we become a community that learns to take the risk of hospitality - no strings attached.

I love the movie, Les Miserables. There's a scene at the very beginning when Jean Valjean, a newly released convict, comes into town and is settling in for the night on a park bench. An old woman tells him to ask for hospitality at a nearby home - the home of Bishop Myriel. Valjean is amazed that the Bishop welcomes him to his table and provides a bed for the night and he reiterates that he is a convict. He says to the Bishop, "how do you know that I'm not a murderer?". Bishop Myriel replies, "we will have to trust one another." Given Valjean’s demeanour and behavior, that’s a pretty risky response. And, as it turns out, Valjean is not to be trusted. He steals the silverware and disappears into the night, only to be arrested and brought back to have his identity confirmed by Bishop Myriel and the goods returned to their rightful owner.

Much to Valjean's amazement, however, the Bishop corroborates Valjean’s desperate fabrication that the silverware was “a gift”. And thus Valjean is released from custody; Bishop Myriel tells Valjean that he has “purchased his soul” and must therefore change his ways. And he does. It's a wonderful and inspirational story of redemption, rooted in the extraordinary (and perhaps foolish) hospitality of Bishop Myriel.

What if we all extended that kind of grace - and redemptive redirection - to the scoundrels in our lives? What if we decided to trust one another, despite the real and perceived risks? What if we were to see our “stuff” – our possessions, our thoughts and insights, our credibility, our hope, even our health – not as so many sandbags to protect us from the floodwaters of human untrustworthiness (or from scarcity) – but as treasures to be shared?

*A version of this post was written in July, 2011 (http://cbmjustice.blogspot.com/2011/07/risk-of-hospitality.html). It has been updated slightly for publication here.

Notes

[i] This is a reference to the Biblical account of twin brothers, Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25), in which Esau agreed to give Jacob his “birthright” in exchange for a bowl of stew. As the first-born of the twins, Esau had the benefits that came with being the eldest son – his “birthright” included more wealth and position (also perhaps more responsibility…?). On this particular day, Esau had come in from hunting and was famished – in fact, he was so hungry that he justified giving up his birthright because he reasoned that it would be no good to him if he died from his hunger. I suspect that he was being a bit dramatic and was likely not in danger of actually dying, but perhaps he was hungry enough to not be thinking straight. And his brother, it turns out, was a bit of a scoundrel and happy to advance his position by hook or by crook (as the story goes on to show). See Gen. 25:19-34 to read the story: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+25%3A19-34&version=NIV.

[ii] The story is told in Mark 10:17-27 of a “rich young ruler” who came to Jesus and asked him what he must do “to inherit eternal life”. He declared that he had kept the commandments since he was a boy. Jesus then said to him:  “sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Apparently this was not what the young man was expecting. Verse 22 records his response:  “At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.” Interesting… we often don’t think of having great wealth as a cause of “being sad”. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2010%3A17-27&version=NIV

Why Humans Need Tradition - Loren Southern interviews Ron Dart

Silent Songs - Paul E. Ralph

Silent Songs

“There is nothing new under the sun,” posits the author(s) of Hebrew wisdom lit. There are days when I accept this as truth, as readily as I welcome a rising sun.  And there are other days when I must “kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight” in order to simply hold it in tension. 

In response, I borrow an axiom, reworked for my own purposes, that goes something like this: To notice and cherish a person is to learn the song that is in their heart and to sing it to them when they have forgotten. (Arne Gorberg)  

I like that.

And yet life also begs a different question, “but what of those times more frequent, when rather than having forgotten, they are not present to hear it?”

Sing.

Just sing.

Let each note, each unsyncopated, ill-timed, off-pitch note rise and fall like the tides. 
Lift your voice.

Dance like no one is listening.

Move in time with the unbridled quiet.

For as the sheet music unfolds in the wide awe and wisdom of the distance between me and my noticing, there is a silent song being raised.

On earth, as it is in the heavens.

Paul Edward Ralph                                                                                                                                         06 MAY 2021

The Ongoing Terror of Drone Attacks - Wayne Northey

Credit: Flickr|CSIS Poni

Wayne Northey: The use of drones–as with any aerial bombing–invariably murders civilians, often in vast numbers. Two classic studies of aerial warfare by Tami Davis Biddle are: (2019) Air Power and Warfare: A Century of Theory and History, and (2004) Rhetoric and Reality in Air Warfare: The Evolution of British and American Ideas about Strategic Bombing, 1914-1945.

With reference to drone warfare, the author in the first-mentioned book cites Professor Rosa Brooks:

Professor Rosa Brooks explained, “to go after an ever-lengthening list of bad actors, many of whom appear to have only tenuous links to al Qaeda and the 9/11 attacks, and many of whom arguably pose no imminent threat to the United States.”¹ This warning came in Brooks’ testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in the spring of 2013.

Ms. Biddle writes further:

The work is carried out quietly and off the front pages of newspapers. This means that it has little immediate political cost. Thus, the strikes can have the appeal of a silver bullet — a low-cost, almost magical way to dispatch enemies. However, dangers lurk in this seductive appeal. One first-order question is simply about due process of law. The target of an RPA strike has no opportunity to face the charges against them or argue a case before a court. Who ought to have the authority to be judge, jury, and executioner (all three) in these cases? Using RPAs for the targeted killing of enemies concentrates vast power in a few hands — and this sets up a situation that can be quite readily abused if it is not overseen and monitored for compliance with domestic and international law. There is also a concern about mission creep. How high on the enemy leadership chain need one be to qualify for an RPA strike? What evidence must that person reveal of intent to do harm? How imminent and clear must that threat be?

Many critics of RPAs during the Obama years saw their use as evidence of American high-handedness and arrogance — evidence that Americans do not feel themselves to be bound by any rules or constraints in their international behavior. They perceived an American President using RPAs rather like a self-proclaimed Zeus, hurling thunderbolts from the sky. (Institute, Strategic Studies; War College Press, U.S. Army. Air Power and Warfare: A Century of Theory and History (pp. 58-59). Kindle Edition; emphasis added.)

The reality is, “Good Guys” snipers trained in Canada, the U.S., and other Western nations, hurl their smaller, equally deadly, thunderbolts across vast distances through the use of a scope, thereby raising the identical question: Who ought to have the authority to be judge, jury, and executioner (all three) in these cases? Combine these murderous atrocities with treacherous (or just plain faulty) intelligence, and no telling how many rival warlords, warlord enemies, and hated persons at the local level are murdered through Western “intelligence” gathering. Whole wedding parties, etc., have been slaughtered through this callous calculus.

Who is to know who and how many fell victim to wanton slaughter in Afghanistan, Syria, etc., –by the “Good Guys”?

CLICK HERE to continue

Reconciliation: Challenge & Response - Richard Murray

CHALLENGE

“Richard, the New Testament NEVER teaches that ALL men will be reconciled to God. I understand that you think God uses His postmortem judgment fire to cure, purge, and prepare humanity for heaven, not torture them for eternity. I understand that you believe God's punishments are rehabilitative, not retributive. It's a nice thought but it's nowhere taught in the New Testament. You have no passages to support your position."

RESPONSE

Really? This myopic viewpoint never ceases to amaze me. People have been so indoctrinated with a view of Hell where God sends those who displease and disbelieve Him into eternal conscious torment. This indoctrination comes from endlessly chanting a handful of passages about Hell which have largely been mistranslated (at least from the ways the early church fathers understood them, Patristic scholars who knew Koine Greek far better than do we moderns). Those indoctrinated by Hell's hive mind have been programmed to completely ignore so many other Scriptures, no matter how specific and on point they are.

The verses below say what they say. Notice the use of "all" and "everybody." Notice there are no exceptions given.

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, Who is the Savior of ALL MEN, ESPECIALLY [Greek: "to the greatest degree"] of those who believe. These things command and teach." (1 Tim. 4:9-11). [this passage clearly includes even those who do not believe as being within the ambit of salvation].

"Jesus, was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for EVERYONE." (Heb. 2:9)

"This is good and acceptable in the sight of our God our saviour; Who WILL have ALL men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus: Who gave himself a ransom for ALL, to be testified in due time." (1 Tim. 2:3-6, KJV).

"He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might GATHER TOGETHER IN ONE ALL THINGS IN CHRIST, BOTH WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN AND WHICH ARE HEAVEN AND WHICH ARE ON EARTH— IN HIM." (Eph. 1:9-10).

"He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject ALL THINGS TO HIMSELF" (Phil. 3:21).

"EVERY MAN'S work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be BURNED, he shall SUFFER LOSS: but HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED; yet so AS BY FIRE." 1 Cor. 3:13-15. (Key passage on the postmortem judgment fire of God, where there is suffering and loss for the errant soul, but ultimately salvation, yes as by fire).

"For as in Adam ALL DIE, even so in Christ shall ALL BE MADE ALIVE. But EVERY man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put ALL enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put ALL things under his feet. But when he saith, ALL things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put ALL things under him. And when ALL things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put ALL things under him, that GOD MAY BE 'ALL IN ALL.' Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?" 1 Corinthians 15:22-29.

"I heard EVERY creature IN heaven, ON earth, UNDER the earth, ON the sea, and EVERYTHING in them say: Blessing and honor and glory and dominion to the One seated on the throne and to the Lamb, forever and ever!" (Rev. 5:13). (Angels here are included in the restoration-- no creaturely exception.)

"Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make ALL things new'" (God will dwell with men and he will wipe every tear from their eyes, death, mourning, crying, pain and the old order of things will pass and everything and everybody will be made new. Rev. 21:5, 3-4).

"At the name of Jesus EVERY knee should bow, of those in heaven, and those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that EVERY tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:10:11).

"ALL Israel will be saved." (Rom. 11:26)

"Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for ALL, and therefore ALL died." (2 Cor. 5:14)

"Just as the result of one trespass was condemnation of ALL MEN, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for ALL MEN." (Rom. 5:18)

"And I, if I (Jesus) am lifted up from the earth, will draw ["drag" in the Greek, helkuo] ALL MANKIND unto Myself." (John 12:32).

Read this passage together with, "No one can come to Christ unless the Father who sent Him draws him." (John 6:44), and we are left with the unavoidable promise that Jesus WILL draw all men to Himself.

In Jesus Christ is "the restoration of ALL THINGS, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3:21)

The Gospel is "good tidings of great joy will be to ALL people." (Luke 2:10)

Believers in Christ are "born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:13)

God appointed Jesus "heir of ALL THINGS, and through whom He made the universe." (Heb. 1:2)

"As God gave Jesus authority over ALL FLESH, that he should give eternal life to as many as God have Him." (John 17:2)

The Father "has given ALL THINGS into Jesus' hands." (John 13:3)

Jesus "was the true light which gives light to EVERY MAN who come into the world." (John 1:9)

"Just as the result of one trespass was condemnation of ALL MEN, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for ALL MEN." (Rom. 5:18)

Jesus is "able even to subdue ALL THINGS to Himself." (Phil. 3:21)

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

"God was Christ reconciling THE WORLD to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: be reconciled to God." (2 Cor. 5:19, 20).