The Last Horror

all-hallows-eve-gravesIt is a happy coincidence on this Feast of All Saints, after just experiencing the frivolity of Halloween with my children last night, that I am working through CS Lewis’ brilliant little book, “The Great Divorce.” It is even happier, that I am working on chapter 9, and find in it, some interesting commentary on “ghosts.”

The contrast from the horror of All Hallow’s Eve to the celebration of the Feast Day of All Saints is also a tension. It’s interesting to think about the purpose of Horror. Peter Leithart just wrote a quick piece on that in “First Things.” He takes time to reflect on Terrence Rafferty’s review in The Atlantic of a Guillermo del Torro movie. He wrote: Continue reading “The Last Horror”

The Cross, suffering, and Shane Claiborne part 2

Jesus dies on the cross
Jesus dies on the cross

This is the second part of a two part response to a Shane Claiborne article titled, “Holy Week in an Unholy World,” that I saw a few times on my facebook timeline during Holy Week. The first part of my response highlighted where I strongly agreed with Shane and was thankful for his post. In this part of the response, I will share a critique I have and why I think it matters.

The pivotal line in Shane’s moving story of the grieving mother’s connection to the Good Friday Worship, was also the main theological point of his article (although to be fair, I would say the main thrust of his article was more about connecting our Christian story to where people are at in our world). Shane writes,

“Afterwards, one woman said to me: ‘I get it! I get it!’ I asked her what she meant. And then she said something more profound than anything I ever learned in seminary: ‘God understands pain. God knows how I feel. God watched his Son die too.’ Then I realized she was the mother of a nineteen-year-old who had just been murdered on our block. God understands our pain. That is good theology for Good Friday.”

Continue reading “The Cross, suffering, and Shane Claiborne part 2”

What is a Church Father and are you still talking about new creation?

Saint Athanasius
Saint Athanasius

Those of the Christian faith today stand on the shoulders of giants. God has gifted the church with brilliant theologians and defenders of the faith, whose work has not only stood the test of time, but has enlightened generations of the faithful. Some of these folks are known as “Church Fathers.” One of those church fathers is Athanasius of Alexandria.

Athanasius lived in the 4th Century (c.296-373) and was Bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. During his time as the Bishop he was sent into exile on five different occasions due to various decisions from whichever emperor was in power at the time. He is best known, however, for his work during the Council of Nicaea which happened before he was even a bishop. He was a brilliant defender of the faith, and specifically the Trinity. Continue reading “What is a Church Father and are you still talking about new creation?”

Easter and New Creation? What on Earth do you mean?

newlifeThis year for Easter season the sermons have the theme of new creation, which I emphasized on Easter Sunday. This may be a new thing for you and you may be wondering, “What on earth does he mean by this?” Or, “Why is he even making that connection?”

Well I’m glad you asked, hypothetical reader! This connection between the bodily resurrection of Jesus and the Judeo-Christian affirmation of creation is actually a bit of a passion of mine, and it tends to come out on Easter. I fear that in North American Christianity we too often slip unknowingly into a pseudo-Gnosticism. Please stay with me hypothetical reader, as I realize I may have drifted from muddled to cloudy, but this point is important. Gnosticism is an old false view of things that tends to see only the “spiritual” as good, while the physical is bad or evil (or disposable). It also tends to emphasize some secret or hidden knowledge as that which saves us – and gets us into the good “spiritual” realm. When we believe that the end result of the resurrection of Jesus is that we get to go off to heaven, we are engaging in what amounts to as Gnosticism. I am trying my best to make heresy punishable by stoning here at our church, but we have police officers in our congregation who are *really* sticklers about American law, so if this is your current view, consider yourself lucky.  Continue reading “Easter and New Creation? What on Earth do you mean?”

Baptism as Battle

exorcismIn preparation for Holy Week, and in preparation of the liturgy for Holy Saturday, or The Great Paschal Vigil as it was known centuries ago, I have been studying Holy Week celebrations and baptism ceremonies that have roots going back to the earliest centuries of the church. I find these fascinating, but I’m kind of a geek sometimes, so take that into account.
One of the things I had not realized up until now was the connection between exorcism and baptism. In the Fourth Century (and many centuries following), it was common practice to exorcise those who were to be baptized on Holy Saturday. It was seen as part of the spiritual preparation for what was coming. I realize that this notion may seem farfetched and almost theatrical to us, who have been more shaped by horror movies about exorcism than the church’s teaching on exorcism. When we allow our view on such things to be shaped by the horror movies of popular culture, it both sensationalizes what the church has historically done, as well as places it into the realm of fiction. So when we picture an exorcism it is quite possible that the first thing that comes to mind is a person convulsing, eyes rolling around in their sockets, and spewing something out of their mouths. And then we would quickly remind ourselves that these are the products of an imaginative film director armed with powerful, computer generated special effects. In other words, the whole thing is both obscene and unreal.

This was not, however, the belief of the majority of Christians who have lived in the centuries prior to ours.
Continue reading “Baptism as Battle”

On death

I was listening to one of my favorite theologians speak via recording of a lecture he gave at my Alma mater a few years ago, and he was sharing some thoughts on death. On this Holy Saturday, the day we remember the Sabbath rest of our Lord as he lay in the tomb, I think these words on death are appropriate.

Continue reading “On death”