Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The Man of Sapphire Blue. A vision of the Trinity given to Hildegarde of Bingen
The Man of Sapphire Blue. A vision of the Trinity given to Hildegarde of Bingen
About Me
- Matt Gunter
- I grew up on a farm in northern Indiana, taught high school in a city school in California, and am now an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Chicago. Mysterious ways indeed.
Whence the title?
Justin Martyr, the 2nd century theologian, wrote this in his defense of the Christian Church:
I like the whole passage and its vision of the Church. But, I am particularly fond of the expression of Christian faith and hope as "entering into the expectation". Thus, in 1 Peter 3:15, Christians are encouraged to "always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the expectation that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence." One way or another, that is what I want to do.
Enter into the expectation.
We who ourselves used to have pleasure in impure things now cling to chastity alone. We who dabbled in arts of magic now consecrate ourselves to the good and unbegotten God. We who formerly treasured money and possessions more than anything else now hand everything over to the treasury for all, and share it with everyone who needs. We who formerly cheated and murdered one another and did not even share our home with those who were different or from a different tribe, because of their customs, now, after Christ's appearance, live together and share the same table. Now we pray for our enemies and try to win who hate us unjustly so that they too may live in accordance with Christ's wonderful teachings, that they too might enter into the expectation.
I like the whole passage and its vision of the Church. But, I am particularly fond of the expression of Christian faith and hope as "entering into the expectation". Thus, in 1 Peter 3:15, Christians are encouraged to "always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the expectation that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence." One way or another, that is what I want to do.
Enter into the expectation.
Posts
Labels
- 9/11 (1)
- Advent (8)
- All Saints (2)
- Alms (4)
- Anglican Communion (2)
- Anglican Covenant (1)
- Anglicanism (6)
- Annunciation (1)
- Anselm (1)
- Apostles' Creed (2)
- Arts (1)
- Ash Wednesday (3)
- Ashes to Go (1)
- Athansius (1)
- Atonement (1)
- Augustine (3)
- Austin Farrer (3)
- Baptism (9)
- Baptized into Eucharist (1)
- Barth (3)
- Basil the Great (2)
- Believing (2)
- Bernard of Clairvaux (1)
- Bible (11)
- bin Laden (1)
- Bodies (1)
- Bono (2)
- Brendan (1)
- Bridget of Sweden (1)
- Buechner (2)
- Bullying (1)
- C. S. Lewis (5)
- CampFAB (1)
- Charity (1)
- Charles Williams (8)
- Christ the King (1)
- Christmas (35)
- Church (7)
- coinherence (2)
- Communion Without Baptism (6)
- Community (2)
- Configuring Scripture (1)
- Consistent Ethic of Life (2)
- Creation (4)
- Creation care (2)
- Creeds (5)
- Cross (3)
- Cyril of Jerusalem (2)
- Dante (1)
- David Neff (1)
- Death (2)
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1)
- Diversity (1)
- Dorotheos of Gaza (3)
- Dorothy Day (1)
- Dorothy Sayers (2)
- Doubt (2)
- E. L. Mascall (2)
- Early Church (1)
- Easter (17)
- End of the World (2)
- Ephrem of Edessa (1)
- Epiphany (1)
- Eternal Life (2)
- Eucatastrophe (1)
- Eucharist (9)
- Evangelism (4)
- Evelyn Underhill (5)
- F. D. Maurice (2)
- Fable (1)
- Faith (2)
- Feast Days (1)
- First Goat (1)
- Food Laws (1)
- Forgiveness (5)
- Francis of Assisi (2)
- G. K. Chesterton (1)
- George Herbert (1)
- Getting Off the Fence (6)
- God's love (2)
- Good Friday (2)
- Good Shepherd (1)
- Gospel (3)
- Grace (5)
- Gregory of Nyssa (3)
- Haiku (2)
- Hauerwas (1)
- Healing (1)
- Heaven (4)
- Hell (1)
- Hildegarde (1)
- Holiness (4)
- Holy Name (1)
- Holy Spirit (1)
- hope (2)
- Hopeful Universalism (2)
- Humility (3)
- Humor (2)
- Hunger Games (1)
- Idolatry (9)
- Incarnation (25)
- Individualism (1)
- Inklings (1)
- Interpretation (2)
- Isaac of Nineveh (2)
- Islam (1)
- Jenson (1)
- Jerome (1)
- Jesus (6)
- John Donne (2)
- John Newton (1)
- John Polkinghorne (2)
- John Updike (1)
- Joy (2)
- Judgement (4)
- Judging (1)
- Julian of Norwich (6)
- Kingdom of God (2)
- Labor Day (1)
- Lancelot Andrewes (1)
- Lent (4)
- Leonard Cohen (1)
- Lesslie Newbigin (1)
- Lincoln (1)
- Liturgy (3)
- Love (8)
- Macrina (1)
- Martin Luther (4)
- Martin Luther King Jr (1)
- Martyr (1)
- Mary (1)
- Matter (1)
- Maundy Thursday (1)
- Mercy (4)
- Merton (2)
- Michael Ramsey (3)
- Mystery (1)
- N. T. Wright (4)
- Naming God (1)
- Notre Dame (1)
- Original Sin (2)
- Palm Sunday (1)
- Parables (2)
- Paradise (1)
- Partisanship (1)
- Pentecost (1)
- Perpetua (1)
- Phillips Brooks (1)
- Philokalia (6)
- Poetry (4)
- politics (3)
- Prayer (8)
- Radical Centrist (15)
- Rapture (1)
- Reason (2)
- Religious Pluralism (3)
- Repentance (2)
- Resurrection (19)
- Resurrection of the body (5)
- Richard Hooker (1)
- Rodney Clapp (1)
- Roman Catholic Church (1)
- Rose Sunday (1)
- Rowan Williama (3)
- Rowan Williams (1)
- Sabbath (1)
- Sacrifice (2)
- Saints (3)
- Salvation (3)
- Sam Wells (2)
- Scott Cairns (1)
- Scripture (20)
- Self-control (1)
- Seraphim of Sarov (1)
- Sergei Bulgakov (1)
- Sermon on the Mount (1)
- Sermons (25)
- Seven Deadly Sins (1)
- Sin (3)
- Sloth (1)
- Social Justice (2)
- St. Barnabas (2)
- Stewardship (2)
- Sudan (4)
- Suffering (6)
- Sunday (2)
- Tammy Metzger (1)
- Teflon and Velcro (1)
- Thanksgiving (1)
- The Poor (1)
- Tolkien (2)
- Top Ten (3)
- Transfiguration (2)
- Trinity (4)
- Truth (1)
- U2 (2)
- Unity (2)
- Unjust steward (1)
- Valentine's Day (2)
- VBS (1)
- Virgin Birth (1)
- Visitation (1)
- Vocation (1)
- Why believe? (1)
- Wildness of God (3)
- William Temple (3)
- Wordcare (9)
- Work (1)
- Worship (4)
- Wrongness (1)
- Zacchaeus (1)
1 comment:
An excellent video that highlights the thoughtful and faithful character of Rowan Williams.
His response reminds me a bit of something I saw posted on Facebook the other day by Phil Snyder (an Episcopal deacon):
"The correct way to complete the sentence that starts 'We cannot fully comprehend God' is to say, 'therefore, we are constrained by what Scripture and Tradition have taught us about Him' (e.g., what God has revealed about Himself). Because we cannot comprehend God, we don't get the luxury of determining ourselves what God is like or what God likes or what God dislikes. We must be limited to what God has chosen to reveal about Himself."
Post a Comment