He (the devil) is tied up like a dog on a chain, and can only bite someone who, deathly sure of himself, goes near him. Wouldn’t you think a man a fool who let hiimself be bitten by a chained up dog?
He can only bite those who willingly let him. It is not by force, but by persuasion, that he harms: he asks for our consent, he does not drag it from us.
{Daily Readings with St. Augustine}
Gratitude brings light
Our minds are darkened, and divided, unless we are filled with thanksgiving. Gratitude is an epistemological virtue.
–Peter Leithart
Jesus, the Human
Letham humanifies our Lord in remarkable fashion:
(Jesus) was apparently a convivial companion, creating vintage wine for a wedding banquet when supplies ran out and enjoying food and alcoholic beverages like everyone else in the first-century Israel…this is hardly surprising, since when young he had grown in favor with his contemporaries (20).
Highest Creature
Robert Letham ties union with Christ with creation (a neglected connection). Concerning Psalm 8, Letham concludes:
Man is therefore a creature, made by God, not eternal or intrinsically immortal but the highest creature, to whom and for whom the world was made (15).
St. Athanasius on the Psalms
St. Athanasius on the Psalms:
So then, my son, let whoever reads this Book of Psalms take the things in it quite simply as God-inspired; and let each select from it, as from the fruits of a garden, those things of which he sees himself in need. For I think that in the words of this book all human life is covered, with all its states and thoughts, and that nothing further can be found in man. For no matter what you seek, whether it be repentance and confession, or help in trouble and temptation or under persecution, whether you have been set free from plots and snares or, on the contrary, are sad for any reason, or whether, seeing yourself progressing and your enemy cast down, you want to praise and thank and bless the Lord, each of these things the Divine Psalms show you how to do, and in every case the words you want are written down for you, and you can say them as your own.
-Athanasius, On the Incarnation, Appendix P. 116.
{Thanks to Toby Sumpter}
The Intent of Biblical Stories
Eric Auerback (Mimesis, 14-15) writes that the intent of biblical stories:
“is not to bewitch the senses, and if nevertheless they produce lively sensory effects, it is only because the moral, religious, and psychological phenomena which are their sole concern are made concrete in the sensible matter of life. But their religious intent involves an absolute claim to historical truth. . . . Without believing in Abraham’s sacrifice, it is impossible to put the narrative of it to the use for which it was written. . . . The world of the Scripture stories is not satisfied with claiming to be a historically true reality—it insists that it is the only real world, is destined for autocracy . . . The Scripture stories do not, like Homer’s, court our favor, they do not flatter us that they may please us and enchant us—they seek to subject us, and if we refuse to be subjected we are rebels.”
{Thanks to Jim Hamilton}
Philosophical Wisdom v. God’s Wisdom
While philosophical wisdom is an abstraction, God’s wisdom in Christ is particular, historical, and counterintuitive to human reason. It involves the incarnation of God’s Son, his death on the cross, the triumph of the resurrection, the sending of his Spirit, and the promise of a glorious re-creation of the world. It is an invitation to people everywhere to know and enjoy the triune God of Scripture in all this particularity. This is an offense to the wisdom of human philosophy (11).
–Daniel Ebert, Wisdom Christology.
RESURRECTION!
“The resurrection of Jesus is Christianity. Andthis means that it becomes the starting point forall Christian thinking and living, challenging allother possible starting points.”―N. T. Wright
Lenten Quote, Day 33
Embracing the crucified Lord means embracing His Lordship.
–Sermon Excerpt
Welcoming the King…
Robert Rayburn writes:
…you cannot welcome the King of Kings astride his white steed, with the armies of heaven following behind him, until you have welcomed, trusted, and loved the humble king, riding on the colt of a donkey, who has come to die for your sins that you might live to God.