Nicholas Lash on tragedy and Christian hope Bethlehem, the city of Ruth, and Micah, and Jesus, is not far from Gethsemane. In that child’s birth at Bethlehem are ‘represented’ the wastelands of human tragedy, of human history as ‘stillborn.’ And, in that birth, these wastelands are depicted as pregnant with promise. Christian hope is an eminently […]
David Burrell on truth and friendship a full-blooded understanding, one which engages the entire person in a discriminating and discerning assent to what one has come to regard as true, can never be a solitary endeavor. We are too much in our own way, and are especially led astray by the multiple desires of our […]
Vincent van Gogh on the Christian life I was intrigued to learn that there was a period in van Gogh’s life where he considered becoming a preacher. Here’s an except from one of his sermons (delivered in 1876). His text was Psalm 119:19: “I am a stranger on the earth, hide not thy commandments from me.” It is an […]
Rowan Williams on the work of doctrine the job of doctrine is to hold us still before Jesus. When that slips out of view, we begin instead to use this language to defend ourselves, to denigrate others, to control and correct — and then it becomes a problem. A recognition of this inspired Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s great […]
David Bentley Hart on theological education theology requires…great…scholarly range. The properly trained Christian theologian should be a proficient linguist, with a mastery of several ancient and modern tongues, should have formation in the subtleties of the whole Christian dogmatic tradition, should possess a considerable knowledge of the liturgies, texts, and arguments produced in every period of […]
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