Sparse posting...working on a project...

I apologize for the sparse posting as of recent. My publishing energies at this point are focusing on a paper presentation I'm working on for the MWRC Colloquium in mid-June, where my topic is on Christology and the death of Jesus in Wesleyan theology. In particular, I'm focusing on the interpretation of Jesus' cry of dereliction ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"). I've posted a few times on Jesus' cry and its relation to Psalm 22. Here are the posts related to the topic:

Athanasius & Chrysostom on the Cry of Dereliction

Tertullian on the Godhead at the Cross

Cyril of Alexandria on the Death of Jesus

Psalm 22 (a): v. 1-21

Psalm 22 (a): Remix

Psalm 22 (b): v. 22-31

To give you a little foretaste of where I think I'm heading... it appears to me that when certain theologians have made problematic conclusions of the implications of this passage (e.g., that there is a split or separation in the Trinity, at least between the Father and the Son), it is because they have immediately taken the passage to the doctrine of the Trinity rather than first addressing the doctrine of Christ's two natures. Once we determine exactly what the cry means and where it is coming from within Jesus, then it is appropriate to raise any Trinitarian questions, but not until then (in my opinion). There appears to be unanimity from the interpreters of the early centuries that when Jesus makes this cry it is from his human nature. There are other significant implications of the passage that early luminaries have drawn out that are related to this insight, but I'll save those for later. As for Wesley's take himself, he doesn't explicitly draw this conclusion (and as I have posted before, he draws conclusions that I find problematic), but I think that several statements he makes elsewhere and his Christology in general finds congruence with the interpretation of the early centuries.

After I finish the paper, I'll share some of the conclusions I'll have drawn as well as some questions that remain unanswered.

Some of My Reflections on the Church Calendar...

...can be found in a guest post I did for the Weekly Wesley. I appreciate Aaron's invitation to join the conversation. There have been some other voices who have treated the topic more ably than I have, so be sure to check out the immediately previous entries.

Experimenting...

Been thinking on the resurrection and undoing what will rot...so I'm doing some (very) amateur experimentation with poetry here:

That which brought

Us to rot,

Lo! He has brought to naught.

Behold our lot

We were bought,

So dying to death we ought.

A good shepherd

An extract from another Reginald Mallett sermon...

Edward Rogers told us how on this particular Sunday as he and the family were just about to begin lunch there was a loud knocking at the front door. It was one of the farmer's neighbors. "Quick," the neighbor cried, "Your sheep are in the wire." It was obvious that this was a fairly common emergency to which the family was accustomed. As if on cue they all immediately rose from the table and rushed out to rescue the sheep. Edward Rogers confessed that, wearing a clerical collar, he could not sit idly by so he reluctantly offered his services. He was assigned one part of the field and as he went amongst this high grass, searching for sheep he said dryly, "I was unlucky, I found one!" He struggled to extricate it from the barbed wire as the terrified animal wrestled with him. Eventually, he finished up with the sheep in his arms, although he confessed that he was not sure whether he was carrying the sheep or the sheep was carrying him. Just then, the farmer arrived on the scene. "Here, let me have that sheep Mr. Rogers," he said. Rogers then told us how the farmer, a big, strong man, his sleeves rolled up, arms lacerated and bleeding from encounters with barbed wire, took hold of the front paws of the sheep in one big fist and the rear paws in the other. He then slung the sheep on his back like a sack of coal and carried it to safety. The preacher concluded, "Now when I think about the good shepherd, I see that strong man, his arms torn and bleeding, carrying that stupid, struggling, frightened creature from danger to safety."

"I am the good shepherd," our Lord tells us. "The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

"...till the time of his trial should be ended." (?)

Seeking your assistance here. I'm reading John's sermon, 'Justification by Faith' and came upon something I hadn't noticed before. This statement is early in the sermon, where he is establishing the general ground for the doctrine of justification by faith. He begins, appropriately, in the creation, but he includes this phrase that I'm not altogether sure what he implies. It's the part in bold below (and also shown in the title of this entry).

To man thus upright and perfect, God gave a perfect law, to which he required full and perfect obedience. He required full obedience in every point, and this to be performed without any intermission, from the moment man became a living soul, till the time of his trial should be ended. No allowance was made for any falling short: As indeed, there was no need of any; man being altogether equal to the task assigned, and thoroughly furnished for every good word and work.

What do you think he meant by this? Did Wesley have a supposition of how history might have panned out differently had Adam & Even remained obedient? I'm aware that theologians in the Orthodox Church (from St. Irenaeus) maintain that even had 'The Fall' not happened, that the Word still would have been made flesh. There is a clarification to be made here in what is meant by 'perfect': i.e., just how 'perfect' were our first parents created? St. Irenaeus speaks of Adam & Eve as innocent, though he calls them infants/children. This infers that humans were created with 'room for growth,' as it were. This view, the way I understand it at this point, maintains that Adam & Eve were created 'good' but not 'perfect,' at least not in the absolutist sense. Hence, the goal would be that humans would grow and that the Incarnation would perfect the humanity, uniting us to the Triune God in a way that our first parents were not (originally, anyway). It is the progression from the "external" to the "internal".

One might read such into Wesley's phrase above, but in his multiple declarations of the felix culpa tradition where he speaks of 'the fall' as the "happy fault," Wesley says that had it not been for the original sin, then we would not have known Christ because sin was the very grounds for and necessitated the Incarnation (see sermons 'On the Fall of Man' and 'God's Love to Fallen Man'). Furthermore, he says that in the wake of the Incarnation that humans can now enjoy higher degrees of happiness and holiness than humanity prior to the fall. This idea seems to be derived scripturally from Romans 5.20: "But where sin increased, grace increased all the more." So in a sense, they argue for a similar conclusion (that humanity in Christ enjoys something of a higher degree than our first parents) but take very different avenues to get there (St. Irenaeus: this was part of the plan even before the sin; felix culpa tradition: it is because of the sin that this is possible). So if Wesley falls in this latter camp, then I return to the question: what does he mean by this phrase "...till the time of his trial should be ended"?

Psalm 34

A psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech: who drove him away, and he departed.

¹I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

²My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

³O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

⁴I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

⁵They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

⁶This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

⁷The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

⁸O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

⁹O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

¹⁰The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

¹¹Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

¹²What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?

¹³Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

¹⁴Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

¹⁵The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

¹⁶The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

¹⁷The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

¹⁸The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

¹⁹Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

²⁰He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

²¹Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.

²²The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

JW: David praises God for his goodness to himself and others, ver. 1 - 7; encourages the righteous to trust in him, ver. 8 - 10; exhorts them to fear God and depart from evil, ver. 11 - 14; God's favour to the righteous and displeasure at the wicked, ver. 15 - 22.

Title of the psalm. When - A psalm made upon that occasion, though not at that time, when he counterfeited madness. Wherein whether he sinned or not, is matter of dispute; but this is undoubted, that his deliverance deserved this solemn acknowledgment. Abimelech - Called Achish, 1Sam 21:10. But Abimelech seems to have been the common name of the kings of the Philistines, Gen 20:2 26:1, as Pharaoh was of the Egyptians.

3: 'Together' - Not in place, for David was no banished from the place of God's public worship, but in affection; let our souls meet, and let our praises meet in the ears of the all-hearing God.

5: 'Lightened' - Comforted and encouraged. 'Ashamed' - They were not disappointed of their hope.

8: 'O taste' - Make trial, of it by your own experience of it. 'Good' - Merciful and gracious.

9: 'Fear' - Reverence, serve, and trust him; for fear is commonly put for all the parts of God's worship.

14: 'Depart' - From all sin. 'Do good' - Be ready to perform all good offices to all men. 'Seek' - Study by all means possible to live peaceable with all men. 'Pursue it' - Do not only embrace it gladly when it is offered, but follow hard after it when it seems to flee away from thee.

16: 'The face' - His anger, which discovers itself in the face.

18: 'Nigh' - Ready to hear and succour them. 'To' - Those whose spirits are truly humbled under the hand of God, and the sense of their sins, whose hearts are subdued, and made obedient to God's will and submissive to his providence.

What a majestic psalm for the age and season of the resurrection! It is a psalm of hope for it looks to God's deliverance from affliction and trouble (which really came through affliction and trouble: think crucifixion/death) for those who put their trust in him and gives us hope for the future. They were not disappointed of their hope.

The command is to 'Depart!!' from evil, from all sin. This is why I came to verse 4 of 'And Can It Be?' when I thought of the resurrection and its sin-breaking, death-breaking power for us today and tomorrow! From the dark dungeon of death, God's face, God's eye diffused a quickening ray of light that bids 'Come awake!' and 'The grave no longer has a hold on you!' Jesus spoke of another 'Depart!' in the final judgment, but if we hear the 'Depart!' of this psalm, then we are in good company and we have hope. My chains fell off! My heart was free! I rose, went forth, and followed Thee!

But to what do we depart? That's why this psalm is so beautiful for it captures not only that from which we are saved but also that to which we are saved & sent: exalting, seeking, trusting and worshiping God! Doing good, seeking peace and pursuing it! It is, in short, what verse 12 describes as desiring life! From death to life! Praise be unto Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for 'the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you.'

Unlikely Places

It is well known that John Wesley had an experience in which he found his heart "strangely warmed" in the evening of May 24, 1738 in a simple building on Aldersgate Street in London. Less well known is that earlier in the day Wesley attended St. Paul's Cathedral, whose beauty and grandeur you can see on a very minuscule scale here. (Do a Google Image search for "St. Paul's Cathedral, London" to see other views.)

I've made reference in a couple of posts to the late Reginald Mallett. I've been reading a collection of his sermons delivered at Lake Junaluska. Dr. Mallett elaborated on this historic day in Wesley's life in a sermon based upon the text of Acts 19.9-10, where St. Paul taught, argued, and preached for two years in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. There are times where the spirit of the age looks for God in certain places...places of grandeur and awe. Dr. Mallett writes:

The spirit of the age would say that John Wesley ought to have had his life-changing experience in St. Paul's Cathedral when he was there on May 24, 1738. The awesome masterpiece by Sir Christopher Wren was surely an appropriate setting for such a historic spiritual encounter. The Holy Spirit thought otherwise. That very evening in a simple room on Aldersgate Street, a work of grace occurred which caused the restless Anglican clergyman to feel his heart strangely warmed. In such an unlikely place, a fire began to burn in Wesley's life that set England and the world aglow.

To be sure, we cannot ignore the path that led Wesley to Aldersgate Street that evening; a path that included his visitation to St. Paul's Cathedral earlier in the day, where the anthem was from Psalm 130: "Out of the deep I have called unto Thee, O Lord - O Israel, trust in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption, and He shall redeem Israel from all her sins." But Dr. Mallett is onto something in noting that God often reveals himself in the most unlikely of places and circumstances: Bethlehem, Nazareth, Calvary, walking on a road (Emmaus), a lecture hall, a small room.

I can resonate here. Some of the more special experiences in my life have come in places that the world would consider mundane: in the utility room (conversing with my parents on confessing my faith in Christ), driving down the road (listening to Smalltown Poet's rendition of 'Only Trust Him,' the hymn playing upon my public confession of faith to the church), sitting on a stump outside of a muddy cave (conversing for the first time with who would one day become my wife). There were certainly other encounters in perhaps more sublime circumstances that led to those experiences, but there is something profound, it seems to me, in the experience of God's grace in the everyday occurrences of life, grace of which we tend to be unaware.

Where has this rung true in your life?