Buber on false images of God

An atheist staring from his attic window is often nearer to God than a believer caught up in his own false image of God.

~ Martin Buber

Who can say it like T. F. Torrance?

"Like Christ the Holy Spirit is one in being and of the same being as the Father, but unlike Christ the Holy Spirit is not one in being and of the same being as we are, for he incarnated the Son but does not incarnate himself, he utters the Word but does not utter himself. He directs us through himself to the one Word and Face of God in Jesus Christ in accordance with whom all our knowledge of God is formed in our minds, knowledge of the Spirit as well as of the Father and of the Son. This is the diaphanous self-effacing nature of the Holy Spirit who hides himself, as it were, behind the Father in the Son and behind the Son in the Father, but also the enlightening transparence of the Spirit who by throwing his eternal Light upon the Father through the Son and upon the Son in the Father, brings the radiance of God’s Glory to bear upon us. We do not know the Holy Spirit directly in his own personal Reality or Glory. We know him only in his unique spiritual mode of activity and transparent presence in virtue of which God’s self-revelation shines through to us in Christ, and we are made through the Spirit to see the Father in the Son and the Son in the Father. While the Holy Spirit thereby guards the transcendence of God who infinitely exceeds what finite minds can grasp, nevertheless through his personal presence to us he brings the ineffable Being and Reality of God out of his unapproachable Light to bear upon us, and brings us out of our distance and darkness to have communion with himself and through himself with the Father and the Son. Because through him the Word of God continues to sound forth and is heard and believed, because in his light we see light and by his creative operation we come to know the unknowable and eternal God, we know the Holy Spirit, although personally distinct from the Father and the Son, to be no less Lord God than the Father and the Son, both as he is toward us and as he is antecedently in the undivided oneness of God’s eternal being."

(Thomas F. Torrance, “The Christian Doctrine of God: One Being Three Persons,” 66-7)

Rationalistic Fundamentalists

". . . Rationalistic fundamentalists are those who think they can treat biblical statements as independent from the ultimate Being to whom they refer. Once this move is made they can then apply preconceived rational structures to fit biblical statements (such as “God is love”) into a dogmatic system. But this would be to commit the error that is referred to elsewhere in this article, namely to impose our own systems of logic on the subject matter of enquiry rather than letting it teach us its own inherent logic. Such systems of doctrine tend to be legalistic constructs of our own minds where we may seem to put grace at the center of a theological system but instead end up with a new legalistic system that does not really set people free in Christ."

(taken from: Participatio: Journal of the Thomas F. Torrance Theological Fellowship, 22-23);

Bits of Calvin on Atonement

Now someone asks, How has Christ abolished sin, banished the separation between us and God, and acquired the righteousness to render God favorable and kindly toward us? To this we can in general reply that he has achieved this for us by the whole course of his obedience …. In short, from the time when he took on the form of a servant, he began to pay the price of liberation in order to redeem us…

This is the wonderful exchange which, out of his measureless benevolence, he has made with us; that, becoming Son of man with us, he has made us sons of God with him; that, by his descent to earth, he has prepared an ascent to heaven for us; that by taking our mortality, he has conferred his immortality upon us ….that, taking the weight of our iniquity upon himself [which oppressed us], he has clothed us with his righteousness.

Institutes of the Christian Religion (2.16.5 /

4.17.2

Blessed Trinity - St John of the Cross

1.

In the beginning the Word

was; he lived in God

and possessed in him

his infinite happiness.

That same Word was God,

who is the Beginning;

he was in the beginning

and had no beginning.

He was himself the Beginning

and therefore had no beginning.

The Word is called Son;

he was born of the Beginning

who had always conceived him,

giving of his substance always,

yet always possessing it.

And thus the glory of the Son

was the Father's glory,

and the Father possessed

all his glory in the Son.

As the lover in the beloved

each lived in the other,

and the Love that unites them

is one with them,

their equal, excellent as

the One and the Other:

Three Persons, and one Beloved

among all three.

One love in them all

makes of them one Lover,

and the Lover is the Beloved

in whom each one lives.

For the being that the three possess

each of them possesses,

and each of them loves

him who bears this being.

Each one is this being,

which alone unites them,

binding them deeply,

one beyond words.

Thus it is a boundless Love that unites them,

for the three have one love

which is their essence;

and the more love is one

the more it is love.

2. On the communication among the Three Persons.

In that immense love

proceeding from the two

the Father spoke words

of great affection to the Son,

words of such profound delight

that no one understood them;

they were meant for the Son,

and he alone rejoiced in them.

What he heard

was this:

"My Son, only your

company contents me,

and when something pleases me

I love that thing in you;

whoever resembles you most

satisfies me most,

and whoever is like you in nothing

will find nothing in me.

I am pleased with you alone,

O life of my life!

You are the light of my light,

you are my wisdom,

the image of my substance

in whom I am well pleased.

My Son, I will give myself

to him who loves you

and I will love him

with the same love I have for you,

because he has loved

you whom I love so".

3. On creation

"My Son, I wish to give you

a bride who will love you.

Because of you she will deserve

to share our company,

and eat at our table,

the same bread I eat,

that she may know the good

I have in such a Son;

and rejoice with me

in your grace and fullness."

"I am very grateful,"

the Son answered;

"I will show my brightness

to the bride you give me,

so that by it she may see

how great my Father is,

and how I have received

my being from your being.

I will hold her in my arms

and she will burn with your love,

and with eternal delight

she will exalt your goodness".

4. Continues

"Let it be done, then," said the Father,

for your love has deserved it.

And by these words

the world was created,

a palace for the bride

made with great wisdom

and divided into rooms,

one above, the other below.

The lower was furnished

with infinite variety,

while the higher was made

beautiful

with marvelous jewels,

that the bride might know

the Bridegroom she had.

The orders of angels

were placed in the higher,

but humanity was given

the lower place,

for it was, in its being,

a lesser thing.

And though beings and places

were divided in this way,

yet all form one,

who is called the bride;

for love of the same Bridegroom

made one bride of them.

Those higher ones possessed

the Bridegroom in gladness;

the lower in hope, founded

on the faith that he infused in them,

telling them that one day

he would exalt them,

and that he would lift them

up from their lowness

so that no one

could mock it any more;

for he would make himself

wholly like them,

and he would come to them

and dwell with them;

and God would be man

and man would be God,

and he would walk with them

and eat and drink with them;

and he himself would be

with them continually

until the consummation

of this world,

when, joined, they would rejoice

in eternal song;

for he was the Head

of this bride of his

to whom all the members

of the just would be joined,

who form the body of the bride.

He would take her

tenderly in his arms

and there give her his love;

and when they were thus one,

he would lift her to the Father

where God's very joy

would be her joy.

For as the Father and the Son

and he who proceeds from them

live in one another,

so it would be with the bride;

for, taken wholly into God,

she will live the life of God.

5. Continues

By this bright hope

which came to them from above,

their wearying labors

were lightened;

but the drawn-out waiting

and their growing desire

to rejoice with their Bridegroom

wore on them continually.

So, with prayers

and sighs and suffering,

with tears and moanings

they asked night and day

that now he would determine

to grant them his company.

Some said: "If only

this joy would come in my time!"

Others: "Come, Lord,

send him whom you will send!"

And others: "Oh, if only these heavens

would break, and with my own eyes

I could see him descending;

then I would stop my crying out".

"Oh, clouds, rain down from your height,

earth needs you,

and let the earth open,

which has borne us thorns;

let it bring forth that flower

that would be its flowering."

Others said: "What gladness

for him who is living then,

who will be able to see God

with his own eyes,

and touch him with his hand

and walk with him

and enjoy the mysteries

which he will then ordain".

6. Continues

In these and other prayers

a long time had passed;

but in the later years

their fervor swelled and grew

when the aged Simeon

burned with longing,

and begged God that he

might see this day.

And so the Holy Spirit

answering the good old man

gave him his word

that he would not see death

until he saw Life

descending from the heights,

until he took God himself

into his own hands

and holding him in his arms,

pressed him to himself.

7. The Incarnation

Now that the time had come

when it would be good

to ransom the bride

serving under the hard yoke

of that law

which Moses had given her,

the Father, with tender love,

spoke in this way:

"Now you see, Son, that your bride

was made in your image,

and so far as she is like you

she will suit you well;

yet she is different, in her flesh,

which your simple being does not have.

In perfect love

this law holds:

that the lover become

like the one he loves;

for the greater their likeness

the greater their delight.

Surely your bride's delight

would greatly increase

were she to see you like her,

in her own flesh".

"My will is yours,"

the Son replied,

"and my glory is

that your will be mine.

This is fitting, Father,

what you, the Most High, say;

for in this way

your goodness will be more

evident,

your great power will be seen

and your justice and wisdom.

I will go and tell the world,

spreading the word

of your beauty and sweetness

and of your sovereignty.

I will go seek my bride

and take upon myself

her weariness and labors

in which she suffers so;

and that she may have life,

I will die for her,

and lifting her out of that deep,

I will restore her to you".

8. Continues

Then he called

the archangel Gabriel

and sent him to

the virgin Mary,

at whose consent

the mystery was wrought,

in whom the Trinity

clothed the Word with flesh.

and though Three work this,

it is wrought in the One;

and the Word lived incarnate

in the womb of Mary.

And he who had only a Father

now had a Mother too,

but she was not like others

who conceive by man.

From her own flesh

he received his flesh,

so he is called

Son of God and of man.

9. The Birth

When the time had come

for him to be born,

he went forth like the

bridegroom

from his bridal chamber,

embracing his bride,

holding her in his arms,

whom the gracious Mother

laid in a manger

among some animals

that were there at that time.

Men sang songs

and angels melodies

celebrating the marriage

of Two such as these.

But God there in the manger

cried and moaned;

and these tears were jewels

the bride brought to the

wedding.

The Mother gazed in sheer wonder

on such an exchange:

in God, man's weeping,

and in man, gladness,

to the one and the other

things usually so strange.

St John of the Cross, Romance on the Gospel text In principio erat Verbum, regarding the Blessed Trinity

Defining faith with Calvin

Now we shall possess a right definition of faith if we call it a firm and certain knowledge of God’s benevolence toward us, founded upon the truth of the freely given promise in Christ, both revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

(Institutes, III.2.7).

Sermon Notes: John 15: 1-17

Think for a moment about a hypothetical, let’s say for the sake of the human race you were chosen to travel to another planet but you weren’t going to return. Since you would be leaving your family and friends forever what would you leave for them to remember you by?

A photo, a piece of jewellery, a book or journal… facebook account…

I guess it would depend on what you want them to remember about you … would it simply be your smiling face in a photo, an event or experience caught on film…?

Jesus is thinking in a similar way…

Here they were, enjoying the Passover celebration together, Judas Iscariot had disappeared, Peter is sitting around rather embarrassed, and other disciples are firing off questions because they’ve been rattled by the thought of Jesus leaving them.

Jesus has said a lot of things – about home, about sharing his relationship with the Father, about dwelling in God and God dwelling in them, about the Holy Spirit reminding them of the things he’s said…

And he begins using a familiar image, both from the Old Testament (Ps. 80:8-16; Isa 5:1-7; Jer 2:21; Ezek 15:1-8, 17:5-10, 19:10-14; Hos 10:1) and from their local surroundings, of a vine and its branches.

And by using this visual image Jesus speaks to them from his very own experience of obedience and out of his very own relationship to the Father.

V9-10 "I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done—kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.”(MSG)

As the eternal Son his mission from the Father in redeeming the world brought with it an experience of taking on all that we are as humans – sharing our place. Including not being able to physically see or feel his Father’s continual presence and embrace. Despite this, Jesus never stopped to live and work out of his Father’s love, in fact, the ministry of Jesus can be summarised in a basic way as revealing his Father, and simply doing what his Father tells him to do. Jesus says to his disciples in v15 “You are my friends… because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father” (MSG). The love of Jesus for his disciples flowed from the love he received. Jesus continued to live, to work, and to redeem humanity out of his Father’s embrace. Jesus knew that the relationship was real despite not being able to see or touch.

Out of his Father’s love, he commands his disciples to love. In v17, He commands his disciples to love each other. I always thought it strange that Jesus had to command love! How do you command a feeling or emotion? Anyone who has been in a relationship knows you cannot command or force love from another person. But, I guess, that is the point as well. He commands his disciples to love each other because it is more natural for humans to love themselves before someone else. [As I was growing up the phrase “always lookout for No. 1” was a common expression – No. 1 always meant yourself. And it implied that if you don’t look after yourself no one else will! With it comes a sort of security and safety from being hurt or let down by other people.] Here, Jesus doesn’t tell his disciples to love themselves nor even to look after themselves but instead he says make yourselves at home in my love in other words meaning let me look after No. 1 - let me love you, let me look out for you, let me be your security and out of my love for you – which is the same as the Father’s love – love each other. Put each other first and let me worry about No. 1 because you’re No. 1 to me. Love each other because there is no greater love than what I am about to show you; there is no greater love than for someone to lay down their life for their friends.

We need to remember here that the disciples fear Jesus leaving them and Jesus has been explaining that this is not a goodbye but more of a transition to a new and greater relationship. A relationship that is just like the relationship that he has experienced with his Father whilst on earth. I loved you the way my Father has loved me.

He leaves for them an image; an illustration of the relationship they have – something to believe in – something to hold on to – something to remember him by.

The disciples are anxious and confused and so Jesus describes for them how close he is despite not being able to see or touch. Because the disciples want to know how do we stay with you in relationship – how do we know you are there? The main thing Jesus reminds them is that this relationship is something he began with them, he shares with them, he started it and will finish it.

Jesus describes the relationship in verses 1-6,

I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. He carries away every branch from me that doesn’t have fruit, and prunes the ones that do have fruit so that they will grow even more fruit. You are already pruned because of the Word I have spoken to you. Stay with me, and I will stay with you. Just as the branch can’t grow fruit unless it stays on the vine, neither will you, unless you stay with me.

I definitely am the vine, and you are the branches. The person who stays with me, and I with that person, produces a lot of fruit, because you can’t do anything without me. If anyone doesn’t stay with me, that person will be thrown out like a branch and will wither. Those branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (TSNT)

Then finally Jesus says in v16,

You didn’t choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and produce fruit, and at that, fruit that would last… (TSNT)

Jesus is giving his anxious disciples an image to remember that he isn’t leaving them but he is as stuck to them like a vine to its branches. From the vine comes life; from the vine comes growth and fruit. For a branch, to be without the vine means death. Jesus hasn’t chosen them for death but for life.

For the disciples and for us, it means that all that we do; all that we are comes from Jesus. The danger for the disciples and for us is trying to do life without the vine; trying to do mission, church, worship, faith, even obedience without the vine. By cutting ourselves off, we wither, shrivel and die. Whilst Jesus was on earth he saw his relationship to the Father in a similar way – the Father was always there and Jesus redeemed the world out of the relationship they shared. There is a mentality that thinks that once Jesus ascended into heaven he went into retirement and that he does not continue to have any involvement in the world today – that he is not continuing his mission of reconciliation in the world. Jesus never said to his disciples that they were going to do it alone. He is as stuck to them as a vine to its branches –they continued to be disciples (notice they never became Rabbis themselves), they continued to be followers, they continued to be participants in his ministry and mission in the world. Jesus is as stuck to us like a vine to its branches – this is the relationship we have and he has chosen us for life, for fruit, for mission… to make ourselves at home in his love and let life and obedience grow from there…

May this be the truth that shapes you…

May you find home in this love relationship…

And when things get dark and you feel alone may you always remember that Jesus is the vine and you are his branches…