Theological Reflection

So What IS God Like?

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Somebody made a quirky comment about God and Jesus the other day; it got me thinking. It went something like this: “I’m a Jesus person; the God of the Old Testament needs rehabilitation, and Jesus did that.” Aside from who/what you think might be “the God of the Old Testament,” can you see what is wrong with this statement? The comment basically states that Jesus is not the same God as YHWH of old! It also suggests that the speaker might not be truly Trinitarian. But let’s take a look at one statement of the character of God found in […]

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How Can We Know the Nature and Character of God?

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I have heard it said, even in PCUSA General Assembly committee meetings, that God is unknowable. “God is so vast and so big that we cannot possible know or understand what God wants to do.” This is a bogus claim in the guise of humility. As I have written before, God wants to be known and has gone to great lengths to make himself known to his creation (cf. Deuteronomy 4:5–8, 32–36). Not only can we know about God—his nature and character—we can actually know God (more on that in a later post). Our investigation into God’s background is not

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The God of Self Must Stand Down

6 Comments / Current Events, God, It All Started in the Garden, Moral Authority, PCUSA, The Property Clause, Theological Reflection / By /

The human lust for power is a natural outflow of Adam and Eve’s resistance to God’s authority. When a person, a group, or a nation believes itself to be any equivalent of “the center of the universe,” bad things begin to happen. Adam and Eve’s choice may seem innocent enough to modern eyes, but within a generation, murder had entered human experience. The desire of one to dominate another comes out of the irreconcilable demands of two adjacent egos vying for the center of the universe. If a culture adopts the philosophy that all people are free to do whatever

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Allegiance to the Wrong God

2 Comments / God, It All Started in the Garden, Theological Reflection / By /

Mark Labberton, president of Fuller Seminary, recounts the story that took place when he was pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley (California). A very brief report of the story appears in his book The Dangerous Act of Worship (p. 64), but he shared an expanded version in a talk a few years ago: A gentleman came to him a bit confused and befuddled, because his wife had just become a Christian. His purpose for the visit was to get the Cliff Notes rendition of the faith—“just bullet points, please”—so he could hold his own in the nightly conversation he

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The Gods We Worship

1 Comment / Current Events, God, Theological Reflection, Turkey / By /

My second prod to think and write about belief in God comes from my experience in Turkey and Greece, where “gods” were everywhere—or at least remnants of worship spaces, icon niches, and other ancient signs of pantheism and Greek/Roman mythology. Walking up the hill through the ruins of Delphi (Greece), we encountered the monument to Argos, the sanctuary of Gaia, and the great temple to Apollo. In Ephesus (Turkey), strolling down the main road made of marble, we saw what is left of the Temple of Artemis (one of the seven Great Wonders of the Ancient World, but represented now

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Colossians 3:14: Love Brings All Other Virtues Together

1 Comment / Colossians, Lent, Theological Reflection / By /

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:14 Paul continues his theme with the “layered look” of spiritual dressing. Imagine yourself putting on a patience undershirt, and then a kindness button-down oxford. Pull up those meekness jeans, and compassion socks. Bring it all together with a humble sweater. But now, Paul says, the entire ensemble is tied together with an overcoat of love. It is intriguing imagery, particularly contemporary. What Paul is saying here is that love (and he uses the term agape, unconditional love) is the all-encompassing virtue. Love

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Colossians 3:5–11: “You Are Dead to Me”

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A few months ago, Andy and I spent the day with a group of singers who are going on tour in June and willing to take on a couple of oldsters as ringers. At the end of a very hard-working day, we gathered at a home for dinner. The banter and cultural references were beyond me half the time; it was the sort of party that makes you say, “I really should get out more.” Anyway, at some point during the festivities, one young woman said to someone who had been teasing, “Zorba, you are dead to me.” At the

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Colossians 2:11–15: Trust in Christ Is Completely Warranted

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My family and I have survived the white-knuckle viewing of yesterday’s Super Bowl game. You can guess, we were cheering for the Seahawks. Boo-hoo. It was a joy to watch, though, because the contest was close and the teams were a challenging match for each other. It also seemed to this rank amateur to be a clean game, with relatively few flags. Both teams racked up amazing accomplishments, and after the last two weeks I am actually glad for MVP Tom Brady’s victory. Well played. But football is football. It is a game, played according to detailed rules. While on

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Colossians 1:18–20: Jesus Christ the Lord of Redemption

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In my last post, we contemplated the wonders of Jesus Christ, the very One who has known and loved us, as present and active at the creation. Thinking along these lines might be like realizing that someone you have known for years as, say, “Janie’s mom” was actually quite famous in a former life. In our relationship with Jesus, I fear that our familiarity with him may have caused us to forget the truly awesome role he has played in everything good, life-giving, and creative. He is not one among many, as perhaps the Colossians believed; and he is not

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Colossians 1:15-17: Jesus the Lord over All Creation

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The high point of Paul’s presentation of God now moves from the Father (vs. 12) to the Son (vs. 13b) who, so far, is identified as the source of our redemption and the forgiveness of sins (vs. 14). What follows is a well-constructed, eloquent statement of the supremacy of Christ over creation and his unique preeminence as the world’s only redeemer. 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have

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