UNISON said...
POW,

I don't think that many Protestants nowadays understand that idea of Death being a demonstration of GRACE. For real. I feel ya though....

THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM, 1563

 

42  Q.  Since Christ has died for us,
        why do we still have to die?

    A.  Our death does not pay the debt of our sins.^1
        Rather, it puts an end to our sinning
        and is our entrance into eternal life.^2

    ^1  Ps. 49:7
    ^2  John 5:24; Phil. 1:21-23; 1 Thess. 5:9-10

I appreciate the clarification, D. and T., about Greg on "eschatological essences" of non-volitional, sentient beings. I was having a hard time understanding how the eschatological essence of a non-volitional being could be anything like that of a volitional being. The only idea of an "eschatological essence" of animals I could imagine would be that description of the natural world being freed at the revelation of the sons of God in Rom. 8. But this seems to be an act of God, not some mode of becoming the natural world has an innate capacity for. Such an "eshatological essence" of nature would have to do with its divine purpose, but not necessarily having anything to do with it's own native capacities.

Much of the diversity of opinion on natural evil has to do with whether we see epistemic distance, itself, as increasing according to divine intention. Here's Hick's statement:

...sentient nature supports and serves its human apex [] by helping to constitute an independent natural order to which man is organically related and within which he exists at an epistemic distance from which he may freely come to God who has thus bestowed upon him the autonomous status of a person... from the point of view of the divine purpose of soul-making, animal life is linked with human life as the latter's natural origin and setting, an origin and setting that contribute to the 'epistemic distance' by which man is enabled to exist as a free and responsible creature...

The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death  $13.22

http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Christ-Life-Death/dp/0881413062/ref=sr_1_2/103-7971368-4995817?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183844107&sr=1-2

 

 

Mystery of Christ: Life in Death, The

This dynamic, challenging, and transforming vision of Christian theology, presented in a systematic manner, invites readers to approach the mystery of Christ in the same way that the first disciples of Jesus Christ learned theology. Although the disciples had denied and abandoned the Crucified One, they came to realize, through the reading of Scriptures and the breaking of bread, that Jesus had given himself up for the life of the world, so transforming death into life, darkness into light, and flesh into word.

Beginning with the Passion narratives, Fr Behr examines how we search the scriptures to encounter Christ and thereby realize that we were created for this encounter, thus opening a profound perspective on creation, the fall, sin, and salvation history. He further explains how Christ is born in those who are born again in the Church, their “Virgin Mother,” so that they become truly human, after the stature of Christ, and continue the incarnation of the Word by glorifying God in their bodies.

By returning to the approach of the early Church, this fresh study by a renowned patristic scholar offers a way out of the problems that have beset theology and scriptural study in recent centuries.

A Christian's first concern is for truth. The Mystery of Christ provides astounding insights into thetruth, indeed the many truths, of and about God’s gospel in his Son Jesus, the crucified Lord.

-Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko, Dean Emeritus, St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary.

This magnificently conceived, tightly presented and argued introduction to Christian theology is brilliant...I haven't enough superlatives to do it justice.

Rev. Dr. Andrew Louth, Professor of Patristics and Byzantine Studies, University of Durham

Details

No. of Pages: 188 pp

Author: John Behr

ISBN: 0-88141-306-2

Post Edited (PotOnWheel) : 7/7/2007 5:03:32 PM (GMT-5)

REVIEW:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Behr

The Mystery of Christ

The Mystery of Christ is a systematic presentation of theology that emerged from Behr’s first two volumes, The Way to Nicaea and The Nicene Faith. A break from The Formation of Christian Theology series, the book provides a vision of Christian theology that challenges the reader to rethink the modern historical approach to theology—a discipline that has become ever more fragmented in its study.

Once again returning to the earlier witnesses, Behr begins with the way in which the disciples came to know Jesus Christ as the Son of God—through the Cross and the manner in which the Passion was interpreted and proclaimed. This revelation does not occur in light of the Passion, but when the risen Christ himself directs the disciples to the scriptures. The text of the Old Testament, previously viewed as a narrative of the past, is revealed as a thesaurus of imagery, with the historical event of the Passion as its starting point. It is Christ, not scripture, who is exegeted. The crucified and risen Lord standing before them is the one of whom the scriptures have always spoken— the one who is still the Coming One.

Given this perspective, Behr continues by explaining how the results of the theological debates of the first four centuries—particularly Trinitarian theology and Christology—have become separated from the way in which they were exegetically formed and articulated. Within this structure he considers questions of canon and tradition. How is it that we speak of creation and salvation today? How is the “Fall” (mis)understood? This is crucial, not only regarding the narrative of salvation history, but more importantly how we understand our own lives. Additionally, Behr examines how Mary is spoken of in the Gospels and liturgical texts—both the nativity and the Virgin Mother as the church. Finally, he focuses on theme of incarnation, which upon interpretation presents the body as that through which Christians are to glorify God

In the carefully worded postscript, Behr provides further attention to modern theology’s paradigmatic shift away from the exegetical methods from which early Christian doctrine was originally elaborated. Today's starting points are conclusions without arguments that have resulted in ambiguity. Much of our theology now works within a modern historical framework, recounting the interaction between God as Trinity and the world. With a Trinity as a starting point, the linear movement proceeds to retell the creation story, our time in Eden, and the Fall of Man as a historical moment in history. Thus begins salvation history, the second person of the Trinity—the pre-incarnate Logos—revealing himself to Abraham, conversing with Moses, and speaking through the Prophets. This culminates in the incarnation of one of Trinity, who then returns to the Father, sends the Holy Spirit to guide the church for the rest of humankind until the second coming, which is the literal, definable end of the time-line. This popular modern trend which seeks the reality of history—how things really occurred as a neutral statement—ignores the recognition that history is an interpretation of past events. Instead of interpretation and confession, theology has become a fusion of metaphysics and mythology.