Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 337
April 20, 2014
George Herbert on Easter
Easter by George Herbert RISE heart ; thy Lord is risen. Sing his praise Without delayes, Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise With him mayst rise : That, as his death calcined thee to dust, His life may make thee gold, and much more just. Awake, my lute, and struggle for thy [Read More...]
April 19, 2014
He descended into Hell
Great reflections on Hell and what it means that Jesus “descended into Hell,” from Dale M. Coulter: In the Torgau sermon on Christ’s descent, Luther remarks that the paintings depicting this event “show well how powerful and useful this article is, why it took place, why it is to be preached and believed that Christ [Read More...]
April 18, 2014
“God suffered, God died”
Some of the deepest waters of Lutheran theology and where it makes some of its greatest contributions are in the realm of Christology. For Lent I have been reading The Two Natures in Christ by Martin Chemnitz, that master of Biblical, Medieval, and Patristic (not only Latin but also Greek) sources and the principal author [Read More...]
George Herbert on Christ on the Cross
For a Good Friday meditation, read The Sacrifice by George Herbert after the jump. It presents the Crucifixion from the point of view of Christ Himself. A repeated pattern in the stanzas is a contrast between how we treat Him and how He treats us. It’s on the long side, but you’ll be glad you [Read More...]
Even secular humanism depends on Christianity
Theo Hobson, in the British Spectator, critiques the New Atheist insistence that we can have morality–indeed, a better morality–apart from religion. In doing so, he shows that even today’s secular humanist morality, which the atheists take as axiomatic, actually derives from Christianity. A truly atheist, Darwinistic morality would look more like Nietzsche’s nihilistic will to [Read More...]
How the date for Easter is calculated
You may well be wondering, why is Easter so late this year? After the jump, an excerpt and a link to an interesting article about how the date for Easter is calculated. It also demonstrates once again the antiquity of the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, its ties to the Jewish passover, and its lack of [Read More...]
April 17, 2014
On the night when he was betrayed
We commemorate quite a lot of things on Maundy Thursday. Jesus washed His disciple’s feet, giving them–and us–the “mandate” (maundate; hence, “Maundy”) to love one another. Then He gave them His body and His blood in bread and wine, thereby making clear the meaning of what was about to happen (“this is my body given [Read More...]
George Herbert on Holy Communion
The Invitation Come ye hither all, whose taste Is your waste; Save your cost, and mend your fare. God is here prepar’d and drest, And the feast, God, in whom all dainties are. Come ye hither all, whom wine Doth define, Naming you not to your good: Weep what ye have drunk amisse, And drink [Read More...]
People who just come to church on Easter
Church attendance is down, but lots of people–including those who don’t come the rest of the year–still go to church on Easter, as well as Christmas. The tendency is sometimes to look down on “Christmas/Easter Christians.” But the fact is, on these two days of the year, they show up. Why is that? You pastors, [Read More...]
The vocation of a movie critic
Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday “came out,” as they say, as a Christian, writing a thoughtful essay about her faith and her calling. From Ann Hornaday Essay: Confessions of a Christian film critic – The Washington Post: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your [Read More...]
