Monday, December 23, 2013

Emmanuel, God with us

Advent: the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.

Look back and celebrate the first:
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. 
Truly, truly I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.  You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.  And they worshiped him...
 And look forward with anticipation to the second:
Oh come, desire of nations, bind into one the hearts of all mankind; oh bid our sad divisions cease, and be yourself our King of Peace. 


Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Less theatrics, more nourishment

Calvin's opinion on the Eucharist:
For Calvin, the Supper is not a theatrical miracle at which the people of God are spectators, but a living encounter with the glorious person of the ascended Christ; the elements are given not to gaze upon but to consume.
Peter Leithart,  "What's wrong with transubstantiation? An evaluation of theological models." Westminster Theological Journal 53 (1991): p. 318.