Theologia Germanica: Attaining to life

Saturday, October 29, 2016
    Commemoration of James Hannington, Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa, Martyr in Uganda, 1885
Meditation:
    My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
    —Ecclesiastes 12:12-13 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Let no one suppose, that we may attain to this true light and perfect knowledge, or life of Christ, by much questioning, or by hearsay, or by reading and study, nor yet by high skill and great learning. Yea, so long as a man taketh account of anything which is this or that, whether it be himself, or any other creature; or doeth anything, or frameth a purpose, for the sake of his own likings or desires, or opinions, or ends, he cometh not unto the life of Christ.
    ... Theologia Germanica [1518], Anonymous, ascribed to Johannes de Francfordia, (1380?-1440) & Susanna Winkworth, tr., published anonymously by Martin Luther, ch. XIX (see the book)
    See also Eccl. 12:12-13; Isa. 41:9; Rom. 8:30; 1 Cor. 1:9; Tit. 3:4-7; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 19:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I seek Your Spirit to dwell within me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Barth: the deceptive silence

Friday, October 28, 2016
    Feast of Simon & Jude, Apostles
Meditation:
    For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
    —John 1:17 (ESV)
Quotation:
    People naturally do not shout it out, least of all into the ears of us ministers. But let us not be deceived by their silence. Blood and tears, deepest despair and highest hope, a passionate longing to lay hold of ... Him who overcomes the world because He is its Creator and Redeemer, its beginning and ending and Lord, a passionate longing to have the word spoken, the word which promises grace in judgment, life in death, and the beyond in the here and now, God’s word—this it is that animates our church-goers.
    ... Karl Barth (1886-1968), The Word of God and the Word of Man, Harper, 1957, p. 108 (see the book)
    See also John 1:17; 14:6; Rom. 5:20-21; 6:14; 15:8-12; 2 Tim. 4:2; Heb. 10:3-10; 1 Pet. 1:3-5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we are hungry for Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Fenelon: taking courage

Thursday, October 27, 2016
Meditation:
    Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
    —James 4:9-10 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Never let us be discouraged with ourselves; it is not when we are conscious of our faults that we are the most wicked: on the contrary, we are less so. We see by a brighter light. And let us remember, for our consolation, that we never perceive our sins till we begin to cure them.
    ... François Fénelon (1651-1715), Selections from Fénelon, ed. Mary Wilder Tileston, Boston: Roberts Bros., 1879, p. 158 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 4:9-10; Ps. 6:1-2; Isa. 9:1-2; 2 Cor. 4:8-9; 12:9-10; Heb. 12:3-7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me to know my sin. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brunner: is man's place in nature?

Wednesday, October 26, 2016
    Feast of Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, Scholar, 899
    Commemoration of Cedd, Founding Abbot of Lastingham, Bishop of the East Saxons, 664
Meditation:
    Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”
    —1 Corinthians 3:18-20 (ESV)
Quotation:
    In quite recent times we seem to have entered a particularly dangerous new phase of anthropological aberration, namely, a queer combination of nihilism and deification. Theoretically, man is said to be nothing but an animal with a highly developed cerebrum. At the same time, it is believed of this man that he is capable by science and technical devices of achieving whatever he wants. The deification which might have been thought to be finally overcome, returns as it were from behind, in the form of a deification of technical creativity to which not much less than omnipotence is ascribed. After mankind has done away with the pseudo-religion of race and blood, it is faced with the even greater danger of a technocratical pseudo-religion. There is no room for human personality, freedom and justice in either of these new religions of divine man. But the most dangerous of all must be the one which makes man at the same time nothing and God.
    ... Emil Brunner (1889-1966), The Scandal of Christianity, London: SCM Press, 1951, reprint, John Knox Press, 1965, p. 70 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 3:18-20; Pr. 3:5,7; 26:12; Isa. 5:21; 44:24-26; Rom. 1:21-23; 1 Cor. 1:19-21; 2:6; 8:2; Gal. 6:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You truly show man’s wisdom to be foolishness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Mascall: the definitive miracle

Tuesday, October 25, 2016
    Commemoration of Crispin & Crispinian, Martyrs at Rome, c.285
Meditation:
    Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
    —John 3:18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If we are prepared to admit, even as a possibility, that Jesus was divine, or even that without being divine he was unique, then we must, as a matter of logic, discard any attempt to discredit the Gospel accounts on the ground that they record abnormal occurrences [i.e. miracles].
    ... E. L. Mascall (1905-1993), The Secularization of Christianity, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1966, p. 211-212 (see the book)
    See also John 3:18,21; 5:19; 6:38; 8:28; 12:49-50
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord Jesus, You are the greatest of the Father’s miracles. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Coleridge: Eternal transformation

Monday, October 24, 2016
Meditation:
    Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
    —Romans 8:1-2 (ESV)
Quotation:
God’s child in Christ adopted—Christ my all—
What that earth boasts were not lost cheaply, rather
Than forfeit that blest name, by which I call
The Holy One, the Almighty God, my Father?—
Father! in Christ we live, and Christ in Thee—
Eternal Thou and everlasting we.
The heir of heaven, henceforth I fear not death:
In Christ I live! in Christ I draw the breath
Of the true life!—let then earth, sea, and sky
Make war against me! On my heart I show
Their mighty Master’s seal. In vain they try
To end my life, that can but end its woe.—
Is that a death-bed where a Christian lies?
Yes, but not his—’tis Death itself there dies.
    ... Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), The Poetical Works of S. T. Coleridge, v. II, London: W. Pickering, 1835, p. 151 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:1-2; Matt. 5:44-45; Luke 20:35-36; Rom. 8:23; 1 Cor. 15:51-57; Phil. 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, release me from the fear of death. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rutherford: the furnace

Sunday, October 23, 2016
Meditation:
    Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
    —Romans 8:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I am glad ye have been acquainted from your youth with the wrestlings of God, being cast from furnace to furnace, knowing if you were not dear to God, and if your health did not require so much of him, he would not spend so much physic upon you. All the brethren and sisters of Christ must be conformed to his image in suffering, Rom. 8:17, and some do more clearly resemble the copy than others.
    ... Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664), Letters of Samuel Rutherford, Edinburgh: William Whyte & Co., 1848, letter, Jan. 15, 1629, p. 8 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:17; Deut. 4:20; Isa. 48:10; Mal. 3:2; Matt. 16:24; Luke 24:26; Acts 14:21-22; Phil. 1:29-30; 2 Tim. 2:10-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have transformed my misfortunes into blessings, as only You can. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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