Apr 23, 2009

The Surprising Character of Early Christian Hope: The foundation of my argument for what happened at Easter is the reflection that the Jewish expectation of resurrection has undergone remarkable modifications or mutations within early Christianity, which can be plotted consistently right across the first two centuries. And these mutations are so striking, in an area of human experience where societies tend to be very conservative, that they force the historian, not least the would-be scientific historian, to ask, Why did they occur?

Apr 15, 2009

Orthodox theology seemed to me so obviously more adequate, natural, and just… true. There were other things that I didn’t understand, didn’t like, or was repelled by, but one thing that I understood was that these people knew about prayer. They knew about the connection between the mind and the body. Those were enough to interest me. I still had an attract/repel relationship with the Church. I had to turn inside out in order to enter the Church…

Apr 6, 2009

Life, and forgiveness, and holiness, righteousness, healing… it's a mistake to think those are gifts God gives us. Instead Jesus IS the life in us. He Himself is our righteousness, our peace, our wholeness. You don't receive these things as gifts, like created items separate from Him — instead in Christ you get all of God.   More…