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But sometimes beautiful things grow bad by doing bad, and it takes some time for their badness to spoil their beauty. So
“In general, Matthew, Mark, and Luke—unlike John—follow the same order of events in narrating Jesus’ public ministry: All three begin with his baptism in the Jordan River, followed by descriptions of his tours through the villages of rural Galilee, where he heals the sick, expels demons, teaches the crowds, and debates issues of Torah observance with opponents. In all three, Jesus makes only one trip to Jerusalem (John reports many visits there), where he is arrested, condemned, and crucified. Because they present Jesus’ story from essentially the same viewpoint, they are called the Synoptic Gospels: They can be “seen together” and the contents compared.”
― The New Testament: A Student's Introduction
― The New Testament: A Student's Introduction
“It has been said that life has treated me harshly; and sometimes I have complained in my heart because many pleasures of human experience have been withheld from me…if much has been denied me, much, very much, has been given me…”
― The Open Door
― The Open Door
“Resurrection in and of itself was not unheard of; after all, gods who died and rose again were ubiquitous in the ancient Near East. 22 The unique feature of the Christian proclamation is the shocking claim that God is fully acting, not only in Jesus’ resurrected life, but especially in Jesus’ death on the cross. To say the same thing in another way, the death of Jesus in and of itself would not be anything remarkable. What is remarkable is that the Creator of the universe is shown forth in this gruesome death.”
― The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ
― The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ
“Despite our earnest efforts, we couldn't climb all the way up to God. So what did God do? In an amazing act of condescension, on Good Friday, God climbed down to us, became one with us. The story of divine condescension begins on Christmas and ends on Good Friday. We thought, if there is to be business between us and God, we must somehow get up to God. Then God came down, down to the level of the cross, all the way down to the depths of hell. He who knew not sin took on our sin so that we might be free of it. God still stoops, in your life and mine, condescends. “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” he asked his disciples, before his way up Golgotha. Our answer is an obvious, “No!” His cup is not only the cup of crucifixion and death, it is the bloody, bloody cup that one must drink if one is going to get mixed up in us. Any God who would wander into the human condition, any God who has this thirst to pursue us, had better not be too put off by pain, for that's the way we tend to treat our saviors. Any God who tries to love us had better be ready to die for it. As Chesterton writes, “Any man who preaches real love is bound to beget hate … Real love has always ended in bloodshed.”
― Thank God It's Friday: Encountering the Seven Last Words from the Cross
― Thank God It's Friday: Encountering the Seven Last Words from the Cross
Wesleyan/Anglican
— 22 members
— last activity Aug 02, 2013 05:34AM
This group is for those who identify as Wesleyan in theology and who embrace a Wesleyan/Anglican view of liturgy and the sacraments.
The RIOT Book Club
— 29 members
— last activity Apr 05, 2009 10:48PM
Check out books that The RIOT thinks you should read. Obadiah and Nikki host the RIOT on RadioU. Check out more through riot.radiou.com. You can als ...more
Montpelier Literary Society
— 29 members
— last activity Nov 14, 2024 01:50PM
Hi! We're so happy you're here! At the library, we often find ourselves wanting to talk about our current reads with no one else to share them with! U ...more
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