Thinking After

Category: Quotes

  • Augustine on the Two Cities

    While the first ten books of The City of God are directed towards addressing the charges of the pagan critics who maintained that Christianity was responsible for the sack of Rome in 410 A.D., in the remaining books (XI-XXII) Augustine directs his attention to the arc of Scripture and the task of narrating the intertwined history of the “two cities.”  The following is one of the central quotes in which Augustine makes clear his understanding of the differentiation between the two cities: (more…)

  • Augustine on Authorial Intention in Biblical Interpretation

    A significant strand within the discipline of biblical studies within modernity has leaned towards equating the “true meaning” of Scripture with the intent of the author.  Ironically, this emphasis on “authorial intention” undermines the Christian claim that the Scriptures are superintended over by the Holy Spirit.  For if the Scriptures are a gift that the church receives from the Holy Spirit, then the meaning of the texts can not be reduced to the supposed intentions of the historical authors.  Augustine, for his part, while not dismissing the importance of authorial intention does relativize it in relation to reading with the rule of faith.  Here’s how he describes how Christian interpreters should approach obscure or difficult passages: (more…)

  • Some Lighter Reading from “The City of God”

    As the winter semester heads into the home stretch, the students in my “Reading with the Fathers” course will be turning their attention to the towering figure of St. Augustine of Hippo.  The influence of Augustine upon the Western theological tradition, through his copious written output, is unfathomable.  While a strong case could be made for assigning Augstine’s Confessions, I have opted to have the students read significant chapters from his massive City of God.  With the end of semester and graduation fast approaching, I don’t have a lot of time for extensive blogging, but I did think I could in the days ahead share some of the stimulating and provocative quotes from The City of God against the Pagans. (more…)

  • Gregory Nazianzus on the Pursuit of Wisdom

    A rich, but very busy semester has cut into the frequency of my blog postings this year.  However, a spring “snow day” here in Manitoba has provided me with the opportunity to share a quote from the 4th century Church Father Gregory Nazianzus.  I was lecturing on the Cappadocian Fathers last week in my “Reading with the Fathers” class and we will be discussing Gregory’s “Defense of His Flight to Pontus,” as well as his “Last Farewell” (delivered at the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D.) this coming week. (more…)

  • Griffiths on The Lure of the Void

    “This language of loss and diminuition clearly suggests the possibility of coming to nothing, of annihilation stricto sensu.  That is what gives it the undeniable power it has.  For Augustine, as for most of the fathers of the church, the possibility of self-annihilation is suggested by a grammar of participation and gift.  On this view, the fact that you are is sheer unmerited gift, and what you are is a participant in the LORD. (more…)

  • It’s Still the End of the World!

    It was able to share an enjoyable evening last night with an engaged group of people at the McNally Robinson bookstore in Winnipeg.  One of the things I was attempting to do in my lecture was to recover the eschatological character of the Christian faith, bound up as it is with the coming of Messiah and the pouring out of the promised Spirit.  The irruption of the eschaton introduces the distinction between church and world, which is clearly elucidated by Hauerwas and Willimon in the following quote which appeared in my lecture: (more…)

  • Athanasius Addresses the Contemporary Church

    Thomas G. Weinandy concludes his book Athanasius: A Theological Introduction (Aldershot: Ashgate, 207) with a set of brief, but penetrating reflections upon lessons that the contemporary North American church and academy would do well to learn from the 4th century Church Father.  Here are a few of the incisive paragraphs on what Athanasius has to teach us about reading Scripture: (more…)

  • American Protestant Gnosticism

    I’ve been revisiting Philip J. Lee’s incisive study Against the Protestant Gnostics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987) in anticipation of lecturing on the life and work of the second century Church Father Irenaeus.  Lee’s diagnosis of Protestant Gnosticism seems just as apt in 2019 as when he first published the book some thirty years ago.  Here’s a few quotes from a chapter entitled, “Results of a Gnosticized Protestantism” that caught my attention. (more…)

  • Restoring Catholicity (One Course at a Time)

    With a new year comes a new semester and I am particularly looking forward to this coming semester at Providence Theological Seminary.  In addition to the introductory “Theological Foundations” course, I am also going to be teaching an intensive course on the Holy Spirit and Eschatology in March and, beginning next week, a semester-length course entitled “Reading with the Fathers.”  A keen and bright group of students have registered for the course and I am excited about what we will discover as we dig into the writings of Irenaeus, Origen, Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzus, and Augustine. (more…)

  • The Word Became Flesh

    One of the most interesting books I read this past year was Peter Leithart’s Delivered from the Elements of the World: Atonement, Justification, Mission (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2016).  Leithart skillfully integrates insights from a variety of disciplines to present a compelling, and profoundly biblical, vision of Christian reality.

    Here’s a key quote from the book that powerfully spells out the profound theological reality that the church celebrates at Christmas.  (more…)