The (Lieben)GOOD LIFE

According to Schmemann, our distorted views of what life is for, of what the world is for, derive from an improper understanding of what a human being is for: "The first, the basic definition of man [read humankind] is that he is  the priest . He stands in the center of the world and unifies it in his act of blessing God, of both receiving the world from God and offering it to God--and by filling the world with this eucharist [thanksgiving], he transforms his life, the one that he receives from the world, into life in God, into communion with him. The world was created as the 'matter', the material of one all-embracing eucharist, and man was created as the priest of this cosmic sacrament." (pg.22)  Schmemann looks to the Garden as the archetype for how humans abandoned their first and basic calling as priests: "The fruit of that one tree...was unlike every other fruit in the Garden: it was not offered as a gift to man. Not given, not blessed by God, ...

We are conditioned to think that things develop from beginning to end, from A to Z. That is, we assume that Z is what it is because it is the result of causes, effects, and reactions that began with A and worked their way to Z. Another way of saying this is that history is moving from A to Z, and that Z is the end product of events A through Y. It seems to me that God's way of narrating the world challenges that way of looking at history. Even though the story starts with A (Genesis 1-2) and ends with Z (Revelation 21-22), there is a sense in which the final scene of history, rather than being the result of prior decisions, causes, reactions, and effects, is instead shaping all the events prior, that history is conforming to Z if you will. In other words, it appears that Z is the first cause. Maximus the Confessor says it this way: For the things of the Old Testament are the shadow. Those of the New are an image. Truth is the state of things to come. Orthodox theologian Joh...

This post is more for me than anyone else. People blog for all sorts of reasons. I have blogged (or attempted to blog) with a variety of motivations. Recently, I started a new blog, with a new name (Amans Bonum) because I have a new reason for blogging. In a word, it's all about stewardship ! I am grateful for an opportunity to work full-time as a professor of biblical studies. I view this job as a vocation. Since it is my vocation,  I sense that I have the responsibility to order my thoughts, to cultivate the things that I am learning, and to share the fruits with others. Recently, I have become keenly aware of the fact that my job affords me the privilege of reading, thinking, reflecting, and learning from and interacting with others who have the same calling. This blog is a place for me to process my interactions, and a place to share this with others who might be interested in similar things. In an effort to bring order to my blogging/thinking, I have created six foundat...