The Surprising God

This post continues looking at Gary Deddo's two-volume book, " Karl Barth's Theology of Relations (Trinitarian, Christological, and Human: Towards an Ethic of the Family) ." For other posts in this series, click a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 , 4 . Last time  we looked at key points in Barth's Christological anthropology, noting that the humanity of Jesus reveals the essence of what it means to be human as "beings-in-relationship." In this post we'll learn more about Barth's perspective on this essential truth and our response to it. In the relationship between Jesus and God, his Father, we learn that to be truly and fully human means to be a being-in-relationship in three ways:  from God, to God, and with God .  These three dynamic, active ways of being for God constitute the content of the relationship between Jesus and God, and thus the relationship between humanity (born again in Jesus) and God. As Gary notes, Barth teaches that "God is a r...

We're all familiar with this passage in the Gospel of John: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17 ESV) The word "world," which is "kosmos" in Greek, is perhaps better translated into our English word "cosmos." Indeed, the eternal Son of God became human via the Incarnation to bring restoration (salvation) both to humankind and the rest of God's good creation (i.e. the entire cosmos). (public domain via Wikimediia Commons) It's no stretch then to connect John's powerful "umbrella" statement with what we learn from science about God's activity in creating the cosmos---the cosmos he now is working to restore (renew, save). As noted in How I Changed My Mind About Evolution: Evangelicals reflect on f...

( source ) In the spirit of the ancient Creeds, here is a statement of core Christian beliefs and commitments that reflects an incarnational Trinitarian perspective. It appears in "Union in Christ: A Declaration for the Church" (eds. Andrew Purves and Mark Achtemeier). With the witness of Scripture and the Church through the ages we declare: 1. Jesus Christ is the gracious mission of God to the world and for the world: He is Emmanuel and Savior One with the Father God incarnate as Mary’s son Lord of all The truly human one His coming transforms everything His Lordship casts down every idolatrous claim to authority His incarnation discloses the only path to God His life shows what it means to be human His atoning death reveals the depth of God’s love for sinners His bodily resurrection shatters the powers of sin and death 2. The Holy Spirit joins us to Jesus Christ by grace alone, uniting our life with his through the ministry of the Church: In the pro...