Journal entry
I have found that I like putting pen to paper and actually writing. Typing is fine and all for speed, but nothing beats and handwritten note in an old, leather-bound journal. I liked today's entry, so I'll actually copy it here.
As a preparation for N.T. Wright's discussion of the resurrection in the Apostolic Fathers, I have been reading my Loeb editions of their writings. Last night, as I was reading Barnabas, I found the theme of the restoration of creation. In Barnabas 5, he cites Genes 1:26, in which Yahweh creates man in His image, but [Barnabas] uses it as a proof-text for the doctrine of the divinity of Christ ("Let us make man..."). Immediately, he turns to the Incarnation, saying that Christ suffered to destroy death and to show there is a resurrection of the dead. The resurrection in Barnabas is intimately connected to the creation of the world. Furthermore, in Barnabas 6, he cites and unknown source, which reads, "And the Lord says, 'Behold, I am making the final things like the first.'" Then he equates this new creation with regeneration in the present life by quoting the prophecy about removing our heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh from Ezekiel 11.
The process of fully restoring man's dominion to its original perfection, however, has been interrupted and will not be completed until "we ourselves have been perfected," ostensibly at the eschaton, when Christ has returned.
The point is this: all new covenant and resurrection language is completely dependent upon the language of creation. Without the image of perfect creation, restoration falls apart. And without an eschaton, Jesus's resurrection, rather than being our rallying cry and source of hope, becomes a sort of object lesson for life. The call to repentance sounds more like "Be nice" than "Take up your cross, and die daily with your Lord so that he might raise you back up in Himself." The people of God live life more like hamsters on a wheel than workers in the field.
As a preparation for N.T. Wright's discussion of the resurrection in the Apostolic Fathers, I have been reading my Loeb editions of their writings. Last night, as I was reading Barnabas, I found the theme of the restoration of creation. In Barnabas 5, he cites Genes 1:26, in which Yahweh creates man in His image, but [Barnabas] uses it as a proof-text for the doctrine of the divinity of Christ ("Let us make man..."). Immediately, he turns to the Incarnation, saying that Christ suffered to destroy death and to show there is a resurrection of the dead. The resurrection in Barnabas is intimately connected to the creation of the world. Furthermore, in Barnabas 6, he cites and unknown source, which reads, "And the Lord says, 'Behold, I am making the final things like the first.'" Then he equates this new creation with regeneration in the present life by quoting the prophecy about removing our heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh from Ezekiel 11.
The process of fully restoring man's dominion to its original perfection, however, has been interrupted and will not be completed until "we ourselves have been perfected," ostensibly at the eschaton, when Christ has returned.
The point is this: all new covenant and resurrection language is completely dependent upon the language of creation. Without the image of perfect creation, restoration falls apart. And without an eschaton, Jesus's resurrection, rather than being our rallying cry and source of hope, becomes a sort of object lesson for life. The call to repentance sounds more like "Be nice" than "Take up your cross, and die daily with your Lord so that he might raise you back up in Himself." The people of God live life more like hamsters on a wheel than workers in the field.