THE COLUMBIA
A JOURNAL OF CHRISTIAN PERSPEC TIVES
Fall 2021 VOL. 8 | NO. 2
OUR VISION A campus that witnesses the subversive person of Jesus and accepts the reality of the Gospel.
OUR MISSION To proclaim the life and power of God’s truth to the Columbia community and beyond through diverse Christian voices and ideas.
06
What if Becoming New Meant Going Back to the Beginning? Athena Sternklar
A Faith that Feeds Joy He
12
14
Ayi Agboglo
Benjamin Brake
18
22
Dry Bones
Theosis
With or Without? (You Decide)
Regnum Christi
Jade Thompson
Tim Kinnamon
27
32
Chase Chumchal
Ndubueze Okonkwo
Separated and Suffering
4 | vol. 8, no. 2
08
WWJD?
editor in chief
Michael Manasseh managing editor
Elizabeth Huang
Dear Reader,
print head
Tony Kim blog head
Feven Negussie design head
Sandra Song web head
Mandy Jenkins podcast head
Tim Kinnamon print
Annie Son | Ardaschir Arguelles Ben Kelley | Benjamin Brake Chase Chumchal | Elizabeth Huang Hannah Ramsey | Victoria Choe blog
Augustin Lacroix | Dorothy Zhang Karis Cha | Lydia Robbins Natalia Espinoza web
It is a new day at Columbia. This September, Morningside Heights welcomed freshmen and sophomores who had previously never experienced college in person, along with juniors and seniors eager to make up for lost time. Although NYC along with the rest of the country continues to fight against multiple variants of COVID-19, the resumption of in-person activities has provided hope of a brighter future. It is with this hope that we present to you our latest print issue. The goal of this issue is to provide you with an understanding of how the pursuit of godliness is achieved within a fallen world. To enter a relationship with Jesus is more than just a change in lifestyle. It is a fundamental transformation that rejects the life we once lived and invites us into a wholly new and fulfilling reality. We live in a world marked by sin but set apart for a greater purpose made possible through the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, that one day we may experience eternal life with Him and our brothers and sisters. This is the New Humanity and the theme of our issue. Throughout this journal, you will find essays, poems, and more that touch on different aspects of this new reality, from exploring the theology of theosis, to the significance of the kingship of Jesus, and even the necessary role of suffering in spiritual formation. We present these works to you so that you might also discover that same hope which we have in Jesus. We hope you enjoy it.
Grace-Elleda Gonzalez | Joy He design
Annie Son | Lydia Robbins Tina Liu | Tony Kim podcast
Feven Negussie | Tina Liu Grace-Elleda Gonzalez
God Bless, THE COLUMBIA
A JOURNAL OF CHRISTIAN PERSPEC TIVES
Fall 2021
contributors
Athena Sternklar | Ayi Agboglo Jade Thompson | Ndubueze Okonkwo special thanks to
Christian Union
The Witness | 5
What if Becoming New Meant Going Back to the Beginning? Athena Sternklar
W
hat does it mean to become new? To become a better version of yourself? To find yourself? To become the person you always wanted to be? I have discovered becoming new to be defined as shedding the weight which withholds who you were always meant to be. When we are children, we are free of insecurity and self-doubt, and we speak our minds. From our perception, we are invincible and believe that nothing could withhold the fulfillment of our dreams. Yet over time, as the years bear pain and trauma, and the disappointments settle in, we lose this pure worldview. We begin to struggle to see past the hurdles and the opinions. We begin to lose the freedom to dream from a place of security. Being withheld from your purpose could look like living untrue to yourself, a fear of the unknown, doubt, and/or being directed by other people’s opinions. When I was eighteen, I was in perfect alignment with this description. I had severe anxiety, depression, and was filled with hopelessness, yet I always knew in the back of my mind that this was not who I really was. In the back of my mind, I dreamed of traveling around the world and helping people. However, all the things from life that weighed me down made it impossible for me to see a way through the murky waters. I was fully consumed by the lies of our culture that affect our self-image, identity, and worth. I lived my days and nights busily, to distract myself from what lay underneath the surface. I had never heard the story of the Garden of Eden. I had only lived in the world that had forgotten it.
6 | vol. 8, no. 2
This was until a season of my life during which God began to pursue me. I had been completely anti-Christian until I had a personal encounter with Jesus, and He revealed Himself to me. I accepted Him as Lord of my life, and at that very moment, all the suicidal thoughts, heavy depression, and overruling anxiety that had oppressed me my entire life were lifted off me. My mind and eyes were rubbed clean. The curtain was removed. I never knew you could feel so weightless and joyful! I never knew you could see or think so clearly. My transformation from my old self to becoming new began in that moment. One single encounter changed the course of my human existence. As God took me on a journey of transformation by getting to know Him personally and reading His Word, I began to become the person I always knew I was meant to be but could never be without Him. My integrity, relationships, and worldview were revolutionized with love and the humility of Christ. I was introduced to the Garden-of-Eden way of life: walking and talking with God daily and understanding my true value and purpose. I had to learn how to live without depression—a life I had never lived before. I had claimed depression as part of my identity and did not know how to survive without it, almost as if I was addicted to it. Jesus walked with me and showed me who I really am. He spoke truth and brought clarity, He gave me hope and filled me with radiant joy, and He imparted conviction which drove me to my purpose. I began to live the life I always imagined, yet without striving for it. When you walk in the calling God has placed on your life, things begin to fall into place perfectly. He will provide everything
you need, from spiritual nourishment to financial provision. Now I have travelled to twenty-four countries and have served in refugee camps and slums, growing in adoration of the humanity that God lovingly sought after. The fulfillment of my impossible dreams has proven that with God, all things are possible. When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden with God, they walked with Him, talked with Him, and had an intimate and personal relationship with Him. They had no worries, doubts, fears, or insecurities. They knew perfectly who they were and whose they were. It was not until they sinned against God and left that perfect relationship that they entered a life of brokenness and acquired an inability to see clearly. We were much like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden as children. Yet the sin in the world and in ourselves has a toxicity that rules over us when we are without God’s Truth or Spirit. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Therefore, to be free from the hopelessness of this world, we must be filled with the Lord’s Spirit through engaging in a personal relationship with Him. When Jesus came down to Earth, He essentially said, “I am going to renew
“
I was introduced to the Garden of Eden way of life: walking and talking with God daily and understanding my true value and purpose.
this humanity that I love so deeply.” He wanted us to become like children again, like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, walking perfectly in sync with Him. He longed for us to know exactly who we are, whose we are, and our purposes and giftings. When we have this divine relational foundation, we become the person we were always meant to be: fully secure in our identity, free from oppression and burdens, confident in the possibilities, and full of desire to pursue our wildest dreams. When we are filled with the Spirit of God by believing in Jesus, we remember God’s original design for humanity. 1 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” The real question is: do you want to be made new?
The Witness | 7
A Faith that Feeds Joy He
I
f my parents ever said, “I love you” to me, I must admit that I’d be taken by surprise. Like many other Chinese-American families, my family rarely expresses affection verbally and to do so would be to ask for an awkward moment. Despite this, I would still wholeheartedly believe their words because I’ve experienced their love first-hand at the dinner table. Rather than words of affirmation, food and the act of sharing it together are the main love languages in my family. It took me until middle school, when my friends chuckled at the apples my mom had both peeled and sliced, to realize how much special treatment I got when it came to food (and that apple peels are not poisonous). Whenever I had a bad day, my mom did not try to be a therapist; instead, she made me a warm bowl of noodles. Whenever my family eats out, we expect that at some point during the meal, my mom will say, “I can make this better at home,” and although we may roll our eyes, we know that she says this out of love and is also probably correct. My experience is not unique or surprising, as the general psychological impact of eating and sharing food is undeniable. Quantitative studies centered on food’s social implications have demonstrated that “food sharing and feeding are important non-verbal indicators of friendship and romantic involvement.”1 Since food exchange occurs between people who care about one another – those who seek happiness and satisfaction for one another– it follows that people generally hold food in high regard. Additionally, they understand that food has implicit emotional significance. The term “comfort food” comes from its role as an avenue of escape from the troubles of life, facilitated by “its propensity to reduce feelings of loneliness.”2 Thus, food’s appeal is not only its taste but may also be the specific people associated with it – eating our comfort foods allows us to feel the presence of those we love and miss, those who make us feel most at home. Evidently, food is a driving force of emotional wellness and, in
1 Hamburg, “Food for Love: the role of food offering in empathic emotion regulation”,
(Frontiers in Psychology, 2014), 3. 2 Ibid, 3.
8 | vol. 8, no. 2
many cases, the expression of love. Given that love is a central component of the Christian faith, is there any way for Christians to relate to food’s importance? Although Christianity involves dying to oneself by sacrificing an earthly appetite to be free from sin, this alone is perhaps a simplification that downplays God’s overwhelming love for His children. In Scripture, God’s promise to keep us satisfied is often associated with food, as the Psalms cite His insistence on feeding us “with the finest of the wheat” as long as we “open [our mouths] wide.”3 God does not withhold things we desire because he lacks love, but because He knows He can provide us with the “finest.” Perhaps He “can make this better at home,” just like our loving parents, but what is “home” in this case? The defining factor of Christianity is our transformation – becoming new through Christ’s death and resurrection. When we are made new in Christ, we become foreigners to the world. Our true “citizenship,” our true home, “is in heaven.”4 Because of this, God calls us not to put our full hope in secular successes, whether they are academic, economic, or social. Although we may accumulate and enjoy these things, they are ultimately fleeting, as “the world is passing away along with its desires” (1 John 2:17). Similarly, in John 6, Jesus calls his disciples not to “work for the food that perishes, but the food that endures to eternal life.” While the food – the treasures we accumulate – on Earth will always leave us hungry for more, God urges us to understand that nothing else we search for or yearn for on this Earth will ever be more satiating than the food He provides. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus refers to himself as the “bread of God… who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6). Thus, God’s food is Jesus himself. By sending us Jesus, the bread from heaven, God shows us how much He loves us and desires to save us. Consequently, he provides us 3 Psalm 81:10, 16 (ESV). 4 Philippians 3:20 (ESV).
The Witness | 9
“
Consequently, he provides us with a taste of his heavenly home, which we have a share in.
with a taste of his heavenly home, which we have a share in. Jesus’ title as the bread of life is revealed in the sacrament of the Eucharist. The Eucharist models Christ’s last supper with his disciples, where he broke the news of his coming crucifixion, and where he broke bread. He explained how the bread and wine represented his broken body and spilled blood, respectively, meaning His breaking and sharing of bread reflected his sacrifice for our sins. Christ calls us to partake in the Eucharist, consuming his body and blood, “in remembrance of” Him.5 Although the Eucharist’s role as a memorial is still a point of contention, it is certainly a celebration of Christ’s death, resurrection, and faithfulness. The Eucharist “assures us… that whatever Christ did or suffered was done to give us life” and that “we are ceaselessly nourished, sustained, and preserved in life.”6 The bread we break reminds us that Christ was broken for our benefit, as a result of His love. This routine reflection sustains us spiritually, just as bread sustains us physically, and eating sustains us emotionally. This consumption is not only symbolic, but also involves literal transformation. As Christ’s body and blood become “one substance within us” in the Eucharist, we assume His righteousness.7 Our newfound righteousness is an indication of God’s acceptance of us, which means we have a seat at His table. Inviting someone to your table to share a meal implies hospitality. For me, and others with similar family experiences, the table is where I receive love in the form of food. It is where I know I am wel-
comed home. Jesus expressed love in the same way. His table, in particular, was “where broken sinners find connection and belonging.”8 For Jesus, a meal spoke louder than words. He ate with anyone and everyone. The Gospel of Luke records Him receiving an invitation to eat dinner with a Pharisee, someone who was most likely critical of Him. Rather than being divisive and argumentative, He accepted the offer. Later that night, a woman came to the same table, weeping and pouring oil on Jesus’ feet. Rather than being rash and arrogant like the Pharisee, Jesus healed, forgave, and praised her faith.9 While we often only share meals with people whom we are close to – those whose ideals, goals, and beliefs align with ours – Jesus extended hospitality to even those who were the opposite of Him. He welcomed them into His circle of companions, to His table, no matter what they had done in the past, and no matter what they would do in the future. However, Jesus’ hospitality means more than just love and tolerance. If an invitation to a table implies an invitation to one’s home, then an invitation to the table of a King is a big deal, especially when said King is Jesus, who is perfect and divine. Sitting at His table places us on His level. “The Trinity,” an icon painted by Andrei Rublev, illustrates The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sitting at a table with an empty spot. The members of the Trinity welcome us to dine with them and accept our newfound righteousness, which is the essence of the Gospel. Though we have no righteousness of our own, Christ broke His own body so that we can take broken bread and know we are “ingraf[ted]... into the fellowship of His
5 1 Corinthians 11:13 (ESV). 6 Calvin, “The Institutes of the Christian Religion”, (Translated by
8 Jones, “The Dinner Table as a Place of Connection, Brokenness,
Henry Beveridge, 1845), Section V.
and Belonging”, (DTS Voice, 2015).
7 Ibid, Section III.
9 Luke 7 (ESV).
10 | vol. 8, no. 2
church” and invited us to His table.10 We do not come to this table alone, as we are joined by other followers of Christ. As prophesied in Isaiah, when we return home to heaven, “the Lord of Hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food,” signalling the completion of our transformation.11 This future home-coming feast is a reminder that we will one day be reunited with our Father, who accepts us with open arms despite our sin, along with others who have been transformed. While we wait for this feast, though, what are we to do? Although the world will inevitably bring hardship, given that it is not our home, we are still called to be set apart,12 perhaps by sharing God’s set-apart food. Emulating the love and tolerance of Christ, we can nourish others with Jesus, the bread of life, as they become part of God’s family. There is always room in God’s home, and there is always an empty seat at His table.
10 Calvin, Section I. 11 Isaiah 25:6 (ESV). 12 Romans 12:2 (ESV).
Joy He is a sophomore in SEAS studying Electrical Engineering and CS. She enjoys eating around the city, running long distances, and overthinking about the mundane.
The Witness | 11
Dry Bones Ayi Agboglo
Drug Facts Active Ingredient (in each tablet)
Purpose
Pride 2mg........................................................................................................................................................Self-delusion
Uses
temporarily reduces the symptoms due to reading the Bible and being led by the Spirit
Conviction
Brokenness
Hunger for the Bread of Life
Dying to Self
Dire Thirst for True, Living Water
Warnings
Ask a doctor before use if you have Truly encountered the Holy Spirit; if so, this drug is not likely to work
When using this product
You may develop hypersensitivity to the Light Avoid healthy Christian community Avoid confession and repentance Severe pupil dilation is highly probable You may suffer from delirium
Directions
12 | vol. 8, no. 2
adults and children 14 years and over
take 2 tablets every Sunday between the hours of 7 - 11am
children under 14 years
do not use
Drug Facts (continued) Sweaty hands Fumble an empty bottle One too few trips to the pharmacy And like a raging sea Withdrawal symptoms overwhelm me Hardened A stony fortress Four empty chambers The King knocks But there’s no answer Cardiac arrest My sin keeps me hostage I want to do what is right Instead, I do what is wrong Are these the same cuffs Used to bind the man from Tarsus? Cold My skin, a stranger to His warmth Time away from the Son This flesh grows rigid Anemic Plaques on my wall Start to block these red highways The Blood doesn’t flow as it should Pupil dilation A vain attempt to let more Light in But only darkness fills these retinas Formless and empty Who can fill this void? Poor vision Church pews start to look like a stage The curtains don’t close The Dean’s List Mistaken for the Book of Life
Unclean hands Disguised in darkness Worthless rags of piety Build a mountain of self-righteousness So I ascend up this hill But, this isn’t Zion The only one being worshipped here is me Out of applause I build an idol for myself Made in the likeness of my good-guy complex On this altar I sacrifice godliness for its appearance Who can bring me down from such dangerous heights? Then, at the blast of His voice The foundation of the mountain shook The earth split open, And Babylon was swallowed up But I fell safely into His hands A righteous detox No longer addicted to the facade The curtains close I come off the stage And there’s no applause Only the sound of angels rejoicing
Then the Gentle Surgeon caused me to fall into a deep sleep With four incisions He took out stone And gave me flesh Flesh that He calls home Flesh that responds to His voice His Spirit Hovers over my pupils And creates form from the formless Meaning from the vain This is my genesis He spoke four words And the darkness was overcome His Light Forces Leviathan into submission Cross-eyed vision But I see clearer than ever A church building now looks like a valley of dry bones Then He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?” I replied, “Yes, O Sovereign Lord, for you have brought me back to life”
My prodigal return I unmask and show Him my flaws He draws near and shows me His scars Like John I rest firmly on His chest My skin and His warmth have reached their rendezvous
The Witness | 13
Theosis
and the Incarnation Benjamin Brake
A
ccording to the book of Genesis, humanity was originally created Imago Dei, “in the image of God.’’ But because of the sin of Adam and Eve, humanity has since lost, or at least significantly tarnished, this initial Image. There remains much variation of interpretation across Christian traditions concerning the precise meanings of the Imago Dei and the Fall, nevertheless, historical Christianity has generally identified the Imago Dei and the subsequent Fall as essential aspects of the faith, with the story serving to admit the moral imperfection of this life while recognizing the meaningful potential for something greater. And it is precisely this problem of the Fall which perpetually renders humanity imperfect and thus incapable of communion with God. Indeed, it may be said that humanity’s very ontology (that is, our very nature as humans) is undermined. Sin, the corruption of original intention, the deviation from the good, plagues humanity and brings on death as punishment. The ultimate result is alienation, an impassible gap between the perfect Divine and the imperfect Human, with the original Imago Dei now lost. Such a problem cannot be solved by humanity’s own efforts, primarily because we inherit the punishment, if not guilt, of the First Adam. That is to say, we are as fallen as Adam and Eve, rendered imperfect, and so lack capacity for reconciliation by our own power. Divine intercession on our behalf must occur if humanity is to be restored. This intercession, according to the scriptures of the Christian faith, is found in Jesus Christ, the Incarnation, Son of God, the Divine Logos made flesh.1 Historical Christianity claims that this God-Man was born of the virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and is fully God and fully Man.2 While we are ontologically marred spiritually, morally, and physically, and thus subject to spiritual and physical death, Christ, being fully human, lived a perfect and blameless life, and so perfects humanity in Himself. Thus, He presents a model of teleological perfection in this life, a pattern by which we ought to aim to follow. Through His crucifixion, death, and resurrection, Christ
defeats death itself. As fully God, He provides a passage of salvation for humanity in Himself. As emphasized in the Patristics, the teachings of the Early Church Fathers, Christ is Himself the Mediator between the Divine and Humanity by virtue of His being the perfect Incarnate God-Man. As Athanasius of Alexandria stated in his Discourse Against the Arians, “He [Christ] became Mediator between God and man in order that he might minister the things of God to us and the things of ours to God.”3 According to such Patristic thought, and as often adhered to by the denominational Eastern Orthodox Churches, Christ is recognized to be the source of ontological restoration for fallen humanity. Through His participation in humanity, He recapitulates it, and in doing so not only becomes the model for the teleological perfection of this life, but also provides the ultimate telos for eternal life: theosis, our “deification” or the process of “making divine.” Within this framework, theosis is our process of ontological perfection via participation in the perfect divine, that we may eternally be in the true image and likeness of God. So, Christ is the Second Adam, the one who ultimately restores what was corrupted in the First Adam. As 2nd century Bishop of Lyons, Irenaeus wrote:
1 John 1:14.
3 Athanasius, Discourse Against the Arians, Book IV: Parts 6,7.
2 Luke 1:35.
4 Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, Book IV: Chapter 18, Part 1.
14 | vol. 8, no. 2
For I have shown that the Son of God did not then begin to exist, being with the Father from the beginning; but when He [the Son of God] became incarnate, and was made man, He commenced afresh the long line of human beings, and furnished us, in a brief, comprehensive manner, with salvation; so that what we had lost in Adam—namely, to be according to the image and likeness of God—that we might recover in Christ Jesus.4
Importantly, this Second Adam not only succeeds where the First Adam failed, but also, being the Mediator between God and Humanity, He acts as the necessary link through whom we can be further elevated to achieve theosis, that ontological transforma-
The Witness | 15
tion which yields our ultimate purpose. It is important to note here that this heightened emphasis on Christ’s Incarnation with relation to salvation is an important feature of the Patristic tradition and subsequently of Eastern Orthodox theology when compared to the theology of Western Christianity, which tends to focus more on “judicial” or “forensic” justification found in Christ’s crucifixion. It must be realized that for the Patristics, and for the Eastern Orthodox conception of theosis, the Incarnation is not only important as a mere means to the end of humanity’s redemption through Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. Rather, the Incarnation is, in and of itself, a point of unparalleled awe and mystery, the very centerpiece of all history, of all reality. With this perspective, the Incarnation takes a new place of emphasis in the story of humanity, not merely as a response or consequence of our sin, but as the essential vehicle of humanity’s ultimate unification with the Divine. To otherwise reduce God’s Incarnation to a responsive role, to a mere “correction” of God’s fallen creation, seems an insufficient, if not inappropriate, description of such a wondrous reality. Granted, insofar as we examine the Humanity of Christ as the Second Adam, we see Him as in the role of responder come to redeem humanity through His perfec-
For it was for this end that the
illuminated. We see, enjoy, and
Word of God was made man, and
are assisted by, the energy of elec-
He who was the Son of God be-
tric current, but we are not able to
came the Son of man, that man,
grasp its essence. Let us say that
having been taken into the Word,
something similar happens with
and receiving the adoption, might
the uncreated energy of God.7
become the son of God.
5
Bearing all this in mind, we can now finally approach the Eastern Orthodox concept of theosis in proper context and with more technical clarification. Humanity’s transformation via Christ’s Incarnation has continually been referenced throughout this paper as an ontological transformation made possible by the Incarnation. Importantly, Eastern Orthodoxy maintains that theosis occurs through our participation in God’s divine energies, but not through participation in the divine essence.6 Simply put, we, being but mere mortals ontologically distinct from God, are incapable of knowing or participating in His divine essence, since God’s essence is unknowable to any but Himself. Nevertheless, Eastern Orthodoxy maintains that God’s uncreated energy can indeed extend upon us and even be known by us. To provide a more practical understanding of this essence and energy distinction, Abbot Archimandrite George provides the analogy of a wire and a lamp:
Christ, being fully human, lived a perfect and blameless life, and so perfects humanity in Himself. tion. And undeniably, part of His influence on humanity is in this act of perfect human living. But as the holistic God-Man, as the Mediator, He carries a potential within Himself which the First Adam could at best point towards, but never possess himself. So Christ is not merely a consequential “corrective,” but is an intentional point of mediation through whom humanity itself may be elevated to unification with God. As Irenaeus wrote:
16 | vol. 8, no. 2
If we grasp a bare electric wire, we will die. However, if we connect a lamp to the same wire, we are 5 Irenaeus, Adversus Haeresus, Book III: Chapter 19,
Section 1. 6 The essence/energy distinction for theosis was
posited by 13th-14th century Byzantine theologian Gregory Palamas. The distinction has been a strong historical point of contention between Eastern Orthodox Palamism and Western Roman Catholic Scholasticism. It should also be noted that the precise meaning of Palamas’ essence-energy distinction is contested even amongst modern scholars.
It is with this uncreated energy of God, with the light of the lamp, which theosis is so intimately concerned. As the Incarnate Logos mediated humanity and God, He thereby made possible a unification through participation in Him, a participation not in God’s essence, but in His energy. And this unification is our deification, theosis, our true ultimate purpose made possible through Christ. But what are the practical ramifications of this theosis for us? Are there any? Or is such a concept purely theological jargon, a set of metaphysical suppositions with little real-world application? No doubt theosis as an object of examination is certainly heavily concerned with theology and ontology. That said, its implications do carry significant relevance to practical living. Hans Boersma, while in the context of addressing the role of “justification” within Irenaeus’ writings on humanity’s recapitulation, explicates two sides to this topic of unification between God and humanity: the first is the objective recapitulation as brought about by Christ Incarnate; the second is our subjective participation in Christ. In a paradoxical relationship, Christ’s recapitulation is in itself objective, even as our ability to enjoy that recapitulation is concerned with our subjective participation.8 For the Eastern Orthodox tradition, theosis is identified with this unification, our subjective participation in the divine energies as made possible by the Incarnation. But what particular actions or steps qualify for this theosis? Here, Eastern Orthodoxy gives significant emphasis to the Sacred Mysteries or sacraments, particularly to Holy Baptism, Chrismation 7 Archimandrite George, Theosis, p.39. 8 Boersma, “Justification within Recapitulation: Irenae-
us in Ecumenical Dialoguem,” 2020.
(confirmation), Eucharist, and Holy Confession, through which the individual is in communion with Christ.9 These actions are considered requisites for theosis. Asceticism is also recognized as an effective act, insofar as it cleanses one from selfishness, better orients oneself towards the virtues, and thus allows the individual to better achieve theosis.10 Implicit in the goal of asceticism, and of theosis in general, is the quality of humility, of self-surrender and subsequent embrace of Christ as Savior. For to truly participate in Christ’s recapitulation requires that we recognize our fallen state and our incapacity to save ourselves. From this attitude of humility, we can properly embrace faith in the mystery of Christ’s Incarnation, which itself serves as a prerequisite for those Sacred Mysteries of Eastern Orthodoxy. The letter of 2nd Peter states the reality of theosis, that faithful followers of Christ are “partakers of the divine nature” through His righteousness.11 Note that the emphasis, once again, is on our faith in Christ through His divine righ-
with love.”12 Through our faith in Christ, as made possible by this divine power, we are called to actively develop our whole lives in accordance with His will, putting aside our old corrupted selves, and embracing our new life in the Second Adam. Our subjective faith in the objective righteousness of Christ should result in a new intention-
The Incarnation is the centerpiece of history and the salvation of humanity. teousness, not simply through a merited righteousness of our own initiative. We could never achieve ontological status worthy of participation in the divine nature apart from the intercession of the Mediator Christ. In light of this truth, Peter elaborates how Christians ought to act. He states that we are to continually develop our character based on our faith in Christ, to strive to “supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection
ality guiding our whole life, and thereby produce a new potentiality for theosis, for true participation in the divine energy. So theosis, both in its objective and subjective aspects, is always pointing towards the radical reality of Christ the GodMan. The Incarnation is the centerpiece of history and the salvation of humanity. Only in the Incarnation can we be unified with God, with Christ acting as Mediator. In order to be saved from our dismal state, and to restore the Imago Dei, we must subjectively participate in Him; we must have faith in Him.
9 Archimandrite George, Theosis, p.53. 10 Ibid, 50-53. 11 2 Peter 1:4.
12 2 Peter 1:5-7.
Benjamin Brake (CC’24) is a sophomore studying economics and philosophy. He is interested in learning about different moral and religious traditons within and outside Christianity.
The Witness | 17
With or Without?
(You Decide)
Jade Thompson
The withered leaves fall to the ground Bare branches look like charred limbs against the navy sky Cloudless. Crows crowd in the corner Preying on the lifeless bodies that decorate the alley The vigil’s flickering candles are the last sign of movement in the darkness Only rodents lurk for a sip at the dripping gutter.
The seed sprouts and pushes its way to the surface Fertile ground and full ferns, a sign of the healthy sky Azure. Abundant, awakening, anew Are the morning rays that cast light and warmth to all below Hatching, growing, dancing, running, jumping with the beat of life In the desert, waterfalls of honey flow like rain cascading down a gutter.
Their red beady eyes glare at each other as they struggle to measure who is ahead Out of breath, both wishing they could stop, but not knowing of an alternative Since they were born they’ve been training to win this race Their families, their futures, their lives depend on it So they push through, never resting Never reaching the finish line called Sabbath Because their minds are set on what’s next to accomplish Only for time to oxidize their trophies
Their eyes open wide at the beauty of it all. Looking up Rivers of living water flow over their bodies from head to toe, Head as the head, toe a toe, never striving to be what is not Ease. Rest. Replenished. Smiling at the truth that the race has already been won for them. Unearned. Rest. Refreshed. They close their books, unbutton their blazers, and crumple the to-do lists Nothing is left to accomplish. It is finished. No longer in search of medals, they are living displays of His victorious love; human trophies.
18 | vol. 8, no. 2
Made of gold are the words etched on the back of every watch placed on his quartz dresser Venezuelan miner’s limp with bruised arms and aching spines to present their day’s work at the feet of our esteemed CEO Eight dollars per month is their wage Cameras flash as a man ponders how he became a self-made billionaire “Hard work...” The small child smiles as she receives her dime with bloodied fingers from hours of sewing in the factories “… trumps human dignity.”
Made with love is the motto the baker lives by Fresh bread served with a smile, employees treated with respect Seeing their worth, the boss finds it hard to take advantage Gone are the days when they counted pennies to buy their meal They have a delightful inheritance “In His hands…” A table prepared before them with more food than their bellies could hold That bread. Too sweet to be bought “... we find human dignity.”
Those in pursuit of justice rally outside of courtroom doors For the jaws of oppression devour the innocent, the poor, the lame Like a fish washed up on the shore, they cry out for breath in vain The righteous are slaughtered, the wicked roam free Ones sworn to lead and protect are fattened with greed and roasted in deceit Political parties resemble packs of wolves defending their tribes Stooping to slander, their words sting like venom One side bleeds blue and the other red as each jab cuts a deeper divide
Those who fix their mind on Him need not fret for peace For the fate of the wicked is already determined Picket signs laid down, crosses held high; a life surrendered The precious lamb sent to set the oppressed free Gasped for one last breath so we would have life breathed into us Prior allegiances disarmed; the real enemy exposed To trample the head of the snake under foot, they unite under one Spirit One body, His church; and them from His love, nothing can divide
Into even halves their assets are split But the hearts of their children are shattered into a million pieces As they witness their loving family crumble to dust. Sitting side-by-side scrolling: a sad excuse for quality time. Smiles fade to resentment, laughter to shouts Pain is boiled in a covered pot The steam is anger too hot to touch So each waits for the other to bring a fan Too self-consumed to notice the other is boiling too. The flames of the stove are never turned low.
The Witness | 19
Into his arms she runs full speed He catches and stares into her eyes that shine like a million stars Their love is… Patient, the kind that makes one sit and wonder How it’s possible not to envy this love that somehow finds no reason to boast Not proud, they admit their wrongs and are met with grace Gentle wife, loving husband, and children who do not dishonor The illustration of a family that does not insist on its own way, but submits To the One in Heaven, who is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs Like Him, they do not delight in evil but rejoice with truth Their covenant: Always protect, trust, hope, persevere, even when the flame burns low
She hurries under her bed at the sound of keys jingling at the front door Black and blue are colors all too familiar to her Screams never loud enough, or Ignored because she tempted him With her short skirt and full hips Boys will be boys; men will be men And the blood that drips down the side of her shaking legs will always be crimson
She irons her dress with painstaking care. Today is the big day Clothed in white, she leaves behind the barren life familiar Her bridegroom shouts with eager expectation for the joy set before Him Overcoming temptation, a sign of His ability to empathize with The one He adores, a precious jewel more sparkling Than the crown of love He places on her head Worth restored, now pure as white, the flesh once stained crimson
Humans synonymous with objects Our internal database calculates how much each is worth. Time, energy, money seem all too fleeting to waste in this life Not any more so than our happiness or our health. The IV drops are clear Signs of the fragility of human life. Salty water, tears create streams We row against the current until our paddles erode
Humans human again Stamped on our backs: Imago Dei— Made in His image Dignity, value, worth so clear even Death respects Created to reflect His glory, our purpose is timeless Fragility now an empty threat, hevel no more Sadness and mourning turned to joy and dancing Like a bee crushed between index and thumb, so the sting of Death is no more Eternal life in heaven where neither moth nor rust can erode
20 | vol. 8, no. 2
And sometimes the tears won’t fall Glossed eyes glare into the dirty mirror with disgust Reflecting on how invisible she is to those who claim to know her “Unlovable,” she whispers Negative thoughts whirl like a merry-go-round Too many mistakes to count Or forgive An escape is in the corner of her mind She closes her eyes And wishes she was never born
And even the depths of our sorrows are not forgotten He keeps every tear in a bottle waiting For the day to open it and dip His paintbrush in “Cherished,” He whispers The very tears we blamed Him for not drying are what He uses to paint a new story “Beautiful,” He whispers Dip. Orange skies of glory. Dip. Red kisses to adorn your face. “Forgiven, Chosen, Mine.” Dip. A renewed mind. Dip. A heart overflowing with praise “I’ve loved you since before you were born.”
The four walls seem miles away Empty. Cold. Alone. Yet so close it’s suffocating He waits for them to return his calls, Or respond to his texts Or notice he didn’t end his sentence with a period like he always does But he is left to face it on his own Tap... tap... pat... pat... The sound of feet running away from it all On a deserted island, he is still met with what he hates the most The evil within him.
The green pastures seem to expand unending No one in sight for miles but for some reason He doesn’t feel alone. The soft stillness an opportunity to hear the gentle whisper Of the voice calling deeper still Come to me, deeper still He looks around for a moment wondering why anyone would ever call him close He looks within, what can he offer He looks above, Jesus smiles knowingly. It is not anything we have to offer, but simply The love within Him. Jade Thompson is a recent graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University. She double majored in Economics and Urban Studies Sustainable Development. She is a previous editor in chief of The Columbia Witness and will forever be passionate about using writing to convey the magnificent work of Jesus Christ in her life. This poem compares a world surrendered under Jesus (right) to a world without Him (left). Each stanza pair begins and ends with the same words, but what lies between them is radically different.
The Witness | 21
22 | vol. 8, no. 2
Regnum Christi: Not of This World Timothy Kinnamon
T
he film The Passion of the Christ is perhaps the most brutal depiction of Jesus’ crucifixion. In one of the film’s most striking moments, Pontius Pilate, the wealthy Roman governor, questions a beaten and bloody Jesus, an image that conveys Pilate’s apparent authority. But Jesus, with one eye swollen shut, consistently announces His kingship; He uses the interrogation to describe His own power and authority, His regnum, His kingdom. How is it that Jesus could claim kingship while clearly physically defeated? Unlike Pilate, whose rulership was confined to temporal and geographic boundaries, Jesus’ kingdom “non est de hoc mundo,” is not of this world. This other-worldly kingdom is critical to understanding the nature of the Christian life. It provides a metaphor through which we can see what relationship with God means and how our participation in that relationship creates newness in the human life. The first thing to see is that Jesus has a kingdom. Kingdoms have not only kings, but also citizens, laws, and sovereignty; Jesus’ kingdom is no exception. Second, Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, literally not of this uni-
verse (kosmos). Therefore, the elements of the kingdom are not exactly as we might expect. The king, citizens, laws, and sovereignty manifest outside of our material space and time, and that has a clear implication for those who believe in the kingdom. That Jesus describes His authority as a kingdom is critical. The Jews were not living under a kingdom, nor was the Roman Empire receptive to claims of monarchy, but it was a concept generally familiar throughout the Mediterranean world in the first century A.D. The Jews especially were expecting a Messianic king to restore the throne of David. The original Greek word that Jesus uses for kingdom in the Bible is βασιλεία (basileia), which is a word more well-known for its philosophical appearances. Perhaps the most consequential of those appearances, Aristotle discusses basileia in Book III of his Politics, where he observes that there are five basic varieties. The weakest form is the one exhibited by the Spartans, whereby royalty connotes merely generalship over the armies. Three other forms confer more authority, that of the Heroic Age, “based on general consent but limited to a number of
definite functions;” that among barbarians, “with the king exercising, by right of descent, a despotic authority, albeit in accordance with law;” and that “which is an elective form of tyranny.” But the fifth form, “the absolute type, where a single person is sovereign on every issue,” is the most interesting.1 Aristotle, so often a staunch defender of constitutional democracy according to Athenian tradition, justifies one society in which the absolute monarchy has its place. This society is one where “the whole of a family, or a single individual among the ordinary people, is of merit so outstanding as to surpass that of the rest.”2 In such a society, not only is it expedient for the most superior to be king, it is also only just that he be, for it is the only position befitting his station in society. Since Jesus describes His authority as a king over a kingdom, surely He must mean this sort of kingdom, one in which God, the being which none greater can be imagined, is the absolute sovereign. Paul justifies this view in Romans when 1 Aristotle, Politics, (Oxford UP, 2009)
III.14.1285b20. 2 Ibid, III.14.1285b20.
The Witness | 23
he explains that the law cannot bring righteousness, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”3 Man is therefore so far subordinate to God that absolute subjection is the only just form of rule. To exist otherwise would be to contradict the nature and character of God, who is justice. As we will see, however, God’s authority is not that of the cold, calculating Machiavellian prince, but of the loving and forgiving father. Not only is His authority necessary, it is purely good for us. This leads us to consider the next element of the kingdom, the
The citizens of God’s kingdom are not only saved through the Son, but they are adopted as His siblings. citizens whom God has authority over. These citizens are absolute subjects, but they also must relate to the kingdom in a distinct way. Here, Aristotle’s definition of citizenship does not help, because he fails to explain citizenship in the absolute monarchy, but instead sticks with a democratic definition. Moreover, Aristotle defines the polis, that is, the political community, as a body of citizens that achieves self-sufficiency, and since God is self-sufficient, this definition will not do. Instead, a better definition might be according to a liberal model, where “[c]itizenship mean[s] being protected by the law rather than participating in its formulation.”4 Thus, to identify the citizens of Jesus’ kingdom first requires knowing what His law is. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica lays out four kinds of laws. The highest is the eternal law, which is God’s conception of all things which exist. This law is eternal because God’s conception never changes nor fades away. Derived from this is the natural law, the inclination of rational creatures to attain the ends God designed them for. From the natural law we get human laws, which are the manifestations of human reasoning insofar as they pull from the natural law. Finally, the divine law consists of those manifestations of the natural law that human reason cannot discover, but that God reveals to us.5 The citizens of God’s kingdom must find protection in all four of these kinds of laws. The first three laws are easy enough since everyone is protected by them. Naturally, anything that exists fits within the eternal law, and all humans, as rational creatures, live by both the natural and human laws. The divine law is what differentiates those who are protected citizens from those who are not, for the divine law is really a “law of faith” that “justifie[s us] as a gift by [God’s] grace.” While all have been made aware of the divine law—as Paul writes, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that [those who disbelieve] are without excuse”—only those 3 Romans 3:23. 4 Leydet, Dominique, “Citizenship”, https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2017/entries/
citizenship, 2017. 5 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologia, II-I, q. 91, a. 1-4.
24 | vol. 8, no. 2
who believe in it by faith receive the protection and status of citizenship—more on what this entails soon.6 Therefore, since not all belong to God’s kingdom and receive protection in its law of faith, there must be a rift between the citizens of God’s kingdom and all others. This rift establishes the sovereignty of God’s kingdom, its distinction and separation from other kingdoms, which grants it legitimacy as a governing authority with recognized borders. However, we encounter some difficulty here, for though in many cases the citizens of God’s kingdom live distinctly from the others, they certainly do not live their lives in total separation, which means we must look beyond this earth to find the sovereignty of God’s kingdom. This is the first twist that derives from Jesus’ description of His kingdom as extra-universal. Augustine comes in handy here, since for him the City of God—literally Civitas Dei, God’s political association--is composed of one part temporal and one part atemporal. While God and the angels exist in a spiritual realm, the human citizens of the Heavenly kingdom are in a state of fallenness. Although they are citizens, they have been cut off from the kingdom for a time due to their revocation of the original law of the kingdom. This break is called sin, and “through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned.”7 Our morbid condition separates us from the bliss of God’s kingdom, whose sovereignty is so great that we cannot enter, for we have chosen to write our own laws instead of obeying the natural law of the perfect and holy King of kings. Yet our separation, insurmountable from our earthly perspective, is overcome by God’s same eternal laws of justice and love. God’s love demands justice for the lawlessness of man, who always fail to obey the natural and divine laws completely. Yet, God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.8
So it is that God has provided justice for man’s failure to abide by the natural law through Himself. Through Jesus, God became “Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf” in order to justify and glorify us.9 And equally, it is a law of love
Out of His infinite love and by a great mystery, God creates new humans out of those who choose to believe. that protects God’s citizens from their just recompense while God Himself pays the price for their iniquity. 6 Romans 1:27, 3:24-7. 7 Romans 5:12. 8 John 3:16-18. 9 2 Corinthians 5:21.
The Witness | 25
But if we search a little deeper, we will see that these citizens are more than just protected. When Pilate asks Jesus whether He is the king of the Jews, he at one point tells Jesus, “Your own nation … handed you over to me.”10 The word “nation” is ἔθνος (ethnos) in Greek, from which English derives “ethnic.” Ethnos refers more to a people, a collective group of relatives, than
terrestrial kingdom, can receive the law of love and live the law of faith in order to become the children of God. Jesus explains it as such: [U]nless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God … [U]nless
someone
is
born
of
water and the Spirit, he can-
Yet our separation, insurmountable from our earthly perspective, is overcome by God’s same eternal laws of justice and love. to a modern nation. Yet immediately after Pilate makes this claim, Jesus tells him that His kingdom is not of the world. Therefore, the people who handed Him over could not have been His people. However, the citizens of His kingdom are His ethnos, for they are those who have “received Him,” “who believe in His name,” and therefore to whom “He gave the right to become children of God.”11 These are those whom “He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”12 The citizens of God’s kingdom are not only saved through the Son, but they are adopted as His siblings, so that God’s kingdom is much more like a family with a loving patriarch than a kingdom whose citizens are dealt with only through laws. Fittingly, Aristotle considers at the beginning of his Politics that “every city is composed of households,” so God’s kingdom expands the base unit into the highest political association.13 For it is the only state where king and father are one, where citizen and child are one, even though the king so far surpasses the citizens that His absolute sovereignty alone is just. The final question is how mankind, separated by the sovereignty of an extra10 John 18:35. 11 John 1:12. 12 Romans 8:29. 13 Aristotle, Politics, (Oxford UP, 2009)
I.3.1253b1.
26 | vol. 8, no.
not enter the kingdom of God. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit.14
God is again the answer. We are born into the kingdom of God through the Holy Spirit, who is God. Out of His infinite love and by a great mystery, God creates new humans out of those who choose to believe. And, just like children reflect the character of their parents, so the adopted children of God display “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control,” for this is the “fruit of the Spirit” of God.15 And yet we must reconcile this with the earthly separation. Augustine’s City of God provides another help here, for he describes the citizens of God’s kingdom as “pilgrims” while they live on the earth, but there is no mistaking that they are not citizens of the City of Man, the earthly kingdom. For these pilgrims “persis[t] resolutely in that Good which is common to all – which for them is God Himself – and in his eternity, truth, and love,” whereas the citizens of the earthly kingdom are “delighted rather with their own power, as though they themselves [are] their own Good.”16 Elsewhere Augustine describes this pil14 John 3:3-6. 15 Galatians 5:22-23. 16 Aristotle, City of God, (Penguin, 1984) XII.1.
grimage as a “life of captivity … as in a foreign land.”17 Paul calls the citizens “ambassadors for Christ,” making the appeal for the benefits of His kingdom while on this earth.18 Whether pilgrims, captives, or ambassadors, we must understand that the difference between God’s citizens and the earthly citizens is a matter of origin. The former are born of the Spirit, and the latter of flesh. The Spiritual birth creates a new human, who is able to conform to the image of God in this life, and who will be perfected in a resurrection. This is how we are to understand the kingdom that Jesus reveals: We are totally divided from it by our disloyalty to a perfect king, whose perfection demands absolute sovereignty. But through the love and sacrifice of that king, we may live under His laws, as He adopts us to be His children in the most perfect ethnos possible. And until the day that we are resurrected to live in this kingdom forever, we live in the hope of its glory, when we become the perfect humanity that God created us to be. But in the meantime we also serve as ambassadors for God’s kingdom, not only demonstrating the behavior of new humans born of the Spirit, but also fulfilling a specific job description, to “[go], therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that [Jesus] has commanded [us].”19
17 Ibid, XIX.17. 18 2 Corinthians 5:20. 19 Matthew 28:19-20.
Timothy Kinnamon (CC’23) is a double major in Classics and Political Science. He loves to consider political philosophy from a Biblical perspective.
Separated and Suffering: Humanity’s Curse and Calling Chase Chumchal
I
n the beginning, there was no suffering. The Genesis creation narrative depicts God creating order out of disorder (“The earth was without form and void” (Genesis 1:2)). This substantive order developed by God is mirrored in the narrative’s highly structured literary design full of sevens. God creates life, plants the garden of Eden, and gives the human race dominion over the earth. The garden of Eden is the dwelling place — or “temple-garden” — of God. In this temple-garden, humankind is called to be a race of priest-kings and queens over nature on behalf of God. No suffering exists in the cosmos, but only harmonious order: nature is subject to humankind, and humankind is subject to God. The introduction of suffering only comes with the introduction of sin. Before sin, humankind engaged in harmonious tripartite relationship with God, fellow humankind, and nature. But through sin, the relationship between God and humankind is fractured, and the order of creation is disordered. God subjects the world to a new order filled with suffering by cursing the human beings and the serpent (Genesis 3:14-19). The perpetuation of the human race, commanded by God (1:28), will come forth from sufferable 1
2
3
4
childbearing (3:16). The duration of each man’s existence will consist of futility (3:17-19) and broken social relationship (3:16). Instead of allegiance to the Creator, humankind’s allegiance is now to the creation (3:1-7). And the ending of humankind is to return back to the dust that Adam was formed from (3:19). As the worst punishment, God casts humankind out of His presence by expelling Adam and Eve from the Garden.7 The Genesis creation narrative reveals a biblical definition of suffering. Suffering is a conscious being’s felt experience of dwelling in a disordered realm bent against its intended design; it is feeling the effects of something that is not operating as it should; it is being cast out of what is altogether fruitful and life-giving (God’s presence) and into a space subject to futility and decay. Humankind’s universal participation in sin is the participation in its antagonistic, anti-creation, disorienting presence; that which is bent toward destruction, de-creation, and decay. This is the disorder — the system of sin and death, governed by the prince of the power of the air (Satan) — that now legally rules over humankind. Nevertheless, the rest of Genesis features the election of Israel — God’s initial attempt to reestablish His presence over humankind, implying the reversal of human suffering. Through Abraham’s lineage, God elects a people for the ultimate 5
6
5 “Every man, at birth, begins life in wretchedness. Do not seek for a prophetic 1 For a succinct (and fun!) video summary, watch: https://bibleproject.com/ex-
plore/video/genesis-1 2 This point is inferred based on similarities between the garden of Eden and
Israelite tabernacle and temple. Desmond Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem: An Introduction to Biblical Theology, 20-31. 3
Ibid. 76-79.
utterance in this regard; ask the child who is born; see his tears.” Saint Augustine, Sermons on the Liturgical Seasons, 22. Catholic University of America Press, 1984. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e025xna&AN=498878&site=ehost-live&scope=site. 6 I do not discuss the curse of the serpent here. However, the question of the wom-
an’s “seed” or “offspring” is important in the foretelling of Jesus. I agree that Genesis 3:15 is the protoevangelium, or “first good news.” For a study on the “offspring”, see Desmond Alexander “Royal Expectations in Genesis to Kings”, 198-209.
4 For a claim that the subjection to suffering is not merely natural but judicial, see
7 The proceeding Cain and Abel story (4:1-16) reinforces key ideas in the creation
Piper’s “Subjected to Futility in Hope, Part 1”, particularly point 3: “The Subjection to Futility Is Judicial, not just Natural”: https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/ subjected-to-futility-in-hope-part-1
story dealing with sin, the relationship between humans and God, humans and other humans, and humans and nature. One comparison is that Cain, after sinning, “went away from the presence of the LORD…” (4:16).
The Witness | 27
purpose of salvation for the whole huand increased human iniquity (Romans 7). man race. By establishing his covenant And when speaking about Israel’s sin, the through Moses, God sets before Israel “life prophet Jeremiah makes striking allusions and good, death and evil” (Deuteronomy to the creation narrative: 30:15). This is the “law” — command23 I looked on earth, and behold, it ments that reveal the moral framework of the cosmos; it shows what is right and was without form and void; wrong, just and unjust, and by obeying and to the heavens, and they God’s commandments, Israel can be God’s had no light. 24 I looked on the mountains, and “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:5-6). God quite literally dwelt among Israbehold, they were quaking, el, first in the tabernacle and then in the and all the hills moved to and Jerusalem temple. The Israelite tabernafro. 25 I looked, and behold there was cle, and eventually temple, was decorated with extensive Edenic imagery. For God to no man, dwell in the tabernacle and temple is thus and all the birds of the air had to point back to God’s intention for earth fled. 26 I looked, and behold, the fruitful to be His dwelling place. By following the law’s meticulous purification rituals, land was a desert, Israelites could enter into God’s presence and all the cities were laid in once again. Yet, even then, only the High ruins before the LORD, before Priest could enter the most holy place His fierce anger. (the “Holy of Holies”) once a year on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16). None(Jeremiah 4:23-26, ESV) theless, by obeying and keeping God’s commandments and decrees (His “order”), Jeremiah writes that human evil the people of Israel were able to enter rightfully incurs the judgement of God, into His presence in cleanliness, enjoy His which leads to the destruction of creblessing of fruitfulness, and be His faithful ation’s intention. In this way, the comrepresentatives on earth. munal suffering of Israel However, the law is commonly (although, “But through sin, the relationship and temple did not not exclusively) linked fulfill creation’s intenbetween God and humankind is fractured, with the turning away tion — that God would from God and the taking dwell with humankind in and the order of creation is disordered.” of what is forbidden, harmonious and joyous repeatedly reflecting the order. Instead, relentless sin and transinitial sin and its effects throughout the gression against God’s law led to the created order. destruction of the temple, and the people These connections — that flourishof Israel left their land as exiles just as ing is linked with God’s presence and that Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden. As suffering is linked with rebellion to Him Apostle Paul points out in His letter to the — provide a lens for understanding Jesus’ Roman church, the law, rather than bringpart in the biblical narrative, especially as ing life to Israel, merely magnified their sin portrayed in the gospel of John. There, John describes Jesus as the Word of God 8 “Those who are chosen to be bearers of a blessing who became flesh and dwelt (or “tabernaare chosen for the sake of all. The covenant of Noah is not revoked. The promised blessing is, in the end, cled”, [ἐσκήνωσεν]) among us (John 1:14). for all the nations. Abraham, Israel, the tribe of Judah, In the following chapter, Jesus refers to and the faithful remnant are the chosen bearers of it.” Newbigin, The Open Secret: An Introduction to the Himself as the temple of God (2:18-22). Theology of Mission, 32. Even more, the book’s literary structure is 9 For a detailed exploration of the relationship composed to imply an act of re-creation: between Eden, the tabernacle, and temple, see Desseven signs referencing seven days. As mond Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem, God’s creation-forming work was finished 31-60. 8
9
28 | vol. 8, no. 2
on the seventh day, Jesus cries out before His last breath, “It is finished” (John 19:30). And as there was a river flowing out of Eden to water the garden, so did water flow out of Jesus’ side on the cross, which also reflects the prophet Ezekiel’s vision of water flowing out of the temple (Genesis 2:10-14. John 19:34, Ezekiel 47:1-12). Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the disordered creation that naturally brings suffering is being brought back to order. Now, the question is how? Christian theology typically acknowledges Jesus as the fulfillment of the “Servant Songs” in Isaiah — passages which depict a suffering servant of God who takes on the iniquity of humankind (Isaiah 53:11). Jesus Himself claims to be the prophesied figure in Isaiah 61 (Luke 4:18-
“Humankind’s universal participation in sin is the participation in its antagonistic, anti-creation, disorienting presence; that which is bent toward destruction, de-creation, and decay.” 19). Suffering is core to Jesus’ perception of His own mission: when Peter denies that the Christ must suffer, Jesus rebukes him (Matthew 16:21-23). To bring order back to creation’s disorder, Jesus must take on the sin and curses of humankind. Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice that fulfills the Old Testament purification system; by His blood, His people can enter into God’s holy presence (Hebrews 10, Mark 15:38). More so, Jesus, the first man fully human, is not only the supreme sacrifice, but the true priest-king over creation, who 10
extends His priestly and regal status to His followers. Through Jesus’ death on the cross, Jesus becomes the propitiation for humankind’s sin and death, bearing His Father’s wrath incited on behalf of human evil. Jesus is subjected to nature when nailed to a tree, which is both perhaps 11
11 Dan G. McCartney, “Ecce Homo: The Coming of the
Kingdom as the Restoration of Human Vicegerency.”
10 Isaiah 61 is actually not considered a Servant Song.
However, as recorded in this Lucan passage, Jesus quotes a line referencing Isaiah 42:7 (“…and recovering of sight to the blind,…”), which is a part of what is considered a Servant Song.
The Witness | 29
“ Christians are thus called to bring about order and renewal in a suffering world by being a humanity that — by the Spirit — conforms to the image of Jesus, not fighting evil with evil, but with sacrificial love.
” referential to the trees of Eden, and also itself a curse (“…His body shall not remain all night on the tree,… for a hanged man is cursed by God” [Deuteronomy 21:23]). He is crowned with thorns: the symbol used for humankind’s futility in Adam’s sufferable curse (Genesis 3:18; cf. Romans 8:20, Ecclesiastes 1:1-11). He is not only rejected by Israel and Rome, but also His own disciples, who both betray and desert Him (Mark 14:43-50). When it comes to God the Father, the very fabric of the Trinity is somehow disturbed when Jesus cries out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). Yet, the image of the cross is never 12
13
12 In the Genesis creation narrative, the creation of
trees is paralleled with the creation of humankind (see footnote 1). More, trees play a significant role within the narrative’s plot: the desire to obey and follow God is manifested in humankind’s decision to eat from the forbidden tree. 13 Paul refers to Jesus’ crucifixion by being hung on a
tree as saving humankind from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13).
30 | vol. 8, no. 2
complete without the image of the empty tomb. Jesus did not remain suffocating to a tree, but He began to breathe once again; He did not remain deserted by His disciples, but formed a church established on their witness; he did not remain forsaken by God, but ascended to the right hand of the Father. Jesus’ resurrection means that the disorder of sin and death has been broken and reversed. To “repent and believe in the gospel” is thus to enter into Jesus’ new order, which is re-creating this disordered world to achieve its intended design (Mark 1:14-15). This new order (Jesus’ church) is no longer governed by sin and death, but by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:2; Acts 2). Obedience to sin is replaced with obedience to God (Romans 6:12-13, 8:1-17); the power of the law is replaced with the power of grace (Romans 6:14); knavish character is replaced with holy passion (Galatians 5:16-26). In this renewed order governed by God, suffering does not automatically disappear, nor is creation’s order automatically restored. Yet, there is a new dimension of suffering the Christian is to participate in, that is, the suffering of Jesus. Apostle Paul found that sharing in Jesus’ suffering is a necessary experience if the Christian is to share in His glory (Romans 8:17; Philippians 3:11). Likewise, in Romans 8:18-30, Apostle Paul notes that the Christian life is one characterized by groaning alongside creation
and the Spirit Himself; like Jesus, God’s Spirit is intimately acquitted with our grief. Each part of the Christian’s tripartite relationship (God, humans, nature) engages in this harmonious groaning for the redemption of God’s people (Romans 8:22-23, 26). Since the world was
14 Newbigin, The Open Secret, 62-63.
thrown into disorder by humanity’s sin and enmity with God, so will the glorification and reconciliation of humanity with God
16
14
15
15 While suffering takes various forms, NT authors
make a distinction between a few. There is suffering as a result of sin (which Christians are called not to experience (e.g., 1 Peter 3:17)), suffering as a result of righteousness (which Christians are called to experience (e.g., Romans 8:1)), and there is suffering that is a result of neither wickedness nor righteousness, but of God’s providence and of being in a disordered world (e.g., Luke 13:1-5, John 9:1-3, the Book of Job).
16 Expositor’s Greek Testament, see note on Romans
8:26: https://biblehub.com/commentaries egt/ romans/8.htm
bring all things back to order (Romans 8:21). As the resurrection of Jesus becomes the resurrection of His disciples, so does the resurrection of His disciples become the resurrection of the cosmos. It is in this hope that we eagerly wait. Suffering, then, is never
trating discipleship by metaphor, Jesus used a cross (Mark 8:34-38). Christians are thus called to bring about order and renewal in a suffering world by being a humanity that — by the Spirit —conforms to the image of Jesus, not fighting evil with evil, but with sacrificial love. Yet, suffering is not a “step” one must complete in order to “attain” salvation. Rather, Christlike suffering is a natural response to embodying and witnessing Jesus’ free gift of salvation received by grace through faith in Him (Matthew 5:11-12, Ephesians 2:8-9). Going against the world’s disorder is like swimming upstream: you can only expect to be hit by rocks and logs flowing downward, regardless of what culture you may swim in. At the very end of the Bible, John’s Revelation pictures the destruction of human suffering. The slain Lamb of God receives His complete glorification, and the cosmos is re-created. Re-creation is envisioned through various Edenic motifs: the flowing river and the tree of life return (22:1-2); there is no more sin, death, and suffering (21:4, 7); heaven and earth become one (21:1-3). There is no need for a temple, for destructive sin has itself been destroyed (20:7-15), and thus God now dwells with humankind (21:3, 22). Humankind’s status as priest-kings and queens is reinstated. Creation’s order is renewed, and
God’s seventh day is restored (22:5). The biblical storyline is shown not to be linear, but circular: redeemed humankind is back where God intended. Nevertheless, when the Apostle Thomas doubted Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus — in His resurrected state — came to Thomas and told him to touch His scars (John 20:24-29). Even as the first indelibly resurrected human being, Jesus’ scars remained. The scars are not an expression of divine sadism. The scars testify to Jesus’ identity as the Suffering Servant prophesied in Isaiah; it is by His wounds that those who believe and trust Him are healed and redeemed (Isaiah 53:5). The scars are participatory; Jesus’ followers are not only healed by His scars, but are also called to “bear” them, whether bodily or metaphorically (Galatians 6:17). The scars are unifying, for when one member of Jesus’ church (or His “Body”) suffers, all suffer (1 Corinthians 12:26-27, Acts 9:1, 4). The scars are objects of joy (Acts 5:40-42); they represent God’s faithfulness to His creation, that though humankind has rebelled and is rebelling against their Creator, He is committed to forming a perfectly ordered dwelling place, one with priest-kings and queens for His glory and delight (Isaiah 43:7, Revelation 1:5-6). Indeed, the Christian’s emblem of salvation may be a Roman execution tool, but the Christian’s destiny is an empty grave.
17 A few significant passages from other NT writ-
19 “We ourselves shall become that seventh day,
19
17
18
insignificant nor meaningless in the Christian life (e.g., 1 Peter 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-5). The resurrection points to the reality that Jesus brought and is bringing this disordered cosmos back to order by going through suffering, not by avoiding it. When illus-
ings that extend these ideas: For Paul, the church becomes the metaphysical temple of God in which God’s Spirit dwells (e.g., 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Ephesians 2:19-22). Moreover, the authors of 2 Thessalonians connect the sufferable punishment of eternal destruction with being away from the presence of Jesus (2 Thessalonians 1:9). 18 Desmond Alexander, From Eden to the New
Jerusalem: An Introduction to Biblical Theology, 96-97. See also, Dan G. McCartney, “Ecce Homo: The Coming of the Kingdom as the Restoration of Human Vicegerency.”
when we have been replenished and restored by His blessing and sanctification.” St Augustine, City of God, Book XXII.30
Chase Chumchal (CC’23) is a junior in Columbia College currently studying Classics. He is easily captivated by landscapes and wildlife. Contact him as cac2311@columbia.edu The Witness | 31
WWJD? Ndubueze Okonkwo
32 | vol. 8, no. 2
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:5
The Witness | 33
Special thanks to Christian Union.
If you are interested in getting involved, Check out our blog and print issues online at columbiawitness.org Like our Facebook page: facebook.com/columbiawitness Follor our Instagram: instagram.com/columbiawitness Email us: columbiawitness@gmail.com