Now if God is not what he is towards us in Jesus Christ then of course there is no fidelity between what God is towards us and what he is in Jesus Christ, and therefore the revelation is not ultimately trustworthy, it is not ultimately something upon which all our knowledge of God can rest.
But tie that up also with the love of God. If what we have in Jesus, the love so manifest and embodied in Jesus, is not rooted in the very being of God. If God himself is not loving us and acting out his love in the life and death of Jesus, then that means that God does not love us to the uttermost, to the extent that he really became one with us in the incarnation and cross of Christ.
That means that there is no essential real connection between what we call 'love' defined by Jesus and what God is in his own being; and so we cannot say that God is love. And so cut the bond of being between Christ and God and we are left in the dark with an inscrutable deity behind the back of Jesus Christ. Now, a manifestation of God for which Jesus Christ does not, as it were, go bail or for which he is not a sure pledge.
Now pastorally this is one of the most fearful thing that can afflict people. I remember on the battlefield a soldier with only half an hour to live asking me 'padre, is God really like Jesus' and I can remember people in the parish wondering whether God was ultimately really like Jesus or not. You see behind the back of Jesus they've got some concept of God that is dark and terrifying.
(Tom Torrance in one of the MP3 Mediation of Christ lectures - I can't remember which)
Monday, June 29, 2009
Is God really like Jesus?
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this is the centre of the centre of the centre for me. And wonderful that Torrance directly connects it to pastoral implications.
ReplyDeleteI sort of know that it is the centre for you :)
ReplyDeleteWhich is a good thing... what is central for you does come across in your posts/comments.
And if it wasn't for you it probably wouldn't be becoming central for me too. For that I'm really grateful.
People moan about blogs not being able to communicate anything substantial, and on their own apart from off-screen thought and reading they may not be able to. But I've learnt a lot from different people in the blogosphere by them sharing their passions and making me hungry to think and read more.
So thanks.
Recommended MP3s by the way. It may be all old stuff to you but these and Colin Gunton's on the Trinity and Creation are worth the price tag.
Thanks - subtle I aint! :)
ReplyDeleteI've got the TF Torrance mp3s. I should check out the Gunton. I also recommend Alan Torrance's lectures from Regent Audio.
not that I agree entirely with the Alan Torrance stuff, but it's definitely stimulating.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I will probably follow up that recommendation. Any thoughts on the James Torrance ones?
ReplyDeleteI don't know whether you ever heard Colin Gunton speak. I get the feeling from the lectures that he is just the sort of guy you would love to have over for dinner, or study under. I think you so often get a better feel for a person's character and what really drives them, in talks rather than books. Sadly missed.
The James Torrance looks good. Let me know if you get it.
ReplyDeleteI've heard one Gunton recording. Seems like there's a book of essays out in his honour: Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology. Blackham and Frost are some of the authors.