More Than a Feeling

 More heavenly than those glittering stars we hold the eternal eyes which the Night hath opened within us. Farther they see than the palest of those countless hosts—needing no aid from the light, they penetrate the depths of a loving soul—that fills a loftier region with bliss ineffable. —Novalis, Hymns to the Night, I 1 Introduction One of the first and fundamental dogmas with which Christian theologians grapple is the creedal affirmation that Christ Jesus is truly human and truly divine—one person in two natures—by using concepts of what it means to be human and what it means to be divine that are available in their cultures. Friedrich Schleiermacher, in his most significant work, The Christian Faith, sets out to lay down a systematic...

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Growing Grace-Full

“But you, friends, are well-warned. Be on guard . . . . Grow in grace and  understanding of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ." — Peter, in his second letter to the scattered exiles (3:17–18) You say, “Dawson?” I say, “What?” You say, “Dawson . . . .” I’ll never forget that common refrain coming from the mouth of Dawson McAllister, especially since it was at a youth beach camp in 1991 where he was speaking that I walked down the aisle for the first time of my life, a shattered young man. Whenever I blow it big, usually in private, and usually revolving around lust or arrogance or anger, I start to replay that moment of a muggy summer night in Florida, suddenly overcome with tears. I can’t help but wonder, what kind of tears were they? That’s the question that has plagued me...

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