Paradise… Lost?

I came across this New York Times article yesterday, and I about fell out of my chair laughing.  I’m curious: does this hit home for anyone else as it did for me?

And so began their siege in this new trench on the front lines of American marriage: the shared Netflix queue.

Peter and I have had at least two incidents of sneaking a movie to the top of our Netflix queue without the other person’s consent.  The first was when I was anxiously and eagerly awaiting the arrival of “Ratatouille” (that animated movie about a Parisian rat that cooks) and “Contact” (that alien movie with Jodie Foster) showed up instead!  When one is expecting animated mice to delight and entertain and one is instead greeted with Sagan-styled philosophy, one can be moderately disappointed.

But we’ve certainly had our fair share of these experiences:

Ms. Bonner practically blushes when she remembers one surprise. “I’d heard the name ‘High School Musical’ a lot, and I knew nothing about it,” she said. She thought, “Why is it making such a big splash in the headlines?” as her finger pressed the button adding it to the queue. “That was kind of a miss for our household.”

For us, it was “Knocked Up.”  Uh…what was so funny about this movie?  I didn’t get it.  I still don’t.

Right now, “Twilight” sits in its envelope on our coffee table.  I watched it.  Twice.  Peter fell asleep halfway through.

“Becoming Jane” is up next.  Peter likes Anne Hathaway, so maybe he’ll endure it.  But that Peter Kline, he’s sneaky.  I never can underestimate his Netflix tricks.

Die Musik… (That’s Fancy for [the] “Music”)

Behold!  Hark!  Lo!

Top Ten Albums That Have Inspired theklines Whilst In Seminary!

In No Particular Order, And With Honorable Mentions

1.  Over the Rhine, The Trumpet Child– We’ve already made known on this blog our undying devotion to this band.  See here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). Their music is timeless, and true.  We listened to this album over and over again until it to got into our bloodstream.  Warning: OtR is highly contagious.  It’ll getcha.

2.  Damien Rice, Nine Crimes– Hehe.  “Explicit Lyrics.”  (*Blush*)  What can we say?  Seminary has a way of getting to you sometimes, and the only cure is listening to “Rootless Tree” loudly and proudly as you drive out of the Speer Library parking lot.  Thanks for the soul soothing, Damien.  You’re the only one I know who does the whole broken-hearted-raging-mad-crazy-beautiful-songwriting thing to perfection.

And so… Our first HONORABLE MENTION goes to…

Damien Rice, O — Story time!  My sister and I (who have much love for one another, but not much else in common) both love this album and discovered D.R. because of the music that floats through the opening scene of the movie, “Closer” (which was… odd?).  I think my sis dug the movie; I just like the song.  In any case, we-of-naught-in-common discovered that we both dig ol’ Rice-cake here.  It makes me wonder if our souls have more in common that we think.

3.  Rich Mullins, Songs– I don’t even know what to say about this man or his songs.  His influence on our lives has been so profound that it is hard to put into words.  Much “Christian” music is, quite frankly, paltry.  Disdainful.  Disgraceful.  I could go on.  What made Mullins so remarkable and NECESSARY was that listening to his music is a holy experience; it is like peeking into the soul of an unknown brother and being astonished by one’s own reflection staring back.  I can’t think of a better chorus to any song written by any Christian than the refrain of “Creed”:

And I believe what I believe

Is what makes me what I am

I did not make it

No, it is making me

It is the very truth of God

And not the invention of any man

Put simply, the music of Rich Mullins makes me believe the gospel.

4.  TV on the Radio, Dear Science– We learned about this band before they got the Colbert Bump, but anyone who can hold their own against this master (the one who “twatted” on the Today Show this morning!) has our respect.  (This is why Bart Ehrman, by the way, does not.  But, oh whatta interview!)

Man, I sure am digressive when it comes to TV on the Radio.  But perhaps this is the beauty of the band.  Their songs conjure images and memories and emotions through the manipulation of sound.  Just like, eh, TV on the radio?!

5.  Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Once– This soundtrack is best listened to while the sky is gray, rain is falling, and a steaming cup of coffee is in your hands.  Look out the window, pet your dog, and think.  Ahhh…  Almost as good of a time to listen is when you have just had an argument with your beloved and you need to get in the car and drive aimlessly for a while to think.  Both of these listening experiences were vital to our seminary days.  Hansard is perhaps the only other man who does the Damien-Rice-angst thing so flawlessly.

6.  Radiohead, In Rainbows– Amazon calls this album “deliriously satisfying.”  I kind of find all of Radiohead’s music that way.  It’s the kind of music you put on your iPod, plug into your ears, and cohabitate with, trusting Thom Yorke to fill your head with all the sustenance you need to make it through the day.  Too dramatic?  Trust me– countless jam-packed subway rides to Penn Station from 116th during rush hour were survived only by Yorke singing me calm.  Otherwise, this would have been me, undoubtedly:

7. Derek Webb, The Ringing Bell– Everyone made a big deal when Radiohead gave away In Rainbows for free, but they were hardly the first to do this… just perhaps the already-richest.  Derek Webb and his posse set up Noisetrade.com precisely because they understand the music industry, especially from the perspective of artists that are outside of the “mainstream.”  Check out Noisetrade if you haven’t ever looked into it.  In any case, we have been fans of Webb since his Caedmon’s Call days, and he is the one Christian artist who probably comes closest to doing what Rich Mullins could do.  This latest album of his is short and sweet and sour.  (Like me, perhaps?) We blared his “A Savior on Capitol Hill” throughout the election cycle.  Kept us sane.  And Christian…?

It is only fitting, then, that our second HONORABLE MENTION go to…

Sandra McCracken, Gravity|Love– McCracken is Webb’s wife, and I used to be very envious until I got me a man of my own.  She sorta embodies this musician-poet thing more than a “singer-songwriter.”  Her music takes on an intimate quality, kind of like you’re being invited to read her journal while she plays you some guitar.  I gravitylove it.  Peter and I sang “Goodbye, George” to each other almost every morning our junior year.  I have no idea why, but it must’ve done us some good.

8.  Coldplay, Viva La Vida–I’ve already told you how much our devotion to Coldplay has caused us to do some ridiculous things.  I know lots of people hate Chris Martin and think he’s super arrogant, but I say, hey!  YOU WRITE “SHIVER” AND NOT GET ARROGANT!!  THEN, WE’LL TALK.  So, I love Coldplay.  And this is an incredible album, indisputably.  “You might be a big fish in a little pond/Doesn’t mean you’ve won/’Cause along may come a bigger one.” Well said, Chris.  Well said.

9.  Mute Math, Mute Math– This has been one of our greatest finds since we’ve been in seminary.  Peter is addicted to listening to the drummer on this album.  He’s immaculate, at least in our conception (ouch, the pain of that one just hit me).  If humans and songs could procreate, I would want “You Are Mine” to be my baby daddy.

Gaw, this is going terribly… Don’t let my ramblings cloud your judgment of this band.  They are truly an epic rock band, in the way that Muse is a muse.  And Queen is royalty.

10.  Arcade Fire, Neon Bible– This band gets to me like Belle and Sebastian, but the whole experience is just more fun for some reason.  Maybe it’s because “My Body is a Cage” gets into my head, and I find myself sitting in Migliore’s Karl Barth class gently rocking in my seat as “I’m living in an age/That calls darkness light/Though my language is dead/Still the shapes fill my head/I’m living in an age/Whose name I don’t know/Though the fear keeps me moving/Still my heart beats so slow/My body is a cage/That keeps me from dancing/With the one I love/But my mind holds the key” floats around in my consciousness.  I wonder what Barth would say?  I know he had a disdain for grand organ postludes, so I can’t imagine he’d be too thrilled.

All the other HONORABLE MENTIONs:

Christmas music that’s good all year long–

Andrew Peterson, Behold the Lamb of God– The best Christmas album.  Ever.  And that’s that.

Over the Rhine, Snow Angels– “Here It Is” is like a personal anthem of mine.

Albums that are in heavy rotation in klinedom–

Rosie Thomas, These Friends of Mine– Not only is her music devastatingly beautiful, but she is HIGH-larious live.  I’m ever-grateful to OtR for touring the Northeast with her in 2007.

Caedmon’s Call, Share the Well– I sorta gave up on C.C. when Webb left and the music became… disappointing?  But this album is so awesomely missional.  And what present-day seminarian can resist that?!

Nickel Creek, Why Should the Fire Die?– We listen to this all the time.  ‘Cause we’re stuck in Rome.

Nichole Nordeman, Brave– It seems like whatever Nichole is learning in her life, I’m learning that at the same time.  Also, I ran smack into her on my way to the restroom at one of her concerts once.  She was gracious about it, but I think I died a little inside.  Still, Peter and I love her songwriting and her covers.  Her version of Dylan’s “You Gotta Serve Somebody” is soul-quenching.

And just for kicks and giggles, a pop single–

Christina Aguilera, “Ain’t No Other Man”– I like to dance around and sing this to Peter.  It’s my subtle method of seduction.  Works like a charm.

Sunday School Notes: The Triune God, Part 1

These next two weeks I am introducing the adult Sunday School class at my church to the doctrine of the Trinity. Here is the lesson from the first week.

God is one, God is three; God is three, God is one. In God there are three persons, but only one substance, only one ousia, but three hypostases. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, yet there are not three Gods, but only one God. Father, Son, and Spirit are one God, yet the Father is not the Son, nor the Son the Father, nor the Spirit either of them. Each is distinct, yet none are independent. The Father begets the Son, yet the Son is no less God than the Father. The Father breathes the Spirit, yet the Spirit is no less God than the Father. All together and each singularly is the eternal, uncreated, singular, majestic God.

This slew of propositions is the usual kind of language and rhetoric that surround what theologians call the doctrine of the Trinity. My task these next two weeks is to introduce you to the doctrine of the Trinity. It is a self-chosen task, and at this point you may be wondering why I want to spend time, let alone Sunday-School time, talking about such an obscure and impenetrable topic. “Isn’t that just what you do at seminary so that if some overly curious person asks a difficult question we can refer them to the minister in order for her to repeat the party line?—which goes something like, “Well, yes. Christians believe that somehow God is one and three at the same time. It is an impenetrable mystery worthy of our deepest awe and respect. But no one really gets it, so don’t worry about it too much.”  I actually think this topic is hugely important and that every person in the church should be able to talk about what the doctrine of the Trinity is and why it matters. I hope the reasons for this becomes clear as we proceed.

First, a little bit about the language: The word ‘doctrine’ means simply ‘teaching.’ I will be introducing you to the church’s teaching about the Trinity. Sometimes you might hear reference to the ‘dogma’ of the Trinity. ‘Dogma’ also means teaching, but ‘dogma’ is that special teaching without which the church would no longer be the church, without which it could no longer speak the Gospel. There is actually very little dogma, relatively speaking. The central dogmas of the church are the doctrine of the Trinity (Nicene Creed) along with the doctrine of Jesus’ person (Chalcedonian Definition).

The word ‘Trinity’ was first used to refer to God by the theologian Tertullian in the 3^rd century. It is not a word that you will find in the Bible, but since Tertullian the church has thought it a good word to summarize what the Bible in fact teaches about God. ‘Trinity’ as a word unto itself simply means ‘triad,’ or a ‘three-fold’ something. The word ‘Trinity’ has lots of different permutations in Christian theology, some of them more helpful than others. I prefer to use the word Trinity in its more adjectival forms when applying it to God, i.e., the triune God, the triunity of God. These forms communicate more directly the dialectic the doctrine of the Trinity is trying to communicate, that is, the togetherness of God’s oneness and threeness. Take ‘tri-unity,’ for example. God has unity; he is one. But what kind of unity? Tri-unity, a unity that exists only in three-ness. Or take it the other way. God is three; he is tri. But what kind of tri (three)? Tri-unity, a threeness that is essentially a unity.

And so with this we come to first axiom of the triunity of God. God’s oneness and threeness are both equally fundamental. It is not that God’s oneness is what is really God, while his threeness is something secondary. Neither is it that God’s threeness is really God while his oneness is something secondary. Oneness and threeness, threeness and oneness, are both descriptions of God’s deepest being. God is tri-une. If somehow I could say the words ‘one’ and ‘three’ simultaneously and be referring to God, I could approach what the adjective ‘triune’ is trying to express about God, at least linguistically.   

Now, all of this is just abstract talk about language, or at least it could be if we just leave it as is. You might be despairing that if this is all the doctrine of the Trinity is about—mere mind and language games—then it doesn’t seem very interesting or important. However, we have yet to get to the actual point or substance of the doctrine of the Trinity, which, as it turns out, is actually rather simple and straightforward. Here is the crucial point that must always be kept in mind: all this talk of oneness and threeness in God and how they relate—and we will spend a good bit more time talking about how they relate—is not meant as abstract talk about blank divine somethings or someones. The doctrine of the Trinity is not simply a math problem projected into eternity. This is where so many attempts to “explain” the Trinity with images and analogies go wrong. They assume that teaching about the Trinity is meant to solve some abstract mathematical riddle: ‘How can something be one and three at the same time? Well its sort of like water…’ The problem here is that the question of God’s triunity is posed apart from reference to the biblical narrative, and so the sense that the biblical narrative itself makes of God’s triunity goes unrecognized. 

The crucial point is this: the threeness that we attribute to God is very concretely the three main characters of the biblical story: Jesus the Son, the one he called Father, and their Spirit. And the oneness of God is not some abstract substance or “real” God that floats above or behind the actual doings of these characters as told in the Bible. The oneness of God is the singular, coherent, personal life that happens as and between Jesus, his Father, and their Spirit. When we recognize this, then the inevitable questions that arise about God’s triunity can be answered from the Bible itself. The biblical narrative itself makes sense of God’s triunity; we don’t need outside analogies or metaphors to do the work for us. In what follows, I hope to show you how the Bible itself makes sense of God’s triunity for us.     

This leads me to the central point I want to make these two weeks. My basic point the next two Sundays will be this: The doctrine of the Trinity is a sometimes simple, sometimes complex answer to a very basic question: “Who is God if the message of the Gospel is true?” The Bible, if it is read as the coherent book that it is, tells a coherent story the end of which is the Gospel. What is the Gospel? It is the good news about Jesus. Jesus was a prophet and rabbi in Israel who had a mission from the God of Israel, the one he called Father. Jesus performed this mission, fully obeying the Father in the power of the Spirit. This led to his death. But the Father raised Jesus from the dead by the Spirit. In doing so, the Father revealed that Jesus was his Son and that his life and death had accomplished the reconciliation of the world with God. The message of the Gospel is that, in this complex event of Jesus living, dying, and rising, the coming of the eternal God to us to bring us into fellowship with himself happens. The good news is that, because of Jesus, God is not far off, but very near to us. Though our sins are many, God has come to us, broken our sin, and made us into his beloved children. So the question is, if we are truly brought into fellowship with God through the events of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, who then is God? The doctrine of the Trinity answers: God then must be the Father who sent Jesus, Jesus himself as the Father’s Son, and the Spirit who enables their loving and self-giving relationship. God must simply be what happens with Jesus, his Father, and their Spirit. 

Essentially, the doctrine of the Trinity is simply “conceptual commentary” on the message of the Gospel told in the Bible. It takes the Gospel story about Jesus and notes why it is that only as we stand before the Father as his children, next to Jesus as his redeemed brothers and sisters, in power and ecstasy of the Spirit as sanctified witnesses, do we in fact have dealings with the one true God. The doctrine of the Trinity simply expands on the logic of these prepositional clauses, which are taken more or less straight from the Bible.

There are several strategies one can use when approaching the Bible to make sense of God’s triunity. One way is to hunt for passages that seem to be as blunt as possible about calling Jesus or the Spirit God. And there are a number of these in the New Testament. For example, John 1: “In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Or 2 Peter 1:1: “To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Or Acts 5: “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit…You have not lied to human beings, but to God.” Now of course blunt passages like these are of huge importance. They confront us with the inescapable truth of the Gospel: Jesus and the Spirit just are the presence of God. But if we think that all we have to do to give expression to the Bible’s trinitarian teaching is bring forward a handful of blunt passages about Jesus’ and the Spirit’s divinity, we sell ourselves and the Bible short. We fail to see that a trinitarian logic pervades the entire New Testament, indeed, the entire Bible. These blunt passages are, so to speak, just the visible tip of the iceberg. If we fail to recognize this deeper trinitarian logic, if we limit teaching on God’s triunity to just a few choice passages, then God’s triunity can for us easily become a secondary afterthought rather than the fundamental context in which we think about, worship, and witness to God. And when this happens we are in danger of losing the message of the Gospel, that is, that with the coming of Jesus and the Spirit from the Father we have to do with the coming of God. The message of the Gospel is finally that God is not other than the Love we encounter in Jesus and the Spirit. God’s triunity is the Gospel. 

Rather, when approaching the Bible to make sense of God’s triunity our strategy ought to be to uncover and make plain the trinitarian logic that pervades the entire Bible. What is meant by this? Very simply this: the specific theme of the New Testament is the relationship to God opened up by the Gospel. When in the New Testament this relationship becomes a matter of narrative or of praise or of argument or of ethical instruction, God the Father, Jesus the Son, and Spirit the Liberator all demand mention as the agents by which this relationship to God is actual. That is to say, the New Testament writers know no other way of talking about how God has acted to draw near to creatures than by mentioning three separate but unified agents: Father, Son, and Spirit. For the New Testament, God is present in that Father, Son, and Spirit are the agents of that presence. I have just used the word “agents” three times. This is crucial. The doctrine of the Trinity is simply the acknowledgment that, for the New Testament, the singular and living and active and talkative agency that is God’s eternal existence is mutually “carried” by three agents: Father, Son, and Spirit. The Father has a Word to say. Jesus is that Word. The Spirit is the actual speaking of this Word.

As I said, this logic pervades the New Testament. Here are few examples from different parts of the New Testament: Jude 20-21: “Pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The key is to realize that here Jude is not commanding three separate actions, but one unified movement toward the singular God. Revelation 1:4-5: “Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ…” 2 Timothy 4:1: “In the presence of God, and of Christ Jesus, …and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you…” 2 Corinthians 1:21-22: “But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ…and has…giv[en] us his Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18-20: “Be filled with the Spirit…, giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.” 1 Peter 1:-2: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ…Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” Matthew 28: 18-20: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…”

The apostle Paul’s adherence to this trinitarian logic in his letters is particularly precise: In Romans 15:16, Paul writes of his calling “to be a minister of Christ Jesus…in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be…sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” At the beginning of Romans, Paul tells us that the gospel is “of” God, “concerning” his Son, whose “power” is the Spirit. In chapter five of Romans, when Paul is teaching about justification, he writes, “Therefore…we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ…[and this] hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” In chapter eight of Romans, Paul develops from this trinitarian discourse about God what could be called an entire systematic theology. His argument in chapter eight begins with a deceptively simple but conceptually loaded trinitarian phrase: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you…” From here Paul unpacks a majestic theological statement that brings together justification, prayer, eschatology, ethics, and predestination. 

And one could go on and on. Indeed, the argument and presentation of entire books of the New Testament, like the Gospel of John, 1 John, and Ephesians are organized by the triunity of God. Take John 17, for example, Jesus’ high priestly prayer. If Jesus were praying this prayer simply as a creature, he would be committing the height of blasphemy: 

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Indeed, the Pharisees who were around Jesus did in fact hear this as blasphemy. But it is clear that what John intends by reporting this prayer—and others like it—is to be letting us into the discourse within God that is God’s very existence. Jesus, for John, is the Word who is with God and just so is God.

What about the Old Testament? Is the Trinity in the Old Testament? Most Christians throughout the centuries have said yes; most modern Christians say no. If the question is, “Is the doctrine of the Trinity in the Old Testament?”, then the answer is no. But then again, strictly speaking, neither is the doctrine of the Trinity in the New Testament. The doctrine of the Trinity emerges only when the Bible’s trinitarian discourse, which we have been tracing out, encounters a culture where the philosophical question of ‘being’ is a live question. This will be our topic next week. But if the question is, “Does the Old Testament tell the story of God with Israel according to a trinitarian logic?”, then many more possibilities emerge to see that the trinitarianism of the New Testament is in fundamental continuity with the Old Testament.  Indeed, Robert Jenson goes so far as to say that, “the doctrine of the Trinity only explicates Israel’s faith in a situation in which it is believed that the God of Israel has prior to the general resurrection raised one of his servants from the dead” (Systematic Theology I, p. 63).

According to the Old Testament, the identity of the one true God is whoever released Israel from captivity in Egypt and made covenant with them by giving them the Law. Having made covenant with Israel, God determines that who he is as God should be displayed only by living a history with Israel. And so God makes promises to Israel about a future he will bring them. The content of such promises can be summarized with a frequent slogan in the Old Testament. The LORD says to Israel constantly: “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” For Israel, God just is he who has chosen to be with them by promising a future with and for them. And so as the story of the Old Testament unfolds, so also does a certain pattern of God’s presence with Israel unfold. It is this pattern that is the root of the New Testament’s trinitarian discourse.

The pattern is this: in the story of Israel’s life with the LORD, the LORD is all at once the author of the story, an actor within the story, and the power that moves the story along. The resonances with the New Testament Name, Father, Son, and Spirit, are clear.

For Israel, God is the sovereign Creator, upon whom all things are dependent. God brought forth the heavens and the earth with nothing but his own word (Gen. 1); God commands the earth and the earth obeys (Ps. 104). Israel encountered this sovereign God first hand when he rescued them from Egypt. Afflicting the Egyptians with plagues, parting the sea for Israel, casting Pharaoh’s army into the sea—all of this demonstrated that YHWH alone is Creator and Ruler. Everything is dependent upon his will. He is dependent on no one. His Law is supreme.

And yet, when God releases Israel from Egypt, he covenants with them. He binds his very Name to Israel, making his reputation as God dependent on how things go with Israel. And so, the sovereign Creator who is dependent on no one is also bound up with Israel and its history. God is with Israel, not just as a transcendent, eternal presence, but as a talkative, jealous agent who converses with Israel throughout its concrete historical story. God himself lives Israel’s history. Indeed, as Israel wandered around in the desert, sleeping in tents, God had his own tent that he stayed in, the Tabernacle. And when Israel’s first temple in Jerusalem was built, God was assigned an address. Also there is that mysterious figure who appears from time to time: the Angel of the Lord. Whatever we make of this figure’s various appearances, there is one appearance of a very concrete figure that was central for Israel’s self-understanding of its relationship with God. In Genesis 32, we are told that Jacob wrestled with a man for an entire night. After the mysterious figure had dislocated Jacob’s hip, he tells him, “”Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” The name Israel means, ‘wrestled with God.’ Such a name is an apt description of the life Israel in fact lives with God. God is present to them in their midst; all too present.

And yet again, God is not only the impeachable Sovereign who writes Israel’s story by calling them out of Egypt and giving them covenant Law, nor simply a character in that story who gets in Israel’s face. Were this exhaustive of the LORD’s identity, God would be for Israel sheer terror. He would be a God only of the past and present, who as such could only condemn. God would be experienced as the Sovereign, impeachable giver of the covenant Law whose presence to Israel could only be a wrestling with Israel for not keeping the Law. But Israel’s God is above all a promise-maker, a God who deals with Israel’s disobedience by promising a future in which all disobedience will be overcome. Announcing this future is the vocation of Israel’s prophets, and it is the Spirit of God who empowers the prophets to open up Israel’s story to this future. Ezekiel announces God’s word to Israel:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

God is the Spirit, and so God moves along Israel’s story past their disobedience, past the limitations of the past and present, toward the future of God’s coming Kingdom.

This, then, is the logic of God’s presence to Israel: God is the author of Israel’s story, an actor in that story, and the Spirit that moves the story along. The New Testament’s trinitarian proclamation simply inherits this logic of God’s presence to his people, but with one major addition. God’s present presence with Israel is identified with one Israelite within Israel: Jesus of Nazareth. The proclamation of the Gospel, and the doctrine of the Trinity, is: This man’s obedience to the Father by the Spirit is the overcoming of all disobedience. In this man, God’s future Kingdom has come. 

Just Call Me Frank Bruni

It turns out that Peter takes longer to come up with a list of ten books than I thought.  To his loyal readership, I extend my apologies.  He is currently working on two blog posts, but sometimes I fear that Peter will never be able to write anything without first completing six drafts.  The birthday cards for our future children will prove very interesting, I’m sure.

How about another list to tie you over as you wait?  Mm-kay?

(P.S. As I type this, I am watching our Bono eating the snow on our balcony.  I don’t know if it’s really possible that I’ll love my children more than I love this dog…)

Top Ten Seminary-Student-Budget-Friendly Restaurants/Fooderies in Princeton

1.  Winberie’s (One Palmer Square).  Food is good, with a diverse selection of “All-American” cuisine.  Relatively inexpensive considering its boutique-saturated surroundings.  Can be very crowded and noisy, especially during weekend evenings, but that’s kind of the fun of the place.

2.  Zorba’s Grill Takeout (183 Nassau St, Ste D).  On paydays, Peter and I often treat ourselves to a $20 cash withdrawal and head to this place for a delicious gyro and a Snapple.  We’ve never gotten anything we didn’t love, and the people who own and run the place are very friendly and charming (a rarity ANYWHERE IN NEW JERSEY!).  Peter was once about a dollar short on his order, and the man working that day just told him to come back by the end of the day.  Peter and I walked over later that day with the dollar, and the man greeted him with the exclamation, “Oh, I knew you would be back!  I could tell you were a good man!”  Good food AND great discernment?!  It’s almost too much.

3.  Teresa Caffe (23 Palmer Square East).  This is where we celebrated my 27th birthday, along with our friends Richie and Lindsay (’sup you two?!).  The place is small and the service is mediocre, but the food is great and, like Winberie’s, relatively inexpensive considering its surroundings.  The Misto d’Olive (tapenades) for $5 is molto delizioso.

4.  Hoagie Haven (242 Nassau Street).  This place is a bit of a walk down Nassau and is cash-only (as are many of these places), but it’s a Princeton classic for cheap, filling food.  Peter and I don’t go often, for fear of atheromata, but the occasional Dirty Sanchez is in order–some sort of sandwiched concoction with fried cheese, french fries, special sauce, and god-knows-what-else.

5.  Tiger Noodles (260 Nassau Street).  We were first treated to this Chinese restaurant by Peter’s former boss, and she actually challenged us to get the “Little Big of Everything” soup, which, as it turns out, is quite literally a little bit of everything the place serves, simmered in some broth.  An intense culinary experience, if I’ve ever had one.  There’s a new Tiger Noodles over in Windsor Green, closer to where we live, but the one on Nassau Street still has that packed-at-all-hours, student-friendly appeal to it.

6.  Halo Pub (9 Hulfish).  Princeton has some amazing ice cream shops, and I think that the connection between brilliant people and good ice cream is not an accident.  This place has fresh, organic, ice cream for next-to-nothing prices.  It’s connected to the Halo Farms Dairy in Trenton, where fresh eggs and milk are also for sale for ridiculously low prices.  Here’s a trick: order a “half scoop” of one flavor and a “half scoop” of another, and you basically end up with two scoops for a little more than the price of one.  I always go with chocolate-chocolate-chip and something else, usually coffee.

7.  Princetonian Diner (3509 US Hwy No 1).  If you can put up with what is almost guaranteed-to-be rude service, then this is a diner in the grand tradition of Jersey diners.  The menu is a like a novel, and it will take you forever to get through.  Just go in with an idea of what you want–anything, really–they’ll probably have it in some form or fashion.  Try the crock of French onion soup.  It’s $3.49, I think, and it’s a great meal in and of itself.

8.  Chez Alice Gourmet Cafe and Bakery (5 Palmer Square West).  When Peter and I visited Princeton before deciding to apply to the seminary, I made it very clear that I was not about to move anywhere where I could not envision myself living happily.  So, we skipped out on a few of the seminary-sponsored touring events and sauntered around downtown a bit.  The place reminded me of Stars Hollow of Gilmore Girls fame, and I was sold.  But what really pushed me over the edge was this coffee place called “Bucks County Coffee,” where we sat in a warm corner over fantastic lattes and dreamed aloud about getting married and being in seminary together.  I couldn’t wait to visit this place after we actually did get married and come to seminary, but when we tirelessly searched downtown, it was gone!  But, to our delight, in its place was this coffeeshop and bakery, which doesn’t have quite the same sentimental value for us, but brews delicious coffee and is free of the overwhelming mobs of people that pack out the other coffee places in town.

9.  Chevys Fresh Mex Restaurant (3371 US Hwy No 1).  Let me make clear that this place is NOT one of our favorites.  It’s not even all that good and the service is abyssmal.  BUT!  It sends out coupons for $3.99 entrees, and it has a terrific happy hour.  Plus, it’s always packed with seminary students (which could swing either as a positive or a negative, depending on your P.O.V.).

10.  Chucks Spring Street Cafe (16 Spring Street).  Cheap, delicious chicken wings.  Need I say more?