"the being of Jesus Christ, the unity of being of the living God and this living man, takes place in the event of the concrete existence of this man. It is a being, but a being in a history. The gracious God is in this history, so is reconciled man, so are both in their unity. And what takes place in this history, and therefore in the being of Jesus Christ as such, is atonement. Jesus Christ is not what He is—very God, very man, very God-man—in order as such to mean and do and accomplish something else which is atonement. But His being as God and man and God-man consists in the completed act of the reconciliation of man with God."
Karl Barth, CD IV/1, §58.3 ("Jesus Christ the Mediator"), pp. 126-127. The key to the overcoming of the old Person-and-Work dichotomy is the presence here of the emphasis on "history", "act".
Monday, June 1, 2015
The great hope and the small hopes
". . . Christian hope is a present being in and with and by the promise of the future. But in the one hope there will always be inseparably the great hope and also a small hope. All through temporal life there will be the expectation of eternal life. But there will also be its expectation in this temporal life. There will be confidence in the One who comes as the end and new beginning of all things. There will also be confidence in His appearing within the ordinary course of things as they still move towards that end and new beginning. There is a joy in anticipation of the perfect service of God which awaits man when God is all in all. But in this joy there is also a joy and zest for the service which to-day or to-morrow can be our transitory future. . . .
". . . He, the content of the promise and the object of hope, cannot be replaced by any other. If there is also a small hope for to-day and to-morrow, if there are also temporal, penultimate, provisional and detailed hopes for the immediate future, it is only because He is the future One who shows Himself in every future; it is only in the framework and setting, in the power and the patience of the great and comprehensive hope which is present to man in Him. It is He alone in His futurity, and to that extent as the One who is beyond, who gives hope to the present, the life of man in this world, where otherwise there is no hope. The small hopes are only for the sake of the great hope from which they derive. The provisional promise is only in the light and power of the final promise. If the latter is weak, the former cannot possibly be strong. If the latter perishes, the former will perish with it. If man does not seriously wait for Jesus Christ, at bottom he will not wait for anything else. Daily hope can persist only where in basis and essence it is itself eternal hope.
"But the converse must also be perceived and stated. Christian hope is a present being in and with and by the promise of the future, a being which is seized by the promise of God and called. If a man does not seize this hope, apprehend it, conform himself to it here and now as a man who belongs to the future, he is not one who has Christian hope. Rather, it will be revealed that he does not genuinely hope for the perfection and wholeness of His being in the service of God, for eternal life in its futurity, that he does not wait for Jesus Christ as the coming One. If he waits for Him here and now, then the here and now cease to be futureless. He looks for Him, the coming One, to-day and to-morrow, that is, in the decisions in which he has to live to-day and to-morrow as long as time and space are given him. He does not make them without direction or into a future which is empty, but in obedience to his calling, towards that future promised him by God by which the future of to-day and to-morrow is surrounded and lit up, in the light of which every temporal, provisional, penultimate, detailed future necessarily becomes a sign and summons, a detailed and therefore a concrete call to advance which he can only observe and obey. Where there is the great hope, necessarily there are small hopes for the immediate future. These hopes have their basis and strength only in the great hope. They are small, relative and conditioned. In their detailed content they may be mistaken and open to correction. But within these limits they are genuine hopes. And it is certainly in these many little hopes that the Christian lives from day to day if he really lives in the great hope. And perhaps he is most clearly distinguished from the non-Christian by the fact that, directed to the great hope, and without any illusions, he does not fail and is never weary to live daily in these little hopes. But this necessarily means that he is daily willing and ready for the small and provisional and imperfect service of God which the immediate future will demand of him because a great and final and perfect being in the service of God is the future of the world and all men, and therefore his future also."
Karl Barth, CD IV/1, trans. G. W. Bromiley, § 58.2 ("The being of man in Jesus Christ"), pp. 120-122 = KD IV/1, pp. 131-133.
". . . He, the content of the promise and the object of hope, cannot be replaced by any other. If there is also a small hope for to-day and to-morrow, if there are also temporal, penultimate, provisional and detailed hopes for the immediate future, it is only because He is the future One who shows Himself in every future; it is only in the framework and setting, in the power and the patience of the great and comprehensive hope which is present to man in Him. It is He alone in His futurity, and to that extent as the One who is beyond, who gives hope to the present, the life of man in this world, where otherwise there is no hope. The small hopes are only for the sake of the great hope from which they derive. The provisional promise is only in the light and power of the final promise. If the latter is weak, the former cannot possibly be strong. If the latter perishes, the former will perish with it. If man does not seriously wait for Jesus Christ, at bottom he will not wait for anything else. Daily hope can persist only where in basis and essence it is itself eternal hope.
"But the converse must also be perceived and stated. Christian hope is a present being in and with and by the promise of the future, a being which is seized by the promise of God and called. If a man does not seize this hope, apprehend it, conform himself to it here and now as a man who belongs to the future, he is not one who has Christian hope. Rather, it will be revealed that he does not genuinely hope for the perfection and wholeness of His being in the service of God, for eternal life in its futurity, that he does not wait for Jesus Christ as the coming One. If he waits for Him here and now, then the here and now cease to be futureless. He looks for Him, the coming One, to-day and to-morrow, that is, in the decisions in which he has to live to-day and to-morrow as long as time and space are given him. He does not make them without direction or into a future which is empty, but in obedience to his calling, towards that future promised him by God by which the future of to-day and to-morrow is surrounded and lit up, in the light of which every temporal, provisional, penultimate, detailed future necessarily becomes a sign and summons, a detailed and therefore a concrete call to advance which he can only observe and obey. Where there is the great hope, necessarily there are small hopes for the immediate future. These hopes have their basis and strength only in the great hope. They are small, relative and conditioned. In their detailed content they may be mistaken and open to correction. But within these limits they are genuine hopes. And it is certainly in these many little hopes that the Christian lives from day to day if he really lives in the great hope. And perhaps he is most clearly distinguished from the non-Christian by the fact that, directed to the great hope, and without any illusions, he does not fail and is never weary to live daily in these little hopes. But this necessarily means that he is daily willing and ready for the small and provisional and imperfect service of God which the immediate future will demand of him because a great and final and perfect being in the service of God is the future of the world and all men, and therefore his future also."
Karl Barth, CD IV/1, trans. G. W. Bromiley, § 58.2 ("The being of man in Jesus Christ"), pp. 120-122 = KD IV/1, pp. 131-133.
above/by, through, and in
"It will not be out of place to consider the ancient tradition, teaching and faith of the Catholic Church, which was revealed by the Lord, proclaimed by the apostles and guarded by the fathers. For upon this faith the Church is built, and if anyone were to lapse from it, he would no longer be a Christian either in fact or in name [(Ἐν ταύτῃ γὰρ ἡ Ἐκκλησία τεθεμελίωται, καὶ ὁ ταύτης ἐκπίπτων οὔτ᾿ἂν εἴη, οὔτ᾿ἂν ἔτι λέγοιτο Χριστιανός)].
"We acknowledge the Trinity, holy and perfect, to consist of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In this Trinity there is no intrusion of any alien element or of anything from outside, nor is the Trinity a blend of creative and created being. It is a wholly creative and energizing reality, self-consistent and undivided in its active power, for the Father makes all things through the Word and in the Holy Spirit, and in this way the unity of the holy Trinity is preserved. Accordingly, in the Church, one God is preached, one God who is above all things and through all things and in all things. God is above all things as Father, for he is principle and source; he is through all things through the Word; and he is in all things in the Holy Spirit.
"Writing to the Corinthians about spiritual matters, Paul traces all reality back to one God, the Father, saying: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in everyone.
"Even the gifts that the Spirit dispenses to individuals are given by the Father through the Word. For all that belongs to the Father belongs also to the Son, and so the graces given by the Son in the Spirit are true gifts of the Father. Similarly, when the Spirit dwells in us, the Word who bestows the Spirit is in us too, and the Father is present in the Word. This is the meaning of the text: My Father and I will come to him and make our home with him. For where the light is, there also is the radiance; and where the radiance is, there too are its power and its resplendent grace.
"This is also Paul’s teaching in his second letter to the Corinthians: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. For grace and the gift of the Trinity are given by the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. Just as grace is given from the Father through the Son, so there could be no communication of the gift to us except in the Holy Spirit. But when we share in the Spirit, we possess the love of the Father, the grace of the Son and the fellowship of the Spirit himself."
St. Athanasius, Ep. 1 ad Serapionem 28, 30, as translated on pp. 584-585 of vol. 3 of The liturgy of the hours, which cites PG 26, cols. 594-595, 599. Cf. The letters of Saint Athanasius concerning the Holy Spirit, trans. C. R. B. Shapland (New York: Philosophical Library, 1951), pp. 133 ff., and Works on the Spirit: Athanasius and Didymus: Athanasius's Letters to Serapion on the Holy Spirit and Didymus's On the Holy Spirit, trans. Mark DelCogliano, Andrew Radde-Gallwitz, and Lewis Ayres, Popular patristics series 43 (Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2011), pp. 96 ff.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
"you are one God, you are one Lord: not in the singularity of one person, but in a Trinity of one substance."
"It is truly right and just,
our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.
For with your Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit
you are one God, you are one Lord:
not in the singularity of one person,
but in a Trinity of one substance.
For what, of your glory, you revealing, we believe,
that of your Son,
that of your Holy Spirit,
without distinction we feel/experience/think/declare.
So that, in the confession of your true and eternal Deity/Godhead,
the peculiarity in Persons,
the unity in essence,
and the equality in majesty is adored.
Which/whom the angels and archangels praise,
the cherubim, too, and the seraphim,
who do not cease to cry out each day,
with one voice saying:"
. . .
Qui cum Unigenito Filio tuo et Spiritu Sancto
unus es Deus, unus es Dominus:
non in unius singularitate personae,
sed in unius Trinitate substantiae.
Quod enim de tua gloria, revelante te, credimus,
hoc de Filio tuo,
hoc de Spiritu Sancto,
sine discretione sentimus,
Ut in confessione verae sempiternaeque Deitatis,
et in personis proprietas,
et in essential unitas,
et in maiestate adoretur aequalitas.
. . .
2010 translation:
"It is truly right and just,
our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.
For with your Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit
you are one God, one Lord:
not in the unity of a single person,
but in a Trinity of one substance.
For what you have revealed to us of your glory
we believe equally of your Son and of the Holy Spirit,
so that, in the confessing of the true and eternal Godhead,
you might be adored in what is proper to each Person,
their unity in substance,
and their equality in majesty.
For this is praised by Angels and Archangels,
Cherubim, too, and Seraphim,
who never cease to cry out each day,
as with one voice they acclaim:"
Earlier "translation":
"Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.
"We joyfully proclaim our faith in the mystery of your Godhead. You have revealed your glory as the glory also of your Son and of the Holy Spirit: three Persons equal in majesty, undivided in splendor, yet one Lord, one God, ever to be adored in your everlasting glory.
"And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven we proclaim your glory and join in their unending hymn of praise."
1979 Book of common prayer, Rite II:
"For with your co-eternal Son and Holy Spirit, you are one God, one Lord, in Trinity of persons and in Unity of Being; and we celebrate the one and eternal glory of you, O Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
1979 Book of common prayer, Rite I:
"For with thy co-eternal Son and Holy Spirit, thou art one God, one Lord, in Trinity of Persons and in Unity of Substance; and we celebrate the one and eternal glory of thee, O Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
1928 Book of common prayer:
"Who, with thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord, in Trinity of Persons and in Unity of Substance. For that which we believe of thy glory, O Father, the same we believe of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, without any difference of inequality."
1549 Book of common prayer (undoubtedly modernized):
"Which art one God, one Lord, not one only person, but three persons in one substance: For that which we believe of the glory of the Father, the same we believe of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, without any difference or inequality: whom the angels. . . ."
Preface for the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, Roman missal. This Preface was lifted directly out of the 8th-century Old Gelasian (GelV) sacramentary, where (in the edition of Mohlberg, Einzenhöfer, & Siffrin) it is no. 680 (ed. Wilson, LXXXIV, p. 129). Also Gregorian (no. 1621). And so forth. For a bit more on this, see Hatchett, pp. 402-403. The term "singularitas" is there (among the sources listed by Ward & Johnson) in Fulgentius Ferrandus Ep. 3.1: "Plurimos vero personae unius singularitas ab opinione duarum substantiarum terret incautos."
our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.
For with your Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit
you are one God, you are one Lord:
not in the singularity of one person,
but in a Trinity of one substance.
For what, of your glory, you revealing, we believe,
that of your Son,
that of your Holy Spirit,
without distinction we feel/experience/think/declare.
So that, in the confession of your true and eternal Deity/Godhead,
the peculiarity in Persons,
the unity in essence,
and the equality in majesty is adored.
Which/whom the angels and archangels praise,
the cherubim, too, and the seraphim,
who do not cease to cry out each day,
with one voice saying:"
. . .
Qui cum Unigenito Filio tuo et Spiritu Sancto
unus es Deus, unus es Dominus:
non in unius singularitate personae,
sed in unius Trinitate substantiae.
Quod enim de tua gloria, revelante te, credimus,
hoc de Filio tuo,
hoc de Spiritu Sancto,
sine discretione sentimus,
Ut in confessione verae sempiternaeque Deitatis,
et in personis proprietas,
et in essential unitas,
et in maiestate adoretur aequalitas.
. . .
2010 translation:
"It is truly right and just,
our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.
For with your Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit
you are one God, one Lord:
not in the unity of a single person,
but in a Trinity of one substance.
For what you have revealed to us of your glory
we believe equally of your Son and of the Holy Spirit,
so that, in the confessing of the true and eternal Godhead,
you might be adored in what is proper to each Person,
their unity in substance,
and their equality in majesty.
For this is praised by Angels and Archangels,
Cherubim, too, and Seraphim,
who never cease to cry out each day,
as with one voice they acclaim:"
Earlier "translation":
"Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.
"We joyfully proclaim our faith in the mystery of your Godhead. You have revealed your glory as the glory also of your Son and of the Holy Spirit: three Persons equal in majesty, undivided in splendor, yet one Lord, one God, ever to be adored in your everlasting glory.
"And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven we proclaim your glory and join in their unending hymn of praise."
1979 Book of common prayer, Rite II:
"For with your co-eternal Son and Holy Spirit, you are one God, one Lord, in Trinity of persons and in Unity of Being; and we celebrate the one and eternal glory of you, O Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
1979 Book of common prayer, Rite I:
"For with thy co-eternal Son and Holy Spirit, thou art one God, one Lord, in Trinity of Persons and in Unity of Substance; and we celebrate the one and eternal glory of thee, O Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
1928 Book of common prayer:
"Who, with thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord, in Trinity of Persons and in Unity of Substance. For that which we believe of thy glory, O Father, the same we believe of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, without any difference of inequality."
1549 Book of common prayer (undoubtedly modernized):
"Which art one God, one Lord, not one only person, but three persons in one substance: For that which we believe of the glory of the Father, the same we believe of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, without any difference or inequality: whom the angels. . . ."
Preface for the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, Roman missal. This Preface was lifted directly out of the 8th-century Old Gelasian (GelV) sacramentary, where (in the edition of Mohlberg, Einzenhöfer, & Siffrin) it is no. 680 (ed. Wilson, LXXXIV, p. 129). Also Gregorian (no. 1621). And so forth. For a bit more on this, see Hatchett, pp. 402-403. The term "singularitas" is there (among the sources listed by Ward & Johnson) in Fulgentius Ferrandus Ep. 3.1: "Plurimos vero personae unius singularitas ab opinione duarum substantiarum terret incautos."
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