Jun232016
Book excerpt

“Jesus’ expression of ‘Abba’ is revelatory of his being. As Son, he receives all that he is from the Father. Prayer and obedience . . . thus express what is deepest in Jesus. These are not so much moral acts as the very form of his being. Hence we see the coincidence in Jesus of the Way and the Truth (‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life’ [Jn. 14:6]): the prayer and obedience of Jesus are not only his (subjective) way to the Father; they are the very (objective) truth or content of his relation to the Father. In sum, what Jesus, as the incarnate Word (hence from the Father, as the logos of his love), literally is, is the relation of love that is expressed exactly in prayer and obedience — in a word, service — to the Father.

“This relation of love which Jesus shares with the Father is not exclusive but opens onto the cosmos the Father has created in and with and through Jesus (‘That they all may be one, Father, even as you and I are one’ [Jn. 17:21]). That is, all of creation is dynamically ordered from and toward the love revealed by God in Jesus Christ; and this means toward the prayer, obedience, and service to the Father which are incarnate in Jesus. This dynamic ordering is greatly weakened but not essentially destroyed by the sin of Adam. All created entities are thus understood most truly when and insofar as they are brought into this relation of prayer, obedience, and service to God in Christ: when and insofar as they are thereby taken up into a cosmic liturgy.

“Clearly prayer, obedience, and service assume their truest meaning when they are exercised by Christians. They are activities in any case that are ascribed most properly and directly to human beings, with their spiritual capacities of intelligence and freedom. Nevertheless — because everything, and not just man, is created in the Word (Jn. 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-17) — there is a truly analogous sense in which even nonhuman beings exercise these activities: that is, exhibit in the depths of their being the relational activities of obedience to and glorification of God.

“In a word, prayer and obedience are most properly Christian-anthropological activities, but they are activities that in some analogous sense have an ontological and cosmological meaning as well: when and insofar as we — correctly — understand being as gift, as created and renewed in and through the trinitarian love of God in Jesus Christ.

“Thus . . . giving glory to God is a comprehensive task for Christians, occupying not only all of their time but also all of their faculties, their mind as well as their will. Giving glory to God is a matter that pertains not only to time in the chapel or in private prayer, or to the good will necessary for using creatures properly. It is a matter also pertaining to ‘logos’ and thus to the inherent ‘logic’ of things. Only insofar as we recognize this can we begin to undertake with full seriousness the task of ‘finding God in all things.’”

—from David L. Schindler, “Sanctity and the Intellectual Life,” in Heart of the World, Center of the Church (Eerdmans, 1996)

Related reading and listening

  • The formation of affections —
    FROM VOL. 101
    James K. A. Smith explains how education always involves the formation of affections and how the form of Christian education should imitate patterns of formation evident in historic Christian liturgy. (15 minutes)
  • Congregational singing in Martin Luther’s time —
    FROM VOL. 137
    Liturgical scholar Robin Leaver clarifies some misconceptions about Martin Luther’s commitment to congregational singing. (10 minutes)
  • The sovereignty of love — In this 2022 lecture, Oliver O’Donovan explains the historical background — and present consequences — of the assertion by Jesus of two great commands. (67 minutes)
  • Christology and human relationality — Joseph Ratzinger on how the longing for eternity expressed in human love is an analogue of Trinitarian love
  • Melody, harmony, unity, and diversity —
    FROM VOL. 144
    Theologian Peter Bouteneff explains how Arvo Pärt’s rediscovery of the meaning of melody and harmony led to an awareness of the significance of prayer. (23 minutes)
  • The basic act and order of things — David L. Schindler (1943–2022) insists that the reduction of love to a matter of private and personal sentiment, piety, or good will — is one of the fundamental disorders of modern culture. Christians should know better. (39 minutes)
  • A foretaste of the kingdom of God — Oliver O’Donovan on the sovereignty of love
  • Loving relationships in community — In conversation with moral philosopher Oliver O’Donovan, and with readings from his book, Entering into Rest, Ken Myers explores a central theme in O’Donovan’s work: that we are created to enjoy loving relationships in community. (27 minutes)
  • Knowledge transformed by love — David K. Naugle on the reordered thinking of the redeemed
  • Redefining gender — In this article from Communio, Margaret Harper McCarthy demonstrates that the attempt to eliminate the givenness of sexual difference rests on a denial of the created person’s origin in and ordination toward relations of love. (68 minutes)
  • Marva Dawn on spiritual formation and being Church — This Feature presents an interview with Marva Dawn from Volume 38 of the Journal, during which she talks about concerns discussed in two of her books, related to the spiritual formation of children and a more holistic understanding of sex and intimacy. (23 minutes)
  • The impact of the rise of non-liturgical worship — Peter J. Leithart reviews Lori Branch’s book Rituals of Spontaneity, in which Branch argues that an “ideology of spontaneity” has led to the modern rise of non-liturgical forms of worship. (29 minutes)
  • The meaning of “secularism” and its antidote — Alexander Schmemann on the grand modern heresy
  • The Sixth Commandment and the obligation to protect public health — Ethicist Gilbert Meilaender explains why our experience with COVID-19 has made it difficult for many — citizens and officials — to honor a proper obligation to protect public health. (17 minutes)
  • Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 147 — FEATURED GUESTS: R. Jared Staudt, Jason Peters, D. C. Schindler, Craig Gay, Mary Hirschfeld, and Patrick Samway
  • Ethics as Theology, Volume 2 — Drawing from St. Augustine and figures such as Aelred of Rievaulx, Oliver O’Donovan describes how the Church, communication, community, and friendship all significantly contribute to how we understand the role of love in both ethical and political reflection. (52 minutes)
  • Loving your neighbor during a pandemic — Brad Littlejohn reflects on how best to ask and answer some of the questions raised by our current disease-ravaged circumstances, particularly questions related to Christian freedom and love of neighbor. (29 minutes)
  • Is the First Amendment religiously neutral? — David L. Schindler and Nicholas J. Healy, Jr. discuss how the First Amendment is not as sympathetic to religious freedom as is commonly believed, as it is based on contestable assumptions about the nature of “religion,” “freedom,” and “human nature.” (33 minutes)
  • Questioning the “sacred-secular” division — With the stage set by Michael Sandel, Jean Bethke Elshtain, David L. Schindler, and John Milbank, Andrew Willard Jones examines a medieval alternative to the modern liberal paradigm. (61 minutes)
  • Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 138 — FEATURED GUESTS: John Milbank, Adrian Pabst, Glenn W. Olsen, Rupert Shortt, Oliver O’Donovan, David Bentley Hart
  • Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 131 — FEATURED GUESTS: John Durham Peters, Paul Heintzman, Richard Lints, Peter Harrison, Francis J. Beckwith, David L. Schindler, and Nicholas J. Healy, Jr.
  • The heaven of the materialists — George Parkin Grant on how sex drives out love
  • Love and truth precede justice — James Matthew Wilson on the relationship between truth and love in Benedict XVI’s Caritas in Veritate
  • Doing business: selfishly or generously? — David L. Schindler on Adam Smith’s big mistake
  • The reasonableness of love — Terry Eagleton on the myth of the disinterested pursuit of truth
  • True transcendence, true immanence — D. C. Schindler on how believers can be practical atheists
  • Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 112 — FEATURED GUESTS: Christian Smith, David L. Schindler, Sara Anson Vaux, Melvyn Bragg, Timothy Larsen, and Ralph C. Wood
  • Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 96 — FEATURED GUESTS: David A. Smith, Kiku Adatto, Elvin T. Lim, David Naugle, Richard Stivers, and John Betz
Tags: