Last night, I was involved in a study and discussion of Chapter 2 of the book of Acts. An interesting thought came to me about the continuity of community for both the people of God and the Godhead:
Right now in the history of time, the people of God are in community with the Holy Spirit; the Father is in community with the Son who has been exalted to the right hand of his throne since his ascension.
During the life of Jesus, the people of God were in community with the Son; the Father had not yet given the Holy Spirit since this was pre-ascension, pre-Pentecost, so the Father was in community with the Holy Spirit.
(Now this is where it gets a little tricky.)
In the time pre-incarnation, both the Son and the Holy Spirit were still with the Father. Yet clearly we see, as in the OT, examples of the people of God encountering God Himself. Sometimes it was manifested by a pillar of fire, or Moses encountering God in the burning bush or when God "passed by" him in the rock cleft. Then there are instances of a sighting of the "the angel of the Lord" which arguably could be a reference to the Son. There is also the mention of the Spirit of the Lord in Genesis at creation, "hovering over the waters."
So clearly there was some type of community between God and the people of God... Also, there must have been communtiy in the Godhead, at least with the Son and Spirit whose times had not yet come to dwell on earth with man... (but this would not preclude visits...)
But what of the people of God? Were they in community (post-fall) with the Father? It seems that community between God and the people of God was sporadic, whereas the community of Jesus and the people was constant for his 33 years or so of life, and the community of the Spirit and the people is constant for us today. This same continuity of community on earth is not evident in the interim between Fall and Incarnation.
Thoughts? Did the people of God in this interim encounter the entire triune God at different times, or encounter only the Father, or only the Spirit, or...?
And lest I forget, we know that God - the Father - walked in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. However, this was pre-fall, so the pre-fall community was perfect, perfect between the Father and the people.
On another note, the State of the Union address is tonight... don't miss it. My roommate who used to live and work in D.C. is all into the political arena... so I am looking forward to watching it with her.
by love.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
community with the Godhead
Posted by Kristi at 8:58 AM
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3 comments:
IMHO, this subject is one in which Catholic and Orthodox theologians completely run circles around Protestants. Very timely of you to bring it up given BXVI's first encyclical released last week. Others: von Balthasar, Jean-Luc Marion (esp. Prologomena to Charity--if you read French, get that--English translations of Marion are hard sledding).
One potential conceptual trap would be to transcendentalize 'Community'. If we do that, we start talking as if community is some self-subsistent relation. What is self-subsistent is the manner in which the Godhead is in relation with one another and to His creation: Love.
Some Reformed thinkers have "rediscovered" this truth. It has important consequences for how we are to live and act. Unfortunately, we Reformed types tend to get bogged down by transcendentalizing 'Sovereignty'. Again, it should be a question of the manner in which God sovereignly reigns. There are excellent Lutheran theologians of community, too, however, not least of which is dear Dietrich. Frankly, though, we Protestants are scribbling in the sand of the river bed on this issue compared to our Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters who swim and frolic in the deep and warm waters of Deus caritas est.
The awesome beauty and continuity of the Old and New Testaments is that fact that God's relationship with His people is always growing. God is continually revealing Himself to the people. Under the Old Covenant, yes, God the Father was with His people through His presence in the Tabernacle/Temple. Only it was a restricted presence--restricted to the High Priest on Yom Kippur. Restricted by the perpetual shedding of blood by the priests. Then He came to earth as the Son-somewhat restricted in that it was only availabe to those who were in contact with Him. Then the institution of the New Covenant where the Spirit comes to write the law onto our hearts-this is the least restricted access to God. And yet, I have to believe that there is complete fellowship within the Godhead, excepting when God the Father turned His back on the Son during the crucifixion. So there are some thoughts from a very tired Jr. High Bible teacher at the end of the day. Thanks for stimulating my brain, Kristi!
There are various ways that the relationship between God and the community of believers takes place in the OT. Typically in the pre-exilic period, this relationship is through a patriarch or prophet (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, the various judges, Samuel, David?, Elijah, Elisha). It seems the people related to God through these individuals who were directly connected to God in some profound way. Often times these individuals are described as having the "spirit of the Lord" with them. I'm not entirely sure how to relate this to the Holy Spirit, but it seems analogous at the very least.
In the post-exilic period, however, I think the relationship between God and the people changes quite radically. Although there are prophets who experience God more directly than the people, the primary connection of the people to God is through the Law. Now, based on my rather limited understanding, much of the typical "respect" for the Law/scriptures that Jewish people had was a result of these influences of the Babylonians, Persians, etc. In fact, the people who protected the transmission of the Law (the scribes) are a class that only exists in Jewish culture in the post-exilic period. The class of scribes is directly connected to the exile since Babylonians and Persian scribes were to record every word and every decree from the mouth/hand of the Emperor or the King. That is why Darius (I think?) is unable to take back his law that required someone to worship only him since the word of the King is absolute - it cannot be removed even with another decree from a king. This respect for the words/decrees of the Babylonian and Perian rulers seems to have transferred over to the Hebrews (cf. Ezra, who was a scribe). Thus, the scribes, like Ezra, focused on clearly transcribing and copying the law accurately since it is a transmission of God commands to his people. All of this is only to say that I think the people of God post-exile related to God primarily through the medium of scripture/Law rather than through the patriarchs/prophets.
This reading also provides in interesting insight, I think, into the necessity of the exile for the accomplish of God's overall plan of salvation. In other words, Jewish people don't start getting converts (or many converts at least) until well after the exile (in fact only a few years before Christ).
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