All posts tagged T.S. Eliot

  • How Christians Should Speak About Creation

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    How Christians Should Speak About Creation
    Brian Zahnd

    This year Earth Day falls on a Sunday, so I thought I’d say a few words about how Christians should speak about Creation.

    First, Christians should never say…

    This world is not my home.

    This world is our home! And it’s the locus of God’s saving work. The blessed hope is not “we’re going,” but “Christ is coming.” Our eschatological hope is resurrection, not evacuation. The risen Christ is not a ghost, he has flesh and bones; he eats fish and honeycomb.

    It’s all going to burn.

    What a horrible, ghastly thing for a Christian to say! Especially when it’s given as an excuse for justifying environmental exploitation. In Christ we have a hopeful eschatology that says, “It’s all going to be renewed.” (And if you want to work from 2 Peter 3:10, say, “It’s all going to be refined.”)

    Environmentalism is idolatry.

    Never say that. Instead say, “This is my Father’s world.” In giving humanity “dominion,” God made us park rangers of Planet Earth. Environmentalism isn’t idolatry — it’s the original vocation given to humanity. Environmentalism isn’t idolatry — but greed is! In Revelation we’re told that God will judge “those who destroy the earth.”

    Instead of saying un-Christian things like, “This world is not my home,” “It’s all going to burn,” and “Environmentalism is idolatry,” listen to how wise Christians have always spoken about Creation.
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  • The Magi and I

    James-Jacques-Joseph-Tissot-Journey-Of-The-Magi

    On the Twelfth Day of Christmas and on the Eve of Epiphany I thought I would re-post this. It still speaks to me and for me.

    This is T.S. Eliot’s majestic poem Journey of the Magi with my quasi-interpretation of it. And it’s more than an interpretation — it’s also a kind of autobiographical confession. For I too have had a hard time of it…and like Eliot’s Magi I would do it all over again.
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  • The Magi and I (An Epiphany Post)

    journey-of-the-magi

    T.S. Eliot’s poem Journey of the Magi with my quasi-interpretation of it. Which is more than an interpretation — it’s also a kind of autobiographical confession; for I too have had a hard time of it. And like Eliot’s Magi I would do it all over again.
    Read more

  • The Magi and I

    journey-of-the-magi

    T.S. Eliot’s poem Journey of the Magi with my quasi-interpretation of it. Which is more than an interpretation — it’s also a kind of autobiographical confession; for I too have had a hard time of it. And like Eliot’s Magi I would do it all over again.
    Read more

  • The Magi and I

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    This is from last Christmas, but it still speaks to me and for me…

    T.S. Eliot’s poem Journey of the Magi with my quasi-interpretation of it. Which is more than an interpretation — it’s also a kind of autobiographical confession; for I too have had a hard time of it. And like Eliot’s Magi I would do it all over again.
    Read more

  • Cannonball Jesus

    Easter_004

    Cannonball Jesus
    by Brian Zahnd

     “You cannot bear to hear my word.” -Jesus (The Gospel of John)

    “Humankind cannot bear very much reality.” -T.S. Eliot (The Four Quartets)

    “Ya can’t look at much, can ya man?”
    -Bob Dylan (Visions of Johanna)

    It seems to me that what we really want is a tame Jesus, a domesticated Christ.

    We want a Jesus who will “save our soul” — not so much now, but later on.

    We want a Savior who tweaks the status quo, making slight improvements on the basic scheme of things.

    We want a divine “life coach” to make us winners in The Game. Read more