Passion Sunday: Redemptive Violence is Only Expunged at the Cross
Passion Sunday: Redemptive Violence is Only Expunged at the Cross Bradley Jersak In the Christian West, lectionaries call today either the Triumphal Entry OR Passion Sunday. Today (March 28, 2021), I’m choosing to focus on Passion Sunday, because I’m impossibly weary of the pseudo-triumph of spectrum ideologies and their Christless slander of love and peace […]
Every Eye Shall See Him: Zechariah 12:10 through John’s Eyes
I am frequently asked on what biblical basis I have become convinced of the ultimate redemption of all people. My answer has been distilled to this: because the New Testament repeatedly foresees it. I need to adjust my response to the Scriptures repeatedly foresee it. It should be enough that Jesus Christ declared in John 12:32-33, “And […]
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αἰώνιος, Eternal, Jonah & Jesus – Bradley Jersak
We were so still, Eskimo-footed arctic marksmen in the muffling silence of the eternal snows—eternal, ever since Wednesday—that we never heard Mrs. Prothero’s first cry from her igloo at the bottom of the garden. Or, if we heard it at all, it was, to us, like the far-off challenge of our enemy and prey, the […]
Q&R: Does God have feelings?
Question Is God emotional? As in, do we cause God to suffer and/or does God suffer on our behalf? Response It is complex for a few reasons: First and foremost, God is LOVE, and God responds to human suffering with compassion. We would however say that God’s love surpasses […]
Which “Gates of Hell will Not Prevail”? Bradley Jersak
I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18). Among the variety of images and meanings associated with the N.T. Greek words gehenna and hades, a significant aspect that gets eclipsed by eschatology is the […]
Lectio Divina for Spiritual Directors (edited) – Bradley Jersak
I happened upon a fresh form of lectio divina meditation specific to spiritual directors. It happened quite by accident, if there’s such a thing in the contemplative life. I had assigned my grad studies students readings from six of Paul’s epistles. They were to read each book in one sitting, summarize them in just a […]
Q&R – “DOES GOD HAVE ENEMIES?”
QUESTION Does God have enemies? RESPONSE What a fascinating question, and one I have thought about both theologically and personally. To answer it biblically, I am drawn to two important texts: Matthew 55:44 – “Love your enemies.” Romans 5:10 – “For while we were enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his […]
Q&R: Two Thieves & the Third Cross-Piece
Question: I have a question about the cross. I have seen what is called the “Russian Cross.” What troubles me about it is the symbol of the third wooden cross-piece at the bottom, because it contradicts my belief in apokatastasis (ultimate redemption). Can you help me understand the following explanation better or offer an alternative? “The slanted line […]
“Freed Will” & Ultimate Redemption – Brad Jersak
Freed Wills (contra the “free will defense” of Infernalism) Now, some like to say, while the Lord may not actually send anyone to hell, don’t we go there ourselves and lock the door from the inside (a la C.S. Lewis). They’ve transcended literalistic views of Jesus’s “depart from me” texts BUT insist on human free will […]