“My help is in the name
of the LORD who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:2)
“Why don’t you talk
more about Jesus on your blog since you call yourself a Lutheran Pastor?” I have been asked this question in a variety
of ways from time to time. Considering
my position as a pastor, it strikes me as a reasonable question. Seriously!
I indeed do give more attention (OK, much
more) to creation theology, including natural theology, in my blog than I do “Christology” of a kind that centers on Jesus
Christ and His death and resurrection for our sins. And when on the occasion that I do zero in on
the Bible, my fairly consistent focus is on the interpretation of the opening
chapters of Genesis which concern the creation of the heavens and the
earth. For many LCMS (Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod) Christians especially, it can easily appear that I have
my priorities all wrong. In the recent
publication, The Natural Knowledge of God: In Christian Confession & Christian Witness (A Report of the
Commission on Theology and Church Relations, 2013), the consistent theme is
that natural theology, though important, is inadequate. After all, Jesus
said, “You search the Scriptures because
you think that in them you have eternal life; yet you refuse to come to me that
you may have life” (John 5:39,40).
It is therefore clear that Jesus Christ must be recognized as the center
of the Holy Bible. Taken as a whole, our
message as Christians is indeed inadequate whenever we neglect Him as that very
center.
Yet inadequacy with respect to biblical-theological themes
can take more than one form. Langdon
Gilkey began his book, Maker of Heaven and Earth (Anchor Books, 1967),
with the question, “What is the first
thing Christians say when they begin to state their beliefs?” He replies that the answer must necessarily
be “creation” for the reason (expanded over several pages) that the efficacy of
a given savior- figure is bolstered by the measured adequacy of that power-figure
to actually save. The prophet Isaiah,
for example, stated, “Thus says the LORD your redeemer…I am the LORD who makes all things, who stretches out the
heavens alone” (Isaiah 44:24). Psalm
121:2 declares similarly, “My help is in
the name of the LORD who made heaven and earth” (boldface mine, and there are no
commas in biblical Hebrew).
Biblical, orthodox Christianity, which has its center in
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is Trinitarian.
The term “trinity” consists of the two smaller words, “tri” (meaning “three”)
and “unity.” Christianity does not
embrace the “unitarian” belief in God as a solitary
personage. We believe to the contrary in
the mystery of the Trinitarian formula, “one God in three Persons [Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit].” The consistent
challenge of Christian belief is that we work to maintain a proper biblical
balance in our consideration of the workings of each of these three Persons.
Now it is of course true that there is no Christianity apart
from the finished work of Jesus Christ by His death on the cross for our sins,
and His resurrection from the dead. He
is the central foundation of my faith (which is orthodox Lutheran Christianity). For the record I hasten to add here that the
case for the historical truth of the Gospels, for Jesus’ life, death, and
miracles, and most especially for His historical resurrection from the dead, is
so soundly vindicated by the results of rigorous historical investigation, questions
about the truth of Christianity at that level have come to bore me. Furthermore, these matters are already powerfully
and effectively argued by a broad array of apologists.
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