Eugene Peterson: A Short Appreciation

Posted on October 25, 2018 by scottkohler

Not least among the many gifts Eugene Peterson has handed on to me through his ministry has been to facilitate a conversation. The conversation is one that is almost limitless, beginning in the pages of the Bible and carrying on through centuries as Christians have pondered, prayed, and discussed how to get what has happened in the gospel of Jesus to take shape in their lives. It’s a task we continue to have laid before us, and one in which we can’t trust ourselves solely to either our own wisdom or the wisdom of our age.

Take and Read

I can’t even guess at the number of times I’ve pulled from my shelf of Peterson titles his little book Take and Read, a guide to spiritual reading he published in the late 1990s. There, under headings as varied as “Worship” and “Novelists” and “Sin and the Devil,” are a little over 250 short recommendations of books to read with profit while we seek to live out a life for Christ. I’ve periodically gone back to this list for recommendations for years now. One of the last novels I read, earlier this month, was The Diary of a Country Priest, by the French Catholic Georges Bernanos, a book particularly dear to Peterson, which shows up between George Eliot’s Middlemarch and James Joyce’s Ulysses. As it happens, this month has seen me reading a couple of works by church fathers–Athanasius’ Life of Antony and Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Moses–which are also featured in its pages.

In the introduction to Take and Read, Peterson says this about the books he keeps returning to: “Most, but not all, of the books in my list are by ‘dead Christians.’ That means that they have been tested by more than one generation and have been given passing marks. That means that what these Christians have written has been validated by something deeper than fashion or fad.”

“Validated by something deeper than fashion or fad.” This seems to me an appropriate summary of Eugene Peterson’s own ministry of writing and speaking over the forty or so years since his books started appearing in print. None of his works seem older than the others, because they are all so rooted in the “centuries deep and continents wide” (Take and Read, p. 1) Christian faith and in the realities of living as humans created by God to respond to him. He refused to trust contemporary trends, and cautioned both pastors and lay people to guard against being seduced by them (the final book in his five-volume spiritual theology series, Practice Resurrection, made a special point of this in relation to the appeal of megachurches).

Now that he has joined the company of “dead Christians” he wrote about twenty years ago, Eugene Peterson’s influence will continue to be felt through the literary legacy he has left to us. The depth of his writing and the breadth of his reading doesn’t get in the way of the ultimate simplicity of his outlook on the Christian life (“Prayer is practiced out of a conviction that the genius of being human is the ability to be in communion with God”--Take and Read, p. 16) and our life of common worship and its role in centering the rest of life in the God who created us:

“Every call to worship is a call into the Real World…

“Very often when I leave a place of worship, the first impression I have of the so-called ‘outside world’ is how small it is–how puny its politics, paltry its appetites, squint-eyed its interests. I have just spent an hour or so with friends reorienting myself in the realities of the world–the huge sweep of salvation and the minute particularities of holiness–and I blink my eyes in disbelief that so many are willing to live in such reduced and cramped conditions. But after a few hours or days, I find myself getting used to it and going along with its assumptions, since most of the politicians and journalists, artists and entertainers, stockbrokers and shoppers seem to assume that it’s the real world. And then some pastor or priest calls me back to reality with ‘Let us worship God,’ and I get it straight again, see it whole.” (Take and Read, p. 28)

In Eugene Peterson’s life we have been touched with the generosity of God.

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Know the Creeds and Councils (review)

Posted on June 10, 2015 by scottkohler

Holcomb

Know the Creeds and Councils
Justin S. Holcomb
Zondervan Academic
$12.99 USD

For pastors in need of a refresher course in the history of doctrine, or interested lay people who are searching for a guide to the big debates of Christian teaching, Justin S. Holcomb’s Know the Creeds and Councils is an ideal resource.

Holcomb is an episcopal priest who also teaches theology at Gordon-Conwell and Reformed Theological seminaries, and he is a clear interpreter of what can seem like impenetrable matters: the historic creeds, councils, and confessions of the Christian past. To many Christians today, these pivotal points in church history appear to be far removed from both our context and our usual set of questions. Here, in a series of brief chapters offers a set of reflections designed to make these texts and events as accessible as they can be.

In addition to the creeds and councils a reader would expect to find in a book like this, Holcomb also deals with significant-for-evangelicals items such as the reformation-era catechisms, the Westminster Confession, and even recent works with a much more limited scope like the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy and the Lausanne Covenant.

Each chapter provides some historical context, explains the basic content of the creed, council, or confession, and then considers (very helpfully for groups that might study this book together) its contemporary significance. This, along with a series of discussion questions at the close of each chapter, is the most welcome feature of the book. These aspects make Know the Creeds and Councils more than just a summary or a light reference volume. Rather, it is an invitation to a conversation with trusted older (and often ancient) Christian brothers and sisters about things that matter.

Please note: I received a free digital copy of this book from Zondervan through NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

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Williams and the Wasp

Posted on August 12, 2014 by scottkohler

williamsLike many other people, when we heard about Robin Williams’ death yesterday, my wife and I heard it differently than we usually hear celebrity news, even news of celebrity deaths. This news came as the kind of sadness that feels like something just left the room once you’ve heard it. And a day later it still feels sad, even though he wasn’t someone we actually knew, however much we think we do.

It isn’t sad just because we believe we “get to know” certain public figures. I can remember sitting in my friend Colin’s rec room as a ten year-old while he regaled me with impressions of some of the great scenes from Good Morning, Vietnam, but it isn’t sad just because Robin Williams has made us laugh many, many times. It isn’t sad just because Robin Williams has inspired us with characters like the mentor figures in Dead Poets Society or Good Will Hunting or touched us in Awakenings or Patch Adams. Sure, those things are part of why this feels so personal to so many people. But they’re not the real reason that when we went to bed last night I prayed the words, “Lord, you know the news about Robin Williams makes us sad.”

The real reason is that for a long time we’ve known his killer.

Depression, and Dee’s own history with it, has been part of our story through the years we’ve spent in two churches I’ve served as pastor, as well as in our home church before that.

As we’ve told our story in both churches, we’ve grown to expect a certain response: “Me, too.” As we’ve seen in the flood of responses to Robin Williams’ death, talking about depression seems to liberate people to tell their own story.

As we’ve heard other people’s stories, a certain metaphor seems to crop up again and again. The story of depression is almost always told as a story of a conflict. We talk about “struggles” with depression, about “battling” it, about being “powerless” against it. And as we saw with yesterday’s news, the story of depression all too often ends in death.

So when we heard yesterday about Robin Williams’ suicide, it was a reminder that a dangerous enemy has been part of our lives in the past, and likely will not completely leave us alone in the future. And not only ours, but the lives of many others, both those we know and those we don’t.

To think that any words could be written or said to ease the pain or lessen the struggle brought on by depression is worse than presumptuous. To think that way is to be insensitive and oblivious to the tenacity with which depression attacks. But saying nothing only gives depression that much more power. Robin Williams’ death has already encouraged a few more people to break their silence.

I’m grateful that most of the time our life now is not troubled by depression to nearly the extent it was a few years ago. Day to day it isn’t the fearsome enemy it used to be when it was constantly troubling Dee’s emotions. But I doubt it will ever be completely absent. Last week I was stung a couple of times by a wasp. The pain lasted a few minutes, then let up. But five minutes later I saw the wasp crawling on the floor, still alive, and still nearby. However much I was overreacting, I physically trembled when I saw it. Hearing the news about Robin Williams’ death yesterday was a bit like that. The struggle with depression hasn’t been quite so close to our family lately, but we’re still shaken to see what it can do, and to know that it’s never far away.

As Christians, we might wish that there was an answer to depression in Scripture. Sadly, it seems like we have to deal with its presence, the wicked persistence with which it wants to wreck lives. But we also know the way it will end. 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 says that death itself will one day die, as God brings to completion the promise of Jesus’ resurrection, the victory of life over death. In that day, we will join in the song, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” In that day, depression too will be put to death.

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Bob Dylan sings The Epistle to the Romans

Posted on July 31, 2014 by scottkohler

bob-dylan

 

 

 

 

A career-spanning project, Dylan’s chapter-by-chapter rendition of the letter to the Romans:

1 – Forgetful Heart

2 – With God on Our Side

3 – Everything is Broken

4 – Highway 61 Revisited

5 – Things Have Changed

6 – Gotta Serve Somebody

7 – Desolation Row

8 – I Shall Be Released

9 – Simple Twist of Fate

10 – Going, Going, Gone

11 – Never Say Goodbye

12 – Together Through Life

13 – I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine

14 – One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)

15 – Forever Young

16 – If You See Her, Say Hello

Note: in the C.H. Dodd-compiled version of this collection, the song “Winterlude” is substituted for tracks 9-11.

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Tempest in a Fish Tank

Posted on July 29, 2014 by scottkohler

Swordtail-Fish

1

Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope? Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash? – Job 41:1, 5

A year and a half ago we brought four little fish into our home. We wanted something that would give hours of delight to our children, and aquariums are time-tested. We went to the pet shop and picked out our gear, and as we wandered the aisles a fantasy sequence of familial bonding floated through my mind like a movie. I envisioned a scene made up of equal parts sibling harmony and loving obedient servitude, all accompanied by slow-motion hugs and a Peter Cetera soundtrack. What came about instead was a flood of tears over a series of small tragedies, followed by the house’s current state of decided indifference.

The first fish, a white Danio, died almost immediately, and before our daughter’s tears were dry we replaced it with an identical one. It was even allowed to have the same name as its predecessor (our four year-old son had chosen to call him Diaper). Not long after, another fell victim to aquarium bullying. We bought two more. Then stability set in; it looked like we might carry on indefinitely with our five trusty friends. But now we’ve had three recent deaths in as many months, and I’ve turned to introspection.

I admit that a snail infestation lasting eighteen months doesn’t really weigh in my favour as a pet-owner. I’m told, however, that they keep the aquarium clean, and after three fairly thorough restarts I’m convinced that some force much stronger than I is responsible for their presence. In moments of self-assurance, I might tell myself that the algae isn’t my fault either, and that anyway it’s a natural part of any aquatic ecosystem. But no matter how I try, I can’t shake the shame I feel about the condition of the rocks. They were once green, I think. I really don’t know what name Crayola would give them now.

Of everything that has happened, though, the day our neighbour’s seven year-old stood in the living room with my wife and me, stared at the tank and told me I was the reason our fish were dying—it’s safe to label that day a turning point. It may have been a cheap shot, but it was a well-aimed cheap shot, and I couldn’t ignore its summons to action.

So the night before we left for vacation I found myself not only planning a thorough cleaning, but even standing in line at the pet store buying a new filter. I could have been packing. I could have been reading. I could have been grading papers, listening to records or going for a walk. Instead, I was taking up a crucial challenge: if my love for the fish were true, surely I could invest some time in home restoration.

2

I’m scrappin’ and yellin’ and mixin’ it up, loving every minute with this crew. – Royal Tenenbaum

My first task was to scrub the grime from the walls. It’s true there are only four walls to a fish tank, but the torrent of dirty water that now surrounded the fish seemed to give the lie to the basic facts of geometry. Uneaten food and bodily waste spun wildly in the tempest. As I continued to scrape and brush, several snails were ripped from their homes and borne along by the waves. To Diaper and Emma, no doubt Armageddon was imminent.

After a little time protecting the living room floor against potential toxic spillage, I began the vacuuming phase. With a siphon anything smaller than a snail can be picked up quite easily. If you’re vigorous, it’s possible to make serious improvements to rock colour during this phase of the work. However, to do this you have to move your vacuum around from one side to the other, from front to back, and up and down in relatively short time. The fish are forced to dodge the plastic tube of the siphon like a heat-seeking torpedo. In this case I think they would have taken cover under the tiki tent simply for stress relief if I hadn’t knocked it over with one of my swings, but I was doing this for their best interests. That must count for something.

Pausing to consider my progress, I reminded myself that the old sayings were true: “It has to get worse before it gets better,” “It’s always darkest before the dawn”—if these clichés still had currency, the fish and I had nothing to worry about. I had done good work. But the water level was now at about forty percent and I needed to move on. All I had to do was add new water, trade out the old filter for the new one, and I could begin vacation with a restful mind.

It generally takes about five bucketfuls to fill the aquarium when the water is as low as it was after the vacuum phase. Each bucket has to be treated with a filtering additive to clear out any undesirable elements in the tap water, and the whole thing requires a dose of bacteria-builder to keep the water chemistry stable. I try to do it all as gracefully as possible, really I do. But by this time I’m dumping from quite a height, and it’s hard for the rush of water not to make a hole in the tank floor as the little pebbles fly out to the sides. When it happened this time I aimed at the area above the tiki tent, so it would absorb some of the force. Unfortunately, it tipped over again. But Diaper is quick, and although he was in the vicinity he moved aside before the crash. This time I waited until I was finished the whole job to stabilize the tent.

At the end of my work I considered myself successful. I was a good pet-owner, a truly benevolent fish-lover. True, the water looked pretty bad when I turned on the light after finishing. But the dirt and waste would settle. Some would be filtered out, some would be picked up next time I vacuumed. True, I had introduced a little wreckage along the way. But it was all for the best. Though there were rough moments, I had done my kindest by these two small friends of the family. It was a job well-done. Tomorrow morning, as we loaded the car for vacation, it would be for all practical purposes a new creation.

“I love you, guys,” I spoke as I stood to leave. “I’ll miss you over these next few weeks.” I put my hands on my hips and directed a proud nod at the newly reconstituted world before my eyes.

As I patted myself on the back and shut out the aquarium light, I took one last look at my work and readied myself for a contented sleep.

3

Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm… – Job 38:1

At the deepest part of the ocean, in the shadows of the tiki tent, the ragged, aging aquatic couple recovers from the destruction. Great piles of trash and sewage swirl through their kitchen and darken the walls of their living room. On their faces are the obvious marks of sadness and loss. For now the white fish musters an expression of unconquered hope. The orange fish no longer bothers to hide her despair. The white fish finds a scrap of food untainted by the slime and manages the courage to begin to eat. The orange fish limply swats at an upturned snail.

They look one another in the eye, but the orange fish is unable to hold the white fish’s gaze. The white fish breaks the silence. “It’s not as bad as it looks. You know, they always say it has to get worse before it gets better. It’s always darkest just before the dawn.” The white fish waits for five, ten seconds to hear the orange fish’s response.

The orange fish swallows hard, lifts her head and at long last speaks.

“Curse God and die.”

Posted in Biblical interpretation, Fish | Leave a comment

Five questions for Michael Gorman

Posted on July 28, 2014 by scottkohler

For the last several years I’ve especially appreciated the work of Michael J. Gorman, a fine teacher and friend who is a professor at St Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore. I’ve used his textbook on Paul — Apostle of the Crucified Lord — in the classroom, passed along his Reading Revelation Responsibly to church Bible study leaders, and have listened with profit to various online talks and lectures.

Gorman just released a new book on the atonement, which grew out of a couple of lectures he gave a few years ago (he explains its genesis in some detail in another interview on the Crux Sola blog). I’m happy he’s agreed to answer a few questions I had for him about his new book, theological interpretation, and his work in general.

Gorman cover

The subtitle of your new book, The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant, claims that you are arguing for “a (not so) new model.” In what ways is your model novel and in what ways is it in continuity with more traditional treatments?

Scott, let me begin by saying how much I appreciate your friendship and your interest in my work, especially now this new book.

As for the question: I’ll start with the continuity aspect of it. Actually, the allusion in the parenthetical part of the subtitle is not so much to traditional treatments as it is to the New Testament documents and to Jesus himself. I argue that the new-covenant model should probably be considered the original model of the atonement, going back to Jesus, Paul, and the gospel-writers. In that sense I am recovering something very important that has been largely overlooked, though there are hints here and there in certain interpretations of the atonement about what I am saying. I also relate my proposal to traditional treatments by arguing that they (at least most of them) can and should be incorporated into this larger, integrative model.

What is new? Several things, the strong focus on the new-covenant language and concept being the most obvious. But of no less importance is my claim about the comprehensiveness of this approach and its ability to integrate aspects of theology that have been kept apart from one another: atonement and its relation to spirituality, ethics, mission, and so on. I should also mention the strong emphasis on atonement as reconciliation and peacemaking in this model.

One last thing: every model of the atonement claims to be biblically based, of course. I think this model encompasses much more of the New Testament’s theology as a whole than other models, which tend to focus on a few texts.

You suggest that most models of the atonement treat the mechanics, or the “how” questions, of Christ’s saving death, but that yours is focused on a “what” questions: the goal of his death. Do you think the how questions are important?

I do think the “how” questions are important, but they need to be asked as part of a larger set of questions about the biblical story, about the meaning of salvation, and so on. When the “how” questions are decontextualized from the larger scriptural narrative and/or discussed in isolation, they take on a life of their own that actually moves the discussion in unhelpful and unhealthy directions. In addition, I think the “how” questions and answers have frequently missed two of the most important contributions of my book: (1) the need to integrate soteriological questions with ethics, mission, etc. and (2) the New Testament’s emphasis on participation. I am not prepared to say that participation in Jesus’ death is, by itself, the answer to the “how” question—for that would remove the “objective” dimension of what God has done—but without participation, the “subjective” aspect of atonement, there can be no complete answer to the “how” question.

You’re associated with a trend in biblical studies and theology that advocates for theological interpretation of Scripture. This “movement” is usually seen as an attempt to build bridges across theological disciplines. What is the current state of theological interpretation, and what is the place of this new book in that connection?

It’s funny, though not inaccurate, to call theological interpretation a movement, since those of us who are part of it think we are doing what has been done by most scriptural interpreters throughout the millennia except some from the last 200 years or so. The state of theological interpretation is very healthy and exciting, despite some opposition to it in certain quarters of academia. There are academic and ecclesial conferences, journals, commentary series, etc. all flourishing. But it is, and will remain, a somewhat diverse “movement,” with various people stressing various aspects of theological interpretation.

I think the aspect of “building bridges” you mention is bearing great fruit, as some trained in theology are writing wonderful biblical commentaries (and essays); some trained in biblical studies are writing constructive theological works that are strongly grounded in Scripture, as I have attempted to do in this book; and (at least some) preachers are demonstrating a new theological depth in their preaching, far beyond the self-help fluff that often passes for preaching.

In the Society of Biblical Literature, the guild of academic biblical specialists, we have both a “Theological Interpretation of Scripture” unit and a “Christian Theology and the Bible” unit. I chair the former unit, and this new book will be the subject of a review panel in the latter unit at the annual meeting of SBL this November. So I suppose, again, both I and the book represent that attempt to build bridges (not that I am alone in this regard, of course). I’m also happy that the chair I hold at St. Mary’s Seminary & University is in “biblical studies and theology.”

Another exciting development in theological interpretation is called “missional hermeneutics,” which does theological exegesis explicitly from the standpoint of the church’s mission. There is an affiliate unit of SBL focusing on this.

If you were addressing students in biblical studies and theology, what tools would you say are most important for practicing theological interpretation that is of service to the church?

That’s an interesting question. I think one kind of tool is a guide, or better a few different guides, to what theological interpretation is—some good essays and books. These are needed because theological interpretation differs from certain other approaches to the Bible with respect to the questions it asks and the ends it seeks.

Another kind of tool would be good examples—learning from the great interpreters past and present, from the church fathers to the medieval commentators to the reformers to the giants of contemporary interpretation—and not just commentaries, but sermons that are deeply theological and theology that is deeply biblical. Read, learn, and inwardly digest!

Finally, in the ideal world all serious interpreters would have knowledge of the original languages and should have a good concordance and lexicon, whether electronic or print, at their fingertips at all times. (Theological interpretation is not a substitute for language study!)

I believe you have another book on Paul coming out soon. What other projects are on the horizon for you?

My new book on Paul is called Becoming the Gospel: Paul, Participation, and Mission. Scheduled for publication next May by Eerdmans, it is a theological and missional reading of several of Paul’s letters for what they have to say, and what questions they raise, about the contemporary mission of the church. I used it with students this summer, and they seemed to like it a lot. I am also working on two other Eerdmans books: a revision of my text Apostle of the Crucified Lord and a commentary on 2 Corinthians. Both should be published in 2016, God willing. There are always articles in process, and there are revisions of two other books in the works.

Thanks for your time, Mike!

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Between Two Trees

Posted on July 23, 2014 by scottkohler

In another day I will be in Nova Scotia, settling in for three weeks in my childhood home. (That’s a bit misleading, since I didn’t leave it until I was 27. But that’s nine years ago, so nostalgia must be permissible by now.) I’ll go for walks on the routes I took as a teen and young adult. I’ll catch up with old friends. I’ll play with my kids in the yard I used to play in.

But what I’m most looking forward to is something that wasn’t there when I was living at home. What I’m most excited about, if I allow selfishness full control, is the hammock we bought in Nicaragua in 2006 that now hangs on the edge of my father’s garden throughout the summer. In that hammock I am on vacation. In that hammock I can let the world worry about itself. For while I lie in that hammock I am delivered from the arena of cares and stress. In the hammock I get to be one glorious thing: a wanderer among the words.

In the hammock I am released to read.

David Lodge’s Author, Author! was read in that hammock. Agatha Christie’s Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Christopher Morley’s Parnassus on Wheels and the last Harry Potter too.

Now I’m facing twenty-one days of opportunity. Some of that time will be devoted to reading up on the doctrines of God and Scripture, Christ and the Spirit, as I prepare to teach my first systematic theology course this fall. So Augustine and Calvin may just make their way to the hammock this year. But as the above list indicates, summer holidays are perfect for light reads. What will make the list this summer?

(Nota bene: Michael Dirda claims that readers are always over-ambitious about their holiday reading. But half the fun is in the dreaming.)

Here goes:

PG Wodehouse: I’ve picked up several titles at thrift shops recently, so I may dip into What Ho! The Best of PG Wodehouse or Lord Emsworth and Others or finally read Leave it to Psmith. But who can decide now? Clearly I have to pack all three.

David Lodge: I have a former English professor who just published a book on Lodge’s fiction, so I’ve been thinking of reading him sometime soon. I’ll probably take Changing Places this time.

Steven Millhauser’s longer works: I’ve read most of Millhauser’s short fiction, but have only just started Edwin Mullhouse. I may take one of his novella collections home too.

Charles Dickens, David Copperfield: We’re reading this with our book club for September, so I should bring it. It’s a bit of a long one.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera: I’ve been reading this out loud to my wife, and we’re only a third of the way through. It’s terrific. It should be in the suitcase too.

Looking at my shelves this might be tougher than I thought. I hope I have room for the kids.

 

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LA Theology Conference on Atonement

Posted on June 30, 2014 by scottkohler

A few days ago I noticed that the site for the third annual Los Angeles Theology Conference is up and running. Taking place at Biola University, the conference includes plenary addresses by the following five theologians: Michael Horton, Matthew Levering, Bruce McCormack, Ben Myers, and Eleonore Stump. Looking forward to this and really hoping to go. The videos for the session from the first two years of the conference (on Christology and the doctrine of the Trinity) are online.

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Album of the Week

Posted on June 29, 2014 by scottkohler

yo-la-tengo-fakebook1Yo La Tengo – Fakebook (1990)

This is generosity of spirit. Not many bands will give an album worth of songs to covers, and fewer do it as well as this one. I’ve loved this CD for years, and as summer settles in here in eastern Canada I’ve been reaching for it again and again. This one is gentle, inviting, and with song choices that range from would-be hits to bizarre exercises in parallel universe pop.

Their version of Daniel Johnston’s “Speeding Motorcycle” is a little like St Paul on the road to Damascus: a transformation to rival The Byrds’ version of Dylan’s “All I Really Wanna Do” or M. Ward’s take on Johnston’s “Sweetheart.“

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Necessity

Posted on June 28, 2014 by scottkohler

Question: Is this blog necessary or sustainable?

Objection 1. It would seem that given my lack of authority on anything, a running account of my thoughts is needless. And given my track record (last post: three months ago; total number of posts: negligible) it will no doubt devolve into nothingness.

Objection 2. Further, I have no need for another commitment, especially one that is desired by no one and unlikely to succeed. Therefore, I should go to my dashboard, click “delete site,” and follow the confirmation link that will then be sent by wordpress. No one will know that I ever wrote these words.

On the contrary, a small part of me continues to think that objection 1 might prove to be wrong and objection 2 might not matter.

I answer that I’ll proceed for now. Let the delete button be a taunt or an incentive, and past failures be a mere memory.

Posted in Medieval theology, self-examination | 1 Comment