Writer of Fancy: The Playful Piety of Jane Austen

Solomon Among the Postmoderns

The Baptized Body

1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary

The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter

A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons

Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature

Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen

The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism

A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel

Against Christianity

From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution

Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy

Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper

A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament

Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature

Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays

Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life

The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church

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Theology: Humble God

When the Arians claim that the Father made the Son to make the world, they imply that it is unworthy of God to be so directly involved in the details of the created world.  Athanasius (Orations Against the Arians) sees that the Arian God is prissy, disdainful of making things and so handing the task to the Son.  He cites Matthew 10:29 and 6:25-30 to argue that “if it is not unworthy of God to be provident even toward things so minor as the hair of the head and the sparrow and the grass of the field, neither is it unworthy of him to also make these things.” The Arian God is prissy, and prideful, keeping creatures at arm’s length.  On the contrary, Athanasius argues, “there is no pride in God.”

Later, he returns to the same theme.  If, as some Arians argued, the Son learned to create from the Father, then the Arian God is “jealous” and “weak.”  Jealous because “he did not teach many others to be creators so that there may be many creators around him”; jealous because he reserved a communicable power to Himself and his favorite creature.  Weak because “he was not able to create on his own and needed a co-worker or assistant.”  Athanasius’s earlier response applies: “there is no pride in God.”