
From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John

Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture

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

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
For Athanasius, creation’s multiplicity is not a defect but part of its glory. No created thing supplies all need; no single light illuminates day and night. So there are many lights. Each light is its own essence, but these essences cooperate to fill what is lacking in the others. The same goes for other features of creation: “Thus too the earth is not for all things, but for the fruits only, and to be a ground to tread on for the living things that inhabit it. And the firmament is to divide between waters and waters, and to be a place to set the stars in. So also fire and water, with other things, have been brought into being to be the constituent parts of bodies; and in short no one thing is alone, but all things that are made, as if members of each other, make up as it were one body, namely, the world.”
While the things of the world are multiple, the service is “one and common” (mia kai koine), and they harmonize together in a cosmic leitourgia.
Conversely: If creation’s diversity makes up for lack in each part, and God has no lack, then God is in Himself, as one God, all that the creation is in its multiplicity. The light of God is the infinite light of sun and moon and stars and all else.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 11:29 am
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