 |
|
     |
|
|
|
Calvin intriguingly says that the Spirit is the power of persistence and growth and life in creation: not merely the agent for the formation of things, but for their persistence. Spirit ensures the temporal endurance of the creature. As Barth summarizes, Both the existence of things, created for as chaos (inordinata moles, massa indisposita), and also their nature or form (pulcher ac distinctus ordo), in order not merely to be created but also to be, to persist, needed an arcana Dei inspiration, a vigor imparted to them by God.EThis vigor is the gift of the Spirit. Thus, what maintains the creation and the individual creature in its identity through time is nothing within the creature itself, no "substance" that endures. Its persisting identity is entirely dependent upon Another, the Spirit. This is why, as postmodernists have found, any search for the substance of identity in the creature must end by dissolving the subject. Postmodernism thus sharpens the choice: Either identity is an illusion and the subject is really a thousand fragments of a subject; or identity is grounded in something other than the subject, something outside the creation.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Saturday, January 29, 2005 at 07:21 AM
Permission is given to use material on this site, provided the source is cited, blog entries are republished in full, and the author is notified in advance.
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
