Selected Reading, May 1, 2021

 

A couple things you should read this weekend.

Christian History

Robert Jermain Thomas
A fascinating story of a missionary well-known in Korea, but not known at all to me. Do you know this story?

Gregory of Nanziansus
The theological term for this week is a Cappadocian Father. 

Christology

Why Jesus’s Humanity Matters as Much as His Divinity
“[T]he apostle John makes Jesus’s humanity a test of orthodoxy: ‘By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God’ (1 John 4:2). And whoever rejects the reality that Jesus came “in the flesh” is called an ‘antichrist’ (1 John 4:3).”

So why it matters so much that Jesus is truly human? Michael Kruger explains.

Theological Term: Gregory of Nazianzus

Gregory of Nasianzus
One of the Cappadocian fathers, best friend of Basil of Caesarea, presbyter in his home church of Nanzianzus, bishop of Constantanople, and one of the Eastern Church’s “most eloquent preacher[s] in the age of the early Church fathers.”1 He lived from 330-390. Also known as Gregory the Theologian.

• From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. H. Needham:

Active church live, however, was not really to Gregory’s liking; he was a sensitive, inward-looking person, who preferred writing poetry in solitude to the vicious cut-and-thrust of fighting Arians in the public arena of Church politics and theological debate. Despite, this, in 379-81 Gregory was briefly bishop of the little Catholic congregation in the Eastern capital, Constantinople, where Arianism reigned supreme. Here Gregory’s Five Theological Orations brilliantly summed up the Nicene doctrine of the Trinity, refuted Arianism, and attracted large numbers to Gregory’s church, winning them over to the Nicene faith.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: Who was Gregory of Nanziansus? and Who were the Cappadocian Fathers?
2. Theopedia: Gregory of Nanzianzus
3. Credo Magazine: Gregory of Nanzianzus

Related terms:

• Ambrose of Milan
• Athanasius
• Basil of Caesarea
• Irenaeus of Lyons
• Justin Martyr
• Origen
• Sabellius
• Tertullian

Filed under Christian History

1From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. R. Needham.

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Sunday's Hymn: Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting

Jesus, I am resting, resting
In the joy of what thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon thee,
As thy beauty fills my soul,
For by thy transforming power,
Thou hast made me whole.

Jesus, I am resting, resting
In the joy of what thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of thy loving heart.

O how great thy lovingkindness,
Vaster, broader than the sea!
O how marvelous thy goodness
Lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in thee, Beloved,
Know what wealth of grace is thine,
Know thy certainty of promise
And have made it mine.

Simply trusting thee, Lord Jesus,
I behold thee as thou art,
And thy love, so pure, so changeless,
Satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings,
Meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings:
Thine is love indeed.

Ever lift thy face upon me
As I work and wait for thee;
Resting ‘neath thy smile, Lord Jesus,
Earth’s dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father’s glory,
Sunshine of my Father’s face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting,
Fill me with thy grace.

—Jean S. Pi­gott

Other hymns of worship songs for this Sunday:

• O Happy Day, When Saints Shall Meet at The Happy Wonderer