Sunday Hymn: Beautiful Savior

Beautiful Savior, king of creation
Son of God and Son of Man!
Truly I’d love Thee, truly I’d serve Thee,
Light of my soul, my joy, my crown.

Fair are the meadows, fair are the woodlands,
Robed in the flowers of blooming spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
He makes our sorrowing spirit sing.

Fair is the sunshine, fair is the moonlight,
Bright the sparkling stars on high;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels in the sky.

Beautiful Savior, Lord of the nations,
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration
Now and forevermore be Thine!

Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• A Shelter in the Time of Storm at The Happy Wonderer

Selected Reading, February 27, 2021

 

My recommendations for your weekend reading. 

Old Testament

Moses’s Life Is a Movie Trailer
If it’s written by Michael Morales, I’m going to read it. You should too:

“God has an artistic way of arranging history and inspiring Scripture that allows us to see patterns in his redemptive work.

This is exactly what we see with Moses in Exodus, particularly its early chapters (typically referred to as his birth narrative). Moses doesn’t just serve as Israel’s redeemer and savior; he serves as a preview of Israel’s experience—almost like a movie trailer.”

Christian Living

Real Churches Commune with Dead Saints
A little encouragement during what can be discouraging times (and also an incentive to gather, if you can, with your church this Sunday): “Despite the distance between heaven and earth, between the dead and living, between now and eternity, we’re already citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, already enrolled in the same assembly.”

Theological Terms

Prophet, Priest, and King
From the Simply Put podcast, three short reflections on the three aspects of the threefold office of Christ. I’ll be adding links to these in my related theological terms. 

Athanasius
I’ve started a new series of theological term posts featuring people from Christian history. This one on Athanasius, “outstanding champion of Nicene theology,” is first.

Theological Term of the Week: Athanasius

Athanasius 
The bishop of Alexandria who became “the outstanding champion of Nicene theology in the East” and who was “one of the greatest and most influential thinkers in the history of the Christian Church.”1 He lived from 296-373.

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

Athanasius’s whole theology was centred on the docrine of salvation. In common with Eastern Christians generally, Athanasius understood salvation to mean deification — Christ the Savior makes human beings divine. This did not mean that Christ actually changed the believer’s human nature into God’s nature, but that human nature was lifted up by grace, through Christ, to share in the glory and immortality of God. 2 Peter 1:4 was a favourite text, where Peter describes Christians as “partakers of the divine nature”. How, Athanasius asked, could Christ make human nature divine if He Himself was less than God? Salvation means union with God’s life — human nature sharing in the glory of God’s nature. Therefore if Christ is humankind’s Saviour,  He must be God and man in one person; in Christ the God-man, humanity has been lifted up into the very life of God. Athanasius also argued from the fact that Christians worship Christ. How can we worship Him, Athanasius asked, unless He is God? If we are worshipping a created being, we are committing idolatry.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: Who was Athanasius?
2. Christian History: Athanasius
3. Michael A. G. Haykin: 10 Things You Should Know About Athanasius
4. John Piper: Contending for Our All
5. Ryan Reeves: Who Was Athanasius and Why Is He Important?
6. Nick Needham:  Athanasius and the Deity of Christ: Part 1 and Part 2 (videos)
7. Athanasius: On the Incarnation (pdf)

Related terms:

• Ambrose of Milan
• Apollinarius
• Augustine of Hippo
• Basil of Caesarea
• Cappadocian fathers
• Columba
• Cyril of Alexandria
• Gregory of Nanzianzus
• Gregory of Nyssa
• Gregory the Great
• Hilary of Poitiers
• Irenaeus of Lyons
• Jerome
• John Chrysostom
• Justin Martyr
• Maximus the Confessor
• Monica
• Nestorius
• Origen
• Patrick
• Pelagius
• Sabellius
• Tertullian
• Venerable Bede, The

Filed under Christian History

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

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Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.