--- Wayne McNamara <wayne.mcnamara@...> wrote: > A related example is found in the Westminster > Confession > > Question 7: What is God? > > Answer: God is a Spirit, in and of himself infinite > in being, glory, > blessedness, and perfection; all-sufficient, > eternal, unchangeable, > incomprehensible, everywhere present, almighty, > knowing all things, most > wise, most holy, most just, most merciful and > gracious, long-suffering, and > abundant in goodness and truth. > > To me, the far more important quesiton is, "WHO is > God?" My answer: He is > Yahweh the creator and sustainer of all that is, the > Lord and Judge of all > men and nations. He is the sovereign ruler of > history moving all things to > their appointed ends according to His predestined > purpose. He is the Father > of all who call upon His name, the Redeemer of > sinful men. > > And instead of "What is God?", I would ask, "What is > God like?" Again the > answer is incomplete, it falls short of the > mark....too scientific, > to...well...Greek? I would add a statement to the > beginning of the answer, > something Trinitarian like, "God is one and three - > a unity of one Godhead > where there are three persons, the Father, the Son, > and the Holy Spirit, all > of one substance, power, and eternity, an eternal > community of perfection in > love and relationship." > > Sorry for babbling. > > Wayne+ ------------------------------------------------ Wayne+ Thank you. Wayne+ Your example illustrates what I had in mind. Another is this: one of the most "theological" statements in the Bible is John 1:1ff. The description of God provided there (what God was, the Word was) places Christian theology more in a mode of describing action than essences. The author of John's Gospel drives us back to Yahweh the God who sees, the God who creates and nurtures his creation, even to the extreme and extravagant action of entering into it and suffering with it. What is the essence of God? John answers by presenting the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth. Your saying you prefer to ask "who" rather han "what" gets at the heart of what I think is needed in theological writing. Another example is the question, "What is the Church?" Article XIX hardly expresses a fraction of the picture we gain of the Church in the Gospels, Acts and Epistles; it pictures the church as an assembly providing occupation for a preacher. The articles deal with the Church as if it is the clergy. There is little hint that the Church is the Body of Christ, a living organism by which the Incarnation continues to invade the world. That sort of failure to describe the life of the only Christ the world will ever see (the Church) is a problem of much of systematic approaches to theology. What is the Church? The Church is the Christ today with arms outreached saying "Come to me, all you who are weary and heven burdened, and I will give you rest." What is the Church? It is that Christ through whom God is continuing to reconcile the world to Himself. I suspect most in our culture view Christianity as "going to Church" where "the pure Gospel is preached," as if it were a spectator sport instead of a mission to which one commits oneself. It is not "going to Church" that we are inviting people to do. We are inviting people to sign up to be the "going Church." (Go ye. . .) Our emphasis on Eucharist must be tied with the message that our people congregatate to be fed not as an end in itself, but to be strengthened to live out the servant life. Catholics are evangelical. Charles+ __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com