{"id":518,"date":"2005-11-30T08:17:11","date_gmt":"2005-11-30T08:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2005\/11\/christ-plays-2.html"},"modified":"2005-11-30T08:17:11","modified_gmt":"2005-11-30T08:17:11","slug":"christ-plays-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2005\/11\/christ-plays-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Christ Plays 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christ Plays 2 (pp. 49-84)
\nThis mega-blog with pastors and friends, and anyone else who wants to speak up, is about E. Peterson\u2019s new book, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places<\/em>, and we are doing about 30 pages a week. This week\u2019s reading is from the chapter \u201cChrist Plays in Creation\u201d and we are taking a big chunk of that chapter. I am summarizing the material and inviting others to reflect on the reading \u2013 but anyone who\u2019d like to respond is welcome. I might add that it is rare that we are treated to a pastor-scholar, like Peterson, who brings his entire ministry and theology to fruition in a five-volume series on spiritual theology.
\nA major idea in this section is that the spiritual life is a life in this world<\/em>. It is not simply a life for heaven, but also a life for now.
\nThus, the kerygma<\/em> is Jesus\u2019 birth \u2013 that is, God reveals himself most completely in a human, living person named Jesus. \u201cIf you want to look at creation full, creation at its highest, you look at a person \u2013 a man, a woman, a child\u201d (53).
\nThe threat <\/em>to the gospel is Gnosticism \u2013 a term Peterson will use often enough for the attempt to flee life as it is for a life that is not, or for a life where we\u2019d like it to be what we\u2019d like it to be. \u201cThe feature attraction is that we no longer have to take seriously \u2026 either things or people\u201d (60).
\nPeterson\u2019s introduction to Christ and the spiritual life in creation is grounded in two texts: Genesis 1\u20142 and the Gospel of John (St. John).
\nThe grounding text is Genesis 1\u20142<\/em> and I think Peterson\u2019s section here is brilliant (pp. 62-84). First, creation now: this is not just about the past but about now. Peterson asks this: \u201cHow can I get in on this [creating work of God]?\u201d (64)
\nCreation involves time<\/em> (Gen 1): he is at his best in discussing rhythms of time. Time is a gift of God in which we presently participate \u2013 the end time is not a future but the fullness of time now (67). We are created to live rhythmically in the rhythmical times of God.
\nCreation involves place<\/em> (Gen 2): all living is local; we are called to our place. Utopia is a \u201cno-place\u201d but we are called to an actual place. Sometimes we are tempted to go to another place where things will be better. Peterson pulls out a wonderful story of Gregory of Nyssa who labored in Nyssa (ever hear of it?) \u2013 and he has this quotation: \u201cHis brother told him that he didn\u2019t want Gregory to obtain distinction from his church but rather to confer distinction upon it\u201d (74). How many of us need to hear that?
\n\u201cTheology divorced from geography gets us into nothing but trouble\u201d (77). God placed \u201chumans\u201d in the place he made: Eden.
\nHe also develops the idea of freedom and necessity<\/em> and the \u201cenormous dignity\u201d of being human in a place. Our freedom is constrained by our place (necessity). We negotiate between the two as limited constrained humans.
\nAnd there is intimacy<\/em> in this place for humans: Adam and Eve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christ Plays 2 (pp. 49-84) This mega-blog with pastors and friends, and anyone else who wants to speak up, is about E. Peterson\u2019s new book, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, and we are doing about 30 pages a week. This week\u2019s reading is from the chapter \u201cChrist Plays in Creation\u201d and we are taking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"yoast_head":"\nChrist Plays 2 - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2005\/11\/christ-plays-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christ Plays 2 - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Christ Plays 2 (pp. 49-84) This mega-blog with pastors and friends, and anyone else who wants to speak up, is about E. 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