Sublime

How had I held in one life and one mind faith in radically premodern confessions and teachings while nonetheless working as a modern and very critical scholar?

As preachers, theologians are proclaimers of the Word, the truth of Jesus Christ as the Liberator of the poor and the wretched

But for the crucified Christ, the principle of fellowship is fellowship with those who are different, and solidarity with those who have become alien and have been made different. Its power is not friendship, the love for what is similar and beautiful (philia), but creative love for what is different, alien and ugly (agape). Its principle of justif

Each feature relates to the one thing the sermon is about.

faith is a “stance” we take toward the world.

This faith justifies us apart from love and prior to love.

Seventh, radical ad hoc readjustment

Specific statements such as these can capture the FCF that drives the development of a sermon: “When you cannot see God’s purposes, God’s promises can make you angry”; “It seems impossible to raise godly teens in a culture in which all values are relative”; or “When we know we are guilty, the gift of grace does not feel like it costs us enough.”

We recognize the nature of God best, not by thinking about his power and wisdom, which are terrifying, but by thinking about his goodness and love.