Wells again, commenting on the wedding at Cana: “This is not a story of the transformation of poison into safe water. It is not a story of a world deformed by sin being converted into a clean and healthy community. It is not a story of the obliteration or extermination of evil by a divine cleanser. It is a story of the inadequacy of fallen creation and the inadequacy of Israel (the six ritual water jars) being transformed by the generosity of God. It is a story of a good creation, become subject to the economy of scarcity, having no resources to help itself, being brought under the economy of abundant grace. It is a story of enough becoming not enough becoming too much. It is a parable of the person and work of Christ. This is the story of the Gospel: God in Christ overwhelms his despondent people by giving them far more than they need.”
Notes on Anosmia
One morning several years ago, as my wife, Wendy, and I were having breakfast together, I had…
Empire of Unreality
Shiva Naipaul (1945–1985) was the author of three novels and two books of mordant dispatches from places…
The Dreadful Christ of Pär Lagerkvist
It’s dangerous to meet a god,” says the disgraced Pythia in Pär Lagerkvist’s The Sibyl. Her observation…