Last week I wrote that one of the things the church is supposed to be is a forgiving community. Jesus talks a lot about forgiveness. He says ‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.”22But I say to you […]
Tag: Miroslav Volf
Justice
It’s the most interesting thing, I think, when Christians talk about God’s justice. One of the first things people mention is the saying, “an eye for and eye”. This is found in the book of Leviticus. “Anyone who maims another shall suffer the same injury in return: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for […]
Hope
This week we are returning to one of Miroslav Volf‘s essays in his very good book, Against the Tide: Love in a time of petty dreams and persisting enmities. In his essay “Not Optimistic” Volf draws an important distinction between optimism and hope. While both hope and optimism have to do with the future, and […]
Apologies
You’ve heard them, the non apology apology. “I’m sorry my [words,actions,deeds] hurt your feelings.” “I’m sorry for any misunderstanding there may have been.” “I’m sorry you’re upset.” You’ve heard people say things like this. I’ve said things like this. You might have too. It’s almost an apology, but not quite. I have not really taken […]
Coffee, the drink of heroes
In his essay “A Cup of Coffee” ( in Against the Tide, page 186) Miroslav Volf relates the story of a three year old girl who was shot by a sniper in front of her house in Sarajevo. When asked by journalist Zlatko Dizdarevic about this experience, the girl’s father said two interesting things. Dizdarevic […]
Evil and Love
Should we ever call someone evil? What are we saying when we call someone evil? These are some of the questions Miroslav Volf addresses in his essays “Evil and Evildoers” and “Demons or Evildoers” in his book Against the Tide:love in a time of petty dreams and persisting enmities. Volf notes that some (moral expressivists) […]
