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Publié par	Lexham Press
Date de parution	01 janvier 0001
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781683596141
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

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On Earth as in Heaven
THEOPOLIS FUNDAMENTALS
Peter J. Leithart

LEXHAM PRESS
On Earth as in Heaven: Theopolis Fundamentals
Copyright 2022 Peter J. Leithart
Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225
LexhamPress.com
You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other uses, please write Lexham Press for permission. Email us at permissions@lexhampress.com .
Unless otherwise noted, all other Scripture quotations are the author’s own translation or are from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are from the King James Version. Public Domain.
Print ISBN 9781683596134
Digital ISBN 9781683596141
Library of Congress Control Number 2022933927
Lexham Editorial: Todd Hains, Kelsey Matthews, Mandi Newell
Cover Design: Brittany Schrock
To the winner of birth race—
Raylan Daniel Leithart
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PRAYER
HYMN: “BLESSED CITY”
TO THE READER
PART I: THE THEOPOLITAN VISION
1. Blessed City
2. Tasting the End
3. City of Light
4. Angels at the Gates
5. Treasures of Kings
Conclusion: On Vision
PART II: THEOPOLITAN READING
Interlude: On Reading
6. Spiritual Reading
7. World
8. Adam
9. Eve
10. Eden
Conclusion: On Reading
PART III: THEOPOLITAN LITURGY
Interlude: On Liturgy
11. Place
12. Dialog
13. Sacrifice
14. Time
15. Joy
Conclusion: On Liturgy
PART IV: THEOPOLITAN MISSION
Interlude: On Mission
16. Making
17. Carpenter
18. Edification
19. Pilot
20. Vessels of Salvation
Conclusion: On Mission
THEOPOLITAN THESES
FOR FURTHER READING
Acknowledgments
Each of the four parts of Theopolis Fundamentals started life as a separate short volume, published during 2019–2020. I have revised transitional sections and some other details to turn those four volumes into a single book, but the substance of this omnibus volume is the same as the earlier books. Like many people of a certain age, I repeat myself. There’s overlap and repetition, but I hope not so much as to be annoying to the reader, not so much as to reveal the intensity of my dementia. Those four books remain in print, in case you’re looking for something with somewhat less heft to it.
Over the course of the past two years, I’ve had the help of a number of colleagues and friends. My oldest son, Woelke, used a part of his enforced vacation to proofread an early draft of The Theopolitan Vision . Pastor Steve Jeffery, now of All Saints Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, Texas, gave his wise input on the Vision volume, which I, foolishly, didn’t always take. My Theopolis colleagues Alastair Roberts, Jeff Meyers, and John Crawford read through the manuscripts and offered many corrections and suggestions. In the later stages, John Barach and Brian and Ashton Moats copy-edited and proofed the manuscripts, cleaning up a lot of sloppy errors; Chris Kou typeset each volume; all the while, my daughter Emma kept things on schedule. As always, Jim Jordan is present in with and under every sentence of this book. I am grateful to him for decades of friendship and collaboration.
I’m grateful to the original publishers, Athanasius Press, and especially to Jarrod Richey and Zach Parker. And I’m grateful too to Todd Hains and Jesse Myers of Lexham Press for their interest in this combined volume.
On Earth as in Heaven is dedicated to my fifteenth grandchild, Raylan Daniel Leithart, who joined Jordan, Jamie, and Ava in October 2021. With Raylan’s birth, our grandsons edge into a narrow 8–7 lead over the granddaughters. It’s only the top of the fourth, so I expect the girls will stage a comeback. In the meantime, Raylan occupies an honored branch of the family tree. As grateful as I am to have another grandson, I’m far more grateful that he is already a junior citizen of the future city of God. May he flourish like an oak in the courts of the Lord and stand as a pillar in his Father’s house.
Prayer
IN THE NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
YET GOD is my King from of old,
Who works salvation in the midst of the land.
Ps 74:12
My soul faints for Your salvation;
In Your word I put my hope.
Ps 119:81
You send Your Spirit; They are created.
And You renew the face of the ground.
Ps 104:30
You crown the year with Your goodness,
And Your cart paths drop with fatness.
Ps 65:11
The earth has yielded her produce;
God will bless us, our God.
Ps 67:6
Blessed be Yahweh, God, the God of Israel,
Who alone does wonders.
And blessed be His glorious name everlastingly,
And filled with His glory be all the earth.
Amen! Yes, Amen!
Ps 72:18–19
GLORY BE to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
O GOD, you are the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong and nothing is holy. Increase and multiply upon us your mercy, that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that in the end we do not lose the things eternal. Through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
“Blessed City”
—JOHN MASON NEALE
1 Blessed city, heavenly Salem,
vision dear of peace and love,
who of living stones art builded
in the height of heaven above,
and with angel hosts encircled,
as a bride dost earthward move!
2 From celestial realms descending,
bridal glory round thee shed,
meet for him whose love espoused thee,
to thy Lord shalt thou be led;
all thy streets and all thy bulwarks
of pure gold are fashioned.
3 Bright thy gates of pearl are shining,
they are open evermore;
and by virtue of his merits
thither faithful souls do soar,
who for Christ’s dear name in this world
pain and tribulation bore.
4 Many a blow and biting sculpture
polished well those stones elect,
in their places now compacted
by the heavenly Architect,
who therewith hath willed for ever
that his palace should be decked.
5 To this temple, where we call thee,
come, O Lord of Hosts, to-day;
with thy wonted loving-kindness
hear thy servants as they pray,
and thy fullest benediction
shed within its walls alway.
6 Here vouchsafe to all thy servants
what they ask of thee to gain,
what they gain from thee for ever
with the blessed to retain,
and hereafter in thy glory
evermore with thee to reign.
7 Laud and honour to the Father,
laud and honour to the Son,
laud and honour to the Spirit,
ever Three, and ever One,
consubstantial, co-eternal,
while unending ages run.
To the Reader
I had a particular kind of reader in mind as I wrote the Theopolis Fundamentals . I’m going to assume you’re that kind of reader.
My ideal reader is young, or young-ish. You’re an Evangelical Christian. I’m Protestant and I mainly write to Protestants, but my ideal reader could be in any denomination. Wherever you are in the church, you’re an Evangelical if you’re committed to the Bible. You may be a pastor or priest or seminary student. You may be a lay leader in the church, or a member observing from a distance.
You share a desire to follow Jesus and become more like Him, your interest in the Bible, your love for the church. These loves shape everything in your life.
You love the church’s tradition, but you aren’t a traditionalist. You realize that the church has to address the challenges of the present, but you aren’t a progressive.
But there’s something else: A restless hunger for something more.
If you’re a pastor or teacher, you feel you’re skimming the surface of the biblical text but don’t know how to dig deeper. You know it’s God’s word, but you wonder why it’s so weird. You may find yourself avoiding some biblical books (Leviticus, parts of Judges, the early chapters of 1 Chronicles) and sticking to the clearer, safer bits, where you at least have some idea of what’s going on.
If you’re a layman or laywoman, you’re edified by your pastor’s sermons, but you suspect there’s so much more to be said. You ask questions, but they don’t get answered. You Google, but you’re rightly cautious about what passes for theology on the Internet.
You attend worship at least once a week, but you wonder if there isn’t more. If you attend a Bible church, you might have slipped away in the last few months to attend an Anglican Evensong or a Catholic Mass, and that somehow seems much more like worship. You know some churches have weekly Communion. That seems intuitively right, though you’re not sure why.
You sense there’s something deeply wrong with today’s world, and you’re anxious for the future. But you don’t want to turn the clock back, you don’t want to stand with the doomsayers, and you think that the politicization of Christianity does more harm than good. Your skin crawls when other Christians merge Christian faith with patriotism. Your skin also crawls when Christians hitch their faith to the latest fad.
You know Jesus is the answer, and that the church is called to carry on Jesus’ ministry of healing, justice, salvation. You want to be part of something big, and Jesus’ mission is as big as it gets. But you wonder if the church is up to the challenge.
You don’t want to switch churches. If you’re not Catholic or Orthodox, you don’t want to become Roman Catholic or Orthodox. You have Catholic and Orthodox friends and you know they’re Christians. Yet you don’t buy the papacy and don’t want to venerate icons. Besides, your mother would roll in her grave if you swam the Tiber or moved to Constantinople.
(If you’re Catholic or Orthodox, you don’t want to become a Protestant; mothers roll in their graves when their children move in that direction too.)
You love your church. You love its vigor and its commitment to the Bible. You love its evangelistic fervor. Yet, whether you’re a Protestant, a Catholic, o