The Spirit of the Lord: Update

It has been almost a full year since I wrote the last post in my series on “The Spirit of the Lord.” The time has come to bring this series to a close, though that may still take awhile. I have expanded the final sections somewhat, and I remain as prolix as ever. For those readers who are not familiar with this series, the entire series began as a response to a sermon about the meaning of Immanuel given on Christmas Eve of 2006. In this sermon, the pastor said that the peace which Christ brings is entirely an inner, spiritual peace which has no relation whatsoever with one’s physical existence and social relations with others. I was incensed, and I began writing that very evening. The series has now reached well over 30,000 words. While I began focusing on issues of christology, I have spent the most time on ecclesiology. My argument is that the gospel (what I call the euangelion of shalom) embraces the whole of creaturely existence, including the material, political, and economic dimensions of human society. The series is thus an effort at a missionally-shaped, christologically-grounded, and eschatologically-oriented ecclesiology.

Below is the outline of the series so far. Like most series on this blog, each successive post seems to get longer and more sophisticated than the last. The heart of the series is thus §10, and for those reading this series for the first time and looking for a way to catch up quickly, I recommend reading those posts.

The Spirit of the Lord God Is Upon Me:
Theological Reflections on Immanuel

§1. Introduction

§2. Sanitized Savior of Suburbia

§3. Deus Nobiscum

§4. Deus Pro Nobis

§4.1. Simul iustus et peccator

§4.2. Death of Death

§4.3. Yes and No

§4.4. Munus triplex

§4.5. God in the Abyss

§5. Euangelion of Shalom

§6. Israel’s Messiah

§7. The Mediation of Christ

§8. Missio Dei and Missio Communionis

§9. Corpus Christi

§10. The New Jerusalem

§10.1. Covenant

§10.2. Universality

§10.3. Political pacifism

§10.4. Logocentricism

§10.5. Forensicism

§10.6. Eschatology

§10.6.1. The Eschatological Being of the Ekklesia

§10.6.2. The Eschatological Basis of the Ekklesia

§10.6.3. The Eschatological Limit of the Ekklesia

§11. The Banquet of the New Jerusalem: Eucharistic Shalom

§11.1. The Eucharist and the Spirit

§11.2. The Eucharist and Mission

§11.3. The Eucharist and Peace

§11.4. The Eucharist and the Kingdom

§12. Anima Pacis: The Spirit of the New Jerusalem

§13. The Spirit of the Lord Is Upon Us