Bible and Theology on Descent

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Descent and Resurrection

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:null, 1 Corinthians 15:22, Romans 6:4, John 12:24, Luke 24:5-6, Matthew 20:28

In the Christian story God descends to reascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down further still, if embryologists are right, to reca...

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Author

Søren Kierkegaard

Keywords

Only the one who descends into the underworld rescues the beloved.

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The Keys of Death are In the Savior’s Hands

Author

Charles E. Hill

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Scripture

Revelation 3:7, Philippians 2:null, Revelation 14:13

Christ descended into Hades so that you and I would not have to. Christ descended to Hades so that we might ascend to heaven. Christ entered the realm of death, the realm of the strong enemy, and came...

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Author

Matthew Y. Emerson

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To put it positively, the descensus is a thoroughly biblical doctrine, which teaches that Jesus experienced human death as all humans do—his body was buried, and his soul departed to the place of the ...

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Author

Matthew Y. Emerson

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And because he is God in the flesh, he defeated the place of the dead and the grave by descending into them and then rising again on the third day. In the Christian tradition, this hope is known as th...

lectionary

Good Friday

Author

Jonathan Cornell

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9, Hebrews 5:7-9

Ancient Lens What Can We Learn From the Historical Context? Old and New Testaments Meet Hebrews is a rich tapestry of intricately woven theology that spans the Old and New Testaments. With Christ...

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Ignorance and Fear

Author

Charles Spurgeon

Keywords

Charles Spurgeon related a trip through the Lake District, when a dense fog descended on him and his fellow travelers, “we felt ourselves to be transported into a world of mystery where everything was...

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Unlikely Providence

Author

Jerry Gifford

Keywords

“When the plane leveled off at 14,500 feet, Joan Murray took a deep breath and jumped out the door. The bank executive from Charlotte, North Carolina, was enjoying her free fall through the air until ...

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Total Depravity Explained: Humanity's Devolution

Author

T.C. Hammond

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:9-18, Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 19:25-26, Ephesians 2:5

Some skeptics today speak about “evolving” from a primitive condition, but the Bible (Romans 1:18-32) sadly portrays a descent rather than an ascent. The result has been given the theological term “...

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Author

William Manson

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When we turn to the New Testament, we pass from the climate of prediction to that of fulfillment. The things which God had foreshadowed by the lips of His holy prophets He has now, in part at least, b...

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Where is God? Hanging From the Gallows

Author

Jonathan Cornell

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 27:46, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 3:18, John 19:30, 1 Peter 4:13

In Elie Wiesel’s Night , Eliezer is a Jewish teenager, a devoted student of the Talmud from Sighet, in Hungarian Transylvania. In the spring of 1944, the Nazis occupied Hungary. Increasingly repressi...

lectionary

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Author

Eunice McGarrahan

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 3:13-22

Summary The Text: 1 Peter 3:13-22 In the first chapter of this letter, Peter sets out the reason for writing. He affirms the eternal state of the believer: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lo...

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Patrilineal & Patrilocal Life in Ancient Israel

Author

Sandra L. Richter

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 35:, Genesis 36:, Numbers 26:33, Numbers 27:1-11, Numbers 36:1-12, Joshua 17:3-6, Matthew 1:

The term patrilineal has to do with tracing ancestral descent (and therefore tribal affiliation and inheritance) through the male line. In Israel the possessions of a particular lineage were carefully...

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Psalm 133 | Unity

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 133:, Luke 2:41-52, Zechariah 9:9

Ancient lens What’s the historical context? Packed with Singular Meaning, A Pilgrim Song We have three verses packed with singular meaning⸺unity. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers and si...

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Author

John Calvin

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:17, Ephesians 2:6, John 10:28-29, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24, Philippians 2:6-8, 2 Corinthians 8:9

Pious souls can derive great confidence and delight from this sacrament, as being a testimony that they form one body with Christ, so that everything which is his they may call their own. Hence it fol...

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Hope in Death: Sermon Illustration Tuesday

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 23:51-56, John 11:25-26, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, Romans 6:4, 1 Corinthians 15:20-22

What, as Christians, can we say to those who face death, either their own or that of their loved ones? We certainly can give them the hope of Christ’s resurrection, if they or their loved one has trus...

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A Deeper Look at Sleep

Author

Tish Harrison Warren

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Sleep reminds us of our helplessness. Asleep, we have nothing to commend us; we accomplish nothing to put on our resume. Because of this, sleep is a counter-formative practice that reminds us that our...

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The Parousia Defined

Author

James Bryan Smith

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 4:15-17, James 5:7, Matthew 25:31-32, Titus 2:13, Revelation 22:12-13

Paul’s term for the return of Jesus is called the parousia. Parousia was used to describe an imperial visit by a king to a city. People would send a delegation outside the city gates to greet the dign...

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Christ, Too, Experienced Death

Author

Matthew Y. Emerson

Keywords

Scripture

John 11:25-26, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, Romans 6:4, 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 2 Corinthians 4:14

What, as Christians, can we say to those who face death, either their own or that of their loved ones? We certainly can give them the hope of Christ’s resurrection, if they or their loved one has trus...

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Author

Julie Canlis

Keywords

Ascent is neither the lone journey of Jesus nor the abstracted elevation of the soul, but is the future for an embodied humanity that is copresent with Jesus and his Father.

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Coming Down

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

John 1:14, Philippians 2:6-8, Hebrews 2:14-15, Colossians 1:19-20, 2 Corinthians 8:9

C.S. Lewis on the Incarnation: We catch sight of a new key principle—the power of the Higher, just in so far as it is truly Higher, to come down, the power of the greater to include the less. . . . ...

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Author

Donald Fairbairn

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In the great drama of redemption, all arrows point down, not up. To say this more plainly, at no point in the biblical panorama is redemption a matter of our rising up to achieve a higher condition ou...

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Author

John Milton

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:5, Jeremiah 9:23-24, Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Peter 3:9, Philippians 2:3-4, Romans 12:19, Proverbs 16:18

But what will not Ambition and Revenge Descend to? Who aspires must down as low As high he sor’d, obnoxious first or last To basest things.

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Follow the Bubbles

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:26, John 14:26, Psalm 139:9-10, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Isaiah 42:16, Psalm 119:105

When I graduated from college I was given one of the greatest opportunities of my young life. A group of my friends were told that if we were able to purchase a flight to the Cayman Islands, we would ...

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Author

Augustine of Hippo

Keywords

Scripture

2 Chronicles 7:14, James 4:6, Proverbs 29:23, Psalm 25:9, Isaiah 66:2, Matthew 18:4, Luke 18:14

Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.

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Author

Henri Daniel-Rops

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 12:1–2, Exodus 3:10–12, Isaiah 40:31, John 16:13, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Psalm 119:105

The great principle dominating the composition of Scripture is that of the ascent towards discovery.

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Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

...left to ourselves we lapse into a kind of collusion with entrophy, acquiescing in the general belief that things may be getting worse but that there's nothing much we can do about them. And we ...

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Riding the Monsters

Author

Annie Dillard

Keywords

Entering the wilderness is a larger metaphor for dealing with our own demons, our own motivations, be they good or bad. In this short excerpt, Annie Dillard shares the value of entering the wilderness...

liturgy

Adapted from Genesis 3:19, Matthew 24:36

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 3:19, Matthew 24:36

For you are dust, And to dust you shall return. But concerning that day and hour No one knows. Not even the angels in heaven, Nor the Son, but only the Father. Lord of all, we submit ours...

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Only the Penitent Man Shall Pass

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 5:6, Luke 18:13-14, James 4:10, Acts 3:19, Matthew 3:8

With the recent release of a new installment in the Indiana Jones movie series, our family decided to re-watch the original trilogy (I like to act as though Kingdom of the Crystal Skull never existe...

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