Saturday, November 26, 2005
The Clothing of Immortality
The words of Gregory Nazianzen (325-389) on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, as found in Life in the Spirit by Thomas Oden:
We call it the Gift, the Grace, Baptism, Unction, Illumination, the Clothing of Immortality, the Laver of Regeneration, the Seal, and everything that is honourable. We call it the Gift, because it is given to us in return for nothing on our part. Grace, because it is conferred even on debtors; Baptism, because sin is buried with it in the water; Unction, as Priestly and Royal, for such were they who were anointed; Illumination, because of its splendour; Clothing, because it hides our shame; the Laver, because it washes us; the Seal, because it preserves us, and is moreover the indication of Dominion (179).


That one little 1600-year-old paragraph makes more sense to me than all of the charismania jargon I ever naively swallowed.

posted by Peter at 12:37 PM
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