Category Archives: theology

A Pride So Great

Posted on June 20, 2022 by Matthew Phillips

“The third reason [for Christ’s advent] is for our advantage, so that [Christ] would make satisfaction for the first lie. Moreover, that lie was a pride so great that the man (homo) might lift up himself in the mind even … Continue reading →

Posted in Christ, Cross, medieval, Peter Lombard, pride, Ralph Ardent, theology | Leave a comment

The Blood of Abel

Posted on June 9, 2022 by Matthew Phillips

This painting comes from late medieval Strasbourg (c. 1410) It is currently in an art museum in Colmar, Alsace (France). Source of Image This image demonstrates the summation of medieval Christian piety with the bleeding, dying Jesus and the compassionate … Continue reading →

Posted in Christ, Cross, medieval, Peter of Blois, preaching, theology | Leave a comment

Winning Hearts and Minds

Posted on March 19, 2022 by Matthew Phillips

On March 6, 1522, Martin Luther returned permanently after an approximately ten-month stay in the Wartburg Castle.  The electoral duke of Saxony, Frederick the Wise, had sent Luther to the Wartburg after the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, issued the … Continue reading →

Posted in Martin Luther, Reformation, theology | Leave a comment

Trust the Science

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Matthew Phillips

“Then came the explosion of this myth.  It climaxed in the horrors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and in the fierce fury of fifty-megaton bombers.  Now we have come to see that science can give us only physical power, which if … Continue reading →

Posted in Martin Luther King Jr, theology | Leave a comment

God Descends into Dust

Posted on December 14, 2021 by Matthew Phillips

“Majesty compressed himself to join to our dust the best thing he had, which is himself.  God and dust, majesty and weakness, utter lowliness and utter sublimity  were united in a single person.  Nothing is more sublime than God, nothing … Continue reading →

Posted in Bernard of Clairvaux, Christ, Christmas, Incarnation, theology | Leave a comment

More Than a Feeling

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Matthew Phillips

“For virtue is nothing else than an affection of the mind ordered according to reason, and such affections are said to be very numerous according to the various inclinations of the same mind, yet having one root and origin, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bernard of Clairvaux, Christ, Cross, Hugh of St Victor, Incarnation, Love, medieval, theology | Leave a comment

A Virgin Shall Conceive

Posted on March 25, 2021 by Matthew Phillips

“Perhaps at the time the angel came, she was holding [the text of] Isaiah in her hands; perhaps she was then studying the prophecy which declares: Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and his name will be … Continue reading →

Posted in Aelred of Rievaulx, Mary, medieval, theology | Leave a comment

Defy Everything: Martin Luther in 1520

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Matthew Phillips

“Let us…commit the affairs of men to God in faithful prayer, and be calm.  What can they do? Will they kill [me]?  Will they revive [me] again in order to kill [me] again? Will they brand me [me] a heretic?  … Continue reading →

Posted in Martin Luther, Reformation, theology | 1 Comment

Medieval Passover

Posted on April 11, 2020 by Matthew Phillips

“This holy festival, Pascha, is called a Passover because just as the Hebrew people were freed through the blood of the slaughtered lamb, from the angel, passing through Egypt for striking, so the faithful people are defended  through the blood … Continue reading →

Posted in Bernard of Clairvaux, Christ, Cistercian, Cross, Honorius Augustodunensis, medieval, preaching, theology | Leave a comment

The Price of Satisfaction: Bernard of Clairvaux’s View of Redemption

Posted on August 19, 2019 by Matthew Phillips

“You lived, O man, in darkness and the shadow of death through ignorance of the truth; you were a prisoner and your sins were your shackles.  He [Jesus] came down to you in your prison, not to torture you but … Continue reading →

Posted in Bernard of Clairvaux, Christ, Cross, medieval, memory, theology | Leave a comment