David Congdon has challenged theology bloggers to write a poem about Barth that is loosely based on Albert Piersma's excellent poem on John Calvin:
Make of me no Calvinist,
God of Calvin and of me,
Cause me not to follow him
Who would follow only Thee.
God of Calvin and of me,
Cause me not to follow him
Who would follow only Thee.
Make of me no Calvinist,
Swallowing each word he penned,
Make of me a thinker, God,
As was he, Thy intimate friend!
Swallowing each word he penned,
Make of me a thinker, God,
As was he, Thy intimate friend!
Make me, God, as Calvin was,
Now, while yet in days of youth,
Delving from the Depths of Thine,
Sovereign, soul-exalting truth.
Now, while yet in days of youth,
Delving from the Depths of Thine,
Sovereign, soul-exalting truth.
Make me like the Christ,
O God, Give me not a Calvin's ire,
But withhold from me the spark
For a new Servetus-fire.
O God, Give me not a Calvin's ire,
But withhold from me the spark
For a new Servetus-fire.
Make me like a Calvin, God,
Just as humble, just as brave,
Like a Calvin who refused
E'en a stone upon his grave.
--Albert Piersma
Just as humble, just as brave,
Like a Calvin who refused
E'en a stone upon his grave.
--Albert Piersma
As readers of Exiled Preacher will know, I'm not really a Barth man, but here's my tongue-in-cheek entry, which, it's fair to say has divided the critics (here) :
Make of me no Barthian,
On some things he was quite wrong,
I don' t want to follow his lead,
Proper Calvinism's what I need.
Church Dogmatics don't make me read,
Those tomes will make my fingers bleed,
I haven't time to read that stuff,
Dogmatics in Outline is quite enough.
Like John Calvin I'd rather be,
He taught electing grace so free,
For sound doctrine he's the one,
Calvin's the better theologian.
Make me like Calvin, Lord,
A man who loves your holy Word,
I offer my whole heart to you,
Give me grace your work to do.
Those tomes will make my fingers bleed,
I haven't time to read that stuff,
Dogmatics in Outline is quite enough.
Like John Calvin I'd rather be,
He taught electing grace so free,
For sound doctrine he's the one,
Calvin's the better theologian.
Make me like Calvin, Lord,
A man who loves your holy Word,
I offer my whole heart to you,
Give me grace your work to do.
If you would like to contribute a poem, visit David's blog and send him an e-mail. The deadline is 4th July, after which voting will begin to decide the best Barth poem.
4 comments:
I've total respect for your Barth poem. I had a go myself, but all I came up with was a lousy limerick:
There once was a scholar named Barth,
Who was undoubtedly brainy and smart.
I will gladly concede,
That I'd give him a read,
But I just don't know quite where to start.
I know, I know, worthy of David Sky. I've held off submitting it as it may blow the rest of the competition out of the water.
I know that you will appreciate my work in the spirit of no.8 in your fundamentalism reformed comparsion.
Thanks for the link by the way.
Thanks for your kind remarks re my "poem". Being a Calvinist who knows great art when he sees it, I very much appreciated your Bart work. You should sumbit it!
I read on your blog that you'll soon be on the move to foreign climes. May the Lord guide you as you seek to do his will.
The link was long overdue.
Thanks for your best wishes re Peru. We're excited/terrified at the propect of stepping out in God's will in this way, but assured of His grace and goodness. I'm heading to Bible College in September to complete my MTh, and then we both head for the field in autumn '08.
Exciting times! May the Lord guide you every step of the way.
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