Thursday, September 21, 2006

The law made flesh

In principio erat verbum et verbum erat apud Deum et Deus erat verbum.

In the beginning was the word, and the word was with the Law, and the word was Law.

The word was in the beginning with the Law.

All things were made through Law, and without Law was not anything made that was made.

In Law is life, and life is the light of humanity.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

I come for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through Law.

I am not the light, but come to bear witness to the light.

The true light that enlightens Law is coming into the world.

Law is in the world, and the world was made through Law, yet the world knows Law not.

Law comes to its own home, and its own people receive it not.

But to all who receive Law, who believe in its name, they receive power to become children of Law; they are born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of humanity, but of Law.

And the Law shall become flesh and dwell among us, full of grace and truth.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Looks like someone's been reading Durkheim! If you replace the word "lord" with "society" in many prayers, it's surprisingly resonant with the conclusions of Elementary Forms of the Religious Life.

But Auden, that old lapsed Catholic, offers a nice corrective:


I cannot say Law is again,

...
Although I can at least confine
Your vanity and mine
To stating timidly
A timid similarity,
We shall boast anyway:
Like love I say.

Like love we don't know where or why,
Like love we can't compel or fly,
Like love we often weep,
Like love we seldom keep

9/21/2006 9:59 AM  
Blogger Commentor said...

My understanding is the 3 letter "L" word is fairly well fixed in the first half of the work. Then once you near the end of the work, a 4 letter "L" word would perhaps be a better translation? As there is a great divide between justice and mercy.

3/15/2010 6:01 PM  

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