The anthology features twenty Christmas poems crafted annually by Bruce Clark over four decades, reflecting the diverse styles and tones influenced by the events of each year. Compiled to celebrate the first twenty Christmases of the current millennium, these poems encapsulate the essence of the holiday while also chronicling significant historical moments. This collection serves as a heartfelt gift, showcasing the spirit of Christmas through a personal lens.
The plot centers on the disappearance of the Australian Minister of Defence following a helicopter crash in the Outback, creating a tense backdrop for unfolding events. Concurrently, survivors of a terrorist attack on Surfers Paradise are being held at an outback base for interrogation. The intertwining of these two crises raises questions about national security and the lengths to which authorities will go to uncover the truth. As the story progresses, it delves into themes of power, survival, and the impact of terrorism on society.
Christ, Paul, and the Reconciliation of All Things
What is the relationship between the preeminent, cosmos-reconciling 'Christ' of Col 1:15-20 and the imprisoned 'Paul' of 1:24-29, who enigmatically 'completes' the former's afflictions as he declares to 'every person' the mystery, long concealed but only now revealed by Israel's God to his holy ones? After finding solid exegetical ground through an unprecedented and exhaustive study of the rare verb antanaplēroō (in 1.24), Bruce Clark tackles this most intriguing, if challenging question. He argues that Col 1, in accord with 2 Cor 5:18-6:4, presents Paul as the utterly unique diakonos ('minister') of the universal ekklēsia and, therefore, as one whose afflictions uniquely complete Christ's own, so that together, revealing the righteousness of God, they initiate the divine reconciliation of 'all things.'