The Transfiguration.

The West's "unsung feast."

This will not be a long essay, much as I would like it to be. Lots of block quotes. Life has and continues to intrude on my writing time, and the sole comfort is that I’m not literally selling people short. The antiphon for the Divine Liturgy still echoes in the background of this shorter post:

O Christ God, when You were transfigured in glory

on Mount Tabor, You manifested the splendor of

your Divinity to your disciples and sanctified the

whole universe by your Light. Illumine us too by the

Light of your knowledge. Guide us on the way of

your commandments. Make us worthy to inherit

your eternal Kingdom. For You are Good and Lover

of mankind and to You we render glory and to your

Eternal Father and your All-holy, Good and

Life-giving Spirit, now and always and forever and ever.

While vividly-central in the East, it is recognized that August 6 passes by almost unnoticed on the Western liturgical calendar, despite its clearly-biblical provenance.

Evangelical theologian Patrick Schreiner has written an absolutely essential book on the subject, The Transfiguration of Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Reading. Published this year, Schreiner notes the disparate emphasis between East and West:

In the Western tradition, this day passes by unsung, unhonored, unacknowledged. Consider: how many sermons have you heard on the transfiguration? How many songs do you know about the transfiguration? The transfiguration is a curiosity in want of practical significance.

The Transfiguration of Christ, p. 1. And Schreiner is careful to note that both Protestants and Catholics have done a better job of honoring the feast more in the breach than the observance. It did not appear in the Anglican Prayer Book until 1662 and was observed in the Latin Church on the Second Sunday of Lent between 1474 and 1969. Even those in his evangelical tradition appear to be flummoxed by it.

They should not be:

[T]he transfiguration is one of those events we can never seem to plumb the depths of. The simplicity of the story conceals its profundities. It leaves its fingerprints on every major doctrine: the Trinity, Christology, anthropology, soteriology, and eschatology. The light of the transfiguration refracts over all these core beliefs.

The transfiguration is a revelatory tour de force. It brings the past into unison with the present. The one who said “Let there be light” is now shrouded in light. It is a microcosm of the gospel. It reveals the great mystery of Christianity, the uniqueness of Jesus. As one scholar states, in the transfiguration “the diverse elements in the theology of the New Testament meet.”

Id. at 2-3. For Catholic and Orthodox readers, it is important to note that Schreiner’s work is in harmony with the councils and fathers of the early Church. He employs the four senses of scripture to full effect, unlocking the meaning of the event with aplomb.

He places patricular stress on constructing the argument that the transfiguration reveals that Jesus is pre-existent. Modern scriptural interpreters mostly shy away from this conclusion for reasons which need not detain us. For those who hold to the tradition, Schreiner’s argument is perhaps unremarkable, but it should not be. Contemplation of the Transfiguration should be an “exclamation point” moment every time.

The transfiguration is concomitant to the cross. Here we see that the living and the dead are one in Christ, the old and new covenant are inseparable, the suffering and glory of Christ are united, the age to come is already present in Jesus, our metamorphosis is guaranteed, and God’s final word is found in his son.

Here the diverse elements of the Scriptures meet. It is an integrative symbol, with images and words, darkness and light, heaven and earth, new and old luminaries, revelation and mystery. It stands as a dogma among dogmas. . . .

[I]f we begin by trusting that the early church has something to teach us in their articulation of hermeneutics, trinitarian theology and Christology, then the pieces fall into place. The four senses, Nicaea, and Chalcedon are wise guides to interpreting the transfiguration. The fourfold method allows readers to break free from the “literal” chains that imprison interpreters. Our trinitarian grammar reminds us that God is light in himself. And Chalcedon asserts that Jesus is doubly begotten. It is comforting to know that the Christian tradition stands behind the interpretation offered here. It seems that we would need something more forceful than minor detractors to overturn the received interpretation of this event.

Id. at 148-49. Schreiner’s work is must-reading, as he lays out the relationship of the Transfiguration to both the Old Testament and to the other events of Christ’s life, like the Baptism, Gethsemane, the Cross, the Resurrection and the Ascension.

In his collection of patristic and Byzantine meditations on the subject, Brian Daley, the editor of the second book I am recommending echoes Schreiner:

“[The Transfiguration is} the interpretive link between the beginning of Jesus’ mission, at his baptism in the Jordan, and the climax of his mission on Calvary.”

Light on the Mountain: Greek Patristic and Byzantine Homilies on the Transfiguration of the Lord is the other must-have. Daley, a careful Jesuit scholar, collects a diverse set of authors from the first millennium who each bring something valuable to the reader. Schreiner repeatedly references Daley’s work, and the two can and should be profitably read together.

When I get a free moment, I hope to talk about the Transfiguration and theosis/divinization. Before then, Schreiner and Daley will help you to sing the unsung feast.