Jesus the Tekton
Timber Framing, Poetic Knowledge & the Curse of Sin
We stood at the ridge marking our property line, admiring our neighbor’s mature forest of mixed hardwoods and looking back with not a little distaste at the tangle of vines, thorns, and immature saplings on our side of the line—the mess from which we had just emerged. I counted fourteen holes in my shirt and more in my skin. We generally avoid this grim section of our otherwise beautiful farm but went that day to survey the forest and develop a timber-management plan.
Standing on the ridge, I realized that I had never fully appreciated the thorns and thistles of Genesis 3:18—which is to say, I had a superficial grasp of the curse of sin. I said as much to my companion, a professional forester and Christian, who remarked that it would make a great object lesson for our students—if we could find a way to get them there without getting cut to pieces. The insight struck with force: “No,” I said, “we’re going to go right through it! But just once a year; I don’t have enough shirts to spare.”
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
Mark Perkins is a priest in the Anglican Province of America and Chaplain and Assistant Headmaster of St. Dunstan’s Academy in Roseland, Virginia.
A Journal of Mere Christianity—Delivered to Your Door
- Essays on theology, culture, and the Church
- Contributors from across the Christian traditions
Six print issues (one year) of Touchstone, plus full online access and PDF downloads for only $39.95.
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95.
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more on Christianity from the online archives
32.4—July/August 2019
on Probability, Death & the Existence of God by Graeme Hunter
33.3—May/June 2020
Human & Divine Societies Require Careful Thought & Discourse by Anthony Esolen
30.6—Nov/Dec 2017
on Benedict XVI on the Fairest of the Sons of Men by Michael Martin De Sapio
more from the online archives
30.6—Nov/Dec 2017
Christ, Individualism & the Meaning of Cultural Diversity by Anthony Esolen
19.10—December 2006
Workers of Another World United
A Personal Commemoration of Poland’s Solidarity 25 Years Later by John Harmon McElroy
31.5—September/October 2018
on the Congregation as a Wilderness by Paul Gregory Alms
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
