Origin and destiny
It’s common sense that origin determines destiny.  That which is born of flesh is flesh, and remains so; that which is born of earth returns to the earth.
This is the common sense that the gospel subverts.  Men originated from earth are remade after the image of the heavenly man; flesh dies and rises as Spirit.  Or, what is equally astonishing: We are given a second origin, a new birth from God.
Which means: The gospel subverts any social order founded on the privilege and primacy of the well-born, any rigidly hereditary economic system that locks people in the caste in which they began.
In the gospel, the cliche is literally true: The sky’s the limit.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
In Medias Res
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