William Porcher Dubose

William Porcher DuBose

William Porcher DuBose was born into a wealthy Huguenot family in South Carolina in 1836. He was educated at the University of Virginia where he became fluent in Greek and several other languages. He was ordained in 1861 and became an officer and chaplain in the Confederate Army. DuBose was probably the most original and creative thinker the American Church has ever produced. He spent most of his life as a professor at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He was not widely traveled nor widely known, until, at the age of 56 he published the first of several books on theology that made him respected, not only his own country, but also in England and France. DuBose wrote: “God has placed forever before our eyes the image of the Very Person of the Spiritual Man. We have not to ascend into Heaven to bring Him down, nor to descend into the abyss to bring Him up, for he is with us, and near us, and in us, We have only to confess with our mouths that He is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God has raised from the dead—and raised us in Him—and we shall live.

Prayer

Almighty God, you gave to your servant William Porcher DuBose special gifts of grace to understand the Scriptures and to teach the truth as it is in Christ Jesus: Grant that by this teaching we may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN.

Scripture: Luke 24:25-32

(Jesus) said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

Reflection

Have you ever felt the presence of God in the context of an intense conversation with someone? What were your thoughts and feelings during the time of the encounter? Are there ways in which you convey deep thoughts and beliefs that open to us the larger reality of God’s love?