Sunday night Donne

Wilt thou love God as he thee? then digest,
My soul, this wholesome meditation,
How God the Spirit, by angels waited on
In heaven, doth make His temple in thy breast.
The Father having begot a Son most blest,
And still begetting—for he ne'er begun—
Hath deign'd to choose thee by adoption,
Co-heir to His glory, and Sabbath' endless rest.
And as a robb'd man, which by search doth find
His stolen stuff sold, must lose or buy it again,
The Sun of glory came down, and was slain,
Us whom He had made, and Satan stole, to unbind.
'Twas much, that man was made like God before,
But, that God should be made like man, much more.

(Holy Sonnet 15)

Having never read all of Donne's Holy Sonnets before (and they gave me English degrees!), I fell in love with his writing even more when I read this tonight. Apparently producing some of the most seminal, beautiful poetry in the English language just isn't enough if you don't casually throw it together by framing it in systematic trinitarian theology. In 14 lines he covers:

• Creation
• Theology proper (+ emphasizing orthodox distinctions)
  
• Anthropology
• Biblical covenantal typology
• The fall
• The incarnation
• Christ's exaltation and humiliation
• The atonement
• Double imputation
• Predestination
• Adoption
• Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
  
• Eschatology. 

Did I say this was in 14 lines? In one of the most complex poetic/stylistic traditions in the English language? And he masterfully weaves this together in the spirit of a devotional meditation on the love of God. I love the layers.