Why Do Episcopalians Call Their Priests, "Father"?

Why do Episcopalians and other catholic traditions call their clergy, “Father”?  Below I am taking several different portions from an article that a fellow Anglican Priest, the Rev. Dr. Joseph Murphy wrote.

Jesus reproached the religious leaders of His day with some strong words about being called, "father," which sounds like this name is off-limits (to save space I will not be printing most of the scripture texts, but I would challenge you to read the passages in full for a better understanding of what is being written. - Fr. Tom - Matthew 23:1-12 ).

Jesus' words to His disciples on not calling anyone else "father" seems to make the catholic practice of addressing a priest as "father" completely unbiblical, and a proud and Pharisaic thing to do. At least, a straightforward reading of the text might lead us to think that (what some would call a "literal" reading). 

The problem with such a reading of this text is that it would also prevent Christ's followers from calling their earthly male parent, "father." Jesus is pretty explicit: " . . .call no man your father on earth . . ." The same thing applies to teachers, of course. We would have to cease calling all teachers by that name--Jesus doesn't restrict it to religious teaching--if one takes this statement at face value. But, human society and the Church within it still need parenting and teaching. Of course, if we stopped using those terms altogether it would be very problematic, because then we wouldn't even be able to explain Who the heavenly Father is in relation to Jesus, or why Jesus alone is our Teacher, because those words would no longer apply to their earthly counterparts. No, Jesus wasn't teaching His disciples to stop using a name, a label, a way of referring to or addressing someone, whether "father" or "teacher." A literal reading of Jesus' words here just doesn't make sense.

We run into further problems when we read the Apostle Paul's comments to the Corinthians and Thessalonians (see I Corinthians 4:14 – 17 and I Thessalonians. 2:11-12 - "admonish you as my beloved children" and "we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children")

The early Christians followed Paul's pattern. The Aramaic word "abba" ("father" or many argue, "dad") (e.g., Romans 8:15; Gal. 4:6) is the source of the English word "abbot" which the Celts first used for the head of their monastic communities. The French "Abbe" is similar, common for a parish priest. 

Oddly enough, the Christians that find it offensive to call the priest "father" routinely call their ordained church leader, "pastor." That term, however, is derived from the Latin word for "shepherd." Apparently, in their view, we have only one Father (as Jesus said) and so don't call their leader "father," but we have more than one shepherd. This is odd because Scripture is very clear on this:

The LORD is my shepherd . . . (Psalm 23:1)

But, its even more specific. At one point during the ministry of the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord rebuked the shepherds of Israel, His flock (Ezekiel 34:2), and later called David (as a type of the Messiah) the shepherd of his people (Ezekiel 34:23 and 37:24).

One Shepherd and yet we call our church leader “pastor” (shepherd)?

But, in fact, calling your church leader "Pastor" isn't wrong. For Christ is our "chief Shepherd" (see I Peter 5:1-4).

Peter commands the leaders of the Church in I Peter 5 to "shepherd" the people of God, yet they have a chief Shepherd. With pastors(shepherds), it isn't that God doesn't use humans to do that work--He does--but they are only obedient and beneficial as God's shepherds if there is a clear understanding of who the Real Shepherd is. 

Isn't this, however, exactly the case with fatherhood? We have a physical father, yet only one heavenly Father. We may have a spiritual father as well, perhaps several, yet understood as utterly insignificant in light of our heavenly Father because such "fathers" are only by analogy.  

So, why did Jesus say, "call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven"? For the same reason He said,

"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell."(Matthew 5:29-30) 

He was making a point, a strong one, about the seriousness of sin. But, if we took it literally we might wind up killing ourselves to keep from sinning! Repentance is what Jesus was getting at, not self-mutilation. 

With giving our church leaders titles, whether "pastor", "teacher", or "father," Jesus' point is clear and driven home by the forceful way He expressed it: don't mistake anyone for the only Real Shepherd, Real Teacher, Real Father that you have. 

I believe the best and first way to see a local church body is as a "family".  Jesus talks of those that "do the will of his Father" as those who are his true family.  We are "adopted" to be heirs with Jesus Christ, the Son of God.   The Apostles in their writings also use family terms constantly: "household of faith", "brothers", "brotherly love", and "sons and daughters" of the Father God, being "children of God", etc.  In scripture, it is also revealed that the biblical, communal love we have, is one of a close and intimate family.  

Thus, as an Episcopalian clergyman (especially, in the Episcopal Diocese of Springfield), I am referred to as "Father" (and our women priests often referred to as "Mother").  I have a responsibility to guide, care for, walk with, and confront (and redirect) poor behavior for the betterment of each family member (and the greater parish family as a whole). I am also a shepherd, caregiver, and an authority figure regarding the centrality of Christ's teaching of the Gospel and the Kingdom of God.

However, in my basic membership in the household of God, I am one family member in a local church of many members. We are all equally valuable in the eyes of God being created in the image of God and redeemed through the work of Christ. We have differing roles due to the gifting, calling, and passions given to us by Jesus Christ our Lord, but we are loved and saved together as the Body of Christ.

Thanks, be to God.

A Limited Window - Proverbs 1:20-33

 

The wise lay aside complacency, hostility, and foolishness.

The Feast of St. Augustine

 

Augustine, perhaps the greatest theologian in the history of Western Christianity, was born in 354 at Tagaste in North Africa. In his restless search for truth, he was attracted by Manichaeism and Neoplatonism, and was constantly engaged in an inner struggle with his personal morals. Finally, under the influence of his mother Monnica, Augustine surrendered to the Christian faith in the late summer of 386. He was baptized by Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, on Easter Eve in 387. After returning to North Africa in 391, Augustine found himself unexpectedly chosen by the people of Hippo to be a presbyter. Four years later he was chosen bishop of that city. His spiritual autobiography, The Confessions of St. Augustine, written shortly before 400 in the form of an extended prayer, is a classic of Western spirituality.

Augustine wrote countless treatises, letters, and sermons. They have provided a rich source of new and fresh insights into Christian truth.

The Manichaeans had attempted to solve the problem of evil by positing the existence of an independent agency eternally opposed to God. In refutation, Augustine affirmed that all creation is essentially good, having been created by God; and that evil is, properly speaking, the privation of good. A rigorist sect, the Donatists, had split from the Great Church after the persecution of Diocletian in the early fourth century. Against them, Augustine asserted that the Church was “holy,” not because its members could be proved holy, but because holiness was the purpose of the Church, to which all its members are called.

Stirred by Alaric the Visigoth’s sack of Rome in 410, Augustine wrote his greatest work, The City of God. In it he writes: “Two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by love of self, even to the contempt of God, the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The earthly city glories in itself, the heavenly city glories in the Lord. . . . In the one, the princes, and the nations it subdues, are ruled by the love of ruling; in the other, the princes and the subjects serve one another in love.”

Augustine died on August 28, 430, as the Vandals were besieging his own earthly city of Hippo.

Lord God, the light of the minds that know you, the life of the souls that love you, and the strength of the hearts that serve you: Help us, following the example of your servant Augustine of Hippo, so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Scripture Readings:

Hebrews 12:22–24,28–29

Psalm 87

John 14:6–15

(Lesser Feasts and Fasts, pgs. 360-361, Church Publishing, 2006)

An Earthy Redemption - Luke 24:36-48

 The created order is restored through the resurrection of Jesus.

Christian Behavior

Because of the Redemption of Christ, our character is constantly changing.

 

Using the Daily Office (Discipleship Article #6)

 

For Anglicans, the Daily Office forms the foundation of how we see weekly, systematic prayer. Based on the monastic "hours", our Prayer Book provides us with five different services during the day where we may set ourselves apart for prayer (BCP, pg. 35) The two foundational services in the Daily Office are Morning and Evening Prayer.

I have from time to time trained anyone interested in how to "read" Morning Prayer and use the daily lectionary. This offer stands open to anyone (member or attendee) who would like such direction. If there is enough interest, I would be willing to teach a class on the same. In addition, I have also created introductory booklets for those who would like a more abbreviated approach to beginning Morning Prayer. Both the "Intro to Morning Prayer" and "Intermediate Guide to Morning Prayer" can be found in our booklet stands found at each entrance to our building, or you can click on the two links below:

Intro to Prayer - (BCP)

Intermediate Prayer (BCP)

In our next article, we will consider other ways to supplement and aid us as we journey in discipleship to Jesus, seeking and knowing our God.

Getting into the Specifics (Discipleship Article #5)

 

So, as we seek to live out our Discipleship during the week what does this look like? How do we start? Where do we start?

First of all, we choose and strive to have an awareness of God's presence with us everywhere we go. Paul teaches us that in Christ we "live, move, and have our being" and that we are indwelt with the person of the Holy Spirit (see Romans 8, the Spirit connecting us to the very being of God and his power in our lives"). We are told in I Thessalonians 5 that we should go through our day in a prayerful state of mind:

 

16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

 

Secondly, we set time aside for prayer, scripture reading/reflection, and meditation. It is one thing to read scripture or listen to a homily. It is completely another to reflect on how that scripture and/or teaching can help shape our character, beliefs, and life. Sometimes the meditation we engage may be necessary before we begin our prayer so that we can put the random swirling thoughts and many responsibilities aside and rest in the "peace that passes all understanding." Other times, we may need meditation after our time of prayer and/or Scripture reading to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit's clarity and applicational wisdom.

 

Thirdly, set this time of prayer aside daily, at the same time of the day, and for a specified amount of time. I often tell new believers that it is better to start with only five minutes a day than to take on too long of a time which then becomes drudgery. The hope is to develop good habits. Don't rely on willpower first of all, but ask the Lord to strengthen and help you in this discipline.

 

Lastly, get help from a spiritual guide for the best ways to accomplish these spiritual disciplines, or if you have engaged in these disciplines for a long time, inquire of a spiritually mature person how you might approach your personal prayer life in some fresh and meaningful ways. Your Priest or Pastor is always the best place to start.

 

In our next article, we will investigate some resources that can aid us as we seek to develop a life of prayer.

Meditating on the Word (Discipleship Article #4)

  

Joshua 1:

8 "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. 9 I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

 

The Lord here is giving instructions to Joshua, not the entire assembly of Israel. However, Joshua is being given a source to know and meditate on so as to understand the Lord's wisdom and direction for the people that he is to now lead. He would need courage to trust the Lord as he sought wisdom from his God.

 

This means that, like the future kings to follow him, Joshua would have likely had a copy of the Torah of that day.

 

Deuteronomy 17:

18 When he has taken the throne of his kingdom, he shall have a copy of this law written for him in the presence of the levitical priests. 19 It shall remain with him and he shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, diligently observing all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 neither exalting himself above other members of the community nor turning aside from the commandment, either to the right or to the left, so that he and his descendants may reign long over his kingdom in Israel.

 

The copy of the law the king received would have come from the Holy Scriptures that the priests cared for; most of the people would have had no access to the written Scriptures. And yet, we are told in Psalm 1:

 

  1   Happy are those 

  who do not follow the advice of the wicked, 

  or take the path that sinners tread, 

  or sit in the seat of scoffers; 

  2   but their delight is in the law of the LORD, 

  and on his law they meditate day and night. 

 

The righteous are taught to delight and meditate regularly on the Law of the Lord. This meant that they had to rely on the teaching of the priests, prophets, and other, wise sages for their exposure to the written Holy Scriptures only available to a certain few. Those certain few, could meditate on that which they read and studied.

 

WE today are the "certain few". We are blessed to have a complete, written account of God's actions, ways, and teachings. We can meditate not only on what we hear and are taught, but can also read the Holy Scriptures for ourselves. We need care to realize the varied genres, literature, and complexities of interpreting Holy Scripture, but we are still able to swim in it's truths and expose ourselves to truth that can later be expounded for us.

 

The Old and New Testament ideas of God's covenant people being "priests of the church to the world" (the "priesthood of the believer") has never meant that any baptized person with the Scriptures in their hands will understand and interpret truth equally. However, it does mean that we all have responsibility for what we know and how God has gifted us to serve the church and the world. We can each come before God through Christ for a relationship with him, and He has gifted each one of us to be light and salt in the world.

 

Are we taking advantage of all of the "gifts" that he has given us? How can we better come to know and serve him in our everyday lives?

 

In the next few articles, we are going to focus on some of the specific, practical steps, and actions we can take in becoming more disciplined and strong followers of Jesus. He longs to walk with us every moment of the day, but, like Adam and Eve in the garden, we must come out of the shadows of guilt, shame, and fear and engage Him.

 

Walking with God (Discipleship Article #3)

  

 

Gen 3:

8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 

 

In Genesis, Adam and Eve represent the entire human community. We are given insight into a very interesting fact: God came to visit Adam and Eve, and his visit is pictured in such a way as to indicate that this was a regular, if not daily, occurrence. In the past, "hearing" that God had come to fellowship with them would have been a delight. Now, after their disobedience, it made them afraid.

 

In short, we were created, first of all, to have a relationship with God. This relationship while personal, is also communal. It is also intimate. But for Adam and Eve to have fellowship with God, they also had to be present and engaged.

 

It is often said in life that "what we put into a task or relationship is what we will likely get out of it". This is certainly also true in our spiritual life and discipline.

 

Daniel 6:

10 Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open towards Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously. 

 

The idea we get for regular, daily prayer comes first from the Old Testament and the worship of the Old Covenant People of God. There were different times for prayer during different periods in the life of the people of Israel. Daniel had made it his practice to pray at morning, mid-day, and evening. He is positioned as someone who sought God, had spiritual power, and remained faithful to the Lord in the midst of hostile circumstances.

 

What time do we make for prayer and meditation (which, in our time in history, means that we can meditate on a complete copy of Holy Scripture)?

 

I submit to you that the Holy Scriptures and the Christian Tradition encourage us that to be "strong in the Lord" this kind of regular spiritual discipline is vital to our faithfulness and joy.

The Feast of Bishop William White

 

William White was born in Philadelphia, March 24, 1747, and was educated at the college of that city, graduating in 1765. In 1770 he went to England, was ordained deacon on December 23, and priest on April 25, 1772. On his return home, he became assistant minister of Christ and St. Peter’s, 1772–1779, and rector from that year until his death, July 17, 1836. He also served as chaplain of the Continental Congress from 1777 to 1789, and then of the United States Senate until 1800. Chosen unanimously as first Bishop of Pennsylvania, September 14, 1786, he went to England again, with Samuel Provoost, Bishop-elect of New York; and the two men were consecrated in Lambeth Chapel on Septuagesima Sunday, February 4, 1787, by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Bishops of Bath and Wells and of Peterborough.

Bishop White was the chief architect of the Constitution of the American Episcopal Church and the wise overseer of its life during the first generation of its history. He was the Presiding Bishop at its organizing General Convention in 1789 and again from 1795 until his death. He was a theologian of no mean ability, and among his proteges, in whose formation he had a large hand, were such leaders of a new generation as John Henry Hobart, Jackson Kemper, and William Augustus Muhlenberg. White’s gifts of statesmanship and reconciling moderation steered the American Church through the first decades of its independent life. His influence in his native city made him its “first citizen.” To few men has the epithet “venerable” been more aptly applied.

O Lord, in a time of turmoil and confusion you raised up your servant William White, and endowed him with wisdom, patience, and a reconciling temper, that he might lead your Church into ways of stability and peace: Hear our prayer, and give us wise and faithful leaders, that through their ministry your people may be blessed and your will be done; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 92

Lessons:

Jeremiah 1:4–10

John 21:15–17

Lesser Feasts and Fasts, pgs. 306-307

Appetites (Discipleship Article #2)

 

The summer before my junior year in high school, I took a bicycle trip with some family friends. The goal was to bike all the way around Lake Michigan, starting in Illinois and finishing in Wisconsin. We didn't make it the entire way around the lake, but we got very close. All in all, it was over two weeks of continuous bicycling - no matter the precipitation or the heat of the day.

While on this trip, I discovered something new. If I got thirsty enough, even warm water tasted good. Granted, I had to be very thirsty, but this often happened because we rarely stopped unless it was absolutely necessary So, when I did get thirsty, I gladly drank the water that I had, even though it had been affected by the sun. In normal circumstances, I would have dumped this water into the grass. I have rarely known that kind of thirst in my life, nor have I easily forgotten it.

This thirst is reminiscent of the Psalmist's proclamation in Chapter 42:

1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,

so my soul longs for you, O God.

 

2 My soul thirsts for God,

for the living God.

When shall I come and behold

the face of God?

 

When was the last time you were this thirsty or hungry?

 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

(Matthew 5:6).

 

What are the appetites that we feed in our lives? Do we hunger after the Lord, His direction, His life. If our occasional hunger for God is placated, but treated as optional, what other appetites are taking over? The reality is that “hungering after God” is a gift that only he can give, but one we have to truly want. This kind of hunger is developed by planning, commitment, and time. It must be developed and prioritized.

 

It is only through hungering after our God and seeking him that gives us true and lasting fulfillment. He wants to fill us up, but if our “baskets” are already full of other things, His life-giving gifts will go elsewhere.

 

Ps. 81:

10 I am the Lord your God,

   who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

   Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

 

11 ‘But my people did not listen to my voice;

   Israel would not submit to me.

12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,

   to follow their own counsels.

 

13 O that my people would listen to me,

   that Israel would walk in my ways!

 

16 I would feed you with the finest of the wheat,

   and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.’

 

The appetites we develop, feed, and prioritize will end up defining us and our values. There is no lasting discipleship to the Lord Jesus Christ without developing and feeding the right kind of hunger. Our commitment as disciples of Christ to the weekly worship of Word and Sacrament is paramount. However, if we are going to develop our spiritual strength and stamina, we must pursue Christ and His community in deeper and more intimate ways. Discipleship groups with qualified and trained teachers, personal prayer and meditation, and constant immersion in Holy Scripture help give us the nutrition and training to stay fit and prepared in our journey with Christ and His people.

Let us seek, hunger, and thirst after our God.

 

The God Who Pursues

 

Jesus pursues us but never forces himself on anyone

The Feast of St. Irenaeus

 

If theology is “thinking about faith” and arranging those thoughts in some systematic order, then Irenaeus has been rightly recognized by Catholics and Protestants alike as the first great systematic theologian.

There is considerable doubt about the year of Irenaeus’ birth; estimates vary from 97 to 160. It is certain that he learned the Christian faith in Ephesus at the feet of the venerable Polycarp, who in turn had known John the Evangelist. Some years before 177, probably while Irenaeus was still in his teens, he carried the tradition of Christianity to Lyons in southern France.

His name means “the peaceable one”—and suitably so. The year 177 brought hardship to the mission in Gaul. Persecution broke out, and a mounting tide of heresy threatened to engulf the Church. Irenaeus, by now a presbyter, was sent to Rome to mediate the dispute regarding Montanism, which the Bishop of Rome, Eleutherus, seemed to embrace. While Irenaeus was on this mission, the aged Bishop of Lyons, Pothinus, died in prison during a local persecution. When Irenaeus returned to Lyons, he was elected bishop to succeed Pothinus.

Irenaeus’ enduring fame rests mainly on a large treatise, entitled The Refutation and Overthrow of Gnosis, Falsely So-Called, usually shortened to Against Heresies. In it, lrenaeus describes the major Gnostic systems, thoroughly, clearly, and often with biting humor. It is one of our chief sources of knowledge about Gnosticism. He also makes a case for Christianity which has become a classic, resting heavily on Scripture, and on the continuity between the teaching of the Apostles and the teaching of bishops, generation after generation, especially in the great see cities. Against the Gnostics, who despised the flesh and exalted the spirit, he stressed two doctrines: that of the creation as good, and that of the resurrection of the body.

A late and uncertain tradition claims that he suffered martyrdom, about 202.

pg. 298, Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006

Lessons:

Psalms 85:8–13 

2 Timothy 2:22b–26

Luke 11:33–36

Say "NO" to Easy (Discipleship Article #1)

Mark 4:

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

The reality is that Jesus never made following him easy.

To be a disciple in first-century Judaism meant finding a Rabbi and sitting at his feet to learn and be shaped by him. The Rabbi was a teacher and expert who would help people understand the truth that would lead them to Covenantal faithfulness as a Jewish person. In the past, the Jewish people had rejected the teaching of the Lord and found hope and life in other things. Largely, the Jewish people had rebelled against their covenant God and followed false idols that promised quicker results and the promise of easier access to power and protection.

Thus, the Jewish rabbis in the day of Jesus decided that the best way to avoid the judgment of God was to create an oppressive works-based religious system that would ensure the obedience of the Jewish people that would protect the nation of Israel from ever having to go into captivity again. However, the system was a fabrication of men that bypassed their need to know and follow their God even when it made no earthly and human sense. The system created by man was easily abused and manipulated by lawyers and powerbrokers. When Jesus came, he was a threat to their system and their childishness.

So, Jesus spoke in parables. But the parables were confusing. They were interesting, but in the end, it is hard to understand why Jesus would make his truth so veiled and indirect. The Answer? He challenged the large and impressive crowd that came for MANY different reasons, to seek him for the right reasons. In time, most of the crowd melted away. The disciples of Christ stayed, embraced him, asked questions, and continued to seek him, although in rough and sometimes silly ways.

However, it is those silly, childish, and needy disciples who found answers, truth, and life by seeking Jesus after the dust of his teaching had settled. Worship in Word and Sacrament together is important, but it doesn't show us HOW to live out the truth in everyday life. For that, there must be searching, asking, reading, staying, showing up, and learning. In short, to grow strong in the faith, there must be discipleship.

Are you engaging in Discipleship? What does that look like?

More to come.

The Feast of St. Basil the Great

 

Basil was born about 329, in Caesarea of Cappadocia, into a Christian family of wealth and distinction. Educated in classical Hellenism, Basil might have continued in academic life, had it not been for the death of a beloved younger brother and the faith of his sister, Macrina. He was baptized at the age of twenty-eight, and ordained a deacon soon after.

Macrina had founded the first monastic order for women at Annesi. Fired by her example, Basil made a journey to study the life of anchorites in Egypt and elsewhere. In 358 he returned to Cappadocia and founded the first monastery for men at Ibora. Assisted by Gregory Nazianzus, he compiled The Longer and Shorter Rules, which transformed the solitary anchorites into a disciplined community of prayer and work. The Rules became the foundation for all Eastern monastic discipline. The monasteries also provided schools to train leaders for Church and State.

Basil was ordained presbyter in 364. In the conflict between the Arians (supported by an Arian Emperor) and orthodox Christians, Basil became convinced that he should be made Bishop of Caesarea. By a narrow margin, he was elected Bishop of Caesarea, Metropolitan of Cappadocia, and Exarch of Pontus. He was relentless in his efforts to restore the faith and discipline of the clergy, and in defense of the Nicene faith. When the Emperor Valens sought to undercut Basil’s power by dividing the See of Cappadocia, Basil forced his brother Gregory to become Bishop of Nyssa.

In his treatise, On the Holy Spirit, Basil maintained that both the language of Scripture and the faith of the Church require that the same honor, glory, and worship is to be paid to the Spirit as to the Father and the Son. It was entirely proper, he asserted, to adore God in liturgical prayer, not only with the traditional words, “Glory to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit;” but also with the formula, “Glory to the Father with the Son together with the Holy Spirit.”

Basil was also concerned about the poor, and when he died, he willed to Caesarea a complete new town, built on his estate, with housing, a hospital and staff, a church for the poor, and a hospice for travelers.

He died at the age of fifty, in 379, just two years before the Second Ecumenical Council, which affirmed the Nicene faith.

(pg. 286, Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006)

Psalm: 139:1–9 or 34:1–8

Lessons:

1 Corinthians 2:6–13

 Luke 10:21–24

Feast of St. Barnabas

Joseph, a Levite born in Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), sold a field he owned, brought the money, and turned it over to the apostles” (Acts 4:36–37). This first reference in the New Testament to Barnabas introduces one whose missionary efforts would cause him to be called, like the Twelve, an apostle. As a Jew of the Dispersion, he had much in common with Paul. When Paul came to Jerusalem after his conversion, the disciples were afraid to receive him. It was Barnabas who brought Paul to the apostles, and declared to them how, on the road to Damascus, Paul had seen the Lord, and had preached boldly in the name of Jesus (Acts 9:27). Later, Barnabas, having settled in Antioch, sent for Paul to join him in leading the Christian Church in that city.

Barnabas and Paul were sent by the disciples in Antioch to carry famine relief to the Church in Jerusalem. Upon their return, the Church in Antioch sent them on their first missionary journey beginning at Cyprus. At Lystra in Asia Minor, the superstitious people took them to be gods, supposing the eloquent Paul to be Mercury, the messenger of the gods, and Barnabas to be Jupiter, the chief of the gods, a testimony to the commanding presence of Barnabas. The association of Barnabas and Paul was broken, after their journey, by a disagreement about Mark, who had left the mission to return to Jerusalem. After attending the Council of Jerusalem with Barnabas, Paul made a return visit to the Churches he and Barnabas had founded in Asia Minor. Barnabas and Mark went to Cyprus, where Barnabas is traditionally honored as the founder of the Church.

It seems that Barnabas continued his journeys for the Gospel, because Paul mentions him several times in his letters to the Galatians, the Corinthians, and the Colossians. Tradition has it that he was martyred at Salamis in Cyprus.


(from Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006, pg. 282)

Grant, O God, that we may follow the example of your faithful servant Barnabas, who, seeking not his own renown but the well-being of your Church, gave generously of his life and substance for the relief of the poor and the spread of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 112

Lessons:

Isaiah 42:5–12
Acts 11:19–30;13:1–3
Matthew 10:7–16

Divine Authorship

 The Divine Authorship of Scripture

The End of Devotion

"The end of devotion is not, to become extraordinarily devout. It is possible to fill one's life with practices of piety and yet not to get more Christ-like. It is possible to spend much time in devotion, and yet to be hard and critical and to lack a-missionary and loving spirit. It is a terrible, as well as a salutary, thing to remember that it was devout people at a time of special devotion who killed our Lord."

"God Himself must be the sole end of our devotion. There is no great danger of our worshipping graven images, but there is a very great danger of our worshipping mental images of our own imagining. God has been revealed to us in the dear figure of Christ, and the supreme revelation of God is a naked man dying on the gallows in the dark. We have to be dispossessed of our mental images of a sentimental Christ by this stark reality of the perfect sacrifice of the Cross. He is our model. ' He never thought of Himself or His own interests. He never did one single action because He was bribed in any way to do it. He never abstained from any for fear of what might happen to him. In all things He sought only and always his Father's will."

"The end of devotion is attained when the complete taking of all things meets with the complete giving of all things. Death, the great taker, is defeated when he meets Christ, the great giver. The supreme devotion of our Lord's life was consummated as He laid down His life for His sheep and yielded His spirit in perfect faith to His Father. The true end of devotion is the gift of ourselves and all we have to God."


Fr. Andrew, Meditations, pg. 166

"An Earthy Redemption" - Luke 24:36-48

 

The created order is restored through the resurrection of Jesus:

Devotion to God

 "But our devotion to Almighty God depends upon its being unlimited and unconditioned. Devotion to a creature that has no limit or condition is what we call inordinate affection, but devotion to God which is limited and conditioned is robbed of its meaning. There is no rivalry between the love of God and the love of one's neighbor, because one's love of one's neighbor will only be a true love if it is conditioned by the love of God. The glory of God and the good of one's neighbor will be the two motives that, ever in union, control a devout life. Out of our love of God will come true social service and true love of mankind."

Father Andrew, Meditations, pg. 165

Catholic but NOT Roman Catholic: Big "C" and Little "c"

Our ecumenical baptismal creed, the Apostles Creed, states “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church. . . .” The most widely used ecumenical creed, the Nicene Creed states “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.” So what does it mean to be catholic?

For the most part, when we hear someone declare “I am a catholic” or if someone uses the word catholic, our thoughts turn first to the Roman Catholic Church. However, while the Roman Catholic church is catholic, they are not the only catholics. The very term Protestant derives its meaning from that time period in the 16th century when many historic, catholic Christians were protesting some of the doctrine and a lot of the practices of the Roman Catholic church. It is important to realize that all Protestants derive their starting place from the medieval Catholic church. Men like Martin Luther and John Calvin were Roman Catholics that were forced to leave the church, and were used over time to help the Roman Church see its need of change in multiple ways. However, John Calvin and Martin Luther always subscribed to the catholicity of the creeds and the importance of those Christians and church fathers that went before them.

Unfortunately, many groups have decided in their own thinking, and in their brief history, that THEY now are the true church (as if they were starting the church from scratch). The implication is that the church before them has been getting things wrong, that they are above the corruption or blind-spots that others have had, and that they are in little need of the help offered by those Christians who have lived before them. Not only is this historically dishonest, it is thoroughly unscriptural. The reality is that the Feast of Pentecost in the first century was the beginning of the church (as recorded in Acts). The Reformation, Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock, Great Awakenings, Azusa Street Revival, etc., were NOT the beginning of the church. In addition, of all the informing events that may be meaningful for us, we should be open to discernment and an honest evaluation of these same events through the lenses of scripture and those who have gone before us. History teaches us (if we will listen) that hindsight is 20/20. Why do we always believe that our generation is somehow removed from this reality; that we will avoid the blind-spots that no generation has ever eluded?

All churches that name Christ as Lord today owe a great debt to the church councils and leaders that helped settle the debates and truth regarding the Trinity, the incarnation of Christ, and many more basic core doctrines that we take for granted today. In other words, our debt to those who have gone before us is pronounced whether we want to admit it or not.

So what does it mean when we declare every Sunday that we are catholic?

First of all, it means that we have an ancient faith. We, by very definition, are a people dependent on those who have come before us. We are dependent on God's work now among us, but God's work among us does not negate or lay aside the work that he has always been doing among his covenant people. From the creation of humanity to today, we owe a debt of gratitude to those who have faithfully served the Lord and handed down a living faith to our generation. If we desire the scriptural and historic honesty that the Lord requires of us, we will embrace that we build on the shoulders of those who have come before us. There is a core teaching and interpretation of Scripture that has been and is being passed down from generation to generation. It is appropriate to question what belongs in this “core” and we are still in the process as the “church universal” of taking the good and leaving the bad. However, there is that which we believe will not change from the past regarding the Gospel, the Kingdom of God, and the character of our God. This is our catholic faith, and the creeds are our starting place in any discussion of our central beliefs.

Secondly, it means that we have an apostolic faith. As Christians we read the Old Testament through apostolic “lenses;” and we are guided by the apostolic perspective, especially as recorded in the Holy Scriptures. The catholic perspective is that any authority we have as a church is derived from Jesus Christ who is the head of the church. However, we also believe that we learn of this Jesus through the perspective of the apostles who lived, listened, and walked with Him. Their teaching and their writings in the Holy Scriptures now guide and shape our thinking, being, and living. In Acts 2 we are told that the church gathered together in part to hear “the apostles’ teaching”. We believe that the truth and authority that we have today as God's faithful people is derived and handed down to us from the apostles. Outside of their Holy Spirit-led perspective, Christian truth does not exist.

Thirdly, we are a global church. Our catholicity, while derived from the Jewish people and based on the salvific work of a Palestinian Jew who was also God, has always been intended for ALL the peoples of the world. WE ARE AN INCLUSIVE FAITH. Every nation and tribe is offered the good news regarding the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Abrahamic Covenant makes it clear that the Lord was going to bless all nations through Abraham's family. This has come to pass with the coming of Jesus Christ in obedience to His Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. Now the church is spread across the globe. There is a strength and unity that Christians gain from these global relationships, challenges, and differing perspectives. Christ's desire is that we all be one, so that the nations of the world may see our love and unity and “believe that you (the Father) have sent me (Jesus)” (John 17). Salvation is offered for every person who repents of their sin, accepts their need, and puts their hope and faith in Jesus - no matter their ethnicity, gender, or socio-economic status. With Jesus, redemption is never "bought" or manipulated by the power structures of this world.

So are we Anglicans also catholic? YES! We are local bodies of believers with our own distinct location, culture, strengths and weaknesses, and, yet, connected to the church that has "always been" through Apostolic Succession, The Holy Scriptures, The Historic Liturgy, and the Historic Creeds. We are an ancient, apostolic, and global people interconnected and dependent on those faithful believers throughout space and time. Thanks be to God!

The Christ We Believe In

 

"It is well for us to consider the education of the spiritual life. James and John had to learn, as Peter had to learn, the kind of Christ they believed in. Peter cried, 'Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God,' but when our Lord began to speak to him of the Sacred Passion, to tell of the Cross and the agony and shame and apparent defeat; then S. Peter said 'That be far from Thee, Lord,' and he Who had been called Peter one minute was called Satan the next. When Salome asked that her two sons might be on our Lord's right hand and His left, she had a vision of splendid royalty. The vision of the cup of a king in an oriental woman's mind was the golden cup brought by a cupbearer at a banquet, when the king was celebrating some great victory. Neither Salome nor James nor John could dream what the cup of our Lord really was. They knew not what they asked, nevertheless what they asked was granted them."

"Every time we say the Lord's Prayer we pray, 'Thy will be done,' and indeed we know not what we ask.  Every time we come to our communion we drink the cup of His Precious Blood, and we know not for what that grace is given to us, what challenge is coming to every part of our being. We know not what the will of God is going to be in our lives, but we do know this, that the will of God is that our will should be one with His will, and that when we drink of His cup and receive the communion of His Sacred Body we should take into our beings the power of the everlasting love of God."

-Father Andrew, Meditations, pg. 155.

That Mystical Union - Romans 6:1-11

We have the power to avoid imprisonment

Feast of Gregory of Nyssa

 

Gregory was a man enchanted with Christ and dazzled by the meaning of his Passion. He was born in Caesarea about 334, the younger brother of Basil the Great, and, in his youth, was but a reluctant Christian.

When he was twenty, the transfer of the relics of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste to the family chapel at Annesi quickened Gregory’s faith, and he became a practicing Christian and a lector. He abandoned this ministry, however, to become a rhetorician like his father.

His brother Basil, in his struggle against the Emperor Valens, compelled Gregory to become Bishop of Nyssa, a town ten miles from Caesarea. Knowing himself to be unfit for the charge, Gregory described his ordination as the most miserable day of his life. He lacked the important episcopal skills of tact and understanding, and had no sense of the value of money. Falsely-accused of embezzling Church funds, Gregory went into hiding for two years, not returning to his diocese until Valens died.

Although he resented his brother’s dominance, Gregory was shocked by Basil’s death in 379. Several months later, he received another shock: his beloved sister Macrina was dying. Gregory hastened to Annesi and conversed with her for two days about death, and the soul, and the meaning of the resurrection. Choking with asthma, Macrina died in her brother’s arms.

The two deaths, while stunning Gregory, also freed him to develop as a deeper and richer philosopher and theologian. He reveals his delight in the created order in his treatise, On the Making of Man. He exposes the depth of his contemplative and mystical nature in his Life of Moses and again in his Commentary on the Song of Songs. His Great Catechism is still considered second only to Origen’s treatise, On First Principles.

In 381, Gregory attended the Second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople, where he was honored as the “pillar of the Church.” In the fight for the Nicene faith, he was one of the three great Eastern theologians, known with Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus, as the Cappadocian Fathers.

Prayer:

Almighty God, you have revealed to your Church your eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like your bishop Gregory of Nyssa, we may continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; for you live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

Scripture:

Gregory of Nyssa (lectionarypage.net)

"The Temptation to Delusion" - Mark 8:31-38

Theme: The devoted rely on mercy

The Feast of Martin Luther, - Pastor, Prophet, and Theologian.

The Feast Day was actually on Sunday, February 18th. This is a late post.

Martin of Erfurt, born in 1483 of German peasant stock, was a monk (more exactly, a regular canon) of the Order of Saint Augustine, and a Doctor of Theology. In his day, the Church was at a spiritual low. Church offices were openly sold to the highest bidder, and not nearly enough was being done to combat the notion that forgiveness of sins was likewise for sale. Indeed, many Christians, both clergy and laity, were most inadequately instructed in Christian doctrine. Startling as it seems to us today, there were then no seminaries for the education of the clergy. There were monastic schools, but they concentrated on the education of their own monks. Parish priests, ordinarily having no monastic background, were in need of instruction themselves, and in no way prepared to instruct their congregations. Brother Martin set out to remedy this. He wrote a simple catechism for the instruction of the laity which is still in use today, as is his translation of the Scriptures into the common tongue. His energy as a writer was prodigious. From 1517, when he first began to write for the public, until his death, he wrote on the average one book a fortnight.

Today, his criticisms of the laxness and frequent abuses of his day are generally recognized on all sides as a response to very real problems. It was perhaps inevitable, however, that they should arouse resentment in his own day. Martin Luther was not alone in his views, but in time (and largely, by no design of his own) he became the most prominent of the voices calling for reform in the Church. Theologically, he emphasized the importance of divine Holy Scripture as the church's highest authority and salvation by grace through faith in Christ (in response to the work of Christ in his death, resurrection, and ascension).

In Brother Martin's own judgement, his greatest achievement was his catechism, by the use of which all Christians without exception might be instructed in at least the rudiments of the Faith. Some of his admirers, however, would insist that his greatest achievement was the Council of Trent, which he did not live to see, but which he was arguably the greatest single factor in bringing about. While the Council's doctrinal pronouncements were not all that Brother Martin would have wished, it did take very much to heart his strictures on financial abuses, and undertook considerable reforms in those areas. It banned the sale of indulgences and of church offices, and took steps to provide for the systematic education of the clergy. Putting it another way, if I were arguing with an adherent of the Pope, and I wanted to point out to him that many Popes have been, even by ordinary grading-on-a-curve standards, wicked men, cynically exploiting their office for personal gain, I would have no difficulty in finding examples from the three centuries immediately preceding Brother Martin and the Council of Trent that my opponent would have to concede. If I were restricted to the centuries afterward, I should have more of a problem. And this is, under God, due in some measure to Brother Martin's making himself a nuisance. Thanks be to God for an occasional nuisance at the right time and place.

   Behold, Lord
   An empty vessel that needs
      to be filled.
   My Lord, fill it
   I am weak in the faith;
   Strengthen me.
   I am cold in love;
   Warm me and make me fervent,
   That my love may go out
      to my neighbor...
   O Lord, help me.
   Strengthen my faith and
      trust in you...
   With me, there is an
      abundance of sin;
   In You is the fullness of
      righteousness.
  Therefore I will remain
      with You,
   O whom I can receive,
   But to Whom I may not give.
 
             -Martin Luther (1483-1546)

(Main source: James Kiefer's Hagiography)

 Prayer and Lectionary Readings

A Win/Win Situation - Philippians 1:19-26

 

Theme:  A vindicated life runs through Jesus

Evangelism in the Anglican Tradition

Anglican evangelism is communal, constantly sprouting and spreading from within the Covenant Community of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Church. God gifts and calls His people to serve the church and be light to the world outside the gathered People of God. In the Old Testament, God called Israel to be His special Covenant People, “a light to the Nations”. While they did not fulfill this task due to their disobedience to their sovereign God, Jesus Christ, the light of the world, DID!

Through his life, death, and resurrection, the Lord accomplished the way of freedom and salvation for all humankind. In following our Lord by repentance and faith through the mystery of Baptism, we join the New Covenant People of God in worshiping and knowing this wonderous, Triune God, bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a world in need of forgiveness and reconciliation with their Creator. While the church sends out evangelists gifted explicitly in sharing the good news of salvation, they are sent from within the community of Christ, which is the vehicle of salvation in the world. Also, the very nature of our Worship is evangelistic, as the Gospel is at the center of what we preach, pray, and engage in the sacraments.

By our particular vocations dictated by the spiritual gifts given to us in the body of Christ, we live, love, and engage the created order around us, revealing the true humanity of Jesus Christ as we are continually “conformed to the image of the son”. Every task and vocation we engage in is valuable and a potential revelation of our God-given humanity and redemption in the world. The Gospel is often lived as a message before it can be verbally proclaimed and understood by those living in darkness. Most vocations must live out the faith before the words about Jesus will be heard. However, there is a time to speak clearly and boldly of the need of sinful humanity, and the gracious salvation that our Savior offers.

The Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas

 

Thomas Aquinas is the greatest theologian of the high Middle Ages, and, next to Augustine, perhaps the greatest theologian in the history of Western Christianity. Born into a noble Italian family, probably in 1225, he entered the new Dominican Order of Preachers, and soon became an outstanding teacher in an age of intellectual ferment.

Perceiving the challenges that the recent rediscovery of Aristotle’s works might entail for traditional catholic doctrine, especially in its emphasis upon empirical knowledge derived from reason and sense perception, independent of faith and revelation, Thomas asserted that reason and revelation are in basic harmony. “Grace” (revelation), he said, “is not the denial of nature” (reason), “but the perfection of it.” This synthesis Thomas accomplished in his greatest works, the Summa Theologica and the Summa Contra Gentiles, which even today continue to exercise profound influence on Christian thought and philosophy. He was considered a bold thinker, even a “radical,” and certain aspects of his thought were condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities. His canonization on July 18, 1323, vindicated him.

Thomas understood God’s disclosure of his Name, in Exodus 3:14, “I Am Who I Am,” to mean that God is Being, the Ultimate Reality from which everything else derives its being. The difference between God and the world is that God’s essence is to exist, whereas all other beings derive their being from him by the act of creation. Although, for Thomas, God and the world are distinct, there is, nevertheless, an analogy of being between God and the world, since the Creator is reflected in his creation. It is possible, therefore, to have a limited knowledge of God, by analogy from the created world. On this basis, human reason can demonstrate that God exists; that he created the world; and that he contains in himself, as their cause, all the perfections which exist in his creation. The distinctive truths of Christian faith, however, such as the Trinity and the Incarnation, are known only by revelation.

Thomas died in 1274, just under fifty years of age. In 1369, on January 28, his remains were transferred to Toulouse. In addition to his many theological writings, he composed several eucharistic hymns. They include “O saving Victim” and “Now, my tongue, the mystery telling.”

(Lesser Feasts and Fasts, pg. 152)

Feast Day Scripture Readings

Living or Fabricated?

 

Authentic people discern reality and truth as they present themselves, so that love and wisdom may be rightly applied. 

Inauthentic people create the narratives they must have, and then desperately try to manipulate others and situations for their own happy returns. One approach reflects the character of God. The other, the power brokers of this world.

The Feast of John Chrysostom, January 27th, 2024

John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople, is one of the great saints of the Eastern Church. He was born about 354 in Antioch, Syria. As a young man, he responded to the call of desert monasticism until his health was impaired. He returned to Antioch after six years, and was ordained a presbyter. In 397, he became Patriarch of Constantinople. His episcopate was short and tumultuous. Many criticized his ascetical life in the episcopal residence, and he incurred the wrath of the Empress Eudoxia, who believed that he had called her a “Jezebel.” He was twice exiled, and he died during the second period of banishment, on September 14, 407. Thirty-one years later, his remains were brought back to Constantinople and buried on January 27.

John, called “Chrysostom,” which means “the golden-mouthed,” was one of the greatest preachers in the history of the Church. People flocked to hear him. His eloquence was accompanied by an acute sensitivity to the needs of people. He saw preaching as an integral part of pastoral care, and as a medium of teaching. He warned that if a priest had no talent for preaching the Word, the souls of those in his charge “will fare no better than ships tossed in the storm.”

His sermons provide insights into the liturgy of the Church, and especially into eucharistic practices. He describes the liturgy as a glorious experience, in which all of heaven and earth join. His sermons emphasize the importance of lay participation in the Eucharist. “Why do you marvel,” he wrote, “that the people anywhere utter anything with the priest at the altar, when in fact they join with the Cherubim themselves, and the heavenly powers, in offering up sacred hymns?”

His treatise, Six Books on the Priesthood, is a classic manual on the priestly office and its awesome demands. The priest, he wrote, must be “dignified, but not haughty; awe-inspiring, but kind; affable in his authority; impartial, but courteous; humble, but not servile, strong but gentle. . . .”

O God, who gave your servant John Chrysostom grace eloquently to proclaim your righteousness in the great congregation, and fearlessly to bear reproach for the honor of your Name: Mercifully grant to all who proclaim your word such excellence in preaching, that all your people may be made partakers of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

From "Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006, pg. 150

Go to Scripture Readings

More about St. Chrysostom:

He (Chrysostom) loved the city and the people of Antioch, and they loved him. However, he became so famous that the Empress at Constantinople decided that she must have him for her court preacher, and she had him kidnapped and brought to Constantinople and there made bishop. This was a failure all around. His sermons against corruption in high places earned him powerful enemies (including the Empress), and he was sent into exile, where he died.

Along with Athanasius of Alexandria, Basil the Great, and Gregory of Nazianzus, he is counted as one of the Four Great Eastern (or Greek) Doctors of the Ancient Church. The Four Great Western (or Latin) Doctors are Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great.

-John Kiefer (Lay Episcopalian Writer).

 

“Shoulder to Shoulder” Phil. 1:3-11

An honest pursuit of God and ministry produces intimacy 

 

The Beggar and the Chalice

 

Loving and Hating Truth

 

From Confessions, by St. Augustine, Chapter 23.

That Donatist Problem Today: The Elusive Search for the One Pure Church

I am thankful for the Reformation. I wouldn’t be an Anglican if this was not the case. Luther helped many understand that a baptized person earns no merit on their own before God per their religious busyness. He, with others, also exposed the way that the Roman Church of the day had made their tradition all-encompassing. Tradition had grown in such a way as to push Holy Scripture to the background, and thus, it was interpreted through the lenses of an extensively rigorous and religiously cultural bias. The Reformers sought to address this problem in part through what became “sola scriptura” and helped restore the primacy and importance of Holy Scripture in keeping with their Patristic forebearers who were “soaked in Scripture.”[1]

But as any careful investigator will note, the Reformers also went beyond Medieval abuses and encouraged certain Scriptural and theological errors of their own. While it is true that we do not merit our righteous status before God, it is also true that sanctification IS still a part of our salvation as evidenced overwhelmingly in Holy Scripture:

“Sanctification is not ‘Christian living’ removed somehow from the gospel message and our salvation. Sanctification is a work of the Holy Spirit as He continues to develop holiness in our lives as we open our hearts to our Lord Jesus Christ and seek our triune God.”[2]

Through Luther’s influence, a theology also arose that taught that salvation could occur outside of the Covenant Community of God, the Church of Jesus Christ (in contrast with Patristic assumptions even before Cyprian). A cavalcade of Reformers (and the later Pietists) followed suit taking the theology of a personal salvation to an unscriptural extreme. Salvation for Protestants thus became “my salvation outside of the church” (aka, me and Jesus) instead of my personal salvation inside and with the church in keeping with the scriptural teaching of being “the bride of Christ.” I submit that these would have been surprising and extremely foreign ideas to the framers meeting at the Council of Nicaea in 325.  I also submit that those attending Nicaea would have assumed the primacy of scripture (Suprema-scriptura) along with the important place of tradition in keeping, finding, and applying the truth.

In our search for holiness, it is easy to go beyond what is true and right, becoming more impressed with our current insights than our position in finite time and space allow. As history reveals, over-reactions theologically can create their own heresies and cause lasting damage to the Church of Jesus Christ. Spiritual humility and scriptural discernment are disciplines that must be pursued; they do not come easily and need to be done in community.

Holiness or Grace?

During the persecution of Christians by Emperor Diocletian, there were some Bishops who cowered under threat allowing both holy books as well as their copies of Holy Scripture to be destroyed. Following the persecution, many of these Bishops returned to their posts. Around 311 A.D./C.E. the Bishop of Carthage was consecrated by one of these traditores (traitor Bishops). The Bishops in Numidia found this untenable, consecrated a rival bishop, and brought their appeal to the unified Catholic church. The initial investigation did not support the desires of these Donatists (named after a later champion of their cause), nor did a later Synod.  In the end, they were opposed continuously by the entirety of the church. The Catholic church in the 4^th Century believed that the unworthiness of any minister did not invalidate the sacramental rites. As Augustine wrote, Christ was the true minister of the sacraments of the church.

In the end, the Donatists separated themselves from the Western Catholic Church and declared themselves to be the true church. They were extremely rigorous and proclaimed a desire for the “true holiness” of the saints. They saw themselves as the pure church, while others were suspect. Any Catholic coming into a Donatist parish were required to be “re-baptized.” Any of this sound familiar?

In our search for holiness, it is easy to lay aside a thoughtful and collective grace. In our search for grace, it is easy to lay aside the tough love and the courage it takes to pursue and encourage holiness. The history of the church is resplendent with cases that engage the harmful extremes. Over-reaction is easy, communal and thoughtful courage is hard.

Faithfulness will always demand prophetic pushback when those leading a church are in conflict with Holy Scripture and historic Christian orthodoxy. In our desire to be faithful, it is also easy to begin to develop a “two-dimensional” approach to holiness and faithfulness. We can decide that those who are not on “our team” are now the bad guys, and those on our team are the truly blessed, Spirit-led, good guys. This is a narrative that is far too common among many priests and bishops in break-off Anglican churches, who act as if there is no more faithfulness left in The Episcopal Church. It is also common with bishops and priests in The Episcopal Church who act as if it is acceptable to impatiently strong-arm new and innovative theology and morality, with little sensitivity to the worldwide Anglican Communion in the process; to insist on an individualistic, modernistic, and post-modernistic superiority which shows little historic humility and the complexities involved with being finite while engaging the infinite through time and space.

Tolkien’s words in the Fellowship of the Ring resonate here:
“Frodo: 'It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill Gollum when he had the chance.'
Gandalf: 'Pity? It is pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play in it, for good or evil, before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many.'

Also, hear the curious words of Jesus in Luke 9:
49 John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.” 

Our God’s character and reality are NOT relative to someone’s (or group’s) individual desires and opinions.  However, beyond the clear teaching of Holy Scripture and our Historical Creedal orthodoxy, there is much that the “one holy catholic and apostolic church” is less certain and agreed upon (especially in the application of truth in any culture!). May our desire for holiness be bathed in thoughtful grace, and may our grace not bend regarding that which is eternal and transcendent. 

God never abandoned his often-apostate Children of Israel, nor did he enable or placate their wickedness. It is only through these largely rebellious Covenant people that we now have our Messiah and Salvation. Let us be hesitant to decide for God when he has finally discarded his Church. Do we not now as Anglicans understand that Luther was wrong to deem the entirety of the Roman Catholic Church as Apostate in his day?

Starting and Ending Points

I am not discounting the importance of seeking after and engaging holiness.  However, I am submitting in the strongest possible terms that “revisionism” in history and theology is not just a progressive problem, but a clear conservative problem as well. If we believe that we have the inalienable right to make up our version of Christianity based on our personal and cultural experiences, then we will continue in conflict with the ways of the Triune God of Christianity and the majority of the unified church of Jesus Christ before the 11 century. (And yes, this includes we of an Anglo-Catholic ilk with our penchant at times to worry more about the minutia of "rending our clothing" than the "rending of our hearts". They need go hand in hand, and only the Spirit transforms a willing heart. The sacrament and liturgy can be spurned by the rebellious). 

This conflict is exacerbated by an individualism that continually takes the name of the Holy Spirit in vain to support a-historic and anti-intellectual laziness when it comes to the interpretation of Holy Scripture.  It is right and good to believe in the illumination of the Holy Spirit; however, this does not mean that our thoughts and feelings while praying or reading Holy Scripture are from God. We are the church together in accountability to Holy Scripture and our informing tradition. You and I are never the centers of any world…EVER.

The above thoughts do not remove either the mystery or the existential realities involved with seeking or submitting to the one true God, while at the same time, doing so in community with the church.  However, our Christian heritage does position our Triune God as the “prime mover” of all that is…including redemption. Our God is not the god whom many Modern worshippers desire.  He is not a god that will coalesce with our ever-burgeoning opinions so he can garner our attention, worship, and service.

Maybe we should consider the ways he has saved and led his Covenant People in the past with more frequency. Truly, there is nothing new under the sun.

---

[1] Hall, Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers, IVP, 1998, pg. 129

[2] Reeves, Was Jesus an Evangelical?, eLectio Press, 2017, pg. 25