Rights and Responsibilities of Covenant-a look at Judges 2
by Captain Michael Ramsay
Judges 2:1,2: The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?
This is a disappointing but very important passage from which to launch the stories of the Judges.[1] Reading a few verses further (Joshua 2:1-5) we learn why the Israelites and their allies suffer hundreds of years of oppression:[2] the cycle of sin, enslavement, repentance, deliverance, and sin again - which repeats until Israel finally descends into civil war and anarchy - this whole downward spiral[3] stems from one disobeyed promise; a disregarded covenant.
How we live in our covenant relationships has significant implications; our promises, our covenants are very important to God. The Lord promised His people that He would never break His covenant with them (Judges 2:1; cf. Lev 26:42-44, Deut 7:9). As such, instead of being released from our covenants before the Lord simply for disobeying them (cf. Romans 7:2), there are often serious consequences that result from taking our covenants lightly (cf. Num 33:55; Josh 23:13).
This is important for us as Salvationists to remember because we do have the opportunity to enter into rich and strong covenant relationships with the Lord in the form of our Officers’ and Soldiers’ covenants. It is important too for all of us living in the new covenant era of the post-resurrection world and especially for those of us living in the so-called ‘First World’ where litigation, broken contracts, and divorces[4] occur on a daily basis both inside and outside the churches. As Christians we should all be aware of exactly what we are getting into when we enter into a covenant. When we enter with the LORD as either a partner or a witness, we should realise to what we are agreeing.
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Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
8. The Age of Ideologies: 1914AD – 1996AD
World War I: 1914-1918. The great powers clash over control of European rights of conquest. The central powers lose. Germany – even though it was the last major power to mobilize its troops - is blamed for starting the entire war.
Russian Revolution: 1917. The republicans seize power from the Czar and murder his family. A civil war soon follows where the Menshiviks are defeated by the Bolsheviks. Atheism (a religion that believes that as there is no God one must rely on oneself at the expense of others) and Communism (a political system non entirely different from Acts 2) try to co-exist in one system of Government. Lenin is the founder. Trotsky and Stalin fought for control of the hearts and minds of the Communist world. This concluded when Trotsky met a follower of Stalin with a ice pick axe.
Fundamentalism: “Militant right-wing churchmen who opposed all accommodation to contemporary culture.” Began ca. 1910. Marks of fundamentalism: 1) Supernatural Jesus raised from the dead; 2) trustworthy Bible; 3) the need for ‘a new face upon life.’
Scopes Trial: John Scopes taught evolution in such a way as opposed Creationism, riled many people and found him on charges (1925). He was found guilty. He was in the court of public opinion; however, and it is argued that the sterotype of the ignorant fundamentalist dates back to the prosecution of Scopes
Adolf Hitler: Democratically elected leader of Germany (1933-1945). He restored the economic and military might of Germany after they were severely punished by their enemies for losing WWI. Hitler preferred Nietzsche over Christ. He oppressed many and his name is still synonymous with evil for many people. He personally takes the brunt of the blame for WWII. Concentration camps and gas chambers are certainly the images that one associates with Hitler. He was voted man of the year by the US magazine, Time, for its Jan 2, 1939 issue. This is the same year that Canada and the UK went to war with Germany. The Church was persecuted in his time but many in the churches supported what he was doing (the concentration camps and gas chambers were not really known about until after the war). His reign in the end was certainly horrible.
World War II: 1939-1945: World War I, the sequel. Christians fought on both sides. Christians were implicated in many crimes. The churches were oppressed. Many people died. This war, like WW I, made it very obvious that self-professing ‘followers of Christ’ were more than willing to kill each other in the name of opposing secular governments.
World Council of Churches: Formed in 1948 in Amsterdam. It is the world’s largest ecumenical movement.
Billy Graham: Born in 1918. He is a world famous US-based Evangelist. He was invited by 142 evangelical leaders to oversee the 1974 Lausanne Congress, which had 2700 participants and produced the Lausanne covenant which says, “the church’s visible unity in truth is God’s purpose.”
Berlin Wall: Erected in 1961 to separate the area under the control of the Russians from those occupied by the US, France, and the UK. It came down in 1989, as under Gorbachev European Communism really began its rapid collapse.
Vatican II: 1962-1965 a very important event for contemporary Christendom. It was a continuation of/response to Vatican I. It redefined Roman Catholicism, revolutionised the mass, led to an exodus from the Roman Catholic church; it addressed and upheld Papal infallibility.
Lausanne Congress: Billy Graham was invited by 142 evangelical leaders to oversee the 1974 Lausanne Congress, which had 2700 participants and produced the Lausanne covenant which says, “the church’s visible unity in truth is God’s purpose.”
Berlin Wall Falls: Erected in 1961 to separate the area under the control of the Russians from those occupied by the US, France, and the UK. It came down in 1989, as under Gorbachev European Communism really began its rapid collapse.
Russian Revolution: 1917. The republicans seize power from the Czar and murder his family. A civil war soon follows where the Menshiviks are defeated by the Bolsheviks. Atheism (a religion that believes that as there is no God one must rely on oneself at the expense of others) and Communism (a political system non entirely different from Acts 2) try to co-exist in one system of Government. Lenin is the founder. Trotsky and Stalin fought for control of the hearts and minds of the Communist world. This concluded when Trotsky met a follower of Stalin with a ice pick axe.
Fundamentalism: “Militant right-wing churchmen who opposed all accommodation to contemporary culture.” Began ca. 1910. Marks of fundamentalism: 1) Supernatural Jesus raised from the dead; 2) trustworthy Bible; 3) the need for ‘a new face upon life.’
Scopes Trial: John Scopes taught evolution in such a way as opposed Creationism, riled many people and found him on charges (1925). He was found guilty. He was in the court of public opinion; however, and it is argued that the sterotype of the ignorant fundamentalist dates back to the prosecution of Scopes
Adolf Hitler: Democratically elected leader of Germany (1933-1945). He restored the economic and military might of Germany after they were severely punished by their enemies for losing WWI. Hitler preferred Nietzsche over Christ. He oppressed many and his name is still synonymous with evil for many people. He personally takes the brunt of the blame for WWII. Concentration camps and gas chambers are certainly the images that one associates with Hitler. He was voted man of the year by the US magazine, Time, for its Jan 2, 1939 issue. This is the same year that Canada and the UK went to war with Germany. The Church was persecuted in his time but many in the churches supported what he was doing (the concentration camps and gas chambers were not really known about until after the war). His reign in the end was certainly horrible.
World War II: 1939-1945: World War I, the sequel. Christians fought on both sides. Christians were implicated in many crimes. The churches were oppressed. Many people died. This war, like WW I, made it very obvious that self-professing ‘followers of Christ’ were more than willing to kill each other in the name of opposing secular governments.
World Council of Churches: Formed in 1948 in Amsterdam. It is the world’s largest ecumenical movement.
Billy Graham: Born in 1918. He is a world famous US-based Evangelist. He was invited by 142 evangelical leaders to oversee the 1974 Lausanne Congress, which had 2700 participants and produced the Lausanne covenant which says, “the church’s visible unity in truth is God’s purpose.”
Berlin Wall: Erected in 1961 to separate the area under the control of the Russians from those occupied by the US, France, and the UK. It came down in 1989, as under Gorbachev European Communism really began its rapid collapse.
Vatican II: 1962-1965 a very important event for contemporary Christendom. It was a continuation of/response to Vatican I. It redefined Roman Catholicism, revolutionised the mass, led to an exodus from the Roman Catholic church; it addressed and upheld Papal infallibility.
Lausanne Congress: Billy Graham was invited by 142 evangelical leaders to oversee the 1974 Lausanne Congress, which had 2700 participants and produced the Lausanne covenant which says, “the church’s visible unity in truth is God’s purpose.”
Berlin Wall Falls: Erected in 1961 to separate the area under the control of the Russians from those occupied by the US, France, and the UK. It came down in 1989, as under Gorbachev European Communism really began its rapid collapse.
7. The Age of Progress: 1789AD – 1914AD
French Revolution: July 14, 1789 began the French Revolution with the infamous storming of the Bastille. The first French attempt at a republic. It is as popular as the first English attempt and the revolutionary war itself culminates in the same fashion as the English one: the king loses his head. After the atheists and republicans kill the king, they seemingly can’t stop themselves and continue until even Maximilien de Robespierre loses his head to the guillotine. Napoleon, restores the people’s faith in government when he disbands the atheist republic and takes the crown from the Pope. He, however, seems to have the same bloodlust as France embarks on the largest geographic global conflict that the world has ever seen. France loses – probably, in no small part, because they elected their naval officers.
First Camp Meeting: Gasper River in Kentucky with James McGready. There, during the summer of 1800. Great outdoor revival meetings were held.
F. Schleiermacher: 1768-1834: German philosopher, classicist and theologian. He was known for his hermeneutics.
William Wilberforce: 1759-1833: British politician who, as well as other social causes, worked to end the slave trade (25 July 1833).
J.H. Newman: 1841: claimed that the articles of faith in the Anglican church were not actually protestant. Kicked up a big fuss actually.
Karl Marx: A Jewish-German-Atheist-Communist who distorted the truths of Acts 2 and the early communal movements for his own political agendas. Most famous for Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto. Russia attempted to base the post-1917 revolution upon his (and Engles and Lenin’s) writings.
Pope Pius IX: 1846-1878: Turned to the idea of absolute rule after the assassination of the Prime Minister. Victor Emanuel II (1849-1878) took Rome from the Pope
Albrecht Ritschl: 1822-1899: a famous liberal. He was a proponent of the search for the historical Jesus.
Charles Darwin: 1809-1882: Famous for the Origin of Species (1859) and his trip on a boat named after a dog (the Beagle) where he did a little bird watching (finches). Believed in the evolution of species. Was near the beginning, chronologically, of this idea but it was not his.
Papal Infallibility: The idea that the Pope is infallible. This became very popular as many in France looked to do penance for their Atheist revolutions. A council in Rome in 1869 was set up to discuss this matter but the most serious threat to this idea (from within) only came about in the lead up to Vatican II. Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) turned strongly to this idea as well as the idea of absolute rule after radicals murdered the Prime Minister.
Fall of Papal States: Victor Emanuel II (1849-1878) took Rome from the Pope. Ended the earthly political rule of the Pope (1870-1871).
D.L. Moody: 1837-1899: Major revivalist in the US after their civil war of 1861-1864. He was n American evangelist who emphasised the individualistic aspects of Christianity.
W. Booth: 1829-1912. The General is remembered as major promoter of the social gospel. He was the founder The Salvation Army.
Social Gospel: The idea if combining the two greatest commandments of ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart…’ and ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ It takes the parable of the Sheep and the Goats where each nation is judged – in effect - on this criterion, very seriously. The Canadians do not get a mention by Shelley: J.S. Woodworth and Tommy Douglas did a lot to try to make this country ‘sheep-shape’.
First Camp Meeting: Gasper River in Kentucky with James McGready. There, during the summer of 1800. Great outdoor revival meetings were held.
F. Schleiermacher: 1768-1834: German philosopher, classicist and theologian. He was known for his hermeneutics.
William Wilberforce: 1759-1833: British politician who, as well as other social causes, worked to end the slave trade (25 July 1833).
J.H. Newman: 1841: claimed that the articles of faith in the Anglican church were not actually protestant. Kicked up a big fuss actually.
Karl Marx: A Jewish-German-Atheist-Communist who distorted the truths of Acts 2 and the early communal movements for his own political agendas. Most famous for Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto. Russia attempted to base the post-1917 revolution upon his (and Engles and Lenin’s) writings.
Pope Pius IX: 1846-1878: Turned to the idea of absolute rule after the assassination of the Prime Minister. Victor Emanuel II (1849-1878) took Rome from the Pope
Albrecht Ritschl: 1822-1899: a famous liberal. He was a proponent of the search for the historical Jesus.
Charles Darwin: 1809-1882: Famous for the Origin of Species (1859) and his trip on a boat named after a dog (the Beagle) where he did a little bird watching (finches). Believed in the evolution of species. Was near the beginning, chronologically, of this idea but it was not his.
Papal Infallibility: The idea that the Pope is infallible. This became very popular as many in France looked to do penance for their Atheist revolutions. A council in Rome in 1869 was set up to discuss this matter but the most serious threat to this idea (from within) only came about in the lead up to Vatican II. Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) turned strongly to this idea as well as the idea of absolute rule after radicals murdered the Prime Minister.
Fall of Papal States: Victor Emanuel II (1849-1878) took Rome from the Pope. Ended the earthly political rule of the Pope (1870-1871).
D.L. Moody: 1837-1899: Major revivalist in the US after their civil war of 1861-1864. He was n American evangelist who emphasised the individualistic aspects of Christianity.
W. Booth: 1829-1912. The General is remembered as major promoter of the social gospel. He was the founder The Salvation Army.
Social Gospel: The idea if combining the two greatest commandments of ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart…’ and ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ It takes the parable of the Sheep and the Goats where each nation is judged – in effect - on this criterion, very seriously. The Canadians do not get a mention by Shelley: J.S. Woodworth and Tommy Douglas did a lot to try to make this country ‘sheep-shape’.
6. The Age of Reason and Revival: 1648AD – 1789AD
Blaise Pascal: 1623-1662: A famous French physicist. Pensees is his culminating religious masterpiece.
Philip Jacob Spener: 1635-1705: He followed Pietism after Pascal. The term was first used of Spener and his followers.
Sir Isaac Newton: 1642-1727. Discovered a number of ‘laws’ of nature. 1687, he published Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.
English Act of Toleration: 1689: recognised the rights of Presbyterians, Congregationalisits, Quakers to worship.
John Locke: 1632-1704: The existence of God “is the most obvious truth that wisdom discovers.” He argued that belief in Jesus and humankind’s ethical behaviour is all that is required for righteousness.
Moravians: German Protestants who had a strong belief in ‘faith alone,’ who had a strong influence on John Wesley on his trans-Atlantic voyage and beyond. They later parted ways over the interaction in Salvation of faith and works. Count von Zinzedorf (1700-1760) was a key early figure,
Bishop Joseph Butler: 1692-1752: Wrote against Deism in The Analogy of Religion. He made a convincing argument against the infallibility of Reason.
Voltaire: 1694-1718: Philosopher from the ‘age of reason’. He was a Deists. Deists are Theists who act like atheists. They believe in God but don’t believe that he has anything to do with them - or us.
Isaac Backus: A revivalist in born in New England in 1724. He was greatly influenced by George Whitefield and was ‘saved’ in 1741 at the age of seventeen. He was a member of the Baptist’s Warren Association. He argued for the breaking apart of state and religion (much like the Deists and Atheists, Jefferson and Franklin).
George Whitefield: 1714-1770: ‘The father of modern mass evangelism’ was a Calvinist Methodist contemporary of Charles and John Wesley.
John Wesley: 1703-1791: Methodism’s founding father. The Methodists left the Church of England after his death.
Philip Jacob Spener: 1635-1705: He followed Pietism after Pascal. The term was first used of Spener and his followers.
Sir Isaac Newton: 1642-1727. Discovered a number of ‘laws’ of nature. 1687, he published Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.
English Act of Toleration: 1689: recognised the rights of Presbyterians, Congregationalisits, Quakers to worship.
John Locke: 1632-1704: The existence of God “is the most obvious truth that wisdom discovers.” He argued that belief in Jesus and humankind’s ethical behaviour is all that is required for righteousness.
Moravians: German Protestants who had a strong belief in ‘faith alone,’ who had a strong influence on John Wesley on his trans-Atlantic voyage and beyond. They later parted ways over the interaction in Salvation of faith and works. Count von Zinzedorf (1700-1760) was a key early figure,
Bishop Joseph Butler: 1692-1752: Wrote against Deism in The Analogy of Religion. He made a convincing argument against the infallibility of Reason.
Voltaire: 1694-1718: Philosopher from the ‘age of reason’. He was a Deists. Deists are Theists who act like atheists. They believe in God but don’t believe that he has anything to do with them - or us.
Isaac Backus: A revivalist in born in New England in 1724. He was greatly influenced by George Whitefield and was ‘saved’ in 1741 at the age of seventeen. He was a member of the Baptist’s Warren Association. He argued for the breaking apart of state and religion (much like the Deists and Atheists, Jefferson and Franklin).
George Whitefield: 1714-1770: ‘The father of modern mass evangelism’ was a Calvinist Methodist contemporary of Charles and John Wesley.
John Wesley: 1703-1791: Methodism’s founding father. The Methodists left the Church of England after his death.
Monday, July 28, 2008
5. The Age of the Reformation: 1517AD – 1648AD
Luther’s Theses: 1517: Martin Luther wrote Disputation against Scholastic Theology - 97 theses radically attacking all of medieval Scholasticism to his surprise, aroused little interest beyond University. On Oct 31, 1517, Luther posted Ninety Five Theses on door of Castle of Wittenberg expecting the same response as his 97 theses. Printer spread copies and German translation throughout Germany. This really started the Reformation as we know it. Pope told Augustinian Order to handle it.
Cortes Takes Mexico: (1485-1547), February 1519 Cortes set sail, allied with the Tlaxcala, he arrived at Tenochtitlán with a Spanish-Tlaxcaltec force of less than 1500, he won over the Emperor Montezuma, already unmanned by a prophecy about the return of the god Quetzalcoatl. Tenochtitlán was successfully assaulted in August 1521. Cortes rebuilt Tenochtitlán as the Spanish city of Mexico. On Oct. 15, 1522, Emperor Charles V appointed him governor and captain general of New Spain.
Diet of Augsburg: 1530 attempt to calm tensions over Protestantism. It brought forth the Confessio Augustana.
Pizarro Takes Peru: Francisco Pizarro conquered Peru's Inca Empire and founded Lima in 1535. He was assassinated in 1541.
Calvin’s Institutes: First published March 1536. He worked on it for the next 20 years. Last version published by Calvin in 1559.
Society of Jesus: The Jesuits, a powerful force to be reckoned with for a long time. Famous for their spy network. It was founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola in 1534 and is still strongly committed to education, theological scholarship, and missionary work.
Council of Trent: 1545–1563. It made reforms and clarified doctrines contested by the Protestants. Called by Pope Paul III at Trento. In its first period (1545–1547) it accepted the Nicene Creed as the basis of Catholic faith, fixed the canon of the Old and New Testaments, set the number of sacraments at seven, and defined original sin. It denied Luther's doctrine of justification by faith. In its second period (1551–1552) it confirmed the doctrine of transubstantiation and issued decrees on Episcopal jurisdiction and clerical discipline. In the third period (1562– 1563) it defined mass as true sacrifice and issued other statements. It helped stem the tide of the Reformation.
Presbyterianism in Scotland: John Knox (ca. 1505-1572) a follower of John Calvin was key in the establishment of the Presbyterian form of Calvinism in Scotland. In 1551 he became chaplain to the king and in 1552 declined a bishopric.
Edict of Nantes: April 13, 1598, Henry IV of France gave full religious and civil rights to the Huguenots. Protestant pastors were to be paid by the state, and public worship was permitted except in Paris. It restored Catholicism in everywhere Catholic practice had been interrupted by the Wars. Cardinal de Richelieu annulled its political clauses in 1629, and the edict was finally revoked by Louis XIV in 1685.
Matthew Ricci in Peking: (1552-1610). Ricci, a Jesuit, settled in the Portuguese colony of Macao and learned Chinese. In 1583 he was allowed to go to the provincial capital. In 1600 he was allowed into Peking. At the time of Ricci’s death in 1610, the church numbered 2000
30 Years War: 1618-1648. It was a series of conflicts between Protestants and Catholics and between the Holy Roman Empire and others. It ended with the Peace of Westphalia.
Peace of Westphalia: Ended the 30 years war that began in 1618 and was a series of conflicts between Protestants and Catholics and between the Holy Roman Empire and others.
The Reformation in England: A long time in the making. Came about not so much due to theological disputes as temporal ones. To be fair, I think that is the main reasons and means for its spread elsewhere as well. Cardinal Wosley (1474-1530) is a good example of the move away from Rome. He was the Archbishop of York, a Cardinal in Rome, a chancellor in England. He had a lot of the King’s power invested in him. The catalyst for the final break with Rome was that King Henry VIII was denied an annulment of his marriage that probably should never have been permitted in the first place. Not that it was all Henry’s doing, if the Pope wasn’t afraid of the Holy Roman Emperor, things might have been different as well. Henry, on the advice of the Cramner, the English universities, and the English religious courts, terminated one marriage and began another. This was an issue of Papal authority.
Henry VIII: King from 1509-1547. Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon led the king to split with the Catholic Church and the creation of the Church of England, which kicked off the English Reformation Tyndale’s Bible and he did this without changing a single doctrine. Henry, on the advice of the Cramner, the English universities, and the English religious courts, terminated one marriage and began another. This was an issue of Papal authority.
William Tyndale’s Bible: Translated the Bible into English. In 1526 he began smuggling Bibles into England. He was burned at the stake. (*How much of this had to do with his translation or even his smuggling is in question. In the marginal and footnotes of his translation, he included no shortage of profanity; he called the pope and various other people of his day ‘antichrists’ and even included some illustrations. It is my personal feeling that this may have contributed to his execution.)
Act of Supremacy: 1534. It declared the King as the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England (*How will this play out now in the 21st Century, if Charles – an Atheist- succeeds Queen Elizabeth II as the monarch of England?)
Edward IV: 1547, at 10 years of age, succeeded his father to the throne. England became much more protestant. He died in 1553.
Mary: Succeeded her brother, Edward IV, in 1553 as monarch. She was Roman Catholic and sent 300 protestants including Cranmer to be burned at the stake. This earned her the name ‘Bloody Mary’ and led to the famous ‘Book of Martyrs’ (1571) by John Foxe.
Elizabeth: 1558-1603. Arguably England’s most powerful monarch, she succeeded her sister Mary as Queen. A Protestant, she introduced the ‘Via Media’ between Protestantism and Catholicism.
New Act of Supremacy: 1559. Elizabeth rises the Act of Supremacy. She becomes the Governor, rather than the head, of the church.
Puritans: The Puritans believed that the Bible alone provided the entire plan for living. The Puritans stripped away the traditional trappings and formalities of Christianity. They could be extreme to say the least. Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) and the Pilgrims(1620) were Puritans.
Congregationalists: the movement was formed with a theory of union by the Robert Browne(1592) and it arises in England during the Puritan reformation. Early Congregationalists were called separatists or independents to distinguish themselves from the similarly Calvinistic Presbyterians.
James I: 1603 James I becomes King of England (He is James VI of Scotland); 1611 The King James Version, the most influential English translation of the Bible is written at the bequest of James I.
Baptists: They apparently emerged out of the Puritan-Separatist movement in the Church of England. They also can arguably trace their roots to the Netherlands and the Zwingli and Anabaptists in Switzerland.
Charles I: 1625 Charles I becomes King. The puritans oppose him. He loses the war and his head: 1646 Cromwell's army defeats the King at the Battle of Naseby. 1649 Charles I is executed. Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector. Cromwell does such a good job that England begged for the restoration of the monarchy upon his death and have never seriously threatened to move away from it since.
New England Puritans: My ancestors: 1620 landed on Plymouth Rock: an extreme group. Their rejection of the "worldliness" was a key principle. Banned in their New England colonies were drama, religious music and erotic poetry. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) was a key figure.
Cortes Takes Mexico: (1485-1547), February 1519 Cortes set sail, allied with the Tlaxcala, he arrived at Tenochtitlán with a Spanish-Tlaxcaltec force of less than 1500, he won over the Emperor Montezuma, already unmanned by a prophecy about the return of the god Quetzalcoatl. Tenochtitlán was successfully assaulted in August 1521. Cortes rebuilt Tenochtitlán as the Spanish city of Mexico. On Oct. 15, 1522, Emperor Charles V appointed him governor and captain general of New Spain.
Diet of Augsburg: 1530 attempt to calm tensions over Protestantism. It brought forth the Confessio Augustana.
Pizarro Takes Peru: Francisco Pizarro conquered Peru's Inca Empire and founded Lima in 1535. He was assassinated in 1541.
Calvin’s Institutes: First published March 1536. He worked on it for the next 20 years. Last version published by Calvin in 1559.
Society of Jesus: The Jesuits, a powerful force to be reckoned with for a long time. Famous for their spy network. It was founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola in 1534 and is still strongly committed to education, theological scholarship, and missionary work.
Council of Trent: 1545–1563. It made reforms and clarified doctrines contested by the Protestants. Called by Pope Paul III at Trento. In its first period (1545–1547) it accepted the Nicene Creed as the basis of Catholic faith, fixed the canon of the Old and New Testaments, set the number of sacraments at seven, and defined original sin. It denied Luther's doctrine of justification by faith. In its second period (1551–1552) it confirmed the doctrine of transubstantiation and issued decrees on Episcopal jurisdiction and clerical discipline. In the third period (1562– 1563) it defined mass as true sacrifice and issued other statements. It helped stem the tide of the Reformation.
Presbyterianism in Scotland: John Knox (ca. 1505-1572) a follower of John Calvin was key in the establishment of the Presbyterian form of Calvinism in Scotland. In 1551 he became chaplain to the king and in 1552 declined a bishopric.
Edict of Nantes: April 13, 1598, Henry IV of France gave full religious and civil rights to the Huguenots. Protestant pastors were to be paid by the state, and public worship was permitted except in Paris. It restored Catholicism in everywhere Catholic practice had been interrupted by the Wars. Cardinal de Richelieu annulled its political clauses in 1629, and the edict was finally revoked by Louis XIV in 1685.
Matthew Ricci in Peking: (1552-1610). Ricci, a Jesuit, settled in the Portuguese colony of Macao and learned Chinese. In 1583 he was allowed to go to the provincial capital. In 1600 he was allowed into Peking. At the time of Ricci’s death in 1610, the church numbered 2000
30 Years War: 1618-1648. It was a series of conflicts between Protestants and Catholics and between the Holy Roman Empire and others. It ended with the Peace of Westphalia.
Peace of Westphalia: Ended the 30 years war that began in 1618 and was a series of conflicts between Protestants and Catholics and between the Holy Roman Empire and others.
The Reformation in England: A long time in the making. Came about not so much due to theological disputes as temporal ones. To be fair, I think that is the main reasons and means for its spread elsewhere as well. Cardinal Wosley (1474-1530) is a good example of the move away from Rome. He was the Archbishop of York, a Cardinal in Rome, a chancellor in England. He had a lot of the King’s power invested in him. The catalyst for the final break with Rome was that King Henry VIII was denied an annulment of his marriage that probably should never have been permitted in the first place. Not that it was all Henry’s doing, if the Pope wasn’t afraid of the Holy Roman Emperor, things might have been different as well. Henry, on the advice of the Cramner, the English universities, and the English religious courts, terminated one marriage and began another. This was an issue of Papal authority.
Henry VIII: King from 1509-1547. Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon led the king to split with the Catholic Church and the creation of the Church of England, which kicked off the English Reformation Tyndale’s Bible and he did this without changing a single doctrine. Henry, on the advice of the Cramner, the English universities, and the English religious courts, terminated one marriage and began another. This was an issue of Papal authority.
William Tyndale’s Bible: Translated the Bible into English. In 1526 he began smuggling Bibles into England. He was burned at the stake. (*How much of this had to do with his translation or even his smuggling is in question. In the marginal and footnotes of his translation, he included no shortage of profanity; he called the pope and various other people of his day ‘antichrists’ and even included some illustrations. It is my personal feeling that this may have contributed to his execution.)
Act of Supremacy: 1534. It declared the King as the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England (*How will this play out now in the 21st Century, if Charles – an Atheist- succeeds Queen Elizabeth II as the monarch of England?)
Edward IV: 1547, at 10 years of age, succeeded his father to the throne. England became much more protestant. He died in 1553.
Mary: Succeeded her brother, Edward IV, in 1553 as monarch. She was Roman Catholic and sent 300 protestants including Cranmer to be burned at the stake. This earned her the name ‘Bloody Mary’ and led to the famous ‘Book of Martyrs’ (1571) by John Foxe.
Elizabeth: 1558-1603. Arguably England’s most powerful monarch, she succeeded her sister Mary as Queen. A Protestant, she introduced the ‘Via Media’ between Protestantism and Catholicism.
New Act of Supremacy: 1559. Elizabeth rises the Act of Supremacy. She becomes the Governor, rather than the head, of the church.
Puritans: The Puritans believed that the Bible alone provided the entire plan for living. The Puritans stripped away the traditional trappings and formalities of Christianity. They could be extreme to say the least. Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) and the Pilgrims(1620) were Puritans.
Congregationalists: the movement was formed with a theory of union by the Robert Browne(1592) and it arises in England during the Puritan reformation. Early Congregationalists were called separatists or independents to distinguish themselves from the similarly Calvinistic Presbyterians.
James I: 1603 James I becomes King of England (He is James VI of Scotland); 1611 The King James Version, the most influential English translation of the Bible is written at the bequest of James I.
Baptists: They apparently emerged out of the Puritan-Separatist movement in the Church of England. They also can arguably trace their roots to the Netherlands and the Zwingli and Anabaptists in Switzerland.
Charles I: 1625 Charles I becomes King. The puritans oppose him. He loses the war and his head: 1646 Cromwell's army defeats the King at the Battle of Naseby. 1649 Charles I is executed. Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector. Cromwell does such a good job that England begged for the restoration of the monarchy upon his death and have never seriously threatened to move away from it since.
New England Puritans: My ancestors: 1620 landed on Plymouth Rock: an extreme group. Their rejection of the "worldliness" was a key principle. Banned in their New England colonies were drama, religious music and erotic poetry. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) was a key figure.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
4. The Christian Middle Ages: 590CE – 1517CE
Gregory the Great: Born in 540. At 33 he was appointed Prefect of Rome under Justin (573). Stepped down. When his father died he spent much money establishing 7 monasteries. He preferred the solitary life. 579-585: Ambassador to the Imperial court in Constantinople. Pope (590-604) who sent Benedictine monks to England under Augustine of Canterbury. Hid from being made Pope. Consecrated nonetheless 3 September 590. He became involved in the politics of the area and saw much temporal power given to the Papal office.
Augustine to England: Augustine of Canterbury was the leader of a group of Benedictine monks sent as to England by Pope Gregory, Gregory the Great. They began their ministry in Kent. He founded a monastery at Canterbury and became the first Archbishop of Cantebury.
Battle of Tours: 732: Charles Martel, Charlemagne’s grandfather, the Mayor of the Palace, defeated the Muslims in the Battle of Tours. The Muslim invaders did not return.
Iconoclastic Controversy: Council of Nicea in 781 (the seventh general conference) was called to deal with this controversy. The proliferation of designations of people, places and things as holy led to idolatry. Icons were everywhere. Leo III (717-741) attacked the use of icons after repulsing the Muslim attack on Constantinople (717-718). The iconoclasts (image-breakers) wanted to replace the pantheon of icons with just the Cross, the Bible, and the elements of the Lord’s supper. John Mansour AKA the great John of Damascus (730-760) was a defender of icons. In 843 Methodius was elected as Patriarch, condemned all iconoclasts and upheld the Nicean council of 781.
Boniface: A British missionary (Winfrid) from Devonshire who brought Christianity anew to the continent. He chopped down Thor’s oak and led many pagans to Christ. He was commissioned by Pope Gregory II in 729 to evangelize Germany. He became the Archbishop of Mainz. He earned his martyr’s crown in 754.
Charlemagne: Charles the Great, born in 742, had an elephant named Abul Abuz. He came to the rescue of Pope Leo III (795-816) after the mutiny of St. Mark’s Day April 25, 799. When he arrived with his forces in December, the mutiny waned. The Pope crowned him King of the Franks on December 25th. The Christian Empire (The Holy Roman Empire) was reborn. He was a builder, a conqueror, a ruler and an educator; in 789 he decreed that every monastery must have a school attached to it.
Cluny Founded: 2 September 909 by William I, Count of Auvergne. He installed Abbot Berno and putthe abbey under the authority of Pope Sergius III. The Abbey soon came to exemplify the kind of religious life that was at the heart of 11th-century piety.
Otto the Great: Holy Roman Emperor 912-973. He was the most powerful ruler after Charlemagne. He organized a strong state and expanded his authority over Burgundy and Italy.
Gerbert: Master of the Cathedral school at Rheims in the latter half of the tenth century. He was made Pope Sylvester II (999-1003). He built a library and encouraged scholarly endeavours.
East-West Schism: The tensions between the east and the west stretch back to Constantine. It grew to a schism after 1054 when Pope Leo IX sent Cardinal Humbert as an ambassador to Patriarch Michael Cerularius. A Bull of Excommunication was issued to the Church of Holy Wisdom. The healing of this was one of the pretences for the crusades.
Seljuk Turks Capture Palestine: The Seljuk Turks then invaded and captured the Eastern Emperor at the battle of Manzikert (1071). The Turks then seized Jerusalem from their fellow Muslims and continued to advance. The Eastern Emperor appealed for help from the west.
Gregory VII (Hildebrand): A Clunic Reformer, he made great strides towards freeing the church from secular interference. He helped to for the College of Cardinals and was himself elected Pope (1073-1085). He was a defender against the heresy of equality of Church and State; insisting on recognizing the superiority of the Church. In 1075 he prohibited lay investiture. This provided the excuse and opportunity for temporal rebellion. Specifically he clashed with Henry IV over Henry’s appointment of the Archbishop of Milan. In 1076 Henry had the German bishops declare Gregory a usurper. Gregory excommunicated Henry. The problem wasn’t really settled until the Concordat of Worms in 1122 by which the church maintained its rights to appoint its representatives. This is reminiscent of some of the present struggles between the Vatican and Beijing.
The Age of Crusades: 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first crusade to regain the Holy Land at the bequest of Emperor Alexius I. During the 11th Century Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land began to experience persecution. The Seljuk Turks then invaded and captured the Eastern Emperor at the battle of Manzikert (1071). The Emperor appealed for help from the west. The era of the crusades ended in 1291 when Christians lost their last stronghold in the area, Acre.
Urban II: 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first crusade to regain the Holy Land at the bequest of Emperor Alexius I. During the 11th Century Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land began to experience persecution. The Pope declared a holy war – such as it was. He pronounced total remission of sins (indulgence) for crusaders who went to Jerusalem ‘out of pure devotion’
1st Crusade: 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first crusade to regain the Holy Land at the bequest of Emperor Alexius I. The first crusade comprised mainly of nobles from France, Germany and southern Italy. They also assembled mercenaries. This was the most successful of the crusades. They succeeded even in taking Jerusalem.
Jerusalem Taken: Jerusalem was taken during the first crusade. After this they created a feudal kingdom of Jerusalem which lasted until 1291 when it fell to the Muslims.
Peter Abelard: 1049-1142. A brilliant scholar. A book he wrote on the Trinity in 1121 caused him to be confined to a monastery. In 1140 he was condemned for heresy and retired to the Abby of Cluny. He was one of the fathers of the modern university.
Scholasticism: An approach to study developed by Abelard that was a question and answer style of learning. It later evolved into rigorous and even a hostile debating style.
Gothic Cathedrals: from the mid 12th century to the 16th century, notable features were the rib vault, flying buttress, and pointed (Gothic) arch.
Arnold: Claimed that papal vice was due to the fact that the Catholics are trying to take over the world. In 1139 he turned people against their bishop and was thus banished from Italy by Innocent II. Then Arnold, revolting as he was, then came to Rome and established a secular government which he headed up for 10 years. Pope Hadrian IV finally placed Rome under an interdict and with the help of Emperor Frederick Bararossa captured Arnold. In 1155 he was executed by burning and his ashes were thrown into the Tiber River.
Bernard of Clairvaux: A conservative and a detractor of Abelard. He had Abelard condemned for heresy in 1140.
Peter Waldo: Ca. 1140-1218, he was a rich merchant from Lyons who found God, placed his daughters in a cloister, provided for his wife and gave the rest of his money to the poor. He had the Bible translated into French. He was ordered to stop his preaching by the Archbishop of Lyon. He refused and was excommunicated so he appealed to the Pope. He showed up at the Third Lateran Council (1179) and was declared to not be a heretic but could only preach upon invitation. Waldo and co. kept preaching and were excommunicated (1184) by Pope Lucius III.
Gratian: Ca. 1140, this German monk published ‘Harmony of Discordant Canons’ which tried to coordinate all previous collections of Church law. It was the base for future editions of the ‘Body of Canon Law’ – this remained the standard until it was revised in 1918.
2nd Crusade: Proclaimed in 1147 by Bernard; it accomplished little.
Treaty of Richard I and Saladin: Saladin declared a Holy War; he also proposed a settlement with Richard whereby Richard would gain Palestine and a marriage to Saladin’s sister. They eventually agreed upon a three-year truce.
Innocent III: “The Vicar of Christ” ruled for thirty years. based on Canon Law. Called for a crusade against the Albigenses. The crusade was brutal and successful. By 1215 the Albigenses were uprooted and the northern French had conquered the south.
3rd Crusade: 1187: Saladin, the famous Sultan of Egypt and Syria, took leadership of the Muslim cause. When Jerusalem fell, the Christians called for the third crusade which saw the likes of Fredrick Barbarossa of Germany, Richard the Lion-hearted of England, and Phillip Augustus of France.
4th Crusade: Declared by Innocent III shortly after he became Pope in 1198. This resulted in soldiers being sent out in the name of God and the church to sack the Christian town of Zara (1202) due to the Venetian’s demand for money to pay their shipping costs and maintain their profit margin. Using God’s name as one kills for money – sounds terribly like some of the wars of our time. The Venetians then had the crusaders attack Constantinople and in 1204 they set up the Latin Empire of Constantinople. (This lasted until 1261 and in 1291 Constantinople fell to the Turks.) On this fourth crusade, the crusaders neglected Jerusalem altogether.
Dominicans: Dominic Guzman (1170-1221) when he was preaching to the Albigenses in 1206 decided to go among them as a poor man. He did this for 2 years at Innocent III’s command. He gathered others around him and did the same thing in other places. In 1220, the Dominican mission gained approval.
Franciscans: St. Francis of Assisi (1182-Oct. 3, 1226), famous for his ministry to the poor, was born Giovanni Bernardone. He sold everything he had, gave it to the poor and followed Jesus. He was in stark contrast to Innocent III. Some of his followers were deemed orthodox, others heretics. In 1209 he prepared the rule for his brotherhood: basically sell everything, take up your cross, and tell the world about Jesus. In 1223 Pope Honorius III confirmed a new Rule for the order. They were allowed an elaborate organisation and begging became a trait of the order.
Children’s Crusade: 1212: Many children involved. Did not go well. Provided impetus for 5th Crusade.
4th Lateran Council: 1215: It was led by Pope Innocent III. It provided for the state’s punishment of heretics, the confiscation of their property, excommunication for those who refused to move against the heretic, and forgiveness for those who do. Following this, in 1220 the Pope took the Inquisition away from the Bishops and gave it to the Dominicans and later it was systematized. In 1252 Pope Innocent IV authorized torture.
5th Crusade: After the Children’s crusade failed. The 5th Crusade (1218-1221) achieved military victories but failed when dissension arose over accepting terms.
Thomas Aquinas: 1224-1274. He was a Dominican of noble birth. He wrote ‘Summa Theoligica’. He promoted seven sacraments and championed reason. He made a clear distinction between philosophy and theology, reason and revelation.
Robert Grosseteste: The bishop of London, 1235-1253, spoke out against greed and immorality of the clergy.
The Kingdom of Jerusalem: Jerusalem was taken during the first crusade. After this they created a feudal kingdom of Jerusalem that lasted until 1291 when it fell to the Muslims
Acre Falls: The era of the crusades ended in 1291 when Christians lost their last stronghold in the area, Acre. 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first crusade to regain the Holy Land at the bequest of Emperor Alexius I.
Boniface VIII 1294-1303. In 1296 he issued ‘Clericis laicos’ which threatened excommunication for taxing churchmen, and for clergy paying the taxes. Some of the European monarchs did not take kindly to this. Boniface backed down. Boniface proclaimed a Year of Jubilee on 22 February 1300. He imprisoned a French Bishop in 1301. This pitted pope against King Philip of France (again). Servant of the French King kept the 86 year-old Pope prisoner for days before he was rescued. Boniface died shortly afterwards.
Babylonian Captivity: When Clement was elected Pope in 1303, it began the Babalonian captivity of the papacy (1303-1375): when the Pope’s resided in Avignon instead of Rome.
John Wyclif: A zealot. Obtained Oxford Doctorate in 1372. He argued that the state could exercise authority over the church. Rome didn’t like this idea. London did. He argued though that each person holds an equal place in the eyes of God. He came to believe that the Pope was Antichrist. His arguments against Transubstantiation are what really got him into trouble (published in 1380). His support dwindled. 10/12 of his arguments were deemed heretical. By 1382 he was silenced. He died in 1384. But before he died he sent out his followers…
The Papal Schism: Lasted 39 years from 1377, with rival Colleges of Cardinals, rival Popes and rival seats of power. Urban ruled from Rome, Clement for Avignon. In 1409 both Popes were deposed and Alexander V was instated – neither of the deposed Popes agreed though. The matter was settled in 1417 when Martin V was elected by the Council of Constance
Avignon: When Clement was elected Pope in 1303, it began the Babalonian captivity of the papacy (1303-1375): when the Pope’s resided in Avignon instead of Rome. Seat of the rival Pope during the Papal schism.
Martin V Elected: 1414, the Holy Roman Emperor assembled representatives from the ‘nations’ to decide what to do. In 1417, Martin V was elected by Council of Constance. One of the other Popes stepped aside and the other two were excommunicated.
John Hus: 1369-1415. He was a Czech reformer who argued that the Pope was not the head of the church. July 6, 1415, he was burned for heresy.
Augustine to England: Augustine of Canterbury was the leader of a group of Benedictine monks sent as to England by Pope Gregory, Gregory the Great. They began their ministry in Kent. He founded a monastery at Canterbury and became the first Archbishop of Cantebury.
Battle of Tours: 732: Charles Martel, Charlemagne’s grandfather, the Mayor of the Palace, defeated the Muslims in the Battle of Tours. The Muslim invaders did not return.
Iconoclastic Controversy: Council of Nicea in 781 (the seventh general conference) was called to deal with this controversy. The proliferation of designations of people, places and things as holy led to idolatry. Icons were everywhere. Leo III (717-741) attacked the use of icons after repulsing the Muslim attack on Constantinople (717-718). The iconoclasts (image-breakers) wanted to replace the pantheon of icons with just the Cross, the Bible, and the elements of the Lord’s supper. John Mansour AKA the great John of Damascus (730-760) was a defender of icons. In 843 Methodius was elected as Patriarch, condemned all iconoclasts and upheld the Nicean council of 781.
Boniface: A British missionary (Winfrid) from Devonshire who brought Christianity anew to the continent. He chopped down Thor’s oak and led many pagans to Christ. He was commissioned by Pope Gregory II in 729 to evangelize Germany. He became the Archbishop of Mainz. He earned his martyr’s crown in 754.
Charlemagne: Charles the Great, born in 742, had an elephant named Abul Abuz. He came to the rescue of Pope Leo III (795-816) after the mutiny of St. Mark’s Day April 25, 799. When he arrived with his forces in December, the mutiny waned. The Pope crowned him King of the Franks on December 25th. The Christian Empire (The Holy Roman Empire) was reborn. He was a builder, a conqueror, a ruler and an educator; in 789 he decreed that every monastery must have a school attached to it.
Cluny Founded: 2 September 909 by William I, Count of Auvergne. He installed Abbot Berno and putthe abbey under the authority of Pope Sergius III. The Abbey soon came to exemplify the kind of religious life that was at the heart of 11th-century piety.
Otto the Great: Holy Roman Emperor 912-973. He was the most powerful ruler after Charlemagne. He organized a strong state and expanded his authority over Burgundy and Italy.
Gerbert: Master of the Cathedral school at Rheims in the latter half of the tenth century. He was made Pope Sylvester II (999-1003). He built a library and encouraged scholarly endeavours.
East-West Schism: The tensions between the east and the west stretch back to Constantine. It grew to a schism after 1054 when Pope Leo IX sent Cardinal Humbert as an ambassador to Patriarch Michael Cerularius. A Bull of Excommunication was issued to the Church of Holy Wisdom. The healing of this was one of the pretences for the crusades.
Seljuk Turks Capture Palestine: The Seljuk Turks then invaded and captured the Eastern Emperor at the battle of Manzikert (1071). The Turks then seized Jerusalem from their fellow Muslims and continued to advance. The Eastern Emperor appealed for help from the west.
Gregory VII (Hildebrand): A Clunic Reformer, he made great strides towards freeing the church from secular interference. He helped to for the College of Cardinals and was himself elected Pope (1073-1085). He was a defender against the heresy of equality of Church and State; insisting on recognizing the superiority of the Church. In 1075 he prohibited lay investiture. This provided the excuse and opportunity for temporal rebellion. Specifically he clashed with Henry IV over Henry’s appointment of the Archbishop of Milan. In 1076 Henry had the German bishops declare Gregory a usurper. Gregory excommunicated Henry. The problem wasn’t really settled until the Concordat of Worms in 1122 by which the church maintained its rights to appoint its representatives. This is reminiscent of some of the present struggles between the Vatican and Beijing.
The Age of Crusades: 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first crusade to regain the Holy Land at the bequest of Emperor Alexius I. During the 11th Century Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land began to experience persecution. The Seljuk Turks then invaded and captured the Eastern Emperor at the battle of Manzikert (1071). The Emperor appealed for help from the west. The era of the crusades ended in 1291 when Christians lost their last stronghold in the area, Acre.
Urban II: 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first crusade to regain the Holy Land at the bequest of Emperor Alexius I. During the 11th Century Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land began to experience persecution. The Pope declared a holy war – such as it was. He pronounced total remission of sins (indulgence) for crusaders who went to Jerusalem ‘out of pure devotion’
1st Crusade: 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first crusade to regain the Holy Land at the bequest of Emperor Alexius I. The first crusade comprised mainly of nobles from France, Germany and southern Italy. They also assembled mercenaries. This was the most successful of the crusades. They succeeded even in taking Jerusalem.
Jerusalem Taken: Jerusalem was taken during the first crusade. After this they created a feudal kingdom of Jerusalem which lasted until 1291 when it fell to the Muslims.
Peter Abelard: 1049-1142. A brilliant scholar. A book he wrote on the Trinity in 1121 caused him to be confined to a monastery. In 1140 he was condemned for heresy and retired to the Abby of Cluny. He was one of the fathers of the modern university.
Scholasticism: An approach to study developed by Abelard that was a question and answer style of learning. It later evolved into rigorous and even a hostile debating style.
Gothic Cathedrals: from the mid 12th century to the 16th century, notable features were the rib vault, flying buttress, and pointed (Gothic) arch.
Arnold: Claimed that papal vice was due to the fact that the Catholics are trying to take over the world. In 1139 he turned people against their bishop and was thus banished from Italy by Innocent II. Then Arnold, revolting as he was, then came to Rome and established a secular government which he headed up for 10 years. Pope Hadrian IV finally placed Rome under an interdict and with the help of Emperor Frederick Bararossa captured Arnold. In 1155 he was executed by burning and his ashes were thrown into the Tiber River.
Bernard of Clairvaux: A conservative and a detractor of Abelard. He had Abelard condemned for heresy in 1140.
Peter Waldo: Ca. 1140-1218, he was a rich merchant from Lyons who found God, placed his daughters in a cloister, provided for his wife and gave the rest of his money to the poor. He had the Bible translated into French. He was ordered to stop his preaching by the Archbishop of Lyon. He refused and was excommunicated so he appealed to the Pope. He showed up at the Third Lateran Council (1179) and was declared to not be a heretic but could only preach upon invitation. Waldo and co. kept preaching and were excommunicated (1184) by Pope Lucius III.
Gratian: Ca. 1140, this German monk published ‘Harmony of Discordant Canons’ which tried to coordinate all previous collections of Church law. It was the base for future editions of the ‘Body of Canon Law’ – this remained the standard until it was revised in 1918.
2nd Crusade: Proclaimed in 1147 by Bernard; it accomplished little.
Treaty of Richard I and Saladin: Saladin declared a Holy War; he also proposed a settlement with Richard whereby Richard would gain Palestine and a marriage to Saladin’s sister. They eventually agreed upon a three-year truce.
Innocent III: “The Vicar of Christ” ruled for thirty years. based on Canon Law. Called for a crusade against the Albigenses. The crusade was brutal and successful. By 1215 the Albigenses were uprooted and the northern French had conquered the south.
3rd Crusade: 1187: Saladin, the famous Sultan of Egypt and Syria, took leadership of the Muslim cause. When Jerusalem fell, the Christians called for the third crusade which saw the likes of Fredrick Barbarossa of Germany, Richard the Lion-hearted of England, and Phillip Augustus of France.
4th Crusade: Declared by Innocent III shortly after he became Pope in 1198. This resulted in soldiers being sent out in the name of God and the church to sack the Christian town of Zara (1202) due to the Venetian’s demand for money to pay their shipping costs and maintain their profit margin. Using God’s name as one kills for money – sounds terribly like some of the wars of our time. The Venetians then had the crusaders attack Constantinople and in 1204 they set up the Latin Empire of Constantinople. (This lasted until 1261 and in 1291 Constantinople fell to the Turks.) On this fourth crusade, the crusaders neglected Jerusalem altogether.
Dominicans: Dominic Guzman (1170-1221) when he was preaching to the Albigenses in 1206 decided to go among them as a poor man. He did this for 2 years at Innocent III’s command. He gathered others around him and did the same thing in other places. In 1220, the Dominican mission gained approval.
Franciscans: St. Francis of Assisi (1182-Oct. 3, 1226), famous for his ministry to the poor, was born Giovanni Bernardone. He sold everything he had, gave it to the poor and followed Jesus. He was in stark contrast to Innocent III. Some of his followers were deemed orthodox, others heretics. In 1209 he prepared the rule for his brotherhood: basically sell everything, take up your cross, and tell the world about Jesus. In 1223 Pope Honorius III confirmed a new Rule for the order. They were allowed an elaborate organisation and begging became a trait of the order.
Children’s Crusade: 1212: Many children involved. Did not go well. Provided impetus for 5th Crusade.
4th Lateran Council: 1215: It was led by Pope Innocent III. It provided for the state’s punishment of heretics, the confiscation of their property, excommunication for those who refused to move against the heretic, and forgiveness for those who do. Following this, in 1220 the Pope took the Inquisition away from the Bishops and gave it to the Dominicans and later it was systematized. In 1252 Pope Innocent IV authorized torture.
5th Crusade: After the Children’s crusade failed. The 5th Crusade (1218-1221) achieved military victories but failed when dissension arose over accepting terms.
Thomas Aquinas: 1224-1274. He was a Dominican of noble birth. He wrote ‘Summa Theoligica’. He promoted seven sacraments and championed reason. He made a clear distinction between philosophy and theology, reason and revelation.
Robert Grosseteste: The bishop of London, 1235-1253, spoke out against greed and immorality of the clergy.
The Kingdom of Jerusalem: Jerusalem was taken during the first crusade. After this they created a feudal kingdom of Jerusalem that lasted until 1291 when it fell to the Muslims
Acre Falls: The era of the crusades ended in 1291 when Christians lost their last stronghold in the area, Acre. 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first crusade to regain the Holy Land at the bequest of Emperor Alexius I.
Boniface VIII 1294-1303. In 1296 he issued ‘Clericis laicos’ which threatened excommunication for taxing churchmen, and for clergy paying the taxes. Some of the European monarchs did not take kindly to this. Boniface backed down. Boniface proclaimed a Year of Jubilee on 22 February 1300. He imprisoned a French Bishop in 1301. This pitted pope against King Philip of France (again). Servant of the French King kept the 86 year-old Pope prisoner for days before he was rescued. Boniface died shortly afterwards.
Babylonian Captivity: When Clement was elected Pope in 1303, it began the Babalonian captivity of the papacy (1303-1375): when the Pope’s resided in Avignon instead of Rome.
John Wyclif: A zealot. Obtained Oxford Doctorate in 1372. He argued that the state could exercise authority over the church. Rome didn’t like this idea. London did. He argued though that each person holds an equal place in the eyes of God. He came to believe that the Pope was Antichrist. His arguments against Transubstantiation are what really got him into trouble (published in 1380). His support dwindled. 10/12 of his arguments were deemed heretical. By 1382 he was silenced. He died in 1384. But before he died he sent out his followers…
The Papal Schism: Lasted 39 years from 1377, with rival Colleges of Cardinals, rival Popes and rival seats of power. Urban ruled from Rome, Clement for Avignon. In 1409 both Popes were deposed and Alexander V was instated – neither of the deposed Popes agreed though. The matter was settled in 1417 when Martin V was elected by the Council of Constance
Avignon: When Clement was elected Pope in 1303, it began the Babalonian captivity of the papacy (1303-1375): when the Pope’s resided in Avignon instead of Rome. Seat of the rival Pope during the Papal schism.
Martin V Elected: 1414, the Holy Roman Emperor assembled representatives from the ‘nations’ to decide what to do. In 1417, Martin V was elected by Council of Constance. One of the other Popes stepped aside and the other two were excommunicated.
John Hus: 1369-1415. He was a Czech reformer who argued that the Pope was not the head of the church. July 6, 1415, he was burned for heresy.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
3. The Age of the Christian Roman Empire: 312CE – 590CE
Anthony: Credited as being the first monk, he was born in Egypt in 450 and lived to be 105. At twenty he gave up his wealth and went to live in a tomb. During this life of solitude he had many visions of devils, beasts, and women. This became a popular experience as he had hundreds of followers. As Christianity became popular so did self-denial.
Constantine’s Conversion: October 12, 312 – saw a vision of a cross in the sky with the words, “In this sign conquer”; so he attacked Maxentius. He defeated his rival and converted to Christianity. Some see the conversion as purely politically motivated because pagan forms of worship continued but he made a lot of pro-Christian reforms and in 321 made Sunday a public holiday. He was a builder who raised his children as Christians and was baptized himself shortly before his death in 337. He was the first Christian Emperor.
Council of Nicaea: The first one was called by Emperor Constantine in 325 in an attempt to quell riots, end Christian in-fighting, settle the matter of the trinity, unite the followers of Christ and the Empire. Constantine chaired the opening ceremonies himself. From this meeting came the Nicene Creed which is the standard of orthodoxy for most (all?) of Christendom. A follow-up council was called for 381 to clarify what was meant by ‘person’ in the Nicean Creed. The second Council of Nicea was in 787 and it resulted in the condemnation of the iconoclastic movement.
Athanasius: Victor at Nicea in 325; became bishop of Alexandria. Embroiled in the struggle against Arianism for half a century during which time he was banished and returned 5 times depending on who had the ear of the Emperor. Athanasius argued that Christ was the same nature as the Father (as opposed to the argument of the Semi-Arians). He died at 75 as the bishop of Alexandria.
Basil: Before he died in 379, was an important designer of the Rule of Disciple still how the monasticism of Greek Orthodoxy is organized to this day.
Ambrose: Bishop of Milan challenged the elevated state of the Emperor in the Christian Empire. After the massacres over the gay charioteer in 390, Ambrose wrote to Theodosius asking him to repent of the slaughter of 7000 Chariot-racing fans that he had ordered. He then refused the Emperor communion. Later the Emperor accepted his terms and was welcomed back into fellowship.
Theodosius: Emperor who ordered the slaughter of 7000 fans at a chariot-racing competition in retaliation for the 390 murder of a governor who refused to release a popular charioteer who had been accused of engaging in homosexual activities.
Jerome: A monk (340-420) and translator who began his career as a hermit in the Syrian Desert. Jerome called the Bible the ‘Devine Library’ and he is most famous for the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible.
Sack of Rome: 410 by Alaric and the Visigoths. The church treasures were returned as Alaric proclaimed himself a Christian. They left Rome. 02 June 455, the Vandals, under Gaiseric, having arrived with the aid of Carthiginian sailors, entered Rome uncontested and looted it for 14 days.
Augustine: Born 13 November 354 in Tagaste. A Manichean from 374-383. Moved to Rome in 383. Professor at the University of Milan in 384. Easter 387, Augustine was bapyised. He was later to be the Bishop of Hippo. He acknowledged Apocrypha as part of cannon. Became a Christian in response to reading Scripture and his mother’s prayers. An eager supporter of monasticism, he wrote the first western monastic rule for his community of clerics. He died in 430. He is still a major influence on the church to this day.
Leo, Bishop of Rome: Pope (440-461). He was commissioned by Rome to negotiate with the advancing Attila (452). He was used successfully to negotiated the Huns withdraw from Italy. He brought new power / influence / position to the role of the Bishop of Rome. He was present at the looting of Rome in 455. Became the recognized leader of Rome.
Council of Chalcedon: 30 October 451 gave the Patriarch in Constantanople the same authority in the east as the Pope in Rome had in the west.
Fall of Rome: 02 June 455, the Vandals, under Gaiseric, having arrived with the aid of Carthiginian sailors, entered Rome uncontested. For years the Roman Emperors had been very weak and in 476 the last Roman Emperor in the West, Romulus Augustulus, was removed and his place taken by a German named Odoacer.
Baptism of Clovis: The founder of the Franks Kingdom (481-511) was the first important Barbarian leader to convert to Christianity. His first son died ‘in his baptismal robes’; his second became sick shortly after his baptism. He prayed to Jesus for victory of the Alamanni in battle. He received it. Their chief died. He was baptized. 3000 of his men were also baptized.
Benedict: Born in Nursia. Adopted extreme asceticism. Lived as a hermit in a cave south of Rome. He studied scripture and practiced self-denial. Asked to be an Abbott to a neighbouring monastery. He was strict. They tried to poison him. He returned to his cave but eventually was driven from the area. At Monte Cassino he built a monestary and founded the Benedictine order. He died is 542. The order still lives on.
Justinian: Powerful Emperor (527-565) in Constantinople. He encouraged Christian art. Rebuilt the Church of Holy Wisdom: consecrated it in 538. Under hm the state itself was recognized to be established by God; the representative of God was the Emperor.
Constantine’s Conversion: October 12, 312 – saw a vision of a cross in the sky with the words, “In this sign conquer”; so he attacked Maxentius. He defeated his rival and converted to Christianity. Some see the conversion as purely politically motivated because pagan forms of worship continued but he made a lot of pro-Christian reforms and in 321 made Sunday a public holiday. He was a builder who raised his children as Christians and was baptized himself shortly before his death in 337. He was the first Christian Emperor.
Council of Nicaea: The first one was called by Emperor Constantine in 325 in an attempt to quell riots, end Christian in-fighting, settle the matter of the trinity, unite the followers of Christ and the Empire. Constantine chaired the opening ceremonies himself. From this meeting came the Nicene Creed which is the standard of orthodoxy for most (all?) of Christendom. A follow-up council was called for 381 to clarify what was meant by ‘person’ in the Nicean Creed. The second Council of Nicea was in 787 and it resulted in the condemnation of the iconoclastic movement.
Athanasius: Victor at Nicea in 325; became bishop of Alexandria. Embroiled in the struggle against Arianism for half a century during which time he was banished and returned 5 times depending on who had the ear of the Emperor. Athanasius argued that Christ was the same nature as the Father (as opposed to the argument of the Semi-Arians). He died at 75 as the bishop of Alexandria.
Basil: Before he died in 379, was an important designer of the Rule of Disciple still how the monasticism of Greek Orthodoxy is organized to this day.
Ambrose: Bishop of Milan challenged the elevated state of the Emperor in the Christian Empire. After the massacres over the gay charioteer in 390, Ambrose wrote to Theodosius asking him to repent of the slaughter of 7000 Chariot-racing fans that he had ordered. He then refused the Emperor communion. Later the Emperor accepted his terms and was welcomed back into fellowship.
Theodosius: Emperor who ordered the slaughter of 7000 fans at a chariot-racing competition in retaliation for the 390 murder of a governor who refused to release a popular charioteer who had been accused of engaging in homosexual activities.
Jerome: A monk (340-420) and translator who began his career as a hermit in the Syrian Desert. Jerome called the Bible the ‘Devine Library’ and he is most famous for the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible.
Sack of Rome: 410 by Alaric and the Visigoths. The church treasures were returned as Alaric proclaimed himself a Christian. They left Rome. 02 June 455, the Vandals, under Gaiseric, having arrived with the aid of Carthiginian sailors, entered Rome uncontested and looted it for 14 days.
Augustine: Born 13 November 354 in Tagaste. A Manichean from 374-383. Moved to Rome in 383. Professor at the University of Milan in 384. Easter 387, Augustine was bapyised. He was later to be the Bishop of Hippo. He acknowledged Apocrypha as part of cannon. Became a Christian in response to reading Scripture and his mother’s prayers. An eager supporter of monasticism, he wrote the first western monastic rule for his community of clerics. He died in 430. He is still a major influence on the church to this day.
Leo, Bishop of Rome: Pope (440-461). He was commissioned by Rome to negotiate with the advancing Attila (452). He was used successfully to negotiated the Huns withdraw from Italy. He brought new power / influence / position to the role of the Bishop of Rome. He was present at the looting of Rome in 455. Became the recognized leader of Rome.
Council of Chalcedon: 30 October 451 gave the Patriarch in Constantanople the same authority in the east as the Pope in Rome had in the west.
Fall of Rome: 02 June 455, the Vandals, under Gaiseric, having arrived with the aid of Carthiginian sailors, entered Rome uncontested. For years the Roman Emperors had been very weak and in 476 the last Roman Emperor in the West, Romulus Augustulus, was removed and his place taken by a German named Odoacer.
Baptism of Clovis: The founder of the Franks Kingdom (481-511) was the first important Barbarian leader to convert to Christianity. His first son died ‘in his baptismal robes’; his second became sick shortly after his baptism. He prayed to Jesus for victory of the Alamanni in battle. He received it. Their chief died. He was baptized. 3000 of his men were also baptized.
Benedict: Born in Nursia. Adopted extreme asceticism. Lived as a hermit in a cave south of Rome. He studied scripture and practiced self-denial. Asked to be an Abbott to a neighbouring monastery. He was strict. They tried to poison him. He returned to his cave but eventually was driven from the area. At Monte Cassino he built a monestary and founded the Benedictine order. He died is 542. The order still lives on.
Justinian: Powerful Emperor (527-565) in Constantinople. He encouraged Christian art. Rebuilt the Church of Holy Wisdom: consecrated it in 538. Under hm the state itself was recognized to be established by God; the representative of God was the Emperor.
2. The Age of Catholic Christianity: 70AD – 312CE
Trajan: Roman Emperor - 98-117/118 He was responsible for many building projects, civil projects and programmes to help the poor.
Ignatius: Ca. 100 uses word ‘Catholic’; 3-fold ministry adopted universally sometime after 180. Called Communion “the medicine of immortality and the antidote of death.”
Gnosticism Crisis: Second and third centuries. An attempt to reshape the gospel around spiritual lines. Believed in Dualism
Polycarp: 70–155/156; Bishop of Smyrna; burned at the stake.
Justin Martyr: 100 – 165; converted 132; Christian apologist after trying the Stoics; Pythagorean, Platonist thought; he addressed moral principles in Christianity in his ‘Apology’
Marcion: 140 Marcion came to Rome; he was Gnostic who had some interesting ideas of his own and had established a following. He worshiped (but did not understand) the Apostle Paul; rejected the OT and the NT writings that favoured Jewish readers; a heretic, he was excommunicated in 144.
Montanus: 156 – 172 Montanus demanded a greater separation of the church from the world. He went to the extreme saying that Christ was no longer central and special revelation from the Holy Spirit trumped everything.
Irenaeus: Bishop of Lyons in Gaul towards the end of the second century wrote many apologetic books especially targeting gnosticism.
Muratorian Canon: 174; published by L.A. Muratori. Lists the following books: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, 1&2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Galatians, 1&2 Thessalonians, Romans, Titus, 1&2 Timothy, Jude, 1&2 John, the Apocalypse of John, the Apocalypse of Peter, the Wisdom of Solomon. This helped set aside Apostalic writings as uniquely authoritative. By 190 churches accepted Chritian writing alongside Jewish scripture.
Tertullian: An African lawyer born ca. 150 in Carthage, the ‘Father of Latin Theology’ wrote many books in both Greek and Latin; the Latin survived better. He was the first person to use the Latin word Trinitas (Trinity). An anti-Gnostic, one of the many things he did to promote Christians being set apart, he even forbade Christians from teaching school because they used textbooks that told the stories of the pagan gods and encouraged people to support pagan rituals. He promoted the idea of the unbroken tradition of the apostles’ doctrine. Did not advocate restoration of various repentant sinners.
Clement of Alexndria: Pantaenus’ pupil and successor, a Christian Gnostic, the ‘first Chrisitan scholar’, living like a philosopher, he aimed to win Gnostics and others to Christ.
Origen: 1st theologian to set forth entire intellectual framework of Christian faith – First Principles. Bold intellectual. Thought, due to a dream, that even the devil would be restored to God. Eventually considered a heretic. Emperor Decius chained him in prison and tortured him in 251. He was released but died soon after in 254.
Cyprian: Argued that there was no salvation outside the church. He believed that ‘confessors’ had the power to absolve people of their sins. He advocated for some leniency in receiving people who denied Christ was Lord under torture back into fellowship.
Decius: Emperor 249-251, he instigated violent persecution of the church in 250. He tortured Christians until they recognized the sovereignty of the superpower of the day. After forcing many Christians to choose between apostasy and martyrdom, he was killed in battle with the Goths.
Diocletian: Son of Dalmatian slaves, turned soldier, became the Emperor immediately prior to Constantine, 284-305. He persecuted the Christian church (near the end of his reign) and saved the Roman Empire. He reorganized the administration of the Empire and turned back the military tide as well.
Constantine: Ruled: 312-337; October 12, 312 – saw a vision, defeated his rival, and then converted to Christianity. He made a lot of pro-Christian reforms and in 321 made Sunday a public holiday. He was a builder who raised his children as Christians and was baptized himself shortly before his death in 337. He moved the capital of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330. The problem of power replaces the problem of persecution.
Ignatius: Ca. 100 uses word ‘Catholic’; 3-fold ministry adopted universally sometime after 180. Called Communion “the medicine of immortality and the antidote of death.”
Gnosticism Crisis: Second and third centuries. An attempt to reshape the gospel around spiritual lines. Believed in Dualism
Polycarp: 70–155/156; Bishop of Smyrna; burned at the stake.
Justin Martyr: 100 – 165; converted 132; Christian apologist after trying the Stoics; Pythagorean, Platonist thought; he addressed moral principles in Christianity in his ‘Apology’
Marcion: 140 Marcion came to Rome; he was Gnostic who had some interesting ideas of his own and had established a following. He worshiped (but did not understand) the Apostle Paul; rejected the OT and the NT writings that favoured Jewish readers; a heretic, he was excommunicated in 144.
Montanus: 156 – 172 Montanus demanded a greater separation of the church from the world. He went to the extreme saying that Christ was no longer central and special revelation from the Holy Spirit trumped everything.
Irenaeus: Bishop of Lyons in Gaul towards the end of the second century wrote many apologetic books especially targeting gnosticism.
Muratorian Canon: 174; published by L.A. Muratori. Lists the following books: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, 1&2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Galatians, 1&2 Thessalonians, Romans, Titus, 1&2 Timothy, Jude, 1&2 John, the Apocalypse of John, the Apocalypse of Peter, the Wisdom of Solomon. This helped set aside Apostalic writings as uniquely authoritative. By 190 churches accepted Chritian writing alongside Jewish scripture.
Tertullian: An African lawyer born ca. 150 in Carthage, the ‘Father of Latin Theology’ wrote many books in both Greek and Latin; the Latin survived better. He was the first person to use the Latin word Trinitas (Trinity). An anti-Gnostic, one of the many things he did to promote Christians being set apart, he even forbade Christians from teaching school because they used textbooks that told the stories of the pagan gods and encouraged people to support pagan rituals. He promoted the idea of the unbroken tradition of the apostles’ doctrine. Did not advocate restoration of various repentant sinners.
Clement of Alexndria: Pantaenus’ pupil and successor, a Christian Gnostic, the ‘first Chrisitan scholar’, living like a philosopher, he aimed to win Gnostics and others to Christ.
Origen: 1st theologian to set forth entire intellectual framework of Christian faith – First Principles. Bold intellectual. Thought, due to a dream, that even the devil would be restored to God. Eventually considered a heretic. Emperor Decius chained him in prison and tortured him in 251. He was released but died soon after in 254.
Cyprian: Argued that there was no salvation outside the church. He believed that ‘confessors’ had the power to absolve people of their sins. He advocated for some leniency in receiving people who denied Christ was Lord under torture back into fellowship.
Decius: Emperor 249-251, he instigated violent persecution of the church in 250. He tortured Christians until they recognized the sovereignty of the superpower of the day. After forcing many Christians to choose between apostasy and martyrdom, he was killed in battle with the Goths.
Diocletian: Son of Dalmatian slaves, turned soldier, became the Emperor immediately prior to Constantine, 284-305. He persecuted the Christian church (near the end of his reign) and saved the Roman Empire. He reorganized the administration of the Empire and turned back the military tide as well.
Constantine: Ruled: 312-337; October 12, 312 – saw a vision, defeated his rival, and then converted to Christianity. He made a lot of pro-Christian reforms and in 321 made Sunday a public holiday. He was a builder who raised his children as Christians and was baptized himself shortly before his death in 337. He moved the capital of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330. The problem of power replaces the problem of persecution.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
1. The Age of Jesus and the Apostles: 6BC – 70CE
Birth of Jesus: 0; the incarnation
Death of Jesus: 32-36; beginning of Christianity
Death of Stephen: 36/37: first martyr
1st Christian Councils in Jerusalem: 49
Nero: 37-68: (ruled 54 to 68) persecution 60-64
Death of Paul: 64/65
Destruction of Jerusalem: 70
Death of Jesus: 32-36; beginning of Christianity
Death of Stephen: 36/37: first martyr
1st Christian Councils in Jerusalem: 49
Nero: 37-68: (ruled 54 to 68) persecution 60-64
Death of Paul: 64/65
Destruction of Jerusalem: 70
From Christianity Today and Armybarmy.com
from Christianity Today for those interested:http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/july/14.29.html
The article talks about the wave of apologetics sweeping university campuses in UK and USA and the best seller lists. Here is a bit on one of those affected:
"One of those people was Evel Knievel, the motorcycle daredevil who died in November 2007. Earlier that spring, Knievel called Strobel after a friend gave him a copy of The Case for Christ. Knievel said the book was instrumental in his conversion from atheism to Christianity. Strobel, a motorcycle fanatic since childhood, and Knievel became friends, speaking weekly over the telephone."
"He just transformed in amazing ways," Strobel says. "I know his last interview was with a macho men's magazine, and he broke down crying, talking about his newfound relationship with Christ. He was so grateful. He knew he had lived a very immoral life and regretted that. He told me many times how he wished he could live his life over for God, and yet God reached down in his last days and dragged him into the kingdom. He was so overwhelmed by God's grace. Here was this macho daredevil who became this humble, loving, and sincere follower of Jesus. It was an amazing thing to behold."
----Remember the poor.----
"When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?" Members of the Holy Club asked themselves this question every day. Why not ask yourself today, and then go out and evangelise?
The article talks about the wave of apologetics sweeping university campuses in UK and USA and the best seller lists. Here is a bit on one of those affected:
"One of those people was Evel Knievel, the motorcycle daredevil who died in November 2007. Earlier that spring, Knievel called Strobel after a friend gave him a copy of The Case for Christ. Knievel said the book was instrumental in his conversion from atheism to Christianity. Strobel, a motorcycle fanatic since childhood, and Knievel became friends, speaking weekly over the telephone."
"He just transformed in amazing ways," Strobel says. "I know his last interview was with a macho men's magazine, and he broke down crying, talking about his newfound relationship with Christ. He was so grateful. He knew he had lived a very immoral life and regretted that. He told me many times how he wished he could live his life over for God, and yet God reached down in his last days and dragged him into the kingdom. He was so overwhelmed by God's grace. Here was this macho daredevil who became this humble, loving, and sincere follower of Jesus. It was an amazing thing to behold."
----Remember the poor.----
"When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?" Members of the Holy Club asked themselves this question every day. Why not ask yourself today, and then go out and evangelise?
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Pope links prosperity with spreading 'spiritual desert'
From CBC.ca
As he wrapped up a visit to Australia on Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI warned a crowd of 400,000 young people that a feeling of spiritual emptiness often accompanies material wealth.
He urged them to avoid the pitfalls of prosperity as he led an outdoor mass for pilgrims who had gathered for the Roman Catholic church's six-day World Youth Day festival in Sydney.
"In so many of our societies, side by side with material prosperity, a spiritual desert is spreading: an interior emptiness, an unnamed fear, a quiet sense of despair," the pontiff said.
The Pope referred to the modern world’s “hard crust of indifference” to God and said the world “wants to forget God, or even reject him in the name of a falsely conceived freedom.”
He urged followers to throw off indifference and embrace a new age free from "shallowness, apathy and self-absorption," which he said "deadens our souls and poisons our relationships."
“A new generation of Christians is being called to help build a world in which God’s gift of life is welcomed, respected and cherished — not rejected, feared as a threat and destroyed,” the Pope told the crowd.
Related:
The Vatican's website: http://www.vatican.va/
Detailed coverage of teh Pope's World Youth Day tour from the Sydney Morning Herald: http://www.smh.com.au/specials/worldyouthday2008/
As he wrapped up a visit to Australia on Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI warned a crowd of 400,000 young people that a feeling of spiritual emptiness often accompanies material wealth.
He urged them to avoid the pitfalls of prosperity as he led an outdoor mass for pilgrims who had gathered for the Roman Catholic church's six-day World Youth Day festival in Sydney.
"In so many of our societies, side by side with material prosperity, a spiritual desert is spreading: an interior emptiness, an unnamed fear, a quiet sense of despair," the pontiff said.
The Pope referred to the modern world’s “hard crust of indifference” to God and said the world “wants to forget God, or even reject him in the name of a falsely conceived freedom.”
He urged followers to throw off indifference and embrace a new age free from "shallowness, apathy and self-absorption," which he said "deadens our souls and poisons our relationships."
“A new generation of Christians is being called to help build a world in which God’s gift of life is welcomed, respected and cherished — not rejected, feared as a threat and destroyed,” the Pope told the crowd.
Related:
The Vatican's website: http://www.vatican.va/
Detailed coverage of teh Pope's World Youth Day tour from the Sydney Morning Herald: http://www.smh.com.au/specials/worldyouthday2008/
Saturday, July 19, 2008
1 Samuel 31:3,4
The Arrows of the Enemy : http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/07/i-samuel-31-2-4-arrows-of-enemy.html
Anime Jesus
The makers of the Jesus film are planning to give it a new look and create an anime style animation to accompany the existing audio tracks. The original film has been translated into over 1000 languages and the film’s owners wanted a way to modernise their product whilst utilising the audio material they had at their disposal.
read more: http://www.rejesus.co.uk/blog/
X
JESUS (1979)
Y
Contrary to what you might expect, the most watched film of all time is not Star Wars or Gone With the Wind, but a Christian evangelistic film that is largely unknown in the West.
t
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Holiness, Order not Sex
Holiness
...radical holiness is demanded on every page of the New Testament - NT Wright
Order not Sex
The problem facing the Anglican Communion, to put it bluntly, is not sex, as many suppose. It is order. We simply cannot afford - financially, or in any other way - another five years like those we have just had, caused by two provinces knowingly acting in a way which Lambeth, the Anglican Consultative Council, the Primates, and the Archbishop of Cantebury, had all urged them not two. - NT Wright
Both quotes are from Vol 119, No. 10, the July 2008 issue of the Expository Times
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Seeds of Exclusion
Report Produced by TSA in the UK
http://www1.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/www_uki.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/755B9F4A273337158025747F0045AFC0?Opendocument
The Salvation Army has produced The Seeds of Exclusion report in order to understand the indicators in early life which can lead to future problems of social exclusion and to understand the nature, complexity and severity of problems facing people in Salvation Army homeless centres.
The Salvation Army undertook in-depth interviews with nearly 450 homeless people in its centres in various regions of the UK between January 2006 and March 2008.
The Salvation Army is aware of problems associated with people at the extreme end of social exclusion. It instigated this research to better understand the people with whom it works and to identify how best to prevent future generations from facing social exclusion. In addition, the experiences of these homeless people can be extrapolated to form a better understanding of the key issues affecting the health of society as a whole and to better inform the support offered to those most in need.
The Salvation Army presents The Seeds of Exclusion report in the context of all the factors relating to the social, physical and mental wellbeing of Britain in 2008. It hopes its contribution to this ongoing debate will begin to inform us all, including Government, on how we can avoid the mistakes of the past and begin to mend society.
Download the Executive Summary or Full Report
Key research findings
This report identifies new evidence about the people currently benefiting from support from The Salvation Army through its homeless services. It examines the issues behind why those interviewed have come to be socially excluded and reveals some significant common themes.
Based on data collected in a research study organised by The Salvation Army and the Universities of Kent and Cardiff, these initial findings are drawn from interviews with 438 homeless people in various regions of the UK between January 2006 and March 2008.
Key findings: Relationships
Key findings: Well-being
Key findings: Support for vulnerable people
http://www1.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/www_uki.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/755B9F4A273337158025747F0045AFC0?Opendocument
The Salvation Army has produced The Seeds of Exclusion report in order to understand the indicators in early life which can lead to future problems of social exclusion and to understand the nature, complexity and severity of problems facing people in Salvation Army homeless centres.
The Salvation Army undertook in-depth interviews with nearly 450 homeless people in its centres in various regions of the UK between January 2006 and March 2008.
The Salvation Army is aware of problems associated with people at the extreme end of social exclusion. It instigated this research to better understand the people with whom it works and to identify how best to prevent future generations from facing social exclusion. In addition, the experiences of these homeless people can be extrapolated to form a better understanding of the key issues affecting the health of society as a whole and to better inform the support offered to those most in need.
The Salvation Army presents The Seeds of Exclusion report in the context of all the factors relating to the social, physical and mental wellbeing of Britain in 2008. It hopes its contribution to this ongoing debate will begin to inform us all, including Government, on how we can avoid the mistakes of the past and begin to mend society.
Download the Executive Summary or Full Report
Key research findings
This report identifies new evidence about the people currently benefiting from support from The Salvation Army through its homeless services. It examines the issues behind why those interviewed have come to be socially excluded and reveals some significant common themes.
Based on data collected in a research study organised by The Salvation Army and the Universities of Kent and Cardiff, these initial findings are drawn from interviews with 438 homeless people in various regions of the UK between January 2006 and March 2008.
Key findings: Relationships
Key findings: Well-being
Key findings: Support for vulnerable people
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sunday, Parade, Fair
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Hi,
Last Sunday's sermon may be a little while in getting up on line...
We were in the parade with the kids today. It was great. Tammy organised it. We spent yesterday putting the flaot together. The Nicklens pulled it in the parade. We sang praises to God and waved the flag, had a great time.
We were at the fair with the Mobile Unit from Saskatoon today. We have been working with the Rotary Club of Nipawin at the fair.
Michael
Last Sunday's sermon may be a little while in getting up on line...
We were in the parade with the kids today. It was great. Tammy organised it. We spent yesterday putting the flaot together. The Nicklens pulled it in the parade. We sang praises to God and waved the flag, had a great time.
We were at the fair with the Mobile Unit from Saskatoon today. We have been working with the Rotary Club of Nipawin at the fair.
Michael
Friday, July 11, 2008
"I asked God to help me ... get free"
Last Updated: Friday, July 11, 2008 2:22 PM ET
CBC News
The Bergens, who moved from Vernon, B.C., to Kenya four months ago to do missionary work and run programs to feed the poor, said the attack came unexpectedly on Wednesday night.
John said he was outside at about 9 p.m. when he was jumped by about four or five armed men who threw him to the ground and started choking him.
"They just kept on pounding and cutting and pounding and cutting and then finally threw me into a hedge," said John, whose voice is still raspy from being choked.
The men then moved into the house, where Eloise was taking a bath, John said. He said the men ganged up on her, beating her and sexually assaulting her for 45 minutes to an hour. They then left her, covered in blood, with her hands tied behind her back.
"I asked God to help me figure out how to get free," Eloise said, describing how she managed to get a pair of scissors out of her makeup box and cut herself loose.
She wrapped herself in a blanket, ran barefoot outside and started yelling for her husband. When she found him under some bushes, looking like he'd been left for dead, she lifted him up and carried him into their truck. She went back into the house, found some clothes, and the two drove to the headquarters of the Christian charity they work for, Hope for the Nations.
"At first, we didn't know what to do because there's nobody we can run to, because nobody lives around us," Eloise said.
'She's a very strong person'John said he was slipping in and out of consciousness by the time his wife reached him. He said he was amazed she managed to get him into the car.
"I don't know how she did that because she's really not strong enough to manhandle 128 pounds," John said.
He said his wife went through the worst of the attack but will recover because she has a strong relationship with Jesus Christ.
read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/07/11/kenya-missionaries.html
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Hitchens X2
items re: Hitchens, a reporter who has made his name off of provoking emotion rather than stimulating thought, has come into my e-mail in box recently.
armbybarmy also blogged the following link: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/july/13.22.html
God is not Dead Yet
Christianity Today
How current philosophers argue for his existence.
William Lane Craig posted 7/03/2008 10:50AM
You might think from the recent spate of atheist best-sellers that belief in God has become intellectually indefensible for thinking people today. But a look at these books by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, among others, quickly reveals that the so-called New Atheism lacks intellectual muscle. It is blissfully ignorant of the revolution that has taken place in Anglo-American philosophy. It reflects the scientism of a bygone generation rather than the contemporary intellectual scene.
read more: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/july/13.22.html
Water Works
A supporter of the means, invasion and occupation of third world countries and a once upon a time defender of various interegation techniques got a taste of what he was supporting... Here is a first hand account of the torture technique of Waterboarding: when people are debating the interegation techniques being used in the so-called 'War on Terror', this is what they are talking about:
"Believe Me, It's Torture."
Hitchens told CBC News he decided waterboarding was torture while talking with U.S. forces specialists about it after the experience.
He'd lasted, he estimated, less than 10 seconds under the technique. "I would defy anyone to stand more — people with better lungs than me and people who are younger," he said in an interview Monday.
"I'm nearly 60 — which actually made it difficult to get this done because people who were capable of doing it said they wouldn't because at my age it could kill me."
Hitchens went into the experience with a code word he could shout and an agreed-upon physical signal which would let the specialists know he'd had enough.
But he said the experience was still terrifying.
"I was suddenly grabbed from behind and pinioned and a hood pulled over my head, a sort of balaclava helmet. It admitted some light but I couldn't really see," he said. "I was turned around a few times I think to disorient me so I didn't know which direction I was facing."
He was then taken to a shed with strobe lights flashing and metallic music playing.
"With my hands handcuffed to a belt, I then had my arms very tightly wrapped close to my torso so I couldn't move anything above my waist and then the same was done to my legs. I was placed on a board which was a shallow incline, but one that put my head below the level of my heart."
Hitchens said he couldn't move at all.
"Then two or three levels of towel were placed on the outside of my face so I was completely oblivious to the outside world, couldn't hear or see anything and was wondering how I was going to carry on breathing … and then water began coming through the towel into my nostril and that was the situation."
A wet hand was also held over his face and breathing in caused the wet towel to cover his nose.
"It had the effect very rapidly of inducing a panic and gag reflex," Hitchens said. "It's almost impossible to avoid doing that, even though … you have some idea of what's coming and what's going on, your system overrides your brain in a sense and all you want to do is make sure you're not breathing water."
The experience has had after-effects — including bad dreams and a feeling of panic that returns whenever he is breathless, he said.
In an article last year in Slate, Hitchens attempted to draw a distinction between what he called techniques of "extreme interrogation" and "outright torture."
But his Vanity Fair article makes no such distinction.
read more: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/story/2008/07/08/waterboarding-hitchens.html
armbybarmy also blogged the following link: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/july/13.22.html
God is not Dead Yet
Christianity Today
How current philosophers argue for his existence.
William Lane Craig posted 7/03/2008 10:50AM
You might think from the recent spate of atheist best-sellers that belief in God has become intellectually indefensible for thinking people today. But a look at these books by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, among others, quickly reveals that the so-called New Atheism lacks intellectual muscle. It is blissfully ignorant of the revolution that has taken place in Anglo-American philosophy. It reflects the scientism of a bygone generation rather than the contemporary intellectual scene.
read more: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/july/13.22.html
Water Works
A supporter of the means, invasion and occupation of third world countries and a once upon a time defender of various interegation techniques got a taste of what he was supporting... Here is a first hand account of the torture technique of Waterboarding: when people are debating the interegation techniques being used in the so-called 'War on Terror', this is what they are talking about:
"Believe Me, It's Torture."
Hitchens told CBC News he decided waterboarding was torture while talking with U.S. forces specialists about it after the experience.
He'd lasted, he estimated, less than 10 seconds under the technique. "I would defy anyone to stand more — people with better lungs than me and people who are younger," he said in an interview Monday.
"I'm nearly 60 — which actually made it difficult to get this done because people who were capable of doing it said they wouldn't because at my age it could kill me."
Hitchens went into the experience with a code word he could shout and an agreed-upon physical signal which would let the specialists know he'd had enough.
But he said the experience was still terrifying.
"I was suddenly grabbed from behind and pinioned and a hood pulled over my head, a sort of balaclava helmet. It admitted some light but I couldn't really see," he said. "I was turned around a few times I think to disorient me so I didn't know which direction I was facing."
He was then taken to a shed with strobe lights flashing and metallic music playing.
"With my hands handcuffed to a belt, I then had my arms very tightly wrapped close to my torso so I couldn't move anything above my waist and then the same was done to my legs. I was placed on a board which was a shallow incline, but one that put my head below the level of my heart."
Hitchens said he couldn't move at all.
"Then two or three levels of towel were placed on the outside of my face so I was completely oblivious to the outside world, couldn't hear or see anything and was wondering how I was going to carry on breathing … and then water began coming through the towel into my nostril and that was the situation."
A wet hand was also held over his face and breathing in caused the wet towel to cover his nose.
"It had the effect very rapidly of inducing a panic and gag reflex," Hitchens said. "It's almost impossible to avoid doing that, even though … you have some idea of what's coming and what's going on, your system overrides your brain in a sense and all you want to do is make sure you're not breathing water."
The experience has had after-effects — including bad dreams and a feeling of panic that returns whenever he is breathless, he said.
In an article last year in Slate, Hitchens attempted to draw a distinction between what he called techniques of "extreme interrogation" and "outright torture."
But his Vanity Fair article makes no such distinction.
read more: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/story/2008/07/08/waterboarding-hitchens.html
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Disaffected New West clergy transfer to the Southern Cone
Eleven members of the clergy in the Vancouver-based diocese of New Westminster on April 21 resigned due to theological conflicts with the diocese and Bishop Michael Ingham, but said they intend to continue their parish ministry under the jurisdiction of a South American Anglican church.
The nine priests and two deacons, in a letter to Bishop Ingham, said "it is our intention to remain members of the Anglican Church" but "we cannot continue the Anglican ministry to which we were ordained under your jurisdiction."
In 2002, New Westminster voted to allow blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples and the letter said the diocese "has departed from historic, orthodox Anglican teaching and practice."
Former N.B. lieutenant-governor to return Order of Canada in protest
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 9, 2008 2:58 PM AT
CBC News
A former New Brunswick lieutenant-governor says he'll return his Order of Canada in protest of Dr. Henry Morgentaler being named to the order.
Gilbert Finn, 87, who served as the province's lieutenant-governor from 1987-94, said he doesn't hold the same values as Morgentaler, a leading abortion rights advocate in Canada.
A former rector at the University of Moncton and a leading Acadian businessman, Finn became a member of the Order of Canada in 1974 and an officer in 1979.
That distinction is tarnished by Morgentaler's appointment, Finn said.
The Madonna House, which has soup kitchens and retreats in seven countries, has also returned the Order of Canada that was given to its deceased founder Catherine Doherty.
B.C. priest Lucien Larré has also returned his Order of Canada in protest of Morgentaler's appointment.
read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/07/09/nb-finn.html
CBC News
A former New Brunswick lieutenant-governor says he'll return his Order of Canada in protest of Dr. Henry Morgentaler being named to the order.
Gilbert Finn, 87, who served as the province's lieutenant-governor from 1987-94, said he doesn't hold the same values as Morgentaler, a leading abortion rights advocate in Canada.
A former rector at the University of Moncton and a leading Acadian businessman, Finn became a member of the Order of Canada in 1974 and an officer in 1979.
That distinction is tarnished by Morgentaler's appointment, Finn said.
The Madonna House, which has soup kitchens and retreats in seven countries, has also returned the Order of Canada that was given to its deceased founder Catherine Doherty.
B.C. priest Lucien Larré has also returned his Order of Canada in protest of Morgentaler's appointment.
read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2008/07/09/nb-finn.html
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Catholic group hands in Order of Canada over Morgentaler
Last Updated: Tuesday, July 8, 2008 10:49 AM ET
CBC News
An Ontario Catholic organization returned an Order of Canada medal to the Governor General on Tuesday to protest the recent decision to award abortion crusader Dr. Henry Morgentaler with the same honour.
Members of the Madonna House brought the medal, along with a letter of explanation, back to Rideau Hall, the Governor General's official residence in Ottawa...
Catherine Doherty...was named a member the Order of Canada for "a lifetime of devoted services to the underprivileged of many nationalities, both in Canada and abroad," according to the Governor General's website.
She and her husband started Madonna House in 1947 in Combermere, about 180 kilometres west of Ottawa. The organization now counts 200 members and operates soup kitchens and retreats in seven countries around the world. All involved have taken vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/08/morgentaler-order.html
CBC News
An Ontario Catholic organization returned an Order of Canada medal to the Governor General on Tuesday to protest the recent decision to award abortion crusader Dr. Henry Morgentaler with the same honour.
Members of the Madonna House brought the medal, along with a letter of explanation, back to Rideau Hall, the Governor General's official residence in Ottawa...
Catherine Doherty...was named a member the Order of Canada for "a lifetime of devoted services to the underprivileged of many nationalities, both in Canada and abroad," according to the Governor General's website.
She and her husband started Madonna House in 1947 in Combermere, about 180 kilometres west of Ottawa. The organization now counts 200 members and operates soup kitchens and retreats in seven countries around the world. All involved have taken vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/08/morgentaler-order.html
Monday, July 07, 2008
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Not Really Goliath vs. David
I think there is a misconception about the famous contest of 1 Samuel 17. I think often we forget that the battle really belongs to the Lord (1 Sam 17:47). Goliath and David’s speeches make that quite clear (17:43-47). This isn’t a contest of two men who serve different gods; this is a contest of two gods (one real and one imagined), who have chosen as their weapons different men. This is a significant difference and we must remember in our own lives as well that the battle is not simply ours to fight, the battle belongs to the Lord.
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/07/1-samuel-1746-47-battle-belongs-to-lord.html
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/07/1-samuel-1746-47-battle-belongs-to-lord.html
Covenant: a Three Legged Race
Submitted to The Officer, 2008.
by Captain Michael Ramsay
by Captain Michael Ramsay
The three-legged race is always a fun one to watch at the fair. Perhaps you have noticed that some people seem to run it with ease whereas many others tend to fall down and trip all over each other. I have seen dads tied to their kids who have simply picked them up and run with them without breaking the tie that binds. It is a lot of fun but you'll notice that the team that wins moves in sink with each other so that with every stride they are matching their partner. When you have two independently minded people however (like siblings often) you see two people going nowhere other than to a pile-up on the ground.
This is not unlike covenants: the origins of the most commonly translated word for covenant (Berit[h]) in the Hebrew Bible itself refers to being bound, tied, or shackled together, not unlike the three-legged race.
We in the Salvation Army are a covenanted people. Our covenants are very important to us. They can certainly be one of our organisational strengths. General Clifton wrote in his third pastoral letter that our covenants are one of the main ways in which the Lord chooses to provide opportunities for us to join him in the work for the salvation of the world. A covenant is more than a promise; it is more than a legal contract. It is a sacred covenant through which the Lord binds Himself to us. Covenants are important.
Salvation Army soldiers pledge to uphold our doctrine and, among other things, abstain from all that can enslave the mind and body. Our officers covenant to make soul-winning a primary focus of our lives. The Lord binds Himself to us in these covenants. As Christians we are all yoked together with Christ. Commissioner William Francis (June 2008, Salvationist) wrote that 'the key to upholding our sacred covenant is staying close to God, keeping faith with him.' This is significant and this relates very closely to the three-legged race.
Any of us who have ever been in a three-legged race with our children, our siblings, or our parents, will remember the challenges that this event can hold when one sibling tries to move at quite a different pace than another and I am sure I am not the only person who has fallen on the ground laughing as my little partner stopped looking where she was going and started heading in the opposite direction all together: it is difficult to move, let alone win the race, when the one you are yoked together with is going in the other direction (even if they are a pre-schooler!).
It is the same with our covenants. If we have tied ourselves to YHWH is a sacred vow and do not follow Him in it, it is very difficult to even finish, let alone win the race and experience the victory with Christ. Once we have committed to the race, we need to press on towards the goal and not give up. But not only that: we need to rely on the strength of the Lord. If we try to go our own way then our covenant is of little or no use to us and it will be of little or no use to our Heavenly Father as well.
On the other hand, as we walk in step with each other; when, while we are bound together, we put are arm around our partner and run together; when the young ones lean on their parents and rely on their strength in the race, the race is easy and the child can often move even faster than if she were running on her own. As we remain faithful to our covenants and allow our Heavenly Father to put His arm around us we will find that through our covenants it is even easier to walk in step with our Lord. At times, often when things are most challenging as well, when look to Christ, indeed we will find that He is carrying us towards the finish line where we will celebrate that anticipated victory in Jesus.
This is what are covenants are like with the Lord. As we bind ourselves to Him with covenantal ties that won't be broken and as we continue to follow in proper covenants, the Lord's yoke is easy! And really, is there anything in life that we can accomplish on our own that isn't accomplished much more easily and effectively, when we were shackled to the LORD?
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Dead Theologians Society
The inaugural session of the Dead Theologians Society heard James Pedlar (still alive as of this web log entry) present his paper entitled, "Truth versus Identity: Two Strands of Thought in Recent Salvation Army Literature on the Sacraments"
Read the Drumheller Valley Times for more info...
Read the Drumheller Valley Times for more info...
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Almost a Christian
Oderunt peccare boni, virtutis amore;
Oderunt peccare mali, formidine poenae.
Oderunt peccare mali, formidine poenae.
[Good men avoid sin from the love of virtue;
Wicked men avoid sin from a fear of punishment.]
... If, then, any man... to avoid punishment, to avoid the loss of his
friends, or his gain, or his reputation, should not only abstain from doing
evil, but also do ever so much good; yea, and use all the means of grace;
yet we could not with any propriety say, this man is even almost a
Christian. If he has no better principle in his heart, he is only a
hypocrite altogether.
... I did go thus far for many years, as many of this place can testify; using diligence to eschew all evil, and to have a conscience void of offence; redeeming the time; buying up every opportunity of doing all good to all men; constantly and carefully using all the public and all the private means of grace; endeavouring after a steady seriousness of behaviour, at all times, and in all places; and, God is my record, before whom I stand, doing all this in sincerity; having a real design to serve God; a hearty desire to do his will in all things; to please him who had called me to "fight the good fight," and to "lay hold of eternal life." Yet my own conscience beareth me witness in the Holy Ghost, that all this time I was but almost a Christian
...What more than this is implied in the being altogether a Christian?
1) the love of God.
2) the love of neighbour
3) faith -
Now, whosoever has this faith, which "purifies the heart" (by the power of God, who dwelleth therein) from "pride, anger, desire, from all unrighteousness" from "all filthiness of flesh and spirit;" which fills it with love stronger than death, both to God and to all mankind; love that doeth the works of God, glorying to spend and to be spent for all men, and that endureth with joy, not only the reproach of Christ, the being mocked, despised, and hated of all men, but whatsoever the wisdom of God permits the malice of men or devils to inflict, --whosoever has this faith thus working by love is not almost only, but altogether, a Christian.
...But, supposing you ... do good designs and good desires make a Christian? By no means, unless they are brought to good effect. "Hell is paved," saith one, "with good intentions." The great question of all, then, still remains. Is the love of God shed abroad in your heart? Can you cry out, "My God, and my All"? Do you desire nothing but him? Are you happy in God? Is he your
glory, your delight, your crown of rejoicing? And is this commandment written in your heart, "That he who loveth God love his brother also"? Do you then love your neighbour as yourself? Do you love every man, even your enemies, even the enemies of God, as your own soul? as Christ loved you? Yea, dost thou believe that Christ loved thee, and gave himself for thee? Hast thou faith in his blood? Believest thou the Lamb of God hath taken away thy sins, and cast them as a stone into the depth of the sea? that he hath blotted out the handwriting that was against thee, taking it out of the way, nailing it to his cross? Hast thou indeed redemption through his blood, even the remission of thy sins? And doth his Spirit bear witness with thy spirit,
that thou art a child of God?
May we all thus experience what it is to be, not almost only; but altogether Christians; being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus; knowing we have peace with God through Jesus Christ; rejoicing in hope of the glory of God; and having the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost given unto us!
- Wesley from "Almost a Christian"
Holy Founders' Day
National Theological Underpinnings
Canada Day (formerly Dominion Day) is here. This is an important time to reflect upon some of the theological underpinnings of our society. We were not born out of the atheist revolutions of the 1700s. If anything our forefathers took an intentional stand against the rebellions against God, King, and country that were happening elsewhere. Instead of focusing on the selfish pursuits of individualistic liberty and pursuits of personal happiness at the expense of others, the Canadian fathers of confederation focussed on peace (Jesus is the Prince of Peace), order (God is a God of order not disorder), and good government ( cf. Isa. 9:5-7, Ps. 72).
Canada’s motto, which was first used officially in Saskatchewan less than 40 years after confederation, “A Mari usque ad Mare” is Latin for “from sea to sea.” It comes from Psalm 72. In verse 8, where it declares, “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea.” That is a key underpinning of our society and of our founding identity, the idea that God himself, through the Canadian government, shall have dominion from sea to sea.
May it be so…
Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley
Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, one of the fathers of Confederation, among his other accomplishments, is credited with proposing the Dominion of Canada's name based on the Scriptures, specifically Psalm 72:8.
Sir Samuel Tilley's political life was closely linked to his religious beliefs. Some of these beliefs fit very well with the old Army. Tilley, a part-time Sunday-school teacher and lifelong temperance advocate, he was one of the so-called "Smashers", a political formation that tried, unsuccessfully, to introduce prohibition to New Brunswick in the 1850s
Psalm 72: a credit Card of Wisdom - Let's purchase righteousness with it.
Do you remember the famous story at the beginning of Solomon’s reign (1 Kings 3) where he prays for God’s wisdom? God tells him he can ask for whatever he wants. He could of asked for all the money and power in the world but he prays for God’s wisdom to discern between good and evil.This pleases God so much that he also offers him riches and honour and, if he continues to be righteous, a long life. Now this is important because the wisdom is God’s, not man’s. And this story is very likely in the mind of the psalmist as the stage is nicely set for the rest of the Psalm. The King must rely on God’s justice and enact God’s righteousness (NIB McCann Jr. 963).
It is sort of like us. When I was younger, one of my jobs was to be the purchaser for CPCI – my job was to buy things for the college. Like Solomon, I was given a lot of responsibility. I headed out with a blank cheque or a credit card and could purchase whatever I discerned was needed. However the money was not mine so if I failed to use it properly or, say, just bought things for myself, well, the school wouldn’t benefit at all, the students wouldn’t benefit at all, the teachers wouldn’t benefit at all and my boss would stop signing blank cheques or giving me her company credit card. This company credit card is very similar to what Solomon has received here and he’s been given the card to purchase (vs. 1&2) righteousness and justice, for the poor, on behalf of God.
As he purchases with the credit card of God’s wisdom, look at all the blessings he and Israel will receive…as he defends the cause of the poor, delivers the needy and crushes their oppressors (verse 4). The mountains themselves will yield prosperity (vs. 3), his heirs will sit on the throne forever (vs. 5) and righteousness will flourish and (Shalom) peace will abound continuing until EVEN the moon is no more. (This is quite a credit card!)
His dominion, as a vassal of the Lord, will be to the end of the earth (v. 8), his enemies will be powerless – all nations will submit to him and even bring him tribute (v. 9-11) as he uses his credit card of wisdom for God and His people. This is quite a blessing for Solomon and as Canada has been founded on this, I submit, for us as well.
So Solomon is given this credit card of wisdom – and, verses 1 and 2 again, what he is to purchase with it? Righteousness and justice for the poor, right? Deliverance to the needy and protection from their oppressor (vv. 4, 12) pity on the week and the needy (v.13) Mercy as he protects even the least in society from their persecutors…and then he will live (v 5) as long as there is a sun and a moon.
Today, as inheritors of this promise, we can reap these benefits as well as we defend the cause of the poor, deliver the needy and defeat their oppressors.
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/psalm-72-credit-card-of-justice-and.html
May God Bless Canada!
Canada’s motto, which was first used officially in Saskatchewan less than 40 years after confederation, “A Mari usque ad Mare” is Latin for “from sea to sea.” It comes from Psalm 72. In verse 8, where it declares, “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea.” That is a key underpinning of our society and of our founding identity, the idea that God himself, through the Canadian government, shall have dominion from sea to sea.
May it be so…
Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley
Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, one of the fathers of Confederation, among his other accomplishments, is credited with proposing the Dominion of Canada's name based on the Scriptures, specifically Psalm 72:8.
Sir Samuel Tilley's political life was closely linked to his religious beliefs. Some of these beliefs fit very well with the old Army. Tilley, a part-time Sunday-school teacher and lifelong temperance advocate, he was one of the so-called "Smashers", a political formation that tried, unsuccessfully, to introduce prohibition to New Brunswick in the 1850s
Psalm 72: a credit Card of Wisdom - Let's purchase righteousness with it.
Do you remember the famous story at the beginning of Solomon’s reign (1 Kings 3) where he prays for God’s wisdom? God tells him he can ask for whatever he wants. He could of asked for all the money and power in the world but he prays for God’s wisdom to discern between good and evil.This pleases God so much that he also offers him riches and honour and, if he continues to be righteous, a long life. Now this is important because the wisdom is God’s, not man’s. And this story is very likely in the mind of the psalmist as the stage is nicely set for the rest of the Psalm. The King must rely on God’s justice and enact God’s righteousness (NIB McCann Jr. 963).
It is sort of like us. When I was younger, one of my jobs was to be the purchaser for CPCI – my job was to buy things for the college. Like Solomon, I was given a lot of responsibility. I headed out with a blank cheque or a credit card and could purchase whatever I discerned was needed. However the money was not mine so if I failed to use it properly or, say, just bought things for myself, well, the school wouldn’t benefit at all, the students wouldn’t benefit at all, the teachers wouldn’t benefit at all and my boss would stop signing blank cheques or giving me her company credit card. This company credit card is very similar to what Solomon has received here and he’s been given the card to purchase (vs. 1&2) righteousness and justice, for the poor, on behalf of God.
As he purchases with the credit card of God’s wisdom, look at all the blessings he and Israel will receive…as he defends the cause of the poor, delivers the needy and crushes their oppressors (verse 4). The mountains themselves will yield prosperity (vs. 3), his heirs will sit on the throne forever (vs. 5) and righteousness will flourish and (Shalom) peace will abound continuing until EVEN the moon is no more. (This is quite a credit card!)
His dominion, as a vassal of the Lord, will be to the end of the earth (v. 8), his enemies will be powerless – all nations will submit to him and even bring him tribute (v. 9-11) as he uses his credit card of wisdom for God and His people. This is quite a blessing for Solomon and as Canada has been founded on this, I submit, for us as well.
So Solomon is given this credit card of wisdom – and, verses 1 and 2 again, what he is to purchase with it? Righteousness and justice for the poor, right? Deliverance to the needy and protection from their oppressor (vv. 4, 12) pity on the week and the needy (v.13) Mercy as he protects even the least in society from their persecutors…and then he will live (v 5) as long as there is a sun and a moon.
Today, as inheritors of this promise, we can reap these benefits as well as we defend the cause of the poor, deliver the needy and defeat their oppressors.
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/psalm-72-credit-card-of-justice-and.html
May God Bless Canada!
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