Mark’s Christmas

Mark’s Christmas

Mark’s account of the events we frequently associate with Christmas and the incarnation is written as a testimony for and to Romans.  But with what do Romans concern themselves other than administration, law, and taxes.  Concerning Christmas, Mark is absolutely silent.  What most marks us is the fact that in keeping with the Roman world view, Mark goes far beyond being laconic.  Still, there is wisdom in silence: the silence of Christmas.

[1]

---

[1] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.

Matthew’s Christmas

Matthew’s Christmas

Matthew’s account of the events we frequently associate with Christmas and the incarnation is written as a testimony for and to Jews, and other surviving Israelites.  He recounts a partial genealogy of Jesus to prove that He is the lawful King of Israel.  Jesus is the direct descendent of Abraham, the father of all who believe, the head of nation Israel, before Isaac and Jacob (Israel).  Jesus is the direct descendent of David, the father of all the legitimate kings of Israel/Judah.  Jesus is the rightful heir of both Abraham and David, returning from the disgrace of Babylon.  Jesus is the miraculously conceived and virgin[1] born fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14.  His name is Immanuel because He is God with us; He is the bodily visible return of the Sh^əkinah: Yet, the Glory of His appearing is slightly veiled, especially from unbelievers.  He is also named Jesus, a variation of the name of Joshua, because He is the New Joshua, the Savior who will lead His people into the eternal Promised Land, the heavenly Jerusalem, the heavenly Zion, the City of God.

Matthew skips all the details of taxation, arduous journey, birth in a stable in poverty, and leaps directly to roughly one or two years later.  Joseph has now located his family in a house, and God has marked the place with the Shəkinah Star shining overhead.  Isn’t it amazing that Persian nobles should see the Star; yet, the Star was hid from the priests, who were unbelievers?  So Jesus was known to be in Bethlehem from the words of Micah.[2]  They journeyed to Egypt to fulfill Hosea 11:1 and reveal that Jesus is the New Moses, greater even than Moses.  And so wicked Herod slaughtered the innocent children of Bethlehem, but even Herod’s intended evil was turned to good by God: for the children were surely unharmed in heaven, and the relationship to Rachael’s suffering and death in childbirth was made eternally firm; so that the words of Jeremiah, weeping over the destruction of Jerusalem for its idolatries, would not fall to the ground.[3]

All of this so that blind and stiff necked Israel/Judah might hear the Gospel: so that a few might listen and believe.

[4]

---

[1] The MT is incorrect and hides the true weight of Isaiah’s words, which are correctly recorded in the Septuagint.

[2] Micah 5:2

[3] Jeremiah 31:1-17, especially verse 15

[4] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.

Theosis

Theosis

Many readers will find the word theosis confusing, and perhaps even be put off by it.  Many will be far more comfortable with the terms sanctification (the process) and glorification (the goal or result).  The tragedy of such different uses of terms is that we may often talk past each other, and fail of hearty agreement because of misunderstandings about words.  We are encouraged to discover that The Church (at least on earth) has always struggled to find adequate words to describe heavenly things, and this is no less true of our beloved father, Athanasius[1].

In spite of the difficulties and technical nature of these three essays, we would urge readers to persevere at this reading.  In doing so, they will discover an undeniable and fundamental foundation for universal agreement: for Athanasius loves the Bible, the same Bible that you love.  Moreover, theologians of every name and stripe, from every tradition around the world, embrace in their theology the ideas of Athanasius common to almost all of us.  There are exceptions, of course, but most of these can be attributed to an insufficient grasp of Church history.  As these essays repeatedly point out, this is an “evangelical message”.

This is not to hide the fact that there are real differences, significant ones.  Yet only by distinguishing the details of these differences and separating them from the common ground can we resolve the problem of the disunity of the churches.  There is little fruit to be gained from saying that theosis and glorification are different.  We must disclose accurately how they are the same, as well as precisely how they are different.  Then, and only then, can we bring to the table that which must be resolved for genuine spiritual unity to take place.

We are delighted to find that Athanasius does not use the term theosis, but prefers the Greek terms theopoieo (god constructing, creating, forming, making, or preparing from theos + poieo) and huiothesia[2] (son + placing as, adoption from huios + tithemi).  Evidently, Athanasius also had a highly developed and firm faith in substitutionary atonement, which some circles find popular to deny.  Additionally, Athanasius builds his understanding of theopoieo on substitutionary atonement, which in turn finds its roots in incarnation.  We should not read into this some false divergence with later theology, but rather that the terms have not yet been standardized.  When some sort of standardization comes, it will still differ by regions: hence the origin of confusion.[3]

It is in the distinction between eternal sonship (that sonship which finds its final expression in the incarnation) and sonship by adoption where we first discover modern conflict.  In the second essay we find a clear collision with Calvinism in the sentence, “Since they were not sons by nature, when they altered, the Spirit was taken away and they were disinherited; and again at their repentance that God who thus at the beginning gave them grace, will receive them, and give light, and call them sons again” (Contra Arianos I, 11:33).  Yet only a minute portion of this world’s believers adhere to all of the basic tenets of Calvinism.[4]

The third essay obliquely touches upon the problem of the filioque clause which divides us.  I for one, have long wished to delete the filioque clause in the interests of brotherly love and peace.  I cannot support the filioque clause from Scripture, it appears to originate in a simple copyist’s error, and it is now made optional in many sectors.  If it is optional, I may freely delete it, and for my own purposes, I do delete it.  It does nothing but foment disagreement and dissension.[5]

The three essays do not address Hesychasm[6], and its related issues directly, issues which were unknown to Athanasius.  Those who have never lived in areas where this debate was once important may be completely ignorant of it.  Even so, Christians around the world so frequently seek the peace of Christ in the solitude of prayer, and so universally use the “Jesus Prayer”[7] even where it is unknown by that title; even so, we have difficulty seeing a real difference here.  How can anyone oppose the desire for solitude in prayer?  How can anyone despise the desperation voiced in the prayer, “Lord, Have mercy.”  Those who wish to create differences will always find a means for doing so.

For me, I cannot see any real substantial difference between theosis and sanctification leading to glorification.  So, by all means help us to ferret out and resolve all real substantial differences among us.  Peace.

http://myocn.net/deification-sonship-according-st-athanasius-alexandria-part/

http://myocn.net/deification-sonship-according-st-athanasius-alexandria-part-ii/

http://myocn.net/deification-sonship-according-st-athanasius-alexandria-part-iii/

[8]

---

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria

[2] Romans 8:15, 23; 9:4; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5

[3] http://myocn.net/deification-sonship-according-st-athanasius-alexandria-part/

[4] http://myocn.net/deification-sonship-according-st-athanasius-alexandria-part-ii/

[5] http://myocn.net/deification-sonship-according-st-athanasius-alexandria-part-iii/

[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesychasm

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Prayer

[8] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.

China

China

This morning I dreamed that all China had come to Christ.  They invited me to visit, to share their joy, to help with their baptisms of all their men, women, and children.  As China organized herself as a Christian state, I cried out to God, “Will India come too?”  Yet, I did not dream of India… not this morning.

 

Acts 2:16-21 (KJV paraphrase)

This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

“It shall come to pass in the last days,” God says, “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh.  Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.  Your young men shall see visions.  Your old men shall dream dreams.  In those days, I will pour out My Spirit on all My menservants and on all My maidservants; and they shall prophesy.  I will shew miracles in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.[1]  The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and illustrious day of the Lord comes.  Thus, it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

 

Joel 2:1-32 (KJV paraphrase)

Blow the trumpet in Zion.  Sound the alarm throughout My holy mountain.  Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the Day of the Lord comes, it is near at hand.  It is a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness: as when the dawn spreads across the mountains.

A great and strong people, there has never been anything like them, nor shall there be any more after them, even for many aeons of aeons.  Fire devours before them; behind them, flame burns.  The land is like the Garden of Eden before them; behind them, it is a desolate wilderness.  Yes, nothing shall escape them.  Their appearance is like horses with riders: so they shall run with the clamor of chariots, over the mountain tops, they shall leap; with the roar of flaming fire that devours both grass and forest.  They are a strong people set in battle array.

The people they face shall be in great pain.  Every face shall become blackened [with pain, with the smoke of burning].

They shall run as mighty men.  They shall climb walls as men of war.  Every one of them shall march his route, and shall not break rank.  Nor shall anyone retreat.  Every one of them shall walk his route.  When they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.  They shall run throughout the city.  They shall overrun the city walls.  They shall climb on the houses.  They shall enter the windows like thieves.

The earth shall quake before them.  The heavens shall tremble.  The sun and the moon shall become dark.  The stars shall cloak their shining.

The Lord shall utter His voice before His army.  His legion is very large.  He is strong, who executes His word: for the Day of the Lord is great and very terrible.  Who can abide it?

Therefore, the Lord says,

“Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.  Rend your heart, and not your garments.”

Turn to the Lord your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great goodness.[2]  He often relents from punishment.  Who knows if He will turn to relent, leaving a blessing behind Him, a meat offering, and a drink offering to the Lord your God?[3]

Blow the trumpet in Zion.  Sanctify a fast.  Call a solemn assembly.  Gather the people.  Sanctify the congregation.  Assemble the elders.  Gather the children, even the nursing babies.  Let the bridegroom leave his bedroom, and the bride her boudoir.  Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach,”[4] lest unbelievers should rule over them.  Why should they say throughout the populace, “Where is their God?”

Then the Lord will be jealous for His land, and pity His people.  Yes, the Lord will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I will send you corn, wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied: and I will not make you a reproach among unbelievers any longer.  I will move the northern army far away from you.  I will drive them into a barren and desolate land, with the eastern sea at their front, and the great sea at their back.  Their stench shall come up, their rotten taste shall come up, because they have done terrible things.”[5]

Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.  Be not afraid, you beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness will fill with spring water, the trees will bear fruit, the fig trees and vines will yield strength.  Be glad, you children of Zion; rejoice in the Lord your God: for He has given you the gentle spring rain; He will cause the rain to come down upon you, both the vernal rain, and the autumnal rain before the first month [of harvest].  The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the storage vats shall overflow with wine and oil.  I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten, the cankerworm[6], the caterpillar, and the palmerworm[7], My great army which I sent among you.[8]  You shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you: so My people shall never be ashamed.  You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, there is no other God: My people shall never be ashamed.

And it shall come to pass later, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh.  Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.  Your old men shall dream dreams.  Your young men shall see visions.  In those days, I will pour out My Spirit on all My menservants and on all My maidservants; and they shall prophesy.  I will shew miracles in the heavens, and signs in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.[9]  The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and illustrious day of the Lord comes.  Thus, it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.

[10]

---

[1] This is the Sh^əkinah, the fiery appearance of Yahweh.

[2] Psalm 145:7

[3] Instead of consuming and devouring the offering, Yahweh leaves it behind as a feast for all the people.

[4] Psalm 28:9

[5] An alarmingly graphic and poetic description of the fate of the Satanic hoards.  Even though these hoards have fought against God with all their might, they did the will of God in spite of themselves: they frightened the willful and disobedient people of God into repentance and faith.  Now the sins of these hoards are falling back upon them.  As they perish in the wilderness, the stench and taste of their rotting corpses is so foul that it even offends the carrion that devour them.

[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleacrita_vernata

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsophila_pometaria

http://www.bible-history.com/eastons/C/Cankerworm/

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichomeris_ligulella

http://www.bible-history.com/eastons/P/Palmer-worm/

[8] The Satanic hoards are likened to a plague of insects.  This will be an ironic metaphor when it finally reaches Rome: for in Roman idolatry and superstition, war was pictured in the auspices, as chickens falling on the victims to devour them.

[9] This is the Sh^əkinah, the fiery appearance of Yahweh.

[10] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.

Skepticism

Skepticism

Purpose

On the occasion of the Papal skepticism over Church union:

http://myocn.net/pope-francis-skeptical-unity-will-reached/

Pensées et Soliloquies

I am skeptical too.  Even so, I deny that it is impossible.  Daniel, chapter 2, decrees that it is not impossible and that it must not continue.[1]  The perplexing philosophical problem of The Gordian Knot is resolved with the stroke of the sword.  We are divided by centuries of theological accretions.  These must be put to the knife.  Are they really so very important that they are more important than listening to the voice of God? Protestants must not be excluded either.

The reason I am not welcome in your Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant churches is not that you are unfriendly and unwelcoming.  All of you are very friendly and welcoming to a fault.  The reason I am not welcome in your churches is these centuries of theological accretions, which either add to, or detract from, sound doctrine.  Worse yet, some have turned away to the hatred of God, and outright denial of His authority over all: these are no longer churches at all, and are in desperate need of repentance.

I do not speak for myself; I ponder John’s meaning in Revelation, “Behold, I stand at the door knocking.”[2]  I wonder! Is Jesus really welcome in our midst? Or has that terrible curse come upon us that we are, “neither hot nor cold,” but have become so lukewarm that we have forgotten how to open the door.[3]  Now is the day to rekindle the fire in the belly, and make ice for the lips.  Fire and ice!  That is the order of the day.

Yes, with men, that has always been impossible.  Then again, we have never been dependent on mere men, have we?  It is time for a sword; a sharp, swift two-edged sword[4] of fire and ice.  Cut the knot and find again the ends of the rope that connect to the “anchor of the soul.”[5]  “Jesus Christ is the same, today, yesterday, and forever.”[6]  He has not changed, we have.  It’s called sin.

Perhaps, in the final analysis, Daniel’s figure of the stone is the better image: better than the sword.  “The stone which the builders rejected,”[7] must not be applied to us.

^“Μὴ γένοιτο!”[8]

[9]

---

[1] Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45

[2] Revelation 3:20

[3] Revelation 3:16

[4] Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 1:16

[5] Hebrews 6:19

[6] Hebrews 13:8

[7] Psalm 118:22; Acts 4:11

[8] Chiefly Paul, repeatedly in Romans, 3:4, 6, 31; 6:2, 15; 7:7, 13; 9:14; 11:1, 11.  But also Luke 20:16, 1 Corinthians 6:15; and Galatians 2:17; 3:21; 6:14.

[9] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.