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By Metropolitan Methodios of Boston
"Sadly, Sunday has lost its significance in our society, becoming less of a day of worship of almighty God and more like any ordinary work day. This especially affects our young people who are obligated to attend sports events on Sunday mornings rather than attend the Divine Liturgy. At my request, this sad reality and its ramifications were discussed at the recent meeting of the Orthodox-Roman Catholic Consultation. After lengthy discussion, the following joint statement was issued. I ask you to read it carefully and approach civic, business and school authorities in your community to schedule sports events after 12 noon so that our young people may worship together with their families on Sunday mornings. "
THE IMPORTANCE OF SUNDAY
The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation
Saint Paul's College, Washington, DCOctober 27, 2012
Recovering the theological significance of Sunday is fundamental to rebalancing our lives. As Orthodox and Catholics, we share a theological view of Sunday and so our purpose in this statement is four-fold: to offer a caring response to what is not just a human, but also a theological question; to add a little more volume to the growing chorus of Christian voices trying to be heard in the din of our non-stop worklife; to offer brief reflections in hopes of drawing attention to the fuller expositions elsewhere; and to reinforce the ecumenical consensus by speaking as Orthodox and Catholics with one voice.
For Christians, Sunday, the Lord's Day, is a special day consecrated to the service and worship of God. It is a unique Christian festival. It is "the day the Lord has made" (Ps. 117 (118):24). Its nature is holy and joyful. Sunday is the day on which we believe God acted decisively to liberate the world from the tyranny of sin, death, and corruption through the Holy Resurrection of Jesus.
The primacy of Sunday is affirmed by the liturgical practice of the early church. St. Justin the Martyr writing around 150 AD notes that "it is on Sunday that we assemble because Sunday is the first day, the day on which God transformed darkness and matter and created the world and the day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead ("First Apology", 67)." Sunday has always had a privileged position in the life of the church as a day of worship and celebration. On Sunday the Church assembles to realize her eschatological fullness in the Eucharist by which the Kingdom and the endless Day of the Lord are revealed in time. It is the perpetual first day of the new creation, a day of rejoicing. It is a day for community, feasting and family gatherings.
As we look at our fellow Christians and our society, we observe that everyone is short of time and stressed. One reason is that many of us have forgotten the meaning of Sunday, and with it the practices that regularly renewed our relationships and lives. More and more Christian leaders see the effects of a 24/7 worklife and ask "Where is the time of rest?" As members of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation, gathered October 25-27, 2012, we add our combined voice to their call.
Our purpose here is not to replace or replicate their message; it is to underscore and point to it. Anyone who looks at the 1998 Apostolic Letter "Dies Domini "("The Lord's Day") of Pope John Paul II and its cascade of patristic quotations will see there is already a feast of food for thought on the meaning of Sunday. Anyone who reads the recent book "Sunday, Sabbath, and the Weekend" (2010, Edward O'Flaherty, ed.) will see there is also strong ecumenical consensus on the need to recover the meaning of Sunday- not just for our souls, but for our bodies, our hearts, and our minds as well.
Sadly Sunday has become less of a day of worship and family and more like an ordinary work day. Shopping, sports, and work squeeze out the chance for a day of worship or rest in the Christian sense. By abandoning Sunday worship we lose out on the regenerative powers that flow out of the liturgical assembly. And when Sunday becomes detached from its theological significance, it becomes just part of a weekend and people can lose the chance to see transcendent meaning for themselves and their lives ("The Lord's Day", 4).
Sunday is more than just the first day of the week. In our faith we see how it is the ultimate day of new beginnings: "It is Easter which returns week by week, celebrating Christ's victory over sin and death, the fulfillment in him of the first creation and the dawn of "the new creation" (cf. 2 Cor 5:17). It is the day which recalls in grateful adoration the world's first day and looks forward in active hope to "the last day", when Christ will come in glory (cf. Acts 1:11; 1 Th 4:13-17) and all things will be made new (cf. Rev 21:5. "The Lord's Day", 1)."
Sunday even unlocks the mystery of time itself, for "...in commemorating the day of Christ's Resurrection not just once a year but every Sunday, the Church seeks to indicate to every generation the true fulcrum of history, to which the mystery of the world's origin and its final destiny leads ("The Lord's Day", 2)." The Lord's Day is the day after the last day of the week and so it symbolizes eternity as well: what St. Augustine calls "a peace with no evening (Confessions 13:50)." St. Basil the Great in his Treatise on the Holy Spirit writes, "Sunday seems to be an image of the age to come... This day foreshadows the state which is to follow the present age: a day without sunset, nightfall or successor, an age which does not grow old or come to an end ("On the Holy Spirit" 26:77)."
The apostolic letter of Pope John Paul II calls it a day of joy, rest, and solidarity. Joy there is, because the disciples are always glad to see the Master. God scripturally established a day of rest as a gift to us, and rest there must be for every human person. Rest is built into our nature and also withdraws us "...from the sometimes excessively demanding cycle of earthly tasks in order to renew [our] awareness that everything is the work of God. There is a risk that the prodigious power over creation which God gives to man can lead him to forget that God is the Creator upon whom everything depends. It is all the more urgent to recognize this dependence in our own time, when science and technology have so incredibly increased the power which man exercises through his work. Finally, it should not be forgotten that even in our own day work is very oppressive for many people, either because of miserable working conditions and long hours - especially in the poorer regions of the world - or because of the persistence in economically more developed societies of too many cases of injustice and exploitation of man by man ("The Lord's Day", 65,66)."
As members of the Consultation, we strongly urge both clergy and laity to work cooperatively within their communities to stress the importance of Sunday for worship and family. Foremost we call for all to render thanks to God and render love towards one another - and be willing to reserve time to do both - and avail ourselves of the riches of the Lord's Day. Appropriate authorities can be approached to schedule sports activities after 12 noon in order to give young athletes and their family the opportunity to worship on Sunday morning. We call for our children to live in a timescape that respects the God-given rhythm of the week.
"Yes, let us open our time to Christ, that he may cast light upon it and give it direction. He is the One who knows the secret of time and the secret of eternity, and he gives us "his day" as an ever new gift of his love. The rediscovery of this day is a grace which we must implore, not only so that we may live the demands of faith to the full, but also so that we may respond concretely to the deepest human yearnings. Time given to Christ is never time lost, but is rather time gained, so that our relationships and indeed our whole life may become more profoundly human ("The Lord's Day", 7)."
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"B A P T I S M"
BAPTISM: means To Place Into, or On; For The Purpose Of Identification
It is a surprise to many people, including Christians, to learn that the word "BAPTISM" does not mean to immerse into water! Of course there is a "water baptism" in the Bible, but the word "BAPTISM" does not mean to place into water. "Water Baptism" is only one (1) of twelve (12) different baptisms spoken of in the Scriptures. Years of tradition have taught most people to think of "water" every time they read the word "baptism" in their Bible. This has caused great confusion.
Just a simple examination of the usage of the term "BAPTISM" in the Bible will teach us NOT to think of water as part of the meaning of the word, but to substitute the meaning "PLACE INTO" or "PLACE ON." The context in each case will determine what it is that someone or something is being placed into.
We do not have the space to look into all twelve (12) different usages of the term, but we will look at five (5) of them. There are three (3) "BAPTISMS" found in just one verse, Matthew 3:11, which says:
"I INDEED BAPTIZE YOU WITH WATER UNTO REPENTANCE: BUT HE THAT COMETH AFTER ME IS MIGHTIER THAN I, WHOSE SHOES I AM NOT WORTH TO BEAR: HE SHALL BAPTIZE YOU WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH FIRE."
BAPTISM #1
"WATER BAPTISM"
(John Baptized with water)
John the Baptist placed people into water or, as some may prefer it said, John placed water on people. Either way John's Baptism was a "water baptism." Its purpose was to identify the believing remnant of Israel with their Messiah - Jesus Christ. (By the way, the reason Jesus Christ was water baptized was for the same reason, only in reverse.) According to John 1:31, Jesus Christ was identified to Israel, and Israel to Him, through water baptism. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ who announced to Israel His coming and prepared them to be received by their King through the cleansing of water baptism. This is why John announced that one greater-with a greater baptism-was coming.
BAPTISM #2
"BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT"
The greater person John was speaking of was the Lord Jesus Christ. According to the testimony of John, when Christ came He would have a greater baptism. John baptized with water, but Jesus Christ will baptize with the Holy Spirit. This was a reference to the Day of Pentecost which took place after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ back into heaven - see Acts 1:5-8 and Acts 2:1-5. From heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ "Poured Out" or placed His Spirit on that believing remnant of Israel, just as John promised and as was predicted in Joel 2:28-32.
BAPTISM #3
"BAPTISM WITH FIRE"
John not only introduced and identified the believing remnant of Israel to Jesus Christ, he also warned unrepenting and unbelieving Israel that Jesus Christ would have two (2) baptisms when he came. Believing Israel would be baptized with the Holy Spirit, which is the imparting of Life. Unbelieving Israel would be baptized with fire. This "baptism of fire" is the judgement of the fires of hell, according to Matthew 3:12. This will take place when Jesus Christ shall place unbelievers into the fires of hell. Thank the Lord, Jesus Christ has saved us who believe from that baptism!
Already in this one verse we have seen three (3) different types of BAPTISM; baptism with water, baptism with the Holy Spirit, and even baptism with fire. Notice only one involved water!
Let this be a lesson to you. Do not think of "water" every time you read the word "baptism." Let the Bible tell you what the baptism is into. Then be sure to believe what the Bible says and not what some men will say the Bible means.
BAPTISM #4
"BAPTISM INTO DEATH"
For the fourth (4th) baptism, see Mark 10:38,39,45. In this passage a baptism yet laid ahead for the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the future for James and John as well.
When our Lord spoke of a baptism that he was facing, he was speaking of his death on the Cross. He was placed on the cross for the purpose of having our sins placed on him. And, by identifying Himself with our sins, He paid for them in His death. Jesus Christ was baptized into our death. This is also spoken of in Luke 12:50 and again in I Peter 3:21. It is called:
"THE BAPTISM THAT NOW SAVES"!
In the case of James and John this baptism speaks of their martyr's death. Jesus Christ prophesied and history has recorded that both James and John were placed into death preaching the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. They died for the sake of others - so that others may hear the gospel and be saved. This is the baptism that Paul was speaking about in I Corinthians 15:29.
BAPTISM #5
"BAPTISM INTO CHRIST"
The fifth (5th) and final BAPTISM we shall look at is a baptism which is taught exclusively by the Apostle Paul in his epistles. It is the fact that the Apostle Paul mentions water baptism only one time in all of his epistles. This one time is found in I Corinthians 1:13-17. As water baptism continued into the New Gentile age, it brought confusion and division (just as it is doing in the churches today). Paul's solution was simple: stop water baptizing! But how could he decide to stop? Didn't Jesus Christ command him to baptize? No! After Paul thanked God and he didn't baptize more than he did, he states in verse 17:
"FOR CHRIST SENT ME NOT TO BAPTIZE BUT TO PREACH THE GOSPEL: NOT WITH WISDOM OF WORDS, LEST THE CROSS OF CHRIST SHOULD BE MADE OF NONE EFFECT."
Paul was the Apostle of a new age of God's grace. His message and ministry to the Gentiles was distinctly different from the message and ministry of the Twelve Apostles to Israel. Water baptism belonged to the message God had for the nation of Israel. However, there is a baptism taught by the Apostle that is for this age. Be careful to notice it is not water baptism. Paul writes in I Corinthians 12:13.
"FOR BY ONE SPIRIT ARE ALL BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY, WHETHER WE BE JEWS OR GENTILES, WHETHER WE BE BOND OR FREE; AND HAVE BEEN ALL MADE TO DRINK INTO ONE SPIRIT."
The baptism that the Apostle Paul taught was a baptism into Christ. This baptism is the placing of the Believer (today) into the Body of Christ. It is important for you to realize that in I Corinthians 12:13 (just quoted), the baptizer is not a minister but God the Holy Spirit. From this verse, we can also see that the Holy Spirit does not place the believer into water but into Christ! Here again, we need to remember to believe what the Bible say, and not what men say the Bible means.
This "Baptism I into Christ" is the baptism that identifies the Believer with the saving work of the Cross. Romans 6:3-5 teaches this baptism so clearly. The moment I trusted in Jesus Christ as my Savior, the Holy Spirit of God placed me into Christ's death (the cross where my sins were paid for) and into His burial (the payment is complete) and into Christ's resurrection (where I now have a new life in Christ). Since this "baptism" is the work of the Holy Spirit, some have properly termed this "Spiritual Baptism." Without a doubt it is this baptism that Paul teaches throughout his epistles as seen in Romans 6:3-5, I Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:27, Ephesians 4:5, and Colossians 2:10-13.
Our baptism into Christ is the basis for our forgiveness of sins. This is the real baptism that supersedes any ritual baptism previously taught. It is the reality of all that God has accomplished in my behalf through Jesus Christ!
To protect the truth of this baptism, God instructs us in Ephesians 4:1-6 to:
"KEEP (GUARD) THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT..."
We guard this unity by holding to, and defending His sevenfold unity:
"THERE IS ONE BODY, AND ONE SPIRIT, EVEN AS YE ARE CALLED IN ONE HOPE OF YOUR CALLING; ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM, ONE GOD, AND FATHER OF ALL, WHO IS ABOVE ALL, AND THROUGH ALL, AND IN YOU ALL."
According to this verse, there is only one (1) baptism today for the Believer which we are to hold and guard. This baptism is not water baptism. It is the BAPTISM BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE BODY OF CHRIST. It is the work of the Holy Spirit Himself which has created a spiritual unity all of the Believers today, in Christ. Anyone who is still water baptizing is causing confusion and division by practicing a baptism which we have not been told to continue doing in the church epistles; and by believing in at least two baptisms for today, when the Scriptures tell us to keep the unity of the Spirit by holding to His one baptism.
Putting it all together, this is what we see. John the Baptist offered the nation of Israel forgiveness of their sins through water baptism. Those of the nation who received the baptism with the Holy Kingdom and will be raised to go into the Kingdom which was promised to them and was being proclaimed by Jesus Christ in His earthly ministry. But the baptism of fire did not come as John said it would. The judgement of the baptism of fire has been postponed along with the offer of the Kingdom promised to Israel. In the meantime, God has raised up the Apostle Paul with a message of grace which goes out today to both the rejecting Jew and to Gentiles concerning an equal opportunity they have been given (through Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection) to be saved, justified, and forgiven. Upon believing this message, God the Holy Spirit is baptizing these Believers into the Body of Christ. And "IN CHRIST" we have life, and hope, and an inheritance.
Israel was offered life, and hope, and inheritance according to the promises of God in the Old Testament. But we who are saved today were never promised these things. Yet they have been given to us by GRACE.
PRACTICAL POINT:
If I have been made part of the Body of Christ through the baptism by the Spirit at the moment I believed the gospel; and if it were yet possible that I could lose my salvation and end up in hell, then part of the Body of Christ would be in hell.
This is not possible. I am secure in Christ because God the Holy Spirit put me there. I did not put myself there. Therefore I cannot take myself out. And since it is the Holy Spirit who also seals me in Christ, I am His forever!
II Timothy 2:11-13 teaches exactly this:
"IT IS A FAITHFUL SAYING: FOR IF WE BE DEAD WITH HIM, WE SHALL ALSO LIVE WITH HIM"
This is the guarantee we have from the Scriptures based upon Believers baptism by the Spirit into Christ's death, burial, resurrection. The verses continue:
"IF WE SUFFER, WE SHALL ALSO REIGN WITH HIM: IF WE DENY HIM, HE ALSO WILL DENY US:"
This verse promises us a reward of reigning with Jesus Christ if we are faithful to suffer for Him now. The second half of the verse warns that if we choose not to faithfully suffer for Jesus Christ in this life, then He will deny us the reward of a reigning position with Him in heaven. It does not mean He will deny us heaven because the previous verse has already guaranteed that "WE SHALL LIVE WITH HIM," and the following verse explains why:
"IF WE BELIEVE NOT, YET HE ABIDETH FAITHFUL: HE CANNOT DENY HIMSELF."
If in our lifetime we depart from the faith-become unfaithful-even to the point of denying that we believe in Jesus Christ, the verse says, "YET HE (CHRIST) ABIDETH FAITHFUL." We may be unfaithful to Him, but He will remain faithful to us and keep His word by giving us eternal life anyway. The verse explains why He would do this: "HE CANNOT DENY HIMSELF." The believer is part of the Body of Christ and therefore cannot end up in hell. Jesus Christ will not allow it.
Does this security in Jesus Christ teach that we can now go out and live in sin? No, actually the Scriptures teach the opposite. This security in Jesus Christ will teach us not to live in sin. If you will keep reading all of Romans chapters 6,7, and 8, you will find out our baptism into Jesus Christ has freed us from the power of sin, so that we are no longer a slave to sin. No longer must sin reign in our lives. When sin raises it's ugly head, and we give in to it's temptation, we are forgiven for Christ's sake. But at the same time, the power to put away sin, and to go on living for the Lord, comes through KNOWING you are set free in Christ Jesus. Do as Romans 6:11 instructs - RECKON YOURSELF DEAD TO SIN AND ALIVE UNTO GOD!
If you learn anything at all from this book, let it be this: you are hopeless and helpless in yourself to be good enough or to do anything that could please God enough to give you eternal life. However, because of what Jesus Christ has done for you on the Cross, God in his grace is free to receive you when your faith rests in the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. By trusting only in the blood of Jesus Christ for your Salvation, God is free to give you eternal life, declaring you righteous because he see you "IN CHRIST." (Philippians 3:9)
"AND BE FOUND IN HIM (CHRIST) NOT HAVING MINE OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH IS OF THE LAW, BUT THAT WHICH IS THROUGH THE FAITH OF CHRIST, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS OF GOD BY FAITH."
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Holy Week has begun. Last year, I believe I mentioned the various drunken beach parties that "holy week" is known for here in the Dominican Republic. However since the majority of the country is Catholic, there are of course various religious services during this week as well, so I'll focus on those these year.
Last Sunday was Palm Sunday, or Dia de los Ramos. Everyone took some sort of tree branch (not necessarily a palm, although mine was) to the baseball field at 6:30 in the morning. We all crowded in a circle around the priest, holding our branches high in the air. The priest then came and sprayed (noticed the verb term is not sprinkled, but sprayed) holy water on us and the tree branches. Then we sang and walked to the church, and started the normal Sunday mass. We're all supposed to save our branches since they are now holy, but I have no idea what I'm saving it for.
I was looking forward to the Maundy Thursday service because Concord Presbyterian back in Statesville usually does a drama of the last supper and since Dominicans LOVE acting in dramas, I assumed they would do the same thing. They didn't. It was just a normal Catholic mass (scheduled to start at 8 p.m., but the priest arrived at 8:45), with one exception. The church reserved the first two pews for all the men in attendance, and then the priest washed their feet just as Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. I thought it was just a little gender-inappropriate that only the men were allowed to participate in this part of the service when the majority of the people in attendance were women (I'd say the men-to-women ration was 1-to-5), but no one else seemed to notice.
Holy Friday was an interesting day. The national laws on this day are that: 1) people are not allowed to eat meat (but they can eat fish); the big food tradition is to make habichuelas con dulces (or sweetened red beans). In my refrigerator, there is about four pounds of sweet beans that all the various neighbors have given me. 2) No music is allowed to be played (the police can confiscate the radios if they hear it), and 3) there is not to be a Catholic mass. The congregation did meet at the church in the afternoon, where they had informal prayers and then walked around Baoba visiting the sick and elderly.
Apparently the Saturday before Resurrection Sunday is the big church service here in the Dominican Republic. There were probably 100 people (which is about double the normal attendance) who participated in the service. We all met in the basketball court and lit candles. Then walked to the church, blew out the candles and had a 2 hour Catholic mass. The service was pretty basic - the priest read the bible, we prayed, the choir sang, and communion was passed - except for one thing: the blessing of the water. Everyone had brought 2-liter plastic bottles filled with basic (amoebic) water and placed the bottles on the alter in the front of the sanctuary. The priest then blessed the water, converting it into holy water, and then he walked around and sprinkled the congregation with holy water as well. After the service, everyone rushed up to grab their bottle of water (and like with my blessed palm branch), I have no idea what people do with their own personal bottle of holy water.
The Easter Sunday service turnout was surprisingly pitiful. The mass was at the normal hour (7:15 a.m.), and I was about one of twenty people who went. I guess the congregation figured that if they went to church the night before, why go the following morning?
Source: http://my-spiritual-path.blogspot.com
Once a reclusive ascetic, who had heard a lot about Elder Paisios, came to visit him. They talked for a while, and he ascertained that Elder Paisios was an exceptionally reverent man. Indeed, the elder had a rare reverence, which he had learned from his parents, and mainly his mother.
While at the monastery, he benefited from many of the fathers, and especially from a particular hieromonk. He would say, "We can't reach the reverence he had-impossible. He would celebrate liturgy every day, and he struggled greatly. Once, for half a year, he ate nothing but half of a small prosphoron and a few tomatoes dried in the sun."
When he would serve out in the chapels, this reverent priest, like other priests of the monastery, preferred to have as a chanter the young Father Averkios (as the elder was then called).
The elder had an innate reverence, but he also cultivated it a great deal. He placed such emphasis on it that he once said that "reverence is the greatest virtue, because it attracts the grace of God." To the elder, reverence was the fear of God and spiritual sensitivity. Reverent people behave carefully and modestly, because they intensely feel the presence of God.
The elder wanted reverence to be unaffected and internal. He turned away from mere external forms. Regarding a group of monks who had great order and discipline in their liturgical life, he commented, "I respect that, if it's something that comes from within." The elder's conduct was reverent, but with a freedom that was alien to dry forms. If he didn't feel something, he wouldn't do it. He distinguished reverence from piety - a word he even avoided saying. He would say that reverence is like incense, while piety is just perfume.56
The elder's reverence encompassed not only small and seemingly unimportant matters, but also spiritual and essential issues. "If someone neglects the little things," he taught, "the danger is that he'll start neglecting greater, holier things. And then, without realizing it, rationalizing it all to himself- 'This is nothing, that doesn't matter' - he can end up, God forbid, totally neglecting the things of God and becoming irreverent, arrogant, and atheistic."
His reverence could be seen in the way he prayed, venerated icons, received antidoron and holy water, partook of Holy Communion, held icons during processions, chanted, and arranged and beautified the small chapel of his hermitage. He paid attention to details, but in a way that wasn't ritualistic or fastidiously formal. This was his own attitude toward God, which wasn't laid out in advance by any typikon of the Church: it was his personal disposition. He felt that his whole hermitage, not just his chapel, was sacred space. He arranged his cell, where he prayed, just like a little church. There was an iconostasis with many icons and a lamp that burned continuously, and he would cense and light many candles there. He had constructed his bed so that it was like a coffin, and he would say, "This is the altar of my cell." Icons and holy He also treated the other areas of his hermitage with reverence - the workshop where he made the little icons, the guest-house where souls were reborn by God's grace, the balcony, and even the yard. He thought that it was irreverent to have a toilet inside the hermitage. It was partly for ascetic reasons that he kept it at such a distance, but mostly it was out of reverence.
Once when he was away from the hermitage of the Holy Cross, the fathers of the monastery (out of love, so he wouldn't be uncomfortable) made him a small outhouse, outside but sharing a wall with the hermitage. The elder never used it. At Panagouda, when his health had deteriorated toward the end of his life and he needed to go out frequently at night -in cold, rain, and snow -his spiritual children began to insist on building him an outhouse just clear of the balcony to make things easier for him. He refused. "That's where the Panagia appeared," he said. "How can I go to the toilet there?"
The elder's life was fragrant with deep and unaffected reverence, just as the angels in heaven worship God day and night "with great reverence." This was clear to see from his relationship with God and from the expressions on his face when coming into contact with sacred things. He reacted to sacred objects as though they were alive.
Once, when Elder Paisios was visiting the hermitage of another monk, his hernia was bothering him. The elder of the hermitage begged him to lie down and rest a little, but Elder Paisios declined. He was only able to lie on his left side, and, if he had done that there, his feet would have been pointing at some icons, which he thought of as irreverent.
Before entering the holy altar, he would make a prostration to the floor, remove his monastic cap, and kiss the cross on the altar-curtain; and then he would enter by the side door. During the Communion hymn at liturgy, if he intended to commune, he would make full prostrations. For a time, he had it as a rule to eat nothing for thirty-three hours before communing.
Because of his great reverence for the mystery of the priesthood, the elder never assented to ordination, even though, as he once said, "It's been revealed to me three different times that I could become a priest."57
Plainly, the elder saw reverence as a fundamental virtue for every Christian - although, rigorous as his criteria were, he considered it something rare. To the elder, reverence was greater than most of the other virtues.
He often used it as a criterion. If a reverent person wrote or said or did something for which he was criticized, the elder, even before forming a clear opinion on the issue itself, would go out of his way to propose mitigating circumstances. He would say, "He's a reverent man -I don't believe he'd do something like that." The elder believed that this quality preserved a person from making errors, from deceptions and from falling -perhaps in the sense of the verse declaring that the Lord "will carefully guard the way of those who reverence Him."58
The elder considered reverence to be extremely important in all of a Christian's life and struggles, and especially those of a monk. A person's reverence, he believed, acts as a steady factor in his life, affecting everything and raising his spiritual level.
He advised monks to take care to acquire reverence. "A new monk, especially, has to be reverent through and through. It helps for him to always have the "Evergetinos" open59 and to spend time with other monks who are reverent." When a new monk asked the elder what it was that he should pay the most attention to, the elder replied, "Reverence and attention to yourself."
A Russian bishop, presented with many candidates for the priesthood, once asked the elder whom he should ordain. "Those who are reverent and pure," the elder answered -he did not say educated or energetic men, or candidates with good voices.
In chanting and iconography also, reverence was more important to the elder than technique. He was able to discern its presence in chanting or in an icon, and he would say, "If you pay attention to the meaning of a troparion, it'll change you, and you'll be able to chant in a reverent way. If you're reverent, you might make a mistake while you chant, but it'll come out sounding sweet. If you only pay attention to technique - I mean, going note-by-note, without a reverent spirit -then you'll end up like a lay chanter I once heard: he was chanting 'Bless the Lord, my soul' like a blacksmith striking an anvil. I heard it in a car, and it disturbed me - I told the driver to turn off the tape. When someone doesn't chant from the heart, it's like he's running you out of church. A sacred canon says that people who chant with improper voices should be given penances because they drive people away from church."
Concerning iconography, he advised, "You should make an icon with reverence, like we were going to be giving it to Christ Himself. How would we like it if someone gave us a photograph where our face wasn't right? It's not right for the Panagia to be depicted like Saint Anna -I mean, not to show her physical beauty. There has never been a woman as beautiful as the Panagia was in soul and body. How she transformed people's souls with her grace!"
Of the icon of the Tenderly Kissing Mother of God, at Philotheou Monastery, he remarked, "technically, it's not quite perfect, because Christ's feet are wedge-shaped, but it works miracles and has such grace and sweetness. It's probably because God rewarded the iconographer's reverence."
"The grace of God," observed the elder, "comes to reverent people, and it makes the soul beautiful." But he observed with sadness that contemporary people pay little attention to such things. "If a person's not reverent," he said. "If he scorns divine things, then divine grace abandons him. and he's overcome by temptations, and becomes like the demons. Divine grace won't come to an irreverent person - it comes to people who honor it." As examples of irreverence, he mentioned the sacrifice of Cain and the behavior of the sons of Eli The elder considered it irreverent to place icons, ecclesiastical
He once told us about someone who had become possessed because he had spit in an unclean place on a day when he had communed. The same had happened to a woman who had thrown holy water onto excrement. Another time, he He didn't want people to offer God candles made from impure or artificial beeswax or to fill their lamps with olive oil of poor quality or with seed-oil. On the contrary, he emphasized, "[we should] offer our best to God in worship. We should offer up our best efforts and our pure prayer - not our yawning." He considered it greatly irreverent to use prosphora for the liturgy that was tainted with mold. "Christ gives us His Body and Blood," he would say, "and we give Him moldy prosphora?" He would walk miles to find prosphora for the Divine Liturgy, and when he carried it he would hold it by the side, taking care not to touch the seal.
The elder tried to show gratitude and be pleasing to the One whom he loved. Out of his great love, he offered to God the very best, and he conducted himself with refinement, with spiritual sensitivity and reverence. And God, being pleased, bestowed His grace on the elder in abundance.
Excerpt from "Elder Paisios of Mount Athos" by Hieromonk Isaac.
NOTES:
56. "Reverence," in Greek "evlavia"; and "piety, evsevia". The latter word is used in the Greek of the Scriptures and Church Fathers to refer to Christian reverence and correct faith; and, especially in older translations, it has often been rendered as "piety." By the elder's time, the Greek word had taken on a negative meaning in a somewhat similar fashion as the word "piety" has come to do in English; to many, it was synonymous with pietism and formalism. - eds.
57. Most likely these signs were not commands - rather, he was presented with the possibility of becoming a priest. When he was asked about this, he answered, "Christ gives us gifts. Do we have to accept all of them?"
58. Prov. 2:8.
59. That is, to study it frequently. ["The Evergetinos" is a collection of anecdotes and teachings from the early Egyptian desert fathers. Unlike the "Philokalia", a more advanced spiritual text that treats the way in which "the intellect [nous] is purified, illumined, and made perfect" (vol. 1, p. 13), the "Evergetinos" focuses on the practice of Christian virtues, a necessary precursor to the exalted attainments described in the "Philokalia". - eds.]
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As Archbishop-Coadjutor of the United Episcopal Church, I think I may take the liberty to point out a couple of misunderstandings about UECNA and churches outside North America.
The assumption tends to be made when discussing the United Episcopal Church in North America on this blog that it is purely a North American phenomomen. Whilst this is true today, the UECNA has had relationships with overseas juridictions in the past. Whilst it is accurate to say that the UECNA's Constitution confines its jurisdiction to affiliated parishes within North America,(1) this does not preclude us being in full Communion with suitable Continuing Anglican groups abroad.
How so?
The UECNA's Canons allow it to consecrate Bishops for other Churches provided they fall within the parameters set by the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral.(2) The Canons also grant permission for the ordination of priests and deacons for overseas churches. For those not familiar with it, the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral is the document that has traditionally regulated Anglican relations with other, non-Anglican, Churches. In its day, the Quadrilateral paved the way for the old Anglican Communion's relationships with the Church of Sweden and the Old Catholics. Looking to the future, it could be used in a similar manner between the Continuing Anglicans and the remaining orthodox Old Catholic body, the Polish National Catholic Church.
For churches to enter into FULL communion with the UECNA it is necessary that, in addition to adhering to the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, the potential partner Church uphold the Anglican Tradition in theology and liturgy. This would include adherence to their local edition of the Book of Common Prayer - provided it pre-dates 1977, the Ordinal, the Thirty-nine Articles (3), and the two So to summarize. The United Episcopal Church of North America confines its jurisdiction to the USA and Canada. However, our Constitution and Canons permit the UECNA to ordain clergy for suitable jurisdictions abroad, and to enter into full Communion with other Continuing Anglican Churches both within, and outside of, the United States and Canada. As a statement of policy, it is accurate to say that the UECNA House of Bishops remains receptive to any approach from Continuing to Anglican bodies overseas with a view to entering into full Communion as equal partner Church within the Anglican tradition.
+Peter D. Robinson,
Archbishop-Coadjutor, UECNA
Notes:
(1) UECNA Constitution makes no specific provision limiting the UECNA to North America other than only Bishops having jurisdiction, or resident, in North America can be voting members of the House of Bishops.
(2) UECNA Canon 44.
(3) The concordat with the ACC is based on the Affirmation of St Louis rather than the Articles due to our common origin in the St Louis Congress (1977) and the Denver Consecrations (1978).
(4) The stumbling block in relations with churches overseas has usually been orders. The applicant churches have had doubtful TEC, or Old Catholic, orders and have been unwilling to submit to 'sub conditione' ordination to remove the element of doubt from their Orders.
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"*"
From:
"Lewis thought these doctrines conveyed truths that modern people most needed to know but were least likely to recognize: "We must never avert our eyes from those elements in [our religion] which seem puzzling or repellent; for it will be precisely the puzzling or the repellent which conceals what we do not yet know and need to know."
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"For many Christians today, deification would be such a doctrine. Deification (also known as theosis or divinization) sees salvation not merely as divine pardon but rather as a process of spiritual transformation that culminates in mystical union with God."
"As Lewis understood it, human beings could one day enter into the very beauty and energy of God and become "true and everlasting and really divine persons."
"In his book Mere Christianity, which can be seen as a manifesto on the subject, Lewis argues that the whole purpose of Christianity is to turn people into what he variously calls "new men, little Christs, Sons of God"-and "gods and goddesses."
"*"
"Lewis knew such language might give many of us a shock, but he insisted that this is "precisely what Christianity is about."
"Although largely forgotten by Christians today, deification is at the heart of Lewis' vision of reality. From his sermons to his apologetic essays, from his space fiction to his children's stories, one can hardly find a corner of his literary universe that is not illumined by the idea."
"(...)"
"Lewis encountered the idea of deification everywhere from St. Athanasius to George MacDonald, and he knew the doctrine was held from earliest times by many church fathers (like Athanasius) who helped establish the canon of the New Testament and the doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation."
"These fathers taught that Adam and Eve were created in the image and likeness of God, but after the fall they were estranged from their creator and subject to pain, sorrow, and death."
"Deification, then, is the restoration of the divine likeness that humanity lost along with its beauty, purity, and incorruption."
"In holding to deification, not only was Lewis in harmony with Eastern Orthodoxy, where the doctrine remains a distinguishing mark, but with many voices in the West like St. Augustine and St. Bernard of Clairvaux-and a forgotten strand of Anglican tradition including Lancelot Andrewes, Richard Hooker, Charles Wesley, and Ann Griffiths."
"(...)"
"Lewis didn't follow the path of Emerson or others who blurred dogmatic boundaries by confusing God and creation or by teaching that human beings are naturally divine."
"Only God is transcendent, uncreated, and divine by nature."
"Therefore deification does not mean the "actualization" or "realization" of one's latent divinity, a belief that is less Christian than monistic or pantheistic."
"Nor does deification mean that human beings eventually will evolve into something essentially equal to God (...) Lewis was always clear on the difference between creature and Creator-an irreducible ontological distinction."
"Deified human beings forever remain human while at the same time sharing in divine grace or energy, just like blazing iron in the fire shares the properties of flame but doesn't cease to be iron. Human beings will not melt into an impersonal God like a salt statue tossed into the ocean, or become new and independent divine beings in a type of polytheistic evolution."
"*"
"For this reason, Lewis cannot be categorized with Neoplatonists, Hindus, Mormons, or even certain Christian mystics who seemed to lose sight of the essential distinction between God and humankind."
"
"
NOTE:
I agree that deification is a "vital" part of a coherent concept of Christian life: indeed I believe that it is deification which primarily sets Christianity apart from Judaism and Islam - because it is what the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus Christ made possible, over and above monotheism.
The concept is found in all legitimate Christian traditions, but most centrally in Eastern Orthodoxy - as theosis - marking its superiority.
*
So, becoming a Christian is properly a two-step process: first conversion and then deification.
Salvation is certainly possible without deification (e.g. The Good Thief) - but it is deification which is the purpose of Life and which potentially fits humans for their proper place in an hierarchical Heaven.
It is deification which makes Holy Elders and Saints, and enables them to do what they do.
*
But for some, probably for me, deification is merely the turing back to God again and then again, taking the first step and back-sliding a step. It is the qualitative movement towards God - even if it gets no further than that - but of course it has, in some people, in some times and places - gone much further than that.
For instance, theosis went much further than that in C.S Lewis himself...
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An interesting article from www.ucg.org about Original Christianity. This follows this post about the Divinity of Jesus Christ. For a free magazine subscription or to get this book for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886-8632.
What Did the Early Church Believe and Practice?
The book of Acts is an eyewitness account of the early Church from Christ's death until about A.D. 60. Chapter 2 records the beginning of the Church, when God sent His Spirit to 120 followers of Jesus Christ.
Many Bible readers are familiar with the miraculous events of that day-of the place they were assembled filling with the sound of a mighty wind and what appeared to be tongues of fire alighting on those gathered there. Another miracle occurred as those people, now filled with God's Spirit, began to speak in the languages of people from many lands so that all could understand their words.
Often overlooked in this account is the day on which these events occurred, the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1), one of the festivals God commanded for His people many centuries before (Leviticus 23). In revealing these festivals, God said that "these are My feasts... the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations" (verses 2, 4). God proclaimed that these festivals were to be "a statute forever throughout your generations" (verses 14, 21, 31, 41).
The Gospels show that Jesus Christ observed the same festivals (Matthew 26:17-19; John 7:10-14, 37-38). Both the book of Acts and Paul's letters show the apostles keeping these festivals during the decades after Christ's crucifixion (Acts 2:1-4; 18:21; 20:6, 16; 27:9).
Most churches teach that the festivals were "nailed to the cross," that they were somehow annulled by Christ's death. Yet the unmistakable record of the Bible is that the early Church continued to observe them, but with greater grasp of their spiritual significance.
Speaking of one of these God-given feasts, the apostle Paul urged the church in Corinth-a mixed group of gentile and Jewish believers-to "keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:8). Paul was clearly referring to the Feast of Unleavened Bread (see Leviticus 23:6; Deuteronomy 16:16).
Paul explained the significance of the Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7; Leviticus 23:5) and gave instructions on how to properly observe this ceremony (1 Corinthians 11:23-28).
The many references in the Gospels, Acts and Paul's epistles prompt an obvious question: Since Jesus, the apostles and the early Church kept these days, why don't churches teach and observe them today? After all, Paul directly tied the feasts to Jesus, His purpose and His sacrifice for mankind (1 Corinthians 5:7). (To learn more about these festivals, send for or It was Jesus' custom to go to the synagogue every Sabbath to worship (Luke 4:16). Contrary to the teaching of those who say that Paul abandoned the Sabbath, it was his custom, too, to go to the synagogue every Sabbath (Acts 17:1-3), using the opportunity to teach others about Jesus Christ.
The weekly Sabbath is another of God's festivals, like those mentioned earlier. It is, in fact, the first of His feasts listed (Leviticus 23:1-4). It is included in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15).
As with God's other feasts, the Sabbath is ignored by the overwhelming majority of churches. Rather than keeping the Sabbath as God commanded, most churches meet on the first day of the week-Sunday-a day nowhere commanded in the Bible as a day of worship. Why? If we are to observe any day as a weekly day of rest and worship, shouldn't it be the same day Jesus Christ and the apostles kept? (Be sure to request or Following Christ's example, the apostles powerfully preached about Jesus Christ's return to establish the coming Kingdom of God (Luke 4:43; 8:1; 21:27, 31; Acts 1:3; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 28:23, 31). But Paul warned that, even in his day, some were already preaching "a different gospel" (2 Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:6).
We see much confusion in churches about what the gospel is. Most view it as a message about Christ's life story and His death to "save" us without really understanding why He came and why He had to die and without proclaiming the message of God's Kingdom that Christ Himself taught (Mark 1:14-15).
Similarly, Jesus and the apostles did not teach that the righteous ascend to heaven at death (John 3:13; Acts 2:29, 34), and they understood that man does not possess an immortal soul (Ezekiel 18:4, 20; Matthew 10:28) that would spend eternity in either heaven or hell. (For the truth on these matters, These are some of the major differences between the Christianity of the time of Christ and the apostles and that commonly practiced today. Shouldn't you look into your Bible to see if your beliefs and practices square with what Jesus Christ and the apostles practiced and taught? As noted, we have many resources that can help in your study of God's Word.
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An interesting research article from
Let's examine this subject and review what the Bible and history say regarding Christmas observance and its customs.
When the apostle Paul addressed the issue of how flexible Christians should be in their fellowship, he stated: "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.' Therefore 'Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you'" (2 Corinthians 6:14-17).
NO NEW DAYS OF WORSHIP
Regarding pagan beliefs and customs, the New Testament is as emphatic in rejecting them as the Old. There is not a single example in the New Testament of a new religious feast day being established in Christ's honor. Following Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, the New Testament was written over a period of 60 to 70 years-yet nowhere in that written record is there evidence of or instructions for institution of new days of worship in His honor.
Instead, the New Testament records that Christians continued to keep the Old Testament Holy Days listed in Leviticus 23 without interruption, but with greater spiritual understanding than before. The Encyclopaedia Britannica states: "The sanctity of special times was an idea absent from the minds of the first Christians... [who] continued to observe the Jewish Festivals though in a new spirit, as commemorations of events which those festivals had foreshadowed" (Vol. 8, p. 828, 11th edition).
It was natural for the early Christians to continue keeping the biblical Holy Days, which now centered on celebrating Christ's successive interventions on behalf of mankind in the past, present and in future.
The Bible gives clear instructions regarding the use of pagan practices to worship the true God.
God was clear when He told His people: "Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them...and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.' You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it" (Deuteronomy 12:30-32).
The New Testament Church clearly understood this, and there is no hint during that time of new days of worship being established. It was well into the second century before new man-made feasts to honor Jesus Christ began to appear in Rome.
The first was the Easter Sunday celebration, which history records was kept in Rome about A.D. 135. Christmas appears to have first been observed around A.D. 230 and became definitely established on Dec. 25 by the year A.D. 435. Meanwhile, the biblical Holy Days commanded in the Old Testament and continued in apostolic times were systematically abandoned.
HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS
If Christmas was not observed in the time of the apostles, how did it come to be observed? The pre-Christian origins of Christmas can be found in almost any book about the day. The briefest research will show that its roots extend into many different religions and pagan beliefs.
"Saturnalia and the kalends were the celebrations most familiar to early Christians, December 17-24 and January 1-3, but the tradition of celebrating December 25 as Christ's birthday came to the Romans from Persia. Mithra, the Persian God of light and sacred contracts, was born out of a rock on December 25. Rome was famous for its flirtations with strange gods and cults, and in the third century the emperor Aurelian established the festival of Dies Invicti Solis, the Day of the Invincible Sun, on December 25.
"Mithra was an embodiment of the sun, so this period of its rebirth was a major day in Mithraism, which had become Rome's latest official religion with the patronage of Aurelian. It is believed that the emperor Constantine adhered to Mithraism up to the time of his conversion to Christianity. He was probably instrumental in seeing that the major feast of his old religion was carried over to his new faith" (Gerard and Patricia Del Re, The Christmas Almanac, p. 17).
"As ancient as civilization itself is the custom of celebrating a festival at the time of the winter solstice, at the turning of the year, when days begin to lengthen and the sun to return. In Egypt January 6 was honored as the birthday of Osiris; in Rome December 25 was the birthday of Mithra and the feast of Sol Invictus, the unconquered sun. Both dates became identified with Christ's appearance on earth.
"In the East January 6, which had also been a pagan water festival, was fixed as the date of his baptism and marked by the blessing of baptismal waters. In the West it commemorated the adoration of the Magi, the three wise men who came to worship Christ as representatives of the people of the world. Almost everywhere December 25 came to be accepted as the day of the Nativity. The joyous celebrations of the pagan mid-winter festivals were continued by Christians" (Roland H. Bainton, The Horizon History of Christianity, p. 368).
Additional beliefs merged
As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, additional beliefs were merged into it, resulting in the mixture of customs observed today. "There are indications...that as Christians went on from year to year and century to century developing the rites of Christmas, they borrowed, adopted, or simply carried over elements of other midwinter celebrations" (Gerard and Patricia Del Re, The Christmas Almanac, p. 15).
Many pagan customs were imported directly into the church with little or no change. "Certainly the official Church inspired its missionaries to make the winter feast a Christian festival. In 601, Pope Gregory instructed Augustine of Canterbury to follow the custom of decking temples with greenery by decking churches in the same manner, and to solemnise the time by Christian feasting.
"'Nor let them now sacrifice animals to the Devil, but to the praise of God kill animals for their own eating, and render thanks to the Giver of all for their abundance...For from obdurate minds it is impossible to cut off everything at once...'" Pope Gregory said (William Sansom, A Book of Christmas, p. 30).
Does man have the authority of the Bible to innovate and adopt other days of worship? Notice what Jesus Christ told His apostles when He gave them the great commission: "'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age'" (Matthew 28:18-20).
Christ never even hinted that His followers would have the authority to establish new days of worship. He told the apostles to teach His followers "to observe all things" He had commanded them. Throughout His earthly ministry He had diligently kept God's Sabbath and Holy Days, which now were filled with new meaning. The early Church continued in their observance, following Christ's own example.
The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology states: "In the early Christian church the propriety of celebrating the festivals together with the whole of the Jewish people was never questioned, so that it needed no special mention" (Vol. 1, p. 628).
Does the new covenant render all prior biblical forms of worship obsolete, giving Christians freedom to express their faith and gratitude in any way they wish? How much freedom do Christians have to innovate in their worship? They are given only as much freedom as was authorized in the New Testament.
ADDED TRADITIONS REJECTED
For instance, notice the Pharisees' approach to the Scriptures. They argued with Christ that they could innovate and add to God's laws new traditions, reasoning that they could better express their faith by doing so. They asked Christ, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?" (Mark 7:5).
How did Christ answer? Did He explain that their practices were perfectly acceptable since He came so they could add even more traditions? He certainly did not!
Here is His answer: "'...In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men...All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition" (Mark 7:7-9).
Just as the Pharisees added their traditions to the law of God, so do many churches today. But Christ's answer directly condemns this practice.
What happens when God's feasts are no longer considered holy and their observance is viewed as optional? A vacuum results. Since the biblical feasts are the only ones authorized in Scripture, historically mankind has had to innovate. Religious leaders have looked to popular religious festivals outside the Bible that can be "Christianized," such as the pre-Christian festivals and celebrations that came to be renamed Christmas.
Unlike the biblical Feasts, which picture the steps in God's plan that offer salvation to all mankind, Christmas is a shallow man-made substitute.
Christ did not consider His birth of prime importance. Instead He instructed His followers to observe the Passover, commemorating the sacrifice of His life for the sins of the world. After instituting new symbols representing the importance of His life and sacrifice for us, He told the disciples "Do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24).
The whole concept of celebrating Christ's birth would have been foreign to His disciples and the writers of the New Testament. "To the early Christians the idea of celebrating the birthday of a religious figure would have seemed at best peculiar, at worst blasphemous. Being born into this world was nothing to celebrate. What mattered was leaving this world and entering the next in a condition pleasing to God...
"No, if you wanted to search the New Testament world for peoples who attached significance to birthdays, your search would quickly narrow to pagans. The Romans celebrated the birthdays of the Caesars, and most non-Christian Mediterranean religions attached importance to the natal feasts of a pantheon of supernatural figures" (Tom Flynn, The Trouble With Christmas, p. 42)
ORIGIN OF BIBLICAL FESTIVALS
Some go so far in advocating new forms of worship as to propose that the biblical feast days commanded by God in Leviticus 23 are ultimately derived from pagan celebrations. Certainly there is no biblical basis for such a claim. Such opinions are based in liberal theology. Conservative scholars on the whole discard such theories.
Reflecting the conservative point of view, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states: "The sacred seasons of Israel stem directly from divine revelation and were designed to illustrate significant aspects of the eternal redemption that God had already ordained for His own under the OT. The Hebrew calendar of convocations is therefore not to be explained on the basis of natural phenomena, such as the phases of the moon or the Palestinian agricultural cycle.
"Neither may it be attributed to pre-Mosaic custom, whether Canaanite or nomadic. Israel's feasts served rather as divinely revealed expressions of the moral obligations of His people, as memorials of God's saving acts in the past, as sacraments of His sanctifying power in the present, and as types of His anticipated victory over sin in the forthcoming first and second advents of Jesus Christ" (Vol. 2, pp. 292, 293).
In fact, according to the biblical history of Genesis 1-11, it was not God's way that came out of paganism, but paganism that came out of God's way, when man left His guidance and laws. Mankind then established corrupted systems with only glimpses of God's truths. Dr. Stephen Langdon, one of the great archaeologists and Assyriologists of this century, said: "In my opinion, the history of man's most ancient religion reveals a rapid tendency from pure monotheism to extreme polytheism and its focus on evil spirits. In its most absolute sense, it is the account of the fall of Man" (Sir Charles Marston, The Bible Spoke the Truth, p. 72).
OTHER FEASTS ADDED
Some believe that since the Jews added the feasts of Hanukkah and Purim in biblical times, we are free today to add religious holidays and celebrations of our own choosing. Does their observance sanction the institution of additional religious holidays?
There is a major difference in background and intent. Nowhere did Hanukkah and Purim incorporate pagan forms of worship into a celebration honoring the true God. Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple after its defilement by the Syrian king Antiochus, and Purim commemorates the defeat of the Jews' enemies in the time of Queen Esther. As such, they are celebrations of thanks and honor to God, similar to Thanksgiving Day as observed in the U.S.
Christmas, however, is very different. It is a syncretism of numerous pagan beliefs and customs into a celebration supposedly honoring the Son of God, a practice soundly condemned in the Bible (Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:1-4, 30-32; 2 Corinthians 6:14-17).
"...Though it celebrates the mightiest event in the history of Christendom, it was overlaid upon heathen festivals, and many of its observances are only adaptations of pagan to Christian ceremonial. This was no mere accident. It was a necessary measure at a time when the new religion was forcing itself upon a deeply superstitious people. In order to reconcile fresh converts to the new faith, and to make the breaking of old ties as painless as possible, these relics of paganism were retained under modified forms, in the same way that antique columns, transferred from pagan temples, became parts of the new churches built by Christians in honor of their God and his saints" (The Story of Santa Klaus, p. 58, 59).
Regarding the background of Christmas, Tom Flynn wrote: "In my research, I found only one Christmas custom that seems to belong exclusively to Christianity. Christians appear to have invented the Midnight Mass out of whole cloth. Celebrated in Rome as early as the fifth century, it alone appears not to have significant pagan antecedents" (The Trouble With Christmas, p. 70).
WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH
Since Christmas is not authorized by God nor by the Bible, it can never be holy. Jesus Christ Himself said that "true worshippers...must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23, 24). Christmas celebration is not sanctioned by the Scriptures. Such idolatrous practices are at best futile, foolish and worthless (Jeremiah 10:1-8).
At worst, since such practices break the First and Second Commandments, they are sin. When God said: "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3), He condemns forms of worship that celebrated the supposed birth the sun or false gods. When God states: "You shall not make for yourself an idol...You shall not bow down to them or worship them..." (Exodus 20:4, New International Version), He also condemns inventing religious feasts and celebrations to replace those God ordained.
Why not just keep the Holy Days that come directly from God and picture His plan to offer salvation to humankind?
Paul's warnings to Timothy about what would happen in the church should also be a warning to us: "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." (2 Timothy 4:1-4).
Christmas is one of those fables. GN
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From The Catholic Leader-
Pope Francis has had his first meeting with the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, and CINDY WOODEN, of Catholic News Service in Rome, reports that they spoke of the differences that divide as well as the common goal for full unity.
POPE Francis and spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury pledged to support each other with their prayers and to continue the search for full unity between their communities.
Meeting at the Vatican on June 14, praying together in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel in the Apostolic Palace and eating lunch together in the papal residence, both remarked on the fact that Pope Francis' inaugural Mass was celebrated on March 19 and Archbishop Welby's installation was on March 21.
More here-
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CLICK ON ANY OF THE FOLLOWING TO VIEW:
MEMORIAL (Lord's Evening Meal) (INDEX; Watchtower Online Library)
Lord's Evening Meal (Insight-2 pp. 268-271; Watchtower Online Library)
The Lord's Evening Meal-An Observance That Honors God (bh p. 206-p. 208; Watchtower Online Library)
Who Are to Partake of the Bread and the Wine and How Does One Know if They Are of the Anointed Or Called to Heavenly Life? (Search For Bible Truths)
Why Observe the Lord's Evening Meal? (w03 2/15 pp. 12-16; Watchtower Online Library)
The Lord's Evening Meal-How Observed? (w04 3/15 pp. 4-7; Watchtower Online Library)
What Does the Lord's Evening Meal Mean to You? (w03 2/15 pp. 17-22; Watchtower Online Library)
The Ransom-God's Greatest Gift (bh chap. 5 pp. 47-56; Watchtower Online Library)
How can you demonstrate that you appreciate God's gift of the ransom? Attend the annual observance of the Lord's Evening Meal"."
The Eucharist-The Facts Behind the Ritual (w08 4/1 pp. 26-29; Watchtower Online Library)
What was the original observance that Jesus instituted like?
Credit: http://practicing-wicca.blogspot.com
We are working out some internet wrinkle to let Fr. Nalls do his own posting. For now I am posting this one for him. - Fr. HartWhen the train left the station
Rev. Canon Charles Nalls
The internet has proven to be a goldmine of information. Where else can one learn about the latest "Church" of Scientology scandal or check in on that all-important British tabloid coverage of Carmen Electra? Idle surfing (particularly when deadlines loom) brings all manner of interesting news. So was the case today when the latest story on the Apostolic Constitution popped up on Catholic News Service and was picked up on several other services and blogs.
It seems that Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said the visit Nov. 19-22 of Archbishop Rowan Williams to the Vatican "demonstrates that there has been no rupture and reaffirms our common desire to talk to one another at a historically important moment." Heaven forbid! Might cut into the Cardinal's London theatre weekends.
Kasper, who is no friend of the traditional Anglican (or Roman Catholic, for that matter), was hot to maintain that the Apostolic Constitution establishing special structures for Anglicans who want to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church "absolutely is not a signal of the end of ecumenical dialogue with the Anglican Communion." One can only uncharitably speculate whether the cardinal has been making ecumenical visits to peyote-based faith communities to make such a claim, but no matter.
In an interview published in the Nov. 15 edition of L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, Kasper assailed commentators who have said that the pope made this decision just to "expand his empire" as "ridiculous. Let's stick to the facts." Said Kasper, no stranger to the Vatican-mandated press retraction. "A group of Anglicans freely and legitimately asked to enter the Catholic Church. It was not our initiative/" Rather, the whole thing is based on "the Second Vatican Council and of 40 years of Catholic-Anglican dialogue." Now for the interesting bit.
Cardinal Kasper also spoke about the Traditional Anglican Communion-"a group that claims more than 400,000 members and describes itself as 'a worldwide association of orthodox Anglican churches, working to maintain the catholic faith and resist the secularization of the church.'" The cardinal bluntly said that while "TAC leaders asked the Vatican two years ago to find a way for them to join the Catholic Church, they did not participate in the conversations that led to the pope's recent provision." This would seem to directly contradict the center-stage taken by the TAC since signing and transmitting a Catechism of the Catholic Church and accompanying letters in Portsmouth, England two years past.
The good cardinal didn't let it lie there. He went on to note, "Now, however, they [TAC] are jumping on a train that already has left the station. If they are sincere, OK, the doors are open. But we cannot close our eyes to the fact that they have not been in communion with Canterbury since 1992" and therefore are not technically leaving the Anglican Communion to join the Roman Catholic Church, he said.
Again, the Cardinal has been known to have to down healthy servings of crow from time to time. Nevertheless, as chief ecumenical officer of the Roman Catholic Church and having been entangled with the CofE for some time, he must know a little something. It lends weight to the idea that the Apostolic Constitution is an instrument directed to departing "mainstream" Anglicans in the U.K. and elsewhere, (you know, folks who already have the altars in the nave and use the Novus Ordo liturgy) rather than continuing church Anglicans who may not be up to scratch in any number of areas specified in the plain language of the document. Perhaps the answer lies in the "special secret Apostolic Constitution" that is alleged to be manifesting itself shortly.
At least it is cause to ask, "When did the train leave the station?" There is much at stake in the answer.
Origin: http://lilith-dark-moon.blogspot.com
Water, the Universal Solvent By Apostle Anthony Berry in concert with Apostle Mike Wilson
From the very beginning of God's word, in the book of Genesis, we find the very first mention of the earth; how it is void and without form. Moses writes that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters; he writes about how the waters were in more than one form because God creates a firmament (the atmosphere) to separate the waters from the waters. In other words he separates liquid water from vaporous water (the clouds). Throughout the bible water plays a most important role. The earth is destroyed by water twice; this is proven by the fact that in Genesis 1:28, God blesses man and commands that they replenish the earth. For the earth to be replenished with life (man) there had to have been life before Genesis 1. Water is again mentioned in the great flood (Noahic), and life is once again destroyed by water; this is the reason that God placed a bow in the sky as a promise that he would not destroy the world by Water again. God delivers Israel and gives them an escape route through water when he parts the Red Sea. In the New Testament God uses water to cleanse people through water baptism. The baptism unto repentance, which is how the disciples of Jesus baptized until the events in Matthew 28:19, and Acts of the Apostles 2:1-38. Jesus speaks of living waters when he speaks to the Samaritan Woman at the well
End of excerpt 1.
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