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As Paul Evdokimov says, “Under the grace of the sacrament [of marriage] the sexual life is lived without causing the slightest decline of the inner life.” Marriage, like monasticism, is a sign of God’s kingdom, because it begins to restore the unity of mankind (and the cosmos as a whole) which has been broken up by sin. Thus marriage is both a great mystery in itself and represents a greater mystery, the unity of redeemed mankind in Christ.
from Introduction by Catharine P. Roth to St. Chysostom’s On Marriage and Family Life, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, NY. 1986. p.10
Listening to talk radio while on a sans-kids shopping trip, I heard this on an otherwise informative feature about nutrition:
Evolution designed apples to be very nutritious…. it was a very sophisticated Darwinian process.
I’m amazed that anyone can say this, especially someone who is intelligent enough to make some good observations about our eating habits. I don’t read newspapers or watch much cable TV, so maybe I’m behind the times. Could someone email me and let me know when Evolution stopped being a natural , impersonal process and become a transcendental being capable of forethought & design?
(Sorry, I didn’t get the nutritionists’ name… if I find out who is to blame for this quote, I’ll edit this post.)
Read authors who stretch you and introduce you to other writings as well. Great writers stimulate your capacity to think beyond their ideas, spawning fresh insights and extensions of your own. Good reading is indispensable to impartation of truth. An expenditure of words without the income of ideas leads to conceptual bankruptcy.
Ravi Zacharias, “The Dying Art of Thinking”, 1992. http://www.rzim.org/resources/jttran.php?seqid=2
“Indeed the mystery of Christ runs the risk of being disbelieved precisely because it is so incredibly wonderful. For God was in humanity. He who was above all creation was in our human condition; the invisible one made visible in the flesh; he who is from the heavens and from on high was in the likeness of earthly things; the immaterial one could be touched; he who is free in his own nature came in the form of a slave; he who blesses all creation became accursed; he who is all righteousness was numbered with the transgressors; life itself came in the appearance of death. All this followed because the body which tasted death belonged to no other but to him who is the Son by nature.”
Cyril of Alexandria (378-444), On the Unity of Christ, as quoted in Christopher Hall’s Learning Theology with the Church Fathers, 82.
I’ve begun reading Christopher Hall’s Learning Theology With the Church Fathers. So far, it’s a good introduction to the Church Fathers by way of looking at the specific doctrines they defended. Hall begins with a discussion of Athanasius’ debate with the heretic Arius regarding Christ’s divinity. It’s a great summary and about as clear an explanation as I have seen. Even so, it’s a tough read.
The words themselves are the trouble: “Father” and “Son” are at once so familiar and so technical that one must be extremely careful to understand them correctly when discussing God’s nature. It is not difficult to understand how heretics like Arius and Sabellius misunderstood Scripture and began teaching error. This discussion can be so difficult that one begins to wonder: Why try to articulate the ‘mysterious, ineffable reality that defies description’? Why are we bothering to describe something we cannot truly be describe? Hall imagines Athanasius’ response:
I can hear Athanasius respond, “I would rather have remained silent and simply adored the mystery and wonder of God in worship. Unfortunately, certain teachers began to speak of this mystery in such a way that the gospel itself was desperately threatened. How could I remain silent when Arius began to teach that the Son was an exalted creature? Can a creature save us from sin?… Never. Yes, reverent silence and adoring worship is much the more proper response to the wonder and mystery of God. But there comes a time to speak, if only to build a boundary around the mystery itself….” (50-51)
Hall, Christopher A. Learning Theology With the Church Fathers. InterVarsity Press, 2002. ISBN: 0-8308-2686-6
The point is well made. We must be able to articulate our beliefs carefully and clearly. When we are using our words to speak of The Word, we must be very careful indeed to represent Him as best we are able.
In 1736 came Whitefield’s ordination for the ministry at the hands of the Bishop of Gloucester, and the preaching of his first sermon in the same city. ‘Some few mocked, but most for the present seemed struck, and I have since heard that a complaint has been made to the Bishop that I drove fifteen mad.’ The Bishop expressed the hope that ‘the madness might not be forgotten before next Sunday.’
Houghton, S. M. Sketches From Church History, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1980. p. 195
I found this while studying for our Church History class this morning. I thought I’d post it since it made me smile — but in typing it out, I noticed there is a good bit of insight here about how people react to conviction.
In case you don’t know, George Whitefield was a 18th century Methodist preacher who taught both in the US and England. He was the central figure of the second “Great Awakening” in US during 1740-41.
A brother came to Abbot Pastor and said: Many distracting thoughts come into my mind, and I am in danger of because of them. Then the elder thrust him out into the open air and said: Open up the garments about your chest and catch the wind in them. But he replied: This I cannot do. So the elder said to him: If you cannot catch the wind, neither can you catch prevent distracting thoughts from coming into your head. Your job is to say No to them.
Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert, saying L, page 43.
In prepping for our Church history class I remembered this small book of saying from the “Desert Fathers” of the 4th century. It’s a loaded with pithy little stories and sayings like this. If you like this one, I suggest you hunt down a copy of the book for yourself.
Perhaps my use of God is nowhere the crude misuse of Him by [Simon the magician or Micah the Ephraimite], but the pressure to bargain or bribe is always there. Do I pray, attend church, and tithe my income in order to receive special favor, or do I do those things out of realizing who God is and for the joy of obeying the majestic, glorious God of the universe? Do I seek to please Him in order that my loved one may be healed, or is it because I love Him so much I could not do otherwise? Do I write “for my gain” or “for God’s glory” underneath everything do for Him? The difference is manipulating God or ascribing my song of praise to His worthiness. “Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created.” (Revelation 4:11).
W. Glyn Evans, Daily With My Lord, September 25
In the same manner as that small-town trial, we bring this prejudice to Genesis and think that we are capable of deciding whether God acted in six days or through fifteen billion years. That was not the intention at all. The four major thoughts of the Genesis text have been lost in the volume of extraneous debate. The principle thrust in the opening pages of Genesis is that God is the Creator and that He is both personal and eternal — He is a living, communicating God. The second is that the world did not come by accident, but was designed with humanity in mind — man is an intelligent, spiritual being. The third thrust is that life could not be lived out alone but through companionship — man is relational, dependant being. The fourth aspect is that man was fashioned as a moral entity with the privilege of self-determination — man is an accountable, rational being.
Three significant relationships entail: that of man toward God — the sanctity of worship; that of man toward his spouse and fellow human beings — the sanctity of relationships; and that of man toward the created order — the sanctity of stewardship. Upon and from the first flow the other two.
Ravi Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods, 171-172.
I very much like Ravi’s perspective. It is well within God’s power to create everything in 6 days (or 6 seconds or 6 whatevers), but it is more important for us to know our place in relationship to God, man and the universe than the details of when and how it all began.
I’ve had cause to wade through some of the more aggressive atheist blogs lately. The force of atheist arguments, even the ones I can easily see through, has the cumulative effect of making me glum. I don’t buy their conclusions, but the underlying hostility of the writers gets to me. It’s odd that their vitriol carries more weight with me than their arguments. I guess that’s why I’ll never be a great apologist for the faith.
In thinking about these things this morning, I composed this loose poem. Maybe you’ll find it encouraging, more likely you’ll just find it silly. If you don’t know what I’m referring to with all the talk of witches, Marshwiggles, and Aslan go get yourself a copy of The Silver Chair and enjoy it over a good cup of coffee or two.
When all the best arguments seem lost
When belief seems forced
When atheists have cleared the sky of God
When I wonder what the point could possibly be
if He didn’t exist
if He didn’t rise
if it’s all a fable
a contrivance of power-hungry men.
I begin to think it would be easier
to join them
and be content with my pretty rocks.
But then I remember a voice
A cherished teacher of my childhood:
Puddleglum.
Deep in the witch’s lair
powerful spells lace the air
and four friend waver.
The sun is but a lantern, only darkness reigns
Narnia is a distant, shadowy dream….
What is Aslan after all, but a bigger better cat
You’ve dreamt up on your own?
“One word, Ma’am”
and burned Marshwiggle begins to clear the air.
“Suppose we have only dreamed. Then all I can say is that, in that case,
the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones.”
“We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right.
But four babies making up a game can make a play-world
which licks your real world hollow.
“That’s why I’m going to stand by the play world.
I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it.
Not that our lives will be very long,
but that’s a small loss if the world’s as dull a place
as you say.”
Maybe the world really is devoid of God
Maybe Jesus never died for me.
Maybe they are right.
But you know what?
The mythos of Christ licks their world hollow.
