“In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.”
-Martin Luther
“As People read Scripture, Scripture reads them, questions them, reveals their thoughts (Heb. 4:12) – and it leads to a
Person, not just truths.” (Daniel Doriani, page 12 in Understanding Scripture)
“. . . this faith: in one God, the Father Almighty, who made the heaven and the earth and the seas and all the things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was made flesh for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who made known through the prophets the plan of salvation, and the coming, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the bodily ascension into heaven of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and his future appearing from heaven in the glory of the Father to sum up all things and to raise anew all flesh of the whole human race . . .”
-St. Irenaeus
“By the words ‘Christian art’ I do not mean Church art…I mean Christian art in the sense of art which bears within it the
character of Christianity…It is the art of redeemed humanity…Everything belongs to it, the sacred as well as the
profane. It is at home wherever the ingenuity and the joy of man extend. Symphony or ballet, film or novel, landscape
or still-life, puppet-show libretto or opera, it can just as well appear in any of these as in the stained-glass windows and
statues of churches…If you want to make a Christian work, then be Christian, and simply try to make a beautiful work,
into which your heart will pass; do not try to ‘make Christian’. (Art and Scholasticism by Jacques Maritain)
Christ is Risen: The world below lies desolate
Christ is Risen: The spirits of evil are fallen
Christ is Risen: The angels of God are rejoicing
Christ is Risen: The tombs of the dead are empty
Christ is Risen indeed from the dead,
the first of the sleepers,
Glory and power are his forever and ever
-St. Hippolytus (AD 190-236)
“7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.”
-Jonathan Edwards
At my school, Sequitur Classical Tutorial, we just finished reading Everyman, a mediaeval morality play. The main plot of the story follows: God summons Death to bring to him Everyman, the main character of the story. Upon meeting Death and realizing his intentions, Everyman begs Death to let him have more time, for he is not ready to give a reckoning of his life, but to no avail. Yet finally, Everyman persuades Death to let him try and bring others along with him on his journey to God. Everyman first goes to Fellowship, who promises to give his life for Everyman, yet recants when it comes down to it. Likewise, Cousin and Kin, and Goods (possesions) react similarly: they promise great things, yet change their minds ultimately. In the end, only Good Deeds and Knowledge accompany Everyman on his journey to give a reckoning.
The moral of the story is two-fold. First, it seems to be rather obvious that the underlying message of the play is that we ought to live a life that would be ready to give a reckoning to God at any moment, as Jonathan Edwards Seventh Resolution states. The second moral can be expressed in this stanza from the play’s script: “O all thing faileth, save God alone; Beauty, Strength, and Discretion; for when Death bloweth his blast, they all run from me fast.” (Everyman) God is the only constant thing we have, and he should be regarded above all else, for all else dwindles away in the end.
Lucas
When Christians of opposing theologies condemn those who disagree with them on particular issues as heretics, I get irked. For instance, the Strange Fire Conference condemning the Charismatics, and many Protestants condemning Roman Catholics troubles me. The latter will be the focus of this post, due to a recent post on challies.com, condemning Pope Francis as a false teacher of a false church: “[Pope Francis] is the head of a false church that is opposed to the true gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone… Rome remains fully committed to a gospel that cannot and will not save a single soul”
I am not Roman Catholic. I have said this before, and I will say it again. Honestly, I disagree with a large majority of Catholic theologies. Yet, I acknowledge Rome to be a valid – yet incorrect – denomination of Christianity. A faithful Catholic is just as much Christian as a faithful Protestant or a faithful Eastern Orthodox Christian, and nothing really makes me more upset than to see a Christian condemning other Christians.
The Vatican
The main reason that Protestants today condemn Catholics as heretics is their doctrine of justification by faith + works, a doctrine which I absolutely disagree with. I believe that humans are totally incapable if meriting salvation in any form or fashion other than faith. Faith alone saves. (Rom. 3:28).
Yet I do not believe in a God who sentences those who have faults in their theology to eternal damnation: I tend to be Calvinist, but I do not believe that God condemns faithful Arminians; I tend to be Continuationist, but I do not believe God condemns faithful Cessationist; I believe in Sola Fide (by faith alone), yet I do not believe that God condemns those faithful Catholics who believe in faith + works, etc.. As N.T.Wright said, “We are not justified by faith by believing in justification by faith. We are justified by faith by believing in the gospel itself — in other words that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead.” Catholics affirm this, along with the Trinity, Christ’s full deity, full humanity, death, resurrection, and his atonement for our sins. These must be affirmed to be an orthodox Christian. Outside of these essentials, one ought not to condemn another for heresy. One ought not to assume that they are right therefore have the power and ability to condemn those who are wrong. That’s God’s place, and God’s alone.
I do want to emphasize a great many differences between Protestants and Rome. Catholics hold to many things, such as Purgatory, Justification by Faith and Works, Papal Infallibility, Inclusivism, Sacramental Grace, praying to saints, prayers for dead, and other things that Protestants disagree with vehemently. My point in writing this is not to say “Oh, Catholics, Protestants, what’s the difference?” for such is not the case. There are a vast many reasons that we Protestants do not belong in Rome’s fold. My point in writing this is to say, “Guys, call down. We all worship the same God, only in different ways.” So please, recognize that we have differences – because we do – but Protestants, love your Catholic brothers, and Catholics, love your Protestant brothers.
Christians all worship the same God. Do not be so quick to judge, for the judgement shall only fall back on you. (Matt. 7:1-5)
Lucas
Oh, how I wish Rome didn’t have a monopoly on making the Sign of the Holy Cross. How I wish Christians didn’t view making the Cross before/after praying, when partaking of the Eucharist, at Baptism, etc. as “something Roman Catholics do.” Part of me exclaims “Oh, to heck with what the majority of Christianity thinks! I’m Crossing myself!” Yet my other, more respectful self says, “Lucas, respect the your peers and elder’s beliefs. It isn’t a hill to die on.”
And of course it isn’t. It’s a sign, and merely that. But it represents more than the Cross. Chiefly, it is a reminder that I’ve been baptized. That MATTERS. No matter what one think Baptism “does” – whether it only represents cleansing, or whether it actually does the cleansing – the fact that one has been been baptized matters greatly, and should be remembered. On one certain occasion Martin Luther, the Great Reformer, was being tempted tirelessly by Satan, so he supposedly threw his ink-well across the room at the wall and shouted “I have been baptized! I am a Christian!” To remember one’s baptism, be it credo or paedo, is to remember that they have been marked as one of God’s Fold, they have been set apart.
To Cross oneself is not only to remember baptism, but to remember what has been done and what that implies: Christ died for the whole world, and that should by no means be forgotten at any time. That should have great implications on one’s life. This fact ought to provide fuel for the fight against sin, so to remind oneself of that regularly is healthy.
So, one side of me exclaims emphatically that every Christian should Cross themselves.
But my other, more cautious side says that there is surely a reason that a large portion of Christians don’t make the Sign. Unfortunately, doing something repeatedly, no matter what that is, typically gets mundane, ritualistic, thoughtless, and taken for granted. Obviously, the same goes for making a hand sign, no matter how great or small its meaning is. This is why many churches, mine included, don’t partake of the Eucharist on a weekly basis. While I feel that the Holy Communion ought to be partaken of weekly, that is for another blog post.
Anyway, unless the vast majority of Protestants change their view of the Sign of the Holy Cross, I would caution those bold protestants out there, saying “Hey! I want to do that too!” to abstain from making the Sign in public (if you want to in private, by all means, go ahead), because when someone sees that sign, they automatically think, “that person is Roman Catholic.” Not that there is anything wrong with Roman Catholics, but there are reasons that we Protestants aren’t Catholic.
In Christ,
Lucas.
Lucas Kelly 