>
Friday - June 19, 2009Thursday - January 29, 2009Issues, etc. Achieves New LowIssues, etc., recently had a podcast on the filioque. The host, Todd Wilkens, should be embarrassed to ever have published it. Sunday - January 25, 2009Sunday - July 13, 2008Saturday - July 12, 2008Saturday - June 28, 2008Charismatics and PrelestThe modern Charismatic movement seems filled with miracles. Are these truly from God, or not? How is one to discern, and why do so many people follow this movement? Saturday - February 16, 2008Another Indictment of Modern Academia"I heard a Catholic radio show (on the
local affiliate) in which the Orthodox were blamed by the good father for
Protestants saying "for thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory,
forever and ever
amen."
...The presumption is a copyist knew it from the liturgy and added it to a biblical manuscript. 4) With the fall of Constantinople to the Ottman Turks in 1453, the Byzantine Greeks scattered throughout Europe, taking these manuscripts with them. ...I assumed that this was a priest from Catholic Answers, but I've listened to several hours of programming spanning the last week or two, and haven't found the right program.... As it turns out, the accusation is false - just more of the dubious scholarship around things Scriptural. It seems that there are those who are only happy if they can come up with some theory that challenges Christianity and challenges the Church. ...I e-mailed a priest in Texas whose writings I've read for probably the last 10 years or so, and was probably instrumental, in many ways, in my conversion to Orthodoxy.... One of the issues he addressed was the love affair with the Alexandrian texts of the New Testament, because they represented the oldest manuscripts we had. ...He pointed out that there were quotes of the Gospel of Matthew that included the doxology that date back to the first century. "2 And do not pray as the hypocrites, but as the Lord commanded in his Gospel, pray thus: "Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, as in Heaven so also upon earth; give us to-day our daily bread, and forgive us our debt as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into trial, but deliver us from the Evil One, for thine is the power and the glory for ever." ...The Didache , of course, is usually dated to about the year 60, so its hardly a 13th century addition. In addition, we find a similar doxology in the Apostolic Constitutions , which has a somewhat more vague date of somewhere in the 3rd to 5th century. ...John Chrysostom has apparently used the doxology, as well, when quoting from the Gospel. The reason, I suspect, that the Catholic Priest was espousing the theory that the doxology was a later edition, was that he, and whoever developed the theory, were guilty of the logical error that states that the oldest manuscript is necessarily the most accurate.... Although many scholars debate the validity of his theories, at the very least, a dispassionate observer has to question the validity of the Alexandrian texts. ...Protestantism has, as one of its 3 basic tenets, the notion of Sola Scriptura. Although the precise definition of this belief varies from denomination to denomination, all denominations agree that only doctrine derived from Scripture is to be binding upon the believer. This, then, would seem to require a pretty solid notion of precisely what is and is not, Scripture.... Even those denominations who acknowledge that tradition plays a role in their doctrine, see tradition as something apart from Scripture (the somewhat mythical Anglican 3 legged stool sees tradition and reason as something apart from Scripture). In Orthodoxy, however, we understand tradition to be Scripture "rightly understood" (I believe that is St.... Scripture and Tradition are part of the same thing. So, minor variations in the Scripture don't carry quite the same weight as they would for people who hold Scripture to be supreme.... However, we look to the liturgical tradition, and the teachings of the Fathers, to understand what Scripture means. That pieces of the liturgy might make their way into copies of Scripture is no big deal, because we would use that same liturgy to understand Scripture, and so would know that Jesus Christ believed that God's is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. We would know, because, even if it wasn't in Scripture, it would have been passed down to the Church - which is, after all, both the pillar and ground of truth, and the very body of Christ. Tuesday - February 05, 2008As Western Lent ApproachesPretty much nothing except water all
day (Monastics would use hot water to stave off the hunger pangs), or at least
until after Vespers. Modern Catholic discipline has become pretty watered down,
so that it becomes a matter of simply having, I think, one small meal and one
large meal or something like
that.
...Since many "sweets" are really high fat items, like cookies, cakes, and milk chocolate, this reflects the ancient fasting practices which you still see in the Orthodox Church.... In Orthodoxy, we fast for the 6 weeks of Lent, then Holy week, following an Orthodox "strict" fast, which is pretty much a vegan diet, also without wine or harder liquor, and the cessation of marital relations (think 1 Cor.... Well, we have the week known as Meatfare, which is the week before the first week in Lent (we don't do Ash Wednesday, so Lent begins on Clean Monday). This makes the fast from meat last 8 weeks, and the full fast last 7. ...I have a friend who was raised with precious few vegetables, and thus has an extremely hard time with Lent - trying to be strict by the rules can actually lead to despair. ...It is interesting that the Church of England is promoting Lenten practices that don't seem to acknowledge the need for fasting as a means of growing in holiness.... Its not that I disagree with trying to go without gossiping for a day, but with the fast, we are supposed to struggle to go without gossiping, even when we're grumpy for not having had our sweets and steak. Tuesday - December 18, 2007The 500 Year Itch?Terry Mattingly has written a column
about the current state of Protestantism, based on the assertion that
Christianity goes through some seismic change once every 500 years.... I think
it is clear that Protestantism is undergoing a significant change now, but the
500 year "rule" is mostly contrived, and some of the conclusions
strained.
In order to make the 500 year rule work, TMatt counts back 500 years from the reformation and arrives at the great Schism.... However, just as significant was the move of the capitol of the Roman Empire to Byzantium/Constantinople about 200 years earlier. You know, the Roman Empire that continued to exist until the 15th century (yes, you can argue that the Western Empire fell, but it wasn't the whole thing). Of course, in the early 9th century, we have the founding of the Holy Roman Empire - which, coupled with increasing theological divergence on the part of Rome, is really the significant upheaval of the millennium. ...Besides providing a nice hook for his column, it also allows the author he interviews to arrive at some interesting implications regarding the Emerging Church movement. She makes an interesting, and unfounded claim that these changes result in the prevailing form of Christianity having to give "pride of place" to something new. This is as if Rome became some minority Church after the Reformation, and Orthodoxy had apparently vanished entirely by then.... Nobody has given away pride of place, unless you want to discuss supplanting Orthodoxy with the theological novelties that developed in Rome. I think the author that TMatt interviews is attempting to suggest that the Emerging Church movement, with its elimination of doctrine, is the new exciting thing that will unit Protestantism.... As Fr. Freeman notes in a recent blog entry (drawing on Christianity Today), this divorce from the Church and the Fathers leads to erroneous conclusions. ...As Annie notes over at Innocent Doves , this willingness to "shed dogma and rethink doctrine," "sounds a lot like what has been going on in ECUSA." ...I don't think the Emerging Church movement represents some great new thing - except for the number of such Churches who are realizing that Orthodoxy or Rome is where they should be. Tuesday - October 30, 2007What's the PointI was told of a blog entry by a
Presbyterian Pastor on the subject of what amounts to consumerism in American
Christianity. I was left feeling that this pastor felt it important to make his
"brand" of Christianity more relevant and convenient to the
consumer.
More importantly, what I was left with was a question of what the point of Christianity is? Modern Evangelicalism would tell us that a simple "decision for Christ" is all that matter, and after that you may do what you like with some degree of impunity (as modern Evangelicalism is pretty strongly Calvinist, with a good dose of predestination and OSAS). If that is all that is necessary, then, by all means, do what you must in order to achieve that decision. ...This view (which is the correct view - noting that nobody has ever questioned it, until perhaps more recent times), is that we need to be united and conformed to Christ in a real way.... Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior, was hardly interested in either entertainment or convenience, which seem to be the drivers of the modern non-denom Christian movement. How can we make that a primary driver for worship and the structure of a church, and expect that the end result will be a person more conformed to Christ? Sunday - October 14, 2007Pop Culture and ChristianityThere's been a lot to blog about -
especially regarding the Episcopal Church - which I will mostly leave alone
(although there might be a thing or two to respond to). Of greater interest are
a couple of related items, one, sent to me by a friend, and the other, talked
about in his blog
.
...Even Orthodoxy hasn't been completely immune to such debates, although these are usually limited to discussions around the introduction organs and polyphonic choral music. In order to reach a conclusion about what is appropriate as worship, one must first answer the question of what is the purpose of worship. ...In this environment, its critical to make everything about the worship as appealing as possible, so that you can "make the sale." ...However, the older view of worship, like other aspects of the faith - prayer, fasting, almsgiving, etc., is intended to further allow us to "acquire" the Holy Spirit - to allow us to become more conformed to Christ. In this context, we can understand that very secular modifications to worship will probably not allow this to happen. ...So, if the purpose of Christianity is really centered on a one time "decision," with little significance attached to what follows, then the style of worship should be allowed to morph and adapt to the present day fads and fashions. If the purpose of Christianity is the process of salvation, then a great deal of concern needs to be centered on the nature of worship and its ability to help us become conformed to Christ. Thursday - July 05, 2007Nationalism and the ChurchI have to admit to loving the various patriotic
songs and hymns we get to hear around the 4th of
July.
...This morning I received an e-mail from an Anglican Music blogger , with the following statement: "I argue to you that the Greek and Serbian and Russian orthodox churches are too nationalistic.... There are several interesting things worth commenting on. Are the various Orthodox Churches in this country too nationalistic? ...As a recovering AngloCatholic, I, too, grew up with the singing of various hymns such as the Star Spangled Banner, and America around various national holidays throughout the year.... It seems to me that much of the opposition to hymns such as the Star Spangled Banner reflect the strange modern phenomenon of Americans feeling the need for false humility such that they denigrate the U.S. at every opportunity. Most, if not all, of the hymns for national days which have made it into American Anglican worship are there to thank God for His intervention in the founding of this country, and to request His continued intervention. ...The only difference, and this may prove to be a key one, is that most other hymns are ones that Christians from around the world (assuming they spoke English) would feel comfortable singing. Most other hymns reflect events in salvation history, lives of saints, or God's interactions in our personal lives. The introduction of Nationalistic hymns into worship commits what is considered by many conservative Anglicans to be a significant error, the elimination of common prayer.... If you were visiting the U.S. from England, would you feel comfortable singing "Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. ...In reference to you and your countrymen (albeit, this may be more pointed at the Hessians). So, the argument is raised that these sorts of hymns are traditional, and so they are - within the context of the past 4 - 500 years.... Let's look, for a moment, at Orthodoxy and see what a longer tradition provides here.... Although it is under the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch , and not the Archbishop of Greece , it is part of an Archdiocese founded to provide support for the growing number of Greek immigrants. Thus, you would expect that we would sing hymns about Greek independence as part of our service on March 25th (Greek Independence day, as well as the feast of the Annunciation).... I do not believe that there are any hymns sung in honor of the Byzantine empire, the Russian empire, or any other state within Orthodoxy - although certain leaders that have been canonized, such as St.... I will admit that I have only had the smallest glimpse into the entire body of Orthodoxy hymnody, so there may be something I'm missing.... On the Sunday before the 4th, after the service, the choir sang America, and America the Beautiful as we were receiving the antidoron from our priest and exiting the Church. So no, as I think about this, and look at the longer traditions, I think maybe it isn't appropriate to sing such hymns during worship. After the service, before the service, at some special event, absolutely appropriate. Its interesting that in looking at this, we see that the Orthodox churches may, in fact, be less nationalistic. ...The ethnicities are what keep the parishes somewhat separate - although there is an increasing amount of effort, especially during Great Lent, spent on worshipping together. So hopefully, over time, we'll come to see our "ethnicity" as being American, and there will be a little less separation. Saturday - June 02, 2007Rome or OrthodoxyOne of my favorite bloggers, Christopher Orr,
posted an excerpt from another blog(this makes this sort of chain blogging, I
suppose), that was written by a soon to be former member of the LCMS, and
Professor of Philosophy, who is departing the Lutheran Church for Rome. He
provides a brief synopsis of his reasons for not choosing Orthodoxy, which I
hope is merely reflective of the fact that this was a response within the
comments area of a post, and not the amount of thought he actually gave the
matter.
His first reason for going to Rome vs. to the Orthodox rings a familiar bell. Much of what I liked about being an AngloCatholic is that I had the freedom to be somewhat "Orthodox", while still enjoying the familiarity of Anglican Worship. He then goes on to note that he leans toward the Roman position on theological questions, and he finds the filioque eminently reasonable and closer to Scripture than the Orthodox position (forgetting for a moment that the one place in Scripture which addressed the Procession of the Holy Spirit specifically states that He proceeds from the Father). He acknowledges that "The Eastern churches have, one must admit, an impressive two-thousand year history of eucharistic unity and orthodoxy." He proposes historically weak suppositions for how this was accomplished, and then has to throw in the canard of the jurisdictional problem in the U.S. While the jurisdictional issue is of concern, it hardly represents as much of a problem as he supposes (the fact of reunification of effectively warring jurisdictions - ROCOR and the Moscow Patriarchate bodes well for unity in the U.S.).... The reality is that Orthodoxy and Eucharistic unity has been maintained in spite of a myriad of challenges. The fact of the matter is that Rome has changed the teaching and doctrine of the Church, and there is no honest argument against that. John Henry Newman put forth a somewhat compelling rationale for this under the guise of development of doctrine, but whether you call it development or not, it is change, and significant change. When you step back for a minute, what directs Dr. Koons to Rome and not to Orthodoxy are his comfort with worship style, his opinion of weighty theological matters discussed by men of great holiness, his need for supreme singular authority. ...This theology of communion, as I would casually call it, is the answer to the question Mr. Orr proposes. It is making it clear that Orthodoxy offers a cure for the malady of me, by replacing it with you and us. In fact, this is the big difference - the big point.... It does not offer a set of logical propositions to be held on to - it does not attempt to save by virtue of the intellect.... I think that when people become truly aware of their need to be healed, then they will heed the call of Orthodoxy. ...A friend of mine and I have, for a very long time, noted that most modern Roman Catholic theology can be summed up by Augustine and Aquinas, with perhaps a smidge of Anselm plus the writings of the latest Pope. In fact, most books, and most apologetics sites seem to predominantly quote this group.... John Chrysostom, you will also see references and quotes of everyone from St.... I think this reflects a lack of willingness on the part of Orthodox to look to one person to summarize their beliefs. Tuesday - May 29, 2007LensesAt a recent Pew Forum conference, Philip Jenkins
spoke about the growing increase in influence of Christianity in the Southern
Hemisphere on Christianity in the North. There is much to digest in his
comments, but a friend pointed out one particular portion about birthrates and
the Orthodox Church. Jenkins surmises that the day will come when Anglicanism
will be bigger than Orthodoxy, due to the fact that birthrates in historically
Orthodox countries are extremely
low.
Any Orthodox Christian will explain their view that the Orthodox Church is the Church that Christ founded.... What I do find interesting is that he doesn't seem to be asserting that Orthodoxy will fail because the message they are delivering is wrong, but rather because they aren't having enough babies. It seems, then, that the key to the spread of Orthodoxy would be to have evangelists and missionaries sneak into Orthodox houses, and destroy birth control. At the same time, Dr. Jenkins explains the spread of Christianity in Africa because the Old Testament is more relevant to their experiences.... What's more troubling is the assertion that Christianity is growing in Africa because the message is more relevant to them. "But there's a more basic thing: if you're in a new church in Africa or Asia, the Bible speaks to you as a more immediately relevant, more direct text, than it does for many Global North people for whom the Bible is basically part of the wallpaper. ...Perhaps I'm being too critical, and I don't know much about Dr. Jenkins views of things, but he seems to look at the spread of the Kingdom in extremely secular terms. In order to spread your version of Christianity, have lots of babies and keep the Gospel relevant to the culture in which you are working.... I think that Scripture - all of it - resonates with us today as much as it does with poor, agrarian Africans. The degree to which it doesn't resonate reflects more on our spiritual hard heartedness than it does on flaws in Scripture. ...Maybe the very hope for the spread of the Gospel in the North is that the Orthodox Church provides for an interpretation of Scripture that makes it relevant for people of all times and places. Surely the Church has spread in both the poor parts of Africa to the greatest empires the world has known. However, the Orthodox Church doesn't look at the Old Testament through the lens of our daily experience, but through the lens of the Gospel itself.... Finally, we see hint and shadow all throughout, of the coming of the Messiah, his death, and his glorious resurrection. ...I'm not saying that people from agrarian societies can't grasp certain elements of Scripture better because of their background. Sunday - March 18, 2007In this sign, conquerThe sign of the cross has always
played a significant role within the life of Christians from the earliest times.
Nathan Bierma, from Calvin College, recently published an article in
Christianity Today, surveying the history of the use of the sign of the cross,
by virtue of a review of a couple of books - one by a Roman Catholic, and the
other by an Orthodox author . Providentially, this article was published just a
couple of weeks before the Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross in the
Orthodox Church (one wonders if the publishers were aware of
this).
At the end of the article, Bierma makes a case for the adoption of the use of the sign of the cross by Protestants (with the acknowledgement that Liturgical Protestants, like Anglicans and Lutherans, have continued this practice from before the Reformation).... We've seen, over the last couple of decades, a growing interest in Patristics, a growing interest in Icons, and now an interest in Mary as well as an interest in the Sign of the Cross. What's most interesting is that this all feels a bit like my own journey into Orthodoxy, and somewhat like the story of others.... The sign of the cross, devotion to the Theotokos, fasting, etc. Ultimately, when, as one of my fave bloggers described it, the Episcopal Church forced me to think with my heart more, I became Orthodox.... Fulfill now the petitions of Your servants for our benefit, giving us the knowledge of Your truth in this world, and granting us eternal life in the world to come (from the Liturgy of St. Saturday - March 17, 2007Views on the TheotokosRecently, Timothy George published a
piece over at "First Things" which discusses the need for Evangelicals to
recover a "biblical appreciation" of the Virgin Mary. This is not the first
time, as he notes, that he has done so (he is a bit erroneous in stating that he
wrote the previous article in 2004, it was actually 2003 ). This article
provides a motivation to compare Catholic and Orthodox views on Mary (more so
than the Protestant view), but it also provides an interesting opportunity to
look at what may be an interesting change in the use of typology, and the
Fathers, within Evangelical
circles.
...Over the past decade or so, there had developed an interest in looking to the Church Fathers, as well, and this has largely been positive. Unfortunately, there has largely been a tendency to use the Fathers the wrong way - reading them through the lens of Scripture - as opposed to reading Scripture through the lens of the Fathers. What I mean by this is that the approach seems to be - interpret the Scripture, then look for passages in the Fathers that agree with this interpretation.... This tendency has led to yet another impasse in conversations between some groups of Protestants and (mostly) Catholics. ...Ever since the time of the Reformation, there has been a hesitance to take a typological approach to Scripture similar to what is seen in the Fathers.... The tendency was to deal with the "plain" meaning of Scripture and not engage in what was considered a more fanciful interpretive technique that leads, as would be argued, to error.... Not in the sense that the doctrine says "read only the Scripture, and read it this way," but rather it is an outgrowth of the doctrine.... This has become a formal doctrine, I believe, in some Protestant circles, and is at least an informal doctrine in most.... If Scripture is perfectly clear - at least doctrinally - then you would become suspicious of any efforts to see hidden meanings in Scripture, and particularly if these meanings start pointing to matters of doctrine. This is what I suspect drove the move away from looking at Scripture the way the Fathers did. ...It requires, I think, a desire to be less dependent on personal interpretation of Scripture, but more dependent on the interpretation of the Church. Here, there is a departure from the Roman Catholic view of what it means for the Church to interpret things.... Within Orthodoxy, we view the interpretation of the Church as being that which was passed down from the Apostles, and is reflected in the teaching of the Fathers (including modern day Fathers, such as St. ...Both view her as the Theotokos, or Mother of God(which I'm told is more accurate than Godbearer).... Churches which came out of the Reformation should take note of this, as this high view of Mary, being shared among both Orthodox and Roman Catholics, is clearly very ancient. ...Well, one could dwell on recent (within the last century) additions to the ancient doctrines about the Theotokos, and pick them apart one by one, but I think there is something that each of these more recent doctrines have in common, that points to something farther back, which is the distinctive difference between Rome and the East. That difference is one of context, which is reflected in the differences in the iconographic traditions of East and West. Most people who live in the West are familiar with various statues and depictions of Mary within Roman Catholicism.... The last doctrine formally declared by a council about Mary was that of her being the Theotokos, or God bearer.... In other words, the doctrine was formally declared in order to deal with a heresy about Christ.... As with other beliefs, such as that about her sinless life, her time living in the Temple, etc., all reflect traditions which were passed down from the early days of the Church.... However, this was never declared by any council, and merely reflected ancient belief. Rome has since modified this doctrine by declaring that Mary never actually died, but was rather assumed into heaven while still alive. All other modern Catholic doctrines about Mary, like their art, seem to have been developed without any necessary connection with Christology.... These beliefs do not reflect the ancient view of the Church, and each one largely fails to take into account Christ. ...There is much that the East and the West hold in common about Mary. However, within the last century or so, Rome has started to add things to the deposit of faith about Mary that reflect a longer tendency toward focusing on Mary independently of Christ. This failure to keep things in a Christocentric context opens Rome up to the frequent charges of having elevated Mary up to the level of a deity. Saturday - March 17, 2007Some Comparative ChristianityI've done some of this, admittedly
with a bit of a polemic edge, so now the challenge will be to attempt to simply
point out the views of Orthodoxy, and how they compare to the views of other
Christian groups.
Sunday - February 11, 2007Interfaith BlooperYoung master Daniel , over at GetReligion, posted
a piece about a piece of on interfaith dialogue, with an interesting blooper as
the headline (caught immediately by the firs commenter, I might
add).
...The piece isn't particularly deep, but it does make an interesting assertion: that all of the world's conflicts are religious in nature.... While it can certainly be argued that the majority of current conflicts are religious in nature - most notably, of course, the war on terror, that really isn't the case historically.... Was World War I really religious, or merely a war born out of the collapse of various world empires?... 6 million Jews in Nazi Germany, as many as 20 million people under Stalin - many for being Orthodox or Jewish. ...How many people have been killed by violence incited exclusively because of the religion of the attacker vs. the religion of the victim?... If the goal of this piece, and many of the efforts it refers to, seems to be the creation of a religious environment where none of the religions really believe anything.... One, is that you compromise the salvation of all concerned (sorry, I know that is a horribly traditional belief), and the second is that with no foundation to your morality other than perhaps a perfectly utilitarian approach which is more reminiscent of the "freedom" under communism than under a liberal religious structure. Tuesday - February 06, 2007Its the ValuesOne of the latest challenges has been to try and
cajole the media into covering the faith of the two Superbowl coaches. Tony
Dungy has gone on record that he and Lovie Smith would like to better be known
as two Christian coaches who won the Superbowl (or words to that effect). While
not denying the civic and historical significance of their race, they seem to
perceive their faith and their actions (both are known for not being prone to
the foul-mouthed histrionics of many other coaches in both the NFL and elsewhere
- Bobby Knight being one of the most egregious examples) as transcending their
race.... You know, a mere few weeks after Martin Luther King day, Coach Dungy's
statements are much more reminiscent of the message I think the Rev.... King
once say , "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the
content of their character."?
...The first is that the media, which tend to lean to the left on most issues, suffers from the modern form of racism that says that the only thing that matters is a person's race, in contradiction to the civil rights movement who said that a person's race should be just about the last thing that matters. ...What is interesting is that underlying this attitude we see among the left, is not some sort of acknowledgment that Islam is the correct religion, but rather that any religion is better than that evil Christianity. ...The message of God as the lover of mankind will more easily be heard when the day comes that only those willing to suffer for being Christian call themselves Christian. I occasionally make time, not nearly enough time, mind you, to read the lives of the Saints in the Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church. Many of these Saints suffered and/or died greatly for their faith, and in the example of their lives I hear the message of the great Philanthropist much more clearly than I do coming from people like me, who get to enjoy their faith in luxury. Sunday - February 04, 2007Modifying the LiturgyHe, himself, doesn't understand the liturgical
basis for the actions which Luther jettisoned. On top of it, he doesn't know
his scripture: Jesus breathed on the man born blind? He made clay with his
spittle and anointed his eyes with the
clay.
...What he says, that the basic structure of the liturgy dates back to at least 150 AD, and probably before, is quite correct. That is why the Lutheran service, ECUSA, service, Roman mass, and the various Eastern Liturgies are structurally rather similar. There is, even, a Wester rite Orthodox liturgy which is Sarum in origin, and thus looks much like the Anglican liturgy. However, the key is not the structure nearly as much as the content. We were at a family retreat/camp this weekend and were discussing preservation of the faith(here are some photos of the weekend). Interestingly enough, the day before the speaker left to come to the camp, an Episcopal lay bible study leader came in because they had been discussing how the ECUSA was losing people left and right, including the children and they began to wonder how to preserve the faith and pass it down. Someone in the group said that the Orthodox did that, and hadn't changed much at all in millennia. There's a longer story there, but the thrust of our conversation was that the West undid the understanding of Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi. Where the law of belief was driven by the law of prayer - that is, the faith was passed down through the liturgy, the West adopted the habit of revising its belief, and then revising the liturgy accordingly. ...Luther, and the other reformers, of course, asserted that all belief was clearly spelled out in Scripture, and so need not have worried about changing the Liturgy. That they couldn't agree amongst themselves as to what Scripture teaches would, I would think, make one nervous about changing the liturgy on that basis. ...Luther discarded those thing which he felt were unclear or might lead to confusion. ...Lewis, in the Screwtape letters addressed the idea of Satan succeeding best when he gets men to stop believing either in him or his actions in the world. |