Monday, April 22, 2024
An Anglican Catholic approach to Confession
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Labouring under an apprehension
Sermon for the third Sunday after Easter
There are many great
mysteries in life.
Some mysteries
emerge from facts
lost to History
and exist as ghosts
of speculation.
Some mysteries
lie in the fathomless
depths of space
barely penetrated
by the telescopes
and proves
sent out by astronomers.
And some mysteries
exist within our own species.
One such mystery
can be found troubling
the minds of men
when they are confronted
with something that they
can never truly know
- the pain of childbirth.
[PAUSE]
The husband
who joins his wife
In the delivery room
is confronted
with a wall of
impenetrable ignorance.
He works hard to support
and understand the needs
of his wife as she struggles
to bring the baby into the world
but he is at a loss because
for all his care and attention
he cannot supply anything
that she needs
based on his experience.
All words he says to comfort
and encourage his wife
cannot be based
on anything other than
his own imagination
of what she is going through
and it usually falls short
of the pain that she is enduring.
All he can do
is faithfully and actively
extend his love, respect
and gratitude
to his wife
and prepare himself
for fatherhood.
A man cannot know
his wife's pain.
Can she know his?
Can anyone know
another's pain?
[PAUSE]
This is a mystery indeed!
We can only know
our own pain and suffering.
We can only know
what it is like for us
to sprain an ankle,
cut a finger,
or even give birth.
No two labours
are the same
because no two women
are the same
and no two babies are the same.
This is the deep mystery
of being human.
We cannot truly
know the pain of others.
This means
all our Christian attempts
to love each other
fall at the first hurdle
because we do not know
what our neighbour
wants or needs to be perfect.
This is why human love
fails to unite humanity.
This is why the rule
"do unto others
as you would have them
do unto you"
cannot work.
Indeed,
this is why the Church appears divided
because
we are ignorant
of how to love each other
properly.
But because we try so hard
to love
we end up doing damage
to the Church
to the world
and to each other.
Our sin,
even our unintended sin,
causes pain
from the very moment
Eve grasps that fruit.
From that moment
we are blind to God
and we are blind
to what true love is.
[PAUSE]
And so Love comes among us
to show us Who He is.
We are born, so He is born.
We struggle, so He struggles.
We weep, so He weeps.
We due, so He dies.
And in so doing
He supplies what is lacking
and corrects what is done amiss,
so that the pain of living
has a purpose
even as bringing a baby into the world
makes the pain tolerable.
A woman may remember
the ordeal of labour
but the baby she holds
means she needs not choose
to remember the pain.
But then,
not all labour goes to plan.
[PAUSE]
There are labours
that go badly
that have the worst possible outcomes.
There are countless women
who after the pain of labour
hold in their arms
one whose life has ended
before it even saw the light of day.
And that pain
frightens us
causes our hearts to break
and to call up to God,
"Why?"
"Why is my baby dead?"
And we might be tempted
look at Our Lord's words
about sorrow being turned to joy
and to brand them glib
- even an insult -
ignorant of the mother crying out
over her dead baby,
ignorant of the husband,
dazed and confused as
to why he's not a father
or even no longer a husband,
ignorant of every human being
who has cried our in despair
at the injustice of life.
Words cannot be enough.
But the explanation
cannot take the pain away.
Answering the "Why?"
will not return breath to the little body.
There has to be action.
So God dies
horribly,
terribly,
in agony,
surrounded by those who hate Him
who laugh and mock and jeer.
And then He comes back,
not to show off
but to show that He is faithful,
that He sees our pain
and the utter devastation
of the human heart
and to remind us of His promise
that the pain we feel now
is nothing,
nothing to the joy we feel
with Him in Heaven.
The Cross is not something
with which we should
compare our pain:
it is the vehicle
of the promise we have
received.
It is not a question of
"well, God suffered
so your pain means nothing."
It is more,
"you're in pain
but God is with you
and will bring you through
even though
you can only know your pain."
[PAUSE]
We look out
onto a world
filled with so much pain
and suffering
and we cannot truly know
what that pain and suffering are.
But we Christians hold fast
to the Cross
while bearing our own crosses,
venerating them
as much as we venerate
the Cross of Christ,
knowing that God
is never ignorant of our pain
but will bring to birth in us
Faith, Hope and Love
and that these will last
much longer than any pain can.
Monday, April 15, 2024
Making saints the Anglican Catholic way
How does a person become a saint in the Anglican Catholic Church?
Sorry, my video got cut off.
I meant to add:
God bless you in your progress to sainthood. May you always bear witness to Almighty God.
And God bless you that you may join all your favourite saints in the glory of God.
And please pray for me
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Ovine Comparisons
Sermon for the second Sunday after Easter
Analogies and metaphors
can only go so far.
Our Lord describes us
as His sheep.
To our ears,
that makes us sound
like dumb animals.
Perhaps we object to that
as it hurts our dignity
as human beings.
But if we compare ourselves
with God
we are not even sheep.
What is a pot
compared with the potter?
Or the stick man
idly doodled onto the page
of an exercise book
compared with the bored
schoolboy trying to cope
with learning
the politics of World War I?
To be compared as a sheep
with the Divine Master
is a compliment.
But if we are concerned
about being compared with sheep
in the first place
then we're missing the point.
[PAUSE]
To compare two things
puts them in opposition.
We look at two things
to see which is bigger,
which is worth more money,
which is prettier,
which smells worse.
The moment we try that with God
then the comparisons
stop making any sense.
Which is redder:
the post box,
or the colour red?
Which is brighter:
the sun,
or light itself?
Which is more holy
the saints,
or God Himself?
[PAUSE]
We are always so ready
to compare ourselves with others
that frequently we miss the point.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd
we are His sheep,
not of the fold
of the inheritance of Israel
but of the gentile fold
that Jesus has taken to Himself.
Yes, the metaphor
compares us with sheep
but the point is clear:
God is with us.
He isn't against us.
He is not comparing Himself with us.
He is not setting Himself up
in opposition to us.
If Jesus is using
the metaphor of the sheep
to make the point
that He is greater than us
then He would have to deny
the fact that He has a human nature
like us.
To reinforce His difference from us
would be to despise His Incarnation
and that would defeat the whole object
of why He became flesh for us.
If humans are sheep
then He would be a sheep as well.
In saying that He is the shepherd
Jesus is not exalting Himself over us.
Quite the reverse.
He is saying that He is with us.
He is on our side.
He has our backs,
won't let us go,
will fight for us
will die for us
will lead us into the ecstasy
of Heaven itself
all because He loves us
and enjoys
to be around us.
[PAUSE]
However we appear
in Our Lord's parables
we can trust
that He means us
in the best possible way
in order to bring us to our perfection
and happiness
which can only happen
when He is in our midst.
Monday, April 08, 2024
Announcing Time's Tapestry
Why transferring the Feast of the Annunciation reminds us of the promise of Eternity.
Saturday, April 06, 2024
Proceedings from Easter
Sermon for Low Sunday
The Lord breathes
on the Apostles
and then says,
"Receive the Holy Ghost."
But don't they receive
the Holy Ghost
on the day of Pentecost?
What's going on?
[PAUSE]
The first thing to note
is that the Holy Ghost
is proceeding from the Son.
But the Son is not the source
of the Holy Ghost.
Jesus is the means
by which the Holy Ghost
proceeds to us.
The scripture here
is very clear.
The Spirit proceeds
from the Father as the source
of all being and yet
through the Son
and upon the apostles.
Why should this be important
to us?
Does it matter how
the Persons of the Trinity
relate to one another?
Does it matter how
the Holy Ghost shows Himself to us?
[PAUSE]
What do we see?
The Lord Jesus breathes
the Holy Ghost
into the Apostles
and He gives them authority
to bind and loose sins.
This authority
is not just some certificate,
not some rubber stamp,
or ID card that says
"Licence to forgive sins."
This authority
is the Holy Ghost Himself.
It shows us
that when the Apostles forgive sins
in the name of
the Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
they really are forgiven
that the relationship
between God and those who repent
is healing and strengthening.
This authority has its source
in God the Father
because God the Father
is the source of all things good.
This authority proceeds through
God the Son,
because the Incarnation
of Jesus Christ was expressly
for the purpose of redeeming souls
and the forgiveness of sins.
So we see that the Holy Ghost
proceeds from the Father
through the Son
to us
for the purpose
of freeing us from our sins.
[PAUSE]
The Apostles clearly receive
the Holy Ghost here
and here He begins His work
of transforming
Disciple to Apostle.
When that transformation is complete
then the Holy Ghost
makes His presence visible
fifty days after Easter.
But that is another story.
Monday, April 01, 2024
Sunday, March 31, 2024
The business of standing and staring
Sermon for the Feast of the Resurrection
We've been minding
our own business
this Lent
trying to understand
how the things
we busy ourselves with
fit with our Faith.
We've been asking,
"Is our everyday faith the Faith?"
[PAUSE]
But today is not like everyday.
Today,
we stand at the door of the tomb
staring in
looking at the folded graveclothes
and the napkin lying by itself
trying to make sense
of what has happened.
And we are not alone.
For many people
stand by us gazing into
the tomb
but they are very busy indeed
asking what has happened,
arguing and debating,
looking for clues and evidence
looking for a lack of clues
and evidence.
Many people busy themselves
with trying to deconstruct
the tomb
to show it's all a myth
an illusion
a folly of history.
Other people busy themselves
today
showing that the empty tomb
that we gaze into
is a historical fact.
Yes!
Yes it is a historical fact.
But we don't always need
to have to prove that it is.
We don't always need to argue
with those who rubbish
the Resurrection.
Sometimes,
we just need to stand and stare
into the empty tomb
and allow our spirit
to busy itself
drinking in the Truth
basking in the Light
that ruptures this world's
business of transaction
and competition
of evidence and matter.
The difference is
that the world will still
stand and stare into the empty tomb
and try and make it fit
with its interpretation
that the dead do not rise.
But we,
above the chatter of those
who seek to explain what they see
before then,
we hear the invitation
to stop standing and staring;
we hear the invitation
to turn around
and listen to the angels
tell us that HE IS RISEN!
The world is deaf to that,
but we need not be,
we must not be.
Because we know
that sometimes
our business is not doing,
sometimes
our business is just
to stand still
and look up into the face
of the Risen Lord
and that's all we need to be doing.
We don't need to be
agonising about fasting,
we don't need to be
calculating our alms,
we don't need to be
finding the right prayer
in the Prayerbook.
Sometimes,
we just need
to stand still,
see Him with us,
and unite our everyday faith
with the Faith of Today,
the Faith of Easter Day
with the words
"My Lord and My God."
This is the day
that the Lord hath made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Monday, March 25, 2024
Holy Week 2024: Pushing back the Annunciation
Why pushing back the Annunciation reminds us of the point of the suffering of Jesus Christ.
Sunday, March 24, 2024
Question for Palm Sunday
In lieu of a sermon for Palm Sunday, I ask one question to consider in the Long Gospel:
Who do you think is busiest in today's Gospel?
Monday, March 18, 2024
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Anarchic Jesus or Archetype Jesus?
Sermon for the fifth Sunday in Lent known as Passion Sunday
The thing is,
the Jewish authorities
interrogating Jesus
are right.
God is One alone
and we must worship Him.
This is why they pick up stones
to throw at Jesus
when He declared,
"Before Abraham was,
I AM."
Jesus has just uttered
the name of God
revealed to Moses
- I AM -
and explicitly made Himself
equal with God.
According to the Law
this is blasphemy
and Jesus must die.
On this point,
they are well within their rights
- well, they would be,
if Jesus wasn't right as well.
The Jewish tradition
is being upheld here
both by Jesus
and by the Jews.
So what's gone wrong?
[PAUSE]
The answer is simple,
isn't it?
The Jewish authorities
simply don't believe Jesus.
Despite the miracles
and the teaching,
they cannot get over the fact
that Jesus is,
in their eyes,
transgressing the Jewish Law,
healing on the Sabbath,
eating food with unwashed hands,
dining with Samaritans,
Tax-Collectors and Prostitutes
and,
worst of all,
showing the authorities,
scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers
up for not being faithful
to the old Law with all it's traditions.
To them,
Jesus is an anarchist,
a rebel,
a Samaritan who rejects
orthodox teaching ,
who rejects authority.
He is a destabilising influence
and must die.
If He carries on
he will destroy the great Tradition
that links back to Moses,
Jacob, Isaac
and Old Father Abraham himself.
[PAUSE]
The thing is,
if Jesus were just another prophet,
they'd be right.
You hear this said today.
"Jesus cares nothing about
Church Traditions."
"Jesus doesn't care about
how you say the Mass."
"Jesus doesn't care about
the teaching of the Church,
about properly ordained bishops
about marriage laws."
"Jesus puts love
above tradition."
Those who say such things
miss the point
just as much as
the Scribes and Pharisees
and for exactly the same reason.
They look at Jesus
only as a human being,
only as a reformer,
only as a revolutionary.
They see Jesus trashing
the stalls in the temple
and label Him a radical.
What they don't see
is the great I AM.
[PAUSE]
"Before Abraham was,
I AM"
Our Lord is not
the destroyer of Tradition
but the writer of it.
The Jewish Laws
are there for the glory of Israel
but leave God out of them
and they lose their meaning
strength and glory.
What we see in Jesus
is the Old Law perfected.
Yes, it is a law of Love
rather than legal obedience
but it is still ordered,
the traditions still carry their weight,
the sacraments still give grace
even after two thousand years,
because God is there in that grace,
in that teaching,
in the Church.
[PAUSE]
Ubi caritas et amor,
Deus ibi est.
Where Love and Charity are
God is there.
In the Church,
we rely on Tradition
to clarify Church teaching.
We have apostolic succession of bishops
because that's the way that
the means of God's active grace
is transmitted through the ages.
We have the meaning of God's Word
handed onto us from the beginning
through Scripture and Tradition
so that we might know the works of Love
and do them.
And today,
people say,
"you can change
the meaning of marriage
that you can change
who can becone priest
because Jesus was a radical
a reformer,
an anarchist.
He isn't bound by your traditions."
But they don't see
that Jesus gave the same Tradition
for us and for everyone
from the first to the last.
He sets the definition of marriage.
He chooses the priests.
He starts the teaching office
of the Church.
He defines law and order,
binding everyone to love,
i.e. to will the good perfection
of everyone in God.
He is no anarchist.
He is the archetype
- from the first,
the leading principle,
the Divine example
and blueprint of humanity.
[PAUSE]
Jesus is Our Lord and God,
and He gives us a law
that shall never be changed.
The Scribes and Pharisees
are the anarchists.
Those who want to change
what Jesus gives us
are the anarchists.
They reject the authority
of Christ
and they will kill Him for it.
But by His blood
all that love Him on His terms
and not their terms
will receive nothing less
than the great I AM Himself.
Monday, March 11, 2024
Gregorian Angles and Angels
Why being Anglican is all the richer for St Gregory (and others!)
Of course, just to clarify, the Gregorian Canon is part of the reforms by Pope Gregory VII, not St Gregory the Great, though Gregory VII did take his regnal name in homage to Gregory the Great.
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Priesthood and multitudes
Sermon for the fourth Sunday in Lent
Oh! It's a marvellous miracle
and so simple to state.
So many fed
with so little bread!
But it's the depth of this miracle
that matters more.
This is the miracle
for the Church.
[PAUSE]
First,
the Lord reminds us clearly:
Man does not live
by bread alone
but by every word
that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God.
We must also remember
that miracles happen
in order to back up Our Lord's teaching.
So Our Lord breaks bread
and gives it to His disciples
to give to the people
and the people are fed.
Man is not fed by bread alone...
So we see connection
between the disciples
giving out bread to the multitudes,
the bread growing
more and more plentiful
at the Creator's hands,
and the words of the Gospel
preached by so few
and yet nourishing the people
with the greatest hope
that the hunger of their souls
may be filled
by the Eternal Love of God.
The feeding of the multitudes
is the sign that backs up
the Church's duty
to feed people with the word of God.
But Jesus is the Word of God.
[PAUSE]
"I am the bread of Life"
And we know that His body
is meat indeed,
and His blood is drink indeed.
The multitude is nourished
not just by food,
not just by the Gospel
but by the very Body of Christ.
Not the blood yet,
for His blood is to be shed
for the New Covenant
and that is ratified
upon the Cross.
It is why
we do not need to receive
the chalice in the Eucharist,
though we should be free
to do so.
But what we do see
is the disciples distributing
the Gospel
in word and Sacrament.
This is the business
of the Church.
This is the business
we need to mind.
The feeding of the multitudes
is precisely the
prophecy of the Christian priesthood
and the Christian sacraments
with all the grace of God
they convey.
This is the pattern
that Our Lord intended.
This is the Church
that Our Lord intended.
And this is our intention
to be faithful to this pattern
for the Church
that Christ has built.
We Christians
have a duty if business
to bring
the good news
to those who are
hungry and thirsty
for both Word and Sacrament.
There will be those
who receive it gratefully.
There will be those
who say, "hey! I want ketchup on that!"
There will be those
who smash it out of our hands
and spit on us.
But whatever they do
we will have tried to be faithful
because we are so grateful
for what we receive
that we want others
to receive it too.
We have received Christ Himself
in the words of the Gospel
and in the Sacrament of the Altar.
It's too good
not to share.
Monday, March 04, 2024
An Anglican Catholic view of the Papacy
Intended to be a gentle and respectful reason for why Anglican Catholics do not accept the claims of the modern Papacy.
Nonetheless, God bless the Pope and all in communion with him. And God bless all those who follow Orthodox belief and cannot be i...more
Sunday, March 03, 2024
The Devil's Dividend
Sermon for the third Sunday in Lent
According to Our Lord,
the gates of Hell
will not prevail against the Church.
Indeed, St John sees the Devil
and all his apostate host
flung into Eternal flames.
So the kingdom of Satan
must fall.
The Pharisees
must believe that, surely.
Yet, Our Lord says,
that if Satan is divided
against himself,
his kingdom cannot stand.
If we know
through Jesus
that the kingdom of Satan
cannot stand,
Is Satan really
divided against Satan?
Sounds complicated.
Why is that important?
[PAUSE]
The Pharisees accuse
Our Lord
of casting out demons
through Beelzebub.
If Satan is divided against Satan
then it is theoretically possible
that the Pharisees are right.
But if Satan is divided
against himself,
then how can the Pharisees
be sure
that they aren't
Casting out devils by Satan?
By saying thatJesus
casts out demons
by the prince of demons
the Pharisees have just
cast doubt on
their own ability
to cast out demons.
Their sons will judge the Pharisees
for blaspheming against them
as well as for
blaspheming against Jesus.
It is not the house of Satan
that is divided,
it is the Pharisees' houses.
[PAUSE]
This is why blasphemy
against the Holy Ghost
shall not be forgiven.
If you cannot recognise
what good is
and decide that only
your decisions are good
then you have nowhere to go
but to yourself.
There can be no Kingdom of Heaven
other than your own self.
This is why division
is a serious business
on the Church.
[PAUSE]
There is a difference
between a division in the Church
and a division from the Church.
The reasons for division
must be carefully considered.
Ultimately,
a division from the Church
must come from
a lack of love for God
and love for other people.
Our Lord says
that whoever is not for Him
is against Him.
He also says that
whoever is not against Christ
is for Him.
There is no middle ground.
The Church is bound together
in Love, Goodness,
Truth and Beauty.
Where these are to be found
so is God.
There may be divisions
due to doctrine,
to authority
and to practice
but where true love is
Christ must be there Himself..
It means that it is not our business
to demonise any human being.
It is our business
to recognise where the Devil
is trying to work
in our lives
and then to ask the Holy Ghost
- the Finger of God -
to cast him out.
We must always be
more ready to accuse ourselves
of having a devil
than to accuse
another person.
[PAUSE]
The Lord says,
"blessed are they that
hear the word of God, and keep it."
That is how
we can be sure that
we don't have a devil
and that we separate ourselves
from sin, the world and the devil
to stand in the
Indivisible House of God
forever.
Monday, February 26, 2024
Sunday, February 25, 2024
It's a dog's faith
Sermon for the second Sunday in Lent
Does this story disturb you?
A woman asks Jesus for help.
He says that
it is not right
to give the children's bread
to the dogs.
Of course,
she says that
even the dogs eat
of the crumbs
that fall from the table.
Only then
does Jesus
heal the daughter of this woman.
Surely it disturbs us
because
we don't expect Jesus
to be so, well, rude!
The Jesus we know
and love
would heal the daughter
immediately
with kind words.
But He doesn't.
He effectively calls her
a dog,
albeit a family pet
rather than
a wild dog.
What's gone wrong?
[PAUSE]
We're rather presented
with a Jesus
that does not always
behave the way
we expect Him to,
or that we want Him to.
This might cause us to doubt Him.
Many people leave
the Christian Faith
because they
cannot reconcile
the God of Love
with some of the actions
they believe He commits.
The old argument goes
that because there is Evil
God cannot be wholly good,
or He cannot be Almighty
or He cannot be all-knowing.
But this argument forgets
that we human beings
are not wholly good
are not Almighty
are not all-knowing.
It means that
we cannot know
the mind of God.
We weren't there
at the moment of Creation.
We didn't see His blueprints
for the Universe.
We didn't see Him
ponder over which
laws of physics to choose.
We don't know Him.
But God knows
we don't know Him.
It is because we can't know Him
that He bids us to have faith,
to trust Him
when we are terrified
to hold on to Him
when we are in the greatest pain,
to believe in Him
when we can't see where He has gone.
[PAUSE]
We can't always know the reason why.
But look at this woman.
Look at what happens to her.
She has faith.
She doesn't lose
faith in Christ
or in His love
or in His power.
He calls her a dog
and she stands her ground.
She doesn't run away crying
her image of a nice Jesus
broken to bits.
She knows that this Man
can heal her daughter
and she trusts that He will.
She keeps faith
and answers Him
respectfully,
humbly,
and with the determination
that comes by faith in Him.
And then Jesus
shows her that He is faithful
and heals her daughter.
Actually,
He does more.
Jesus shows us that He is faithful
and He shows that this woman
is faithful.
[PAUSE]
We cannot expect
God to be exactly how
we want Him to be.
This is a sickness that has
invaded some parts of the Church.
To often,
we expect Jesus to
agree with us,
to be on our side of the argument
to be fighting for the causes
we support.
This is not Jesus.
This is a cardboard cutout
- not even an ikon.
If we are to grow in faith
then it will be in the hardships of life,
in the sadnesses, fears,
pains and sorrows,
the injustices and cruelty of life
that will cause that growth.
We cannot know God's purposes
but we can grow in faith
and believe that,
whatever is happening,
not only does He have a good reason for it
but we will become closer to Him
as a result.
This is part of our
business of repentance.
No-one said that
this would be easy
but perhaps we should
thank God for the fact that it is not easy.
For then we are
the greater in our faith
and deeper in our love.
God truly loves us:
He wants us to be perfect in Him,
even when we can't know
how to be perfect yet.
Monday, February 19, 2024
Sunday, February 18, 2024
Distracting distractions
Sermon for the first Sunday of Lent
We know why the Lord
is tempted.
St Paul in his letter
to the Hebrews
says that Our Lord
is tempted
so that He can sympathise
with us
in our temptations.
But we are tempted
all of our lives
not just forty days and forty nights.
How can Our Lord
be tempted as we are
but without sin
if He only endures it
for forty days?
[PAUSE]
We know this isn't true.
St Peter
inadvertently tempts Jesus
by trying to prevent
His crucifixion.
And,
even in Gethsemane
the temptation for Our Lord
to give up
is enormous.
If Jesus is tempted
all throughout His Incarnation
as we are tempted,
what are these forty days
and forty nights of fasting
and praying for?
Let's be careful.
It is only after forty days and forty nights
that the Devil starts tempting Him
as far as we know.
It is because He is hungry
that the Devil starts
trying to get Him to turn
stones into bread.
The Devil believes
that Our Lord's hunger
that will be the weak point
in His dedication to
His business of doing
the will of His Father.
And that's his mistake.
[PAUSE]
Our Lord is taken into the desert
by the Holy Ghost
precisely for Him
to wrestle with temptation.
These forty days
are days of preparation
for hard work.
They always have been.
For forty days,
Noah was in the Ark
not sitting twiddling his thumbs
but preparing things
for the new life
after the flood.
For forty days,
Moses was up Mount Sinai
preparing to deliver
the law to the Israel.
For forty days,
the Ninevites fasted
in repentance
and were saved.
These forty days
are always a preparation
for battle,
for a new life,
for new business to do.
This is why
Our Lord remains with us
for forty days
after His resurrection
to prepare the Church
for the new mission.
Where the Devil makes his mistake
is that Our Lord fasts
forty days and forty nights
In order to wrestle with temptation,
to meet it head on
rather than be surprised by it.
[PAUSE]
Temptation often
takes us by surprise.
It preys upon us
at our weak spot
in order to catch us out
and distract us from our business
of repentance
and the search
for God's righteousness.
Not only does Jesus
identify with us in our temptation,
He shows us that the way to deal with it
is by prayer and fasting
in order to meet it head on,
to expose our weaknesses
to ourselves
and to immerse ourselves
in the things of the Holy Spirit
which war against
the spirit of the age
and the materialism
of the world around us.
[PAUSE]
Lent helps us mean business
when we seek to turn our lives
to Christ and His Kingdom.
The Devil seeks to distract us
from this business.
If he can't win against Jesus,
then he cannot ultimately win
against hearts that are focussed
on the business of God.
Monday, February 12, 2024
Sunday, February 11, 2024
In praise of the JHPCU
Why I support the Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi Christian University
Last year I completed my doctoral studies in Theology and was elected a Fellow of this university and I find it a great honour to have been so.
Let me first start by giving some indication as to my ability to speak of educational institutes. As you will know from my pen-name, my first university education was at the University of Warwick in Mathematics. I am proud of my degrees there: I was taught well at an institution which was rated by the QS World University Rankings as 21st (2021) and 19th (2023) for the quality of Mathematics. To put that in perspective for my American readership, in the same year, Duke University was ranked 55th (2021) and 57th (2023) for Mathematics. I hope you will understand that I have some barometer by which I can judge the quality of education that I have received.
While I was at Warwick, I would often pass by pictures of the Mathematics Institute at its beginning. There was a particular photograph of the nascent Institute in 1965 of a collection of a few mathematicians, mainly from Cambridge, who were setting up that institute. The most notable was Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman but also Professor David Epstein whose images in hyperbolic geometry are still used today. I was taught by the latter since Sir Christopher was by then the master of an Oxbridge college. What stayed with me was that august institutions have small beginnings.
I can say the same of the Anglican Catholic Church: we received autonomy in 1978 and have grown as an institution to the body we have now, making our contribution to Church unity as one of the G3.
To be present at a birth is always a privilege. To be responsible in bringing something to birth is tense, fraught and yet truly wonderful.
And so to the JHPCU.
I became aware of the JHPCU through Professor Stewart Thompson who is now the principal of the Victoria College of Music. The VCM is an independent college which has the weight of a century in its work. It has its roots in Christianity - indeed, one of the modules it offered was that of Bible Reading. From the VCM, I found myself intrigued by the existence of the JHPCU.
Why JHP? Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was a swiss pedagogue and committed Christian whose overriding thesis is that education should be a right, not a privilege. I am in full agreement of that for education is that which enables us to find a deeper language with which we can talk to, and talk about, God. The existence of God is written in all things and it is through education that we see that writing.
I resolved to study with them because I am involved in the Board of Ministry and Education in my diocese. We needed a training programme for our clergy and found that with the VCM but now had the opportunity to enhance that training with a university. If we wanted to use the JHPCU for our training then I needed to be trained by them. I also felt that such a project would help us as a diocese understand our identity as Anglican Catholics and give me an opportunity for my writing to be given a more rigorous scrutiny by proper academics. The tuition fees were very reasonable, as to be expected from an institution which seeks to provide a right rather than offer a privilege.
My supervisor was Professor Craig Paterson. Since coming to know him, I have been impressed by his significant credentials. I have his book on Analytic Thomism - a subject of serious academic weight - and found that he has worked with a luminary no less than Professor Elizabeth Anscombe. I know academics - I have been in the presence of such wonderful people such as Professor Jack Cohen and Professor Ian Stewart. I shook hands with Sir Roger Penrose and Professor Sir Michael Atiyah for whose great niece I would go on to administer public examinations. By this blatant name-dropping, again I hope I show that I know academics of quality, and so I was reassured that under Professor Paterson, I would receive sound supervision. And I did!
Paterson didn't let me get away with anything - no sloppy thinking allowed, nor the omission of full and complete references. The difference was that I received a better, more pastoral supervision filled with encouragement that, sadly, I did not receive at Warwick where my supervisor was not always available or ready to listen. I may have learned independence at Warwick but I did not learn confidence.
When finally I came to my viva, I was examined by Bishop Andrew Linley and The Venerable Peter Johnson - again certainly no intellectual lightweights. Again they took me to task to make sure that I produced works of quality. The fact that they passed me both for my masters and doctorate means that I met their standards. You may judge that for yourself as I have published my masters thesis as The Meaning of Anglican Catholicism and my doctoral thesis as Anglican Catholic Moral Theology, available from Lulu. Whether you agree with my conclusions or not, you will see the quality of education I have received and I am quite proud of my work.
Of course, the big difference is that Warwick is a very secular institution; the JHPCU is not. It is Christian and that informs the pastoral care. Neither is it a narrow institution: the JHPCU is involved in the Latimer Institute run by the UECNA which is of a decidedly Old High Protestant persuasion. Again, I might disagree with certain aspects of the theology of the UECNA, but I see in The Latimer Institute hard work being undertaken by the academics there and good on them - they ought to be proud of themselves!
From my point of view as a member of my diocesan board of ministry, education is not the be-all and end-all. My diocese is committed to spiritual formation as well as theological education as we want our priests to lead a balanced and rounded life of prayer and not just study. The JHPCU also sees spiritual development as something that can be informed by, but not subsumed in, theological education.
And so I am now a Fellow for the University. I don't receive a wage - none of us do because that is beside the point - so I cannot be accused of being in someone's pockets. I see myself like as of one of the few standing outside the farmhouse which housed Warwick's first mathematics institute. I have high hopes for the JHPCU's future and pray daily for its ministry in the world. It may be a new institution but the ACC is a new institution, too, and I believe that also has an important commission to fulfil.
Good news! Crucifixion and Miracles!
Sermon for Quinquagesima
We've been trying
to mind our own business
in the run up
to Lent.
We've been learning
to leave others' business
to them
and concentrate on our business
which is sowing
the seed of the Gospel
into the hearts of men.
If our business
as Christians is
to bear witness to the Gospel
how do we do it?
Do we do what Our Lord does?
[PAUSE]
It seems we must,
but if we look
at what Our Lord
says and does with His disciples
we run into some
uncomfortable truths.
First,
Our Lord speaks about
what will happen to Him.
He speaks of the consequences
of telling human beings
the Gospel,
that repentance
from a life of Sin
by turning to Him
will bring everlasting joy
and salvation.
These consequences
are derision
and persecution
and crucifixion.
That's not a comforting thought
about preaching good news.
The second uncomfortable truth
is that after speaking about
the reality of persecution,
Our Lord casually,
effortlessly
and freely
gives a man back his sight.
Crucifixion and miracles,
is that what we have to do
to preach the Gospel properly?
No wonder many Christians
don't bother
or preach a socially acceptable "Gospel"
that doesn't result in either
crucifixion or miracles.
[PAUSE]
If we feel like this
perhaps
we're looking at things
in The wrong way.
The fact is
we are not Jesus.
We are meant to be like Him.
That is true.
But we can only truly be like Him
when we see Him.as He really is.
That takes work.
And that's our business.
Our business is that
of repentance
and repentance is hard,
painful and sometimes
seemingly impossible.
We remember, though,
that repentance is not
a negative thing,
it is not without joy
it is not without laughter
it is not without enjoying
the good things of life.
But it is serious.
Deadly serious
Repentance is always
about turning to face Christ
and daring to look Him
straight in the eye
having committed
the sins that we have
and yet seeing
ourselves reflected in those eyes
as people of light.
In those Divine human eyes
we may see our shame
where we fall short,
but we see also love,
the will of God for our perfection
- our perfection in God.
Our business
is repentance
and, by repenting
and living active lives
of repentance,
Our Lord's light
will shine in us.
That doesn't mean
we live ostentatiously
flaunting our good deeds.
Our good deeds will flow
from our choice to repent
In honesty and truth,
and our choice
to make our lives perfect
in Christ.
[PAUSE]
And when we do suffer
or are in grievous pain
because we repent
then we know that
our repentance is working
and making visible
God's reality in our lives
and in our world
darkened by sin.
And, should God decide
to work a miracle
through us,
then that is His decision
and nothing to do with us,
but rather
allow ourselves to wonder
at the wonderful works of God
in gratitude at His desire
to work with us.
[PAUSE]
Preaching the Gospel
is a life of repentance
in which we strive
to see Christ
in all we do or see.
This is because salvation
is a process
in which we participate actively
and not a one-off event.
And so we begin Lent
looking at what our own business is,
and minding it,
and seeking Christ out
from the clutter of our lives.
God bless you this Lent.
Monday, February 05, 2024
Sunday, February 04, 2024
Sow, sow, sow your crop...
Sermon for Sexagesima
Who is the parable for?
Our Lord preaches
about the Sower
sowing the word of God
and the fate of each of the seed,
but who is the parable for?
[PAUSE]
We know that it can't be
for everyone.
Our Lord Himself
says that parables
are only for those
who have ears to hear.
But, clearly the disciples
have ears to hear
which is why Jesus
explains the parable.
Except.
Except, who is the Sower?
Who is sowing
the word of God?
Does Jesus say?
[PAUSE]
In each of the gospels of
St Matthew,
St Mark
and St Luke,
we are not told who the Sower is.
Isn't it God?
Well, no.
For God would know
where to sow for a good crop.
God doesn't waste things.
If He knows the number
of stars, sparrows
and hairs on your head,
then we know
that everything works for good
for those who love God.
If God were the Sower,
would He allow the devil
to take the word of salvation
from the hearts of men?
God is not the Sower.
Jesus is not the Sower.
Jesus is talking
to the sowers of His word.
This parable
is for the disciples
because it is their calling
to serve God by preaching the Gospel.
[PAUSE]
Our Lord explains
the pitfalls of preaching.
We cannot expect
our preaching always to be effective.
Sometimes
before anyone can hear the Gospel,
the Devil gets in the way.
So we must preach again
to those by the wayside.
Sometimes
the Gospel goes a little way in
but the rocky hearts of men
can stop it from growing.
So we must preach again
to those in rocky ground.
Sometimes
the Gospel goes in and starts growing
but the world around
distracts and disorders
so that a person doesn't
fully come to faith.
So we must preach again
to those in briars and thistles and weeds.
[PAUSE]
It is our duty
to keep preaching
because we don't know
where the word of God
is ending up.
We can't see
the birds,
the rocks,
the thistles,
or even the fertile soil.
But we can be sure
that one seed
in the good soil
will grow and produce
more than we know.
[PAUSE]
it is at the end of Time
that the harvest will be reckoned
the sheaves bundled
the tares and weeds and thistles
burned away.
Until then,
we must mind our own business
and
sow, sow, sow
even in tears and sorrow
because we will come
again in joy
bringing in a good harvest
and rejoicing
in the salvation
of all our brothers and sisters.
Monday, January 29, 2024
Sunday, January 28, 2024
Mind your own business!
Sermon for Septuagesima
People who worked
for one hour
are paid the same fair days wages
as those who worked
a twelve hour day.
Why does it sound unfair?
We know it isn't unfair
because Our Lord
uses this parable to tell us
something about ourselves.
[PAUSE]
The person who seems
to come in for the most criticism
is the Employer
who justifies himself
by saying that he has a right
to do with his money
as he pleases.
You agree with that, yes?
You can do what you like
with your own possessions.
But then...
How do you feel
about that statistic
that a handful of people
control the majority
of the wealth in the world?
Aren't they allowed
to hoard their money
and use it for their own purposes
which may,
or may not,
be godly?
[PAUSE]
Some of us are very good
at deciding what
other people should do
with their money.
When we see
a rich man pass by a collecting tin
without putting something in,
we grumble something about
camels passing through eyes of needles.
When we see
a rich man put something into
that collecting tin,
we grumble that he's making a show
of his wealth
in false generosity.
The rich man can't win.
But we don't want him to, do we?
[PAUSE]
There are two things
that Our Lord teaches us
about money and possessions.
The first is
that we should render unto Caesar
that which is Caesar's
and unto God
that which is God's.
Material things
matter most for those
who are materially minded.
Bills must be paid.
Tax must be paid.
Debts must be paid.
This is true for all of us.
While they may be
important
they are not what defines
our relationship with God.
God's claim
on our lives
is greater than
Barclay's Bank's claim
on our overdraft.
This leads to Our Lord's second point.
Those who have been given much
will be expected to show much interest
on God's investment.
God wants us
to bear good fruit
and has given us the means
to grow it.
He will not expect growth
from where He has not given.
So the rich man
will always find himself
required to give an account
of what he is doing for his wealth.
But this account
will not be rendered to us,
but to God.
[PAUSE]
Those who labour all day
receive the agreed generous daily wage,
but their eyes
are on other people's
wages.
Their outrage
comes from envy
and pride in their assumption
that their time is worth more
in their own eyes
than was agreed.
Notice also
that the Employer himself
is making use
of what he has.
He may earn more money
as a result,
but so do his employees.
The wealth is not
buried in a field,
mattress
or investment fund.
It is being used
and everyone benefits.
[PAUSE]
It might sicken us
to see celebrities
living the high life
in yachts,
drinking champagne
and eating Ferrero Richer,
but that money is going somewhere.
It is being rendered unto Caesar.
What concerns us
as Christians
is what is being rendered to God.
In that sense,
that's the rich man's problem
and not ours.
[PAUSE]
We should not allow
other people's use of their wealth
to distract us
from using what we have
to the glory of God.
We should not allow
other people's expenditure
to tempt us to judge
another person
in a way that will judge us
in the same way.
It is what we do
with the wealth that
we have been given
that matters more
to us eternally
than other people's business.
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
Filioque, St Vincent of Lérins and Ecumenism
Why the Vincentian Canon is of more value to the Catholic Church than we think.
Sunday, January 21, 2024
Miracles under a bushel
Sermon for the third Sunday after Epiphany
Just think.
Something wonderful
happens to you,
something life-giving,
something that changes
your pain into joy.
What do you do next?
But then?
What do you do
after you receive
something truly wonderful?
Do you not want
to tell someone?
Do you not want
to scream in utter happiness
that you have
received something marvellous?
And then
Jesus says,
"Sshh! Don't tell anyone!"
What do you do?
[PAUSE]
There are several times
when Our Lord
tells people that He heals
not to tell anyone
what has happened to them.
In this case,
Our Lord tells the leper
not to say what has happened
but concentrate
on fulfilling the Jewish Law
and present himself at the temple.
Our Lord
is effectively telling
the man He heals
to give thanks to God first
as a matter of priority.
But why can't the man
tell people on the way?
It is because
two men whose sight is restored
blab to all Capernaum
that Jesus can't go into a house
and teach
but must teach outside the city.
But surely,
people need to see the miracles!
Why?
Well,
more people will come
to Jesus and be healed.
Yes,
but when would
He be able to teach us
if He is busy healing everyone.
This is important,
if you think about it.
Our Lord comes
with the Good News
of our salvation
at His hands.
His message is about
Eternal life.
Where is the leper now?
Where are those blabbing blind men now?
All those whom Jesus heals
still die.
Our Lord is clear,
Miracles follow the Message
not the other way around.
He does not need
His miracles to be
seen by all and sundry.
If He did,
then His appearances
would be more like
a musical extravaganza
with fireworks
and people falling over
"slain in the spirit."
That's not what we get.
Our Lord heals people
as individuals
for their sake
and for the small group
of witnesses around,
not for the sake
of making a spectacle of Himself.
To those who demand
miracles from Him,
He will show
only His bloodstained body
dangling lifelessly
upon the Cross.
Even His Resurrection
is intimate,
reserved only for
those who love Him.
The miracles are not the message.
[PAUSE]
Our Lord is not
hiding His Light
under a bushel.
If He did,
then we would never
hear His word.
Even His Father speaks
in a still, small voice.
God needs no megaphone
on a street corner,
just those whom He calls
to preach His Gospel
by living that Gospel
and showing the love
of that Gospel.
We don't need to
perform miracles
like St Peter or St John,
we just speak the Truth
and, perhaps, something wonderful
will follow.
It is the miracles
that we hide under a bushel,
not the message.
Monday, January 15, 2024
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Water, Wine and Incarnation
Sermon for the second Sunday after Epiphany
You do pay attention
in the Mass,
don't you?
Of course you do.
You notice that
the priest first puts
wine in the chalice.
Then he blesses
the water
before he puts it
in the wine.
Indeed,
the Mass isn't valid
if he forgets
to add the water to the wine.
Why?
[PAUSE]
There are two reasons.
You might think
about the blood and water
that pours from
the wound in Christ's side.
That is the historical reason.
The link between
the sacrifice of the Crucifixion
and the sacrifice of the Mass.
The Mass is a participation
in the single perfect sacrifice
of the Cross.
Adding water to the wine
makes that participation
real, true and clear.
But there is a spiritual reason too.
And it's to do
with the water jars at Cana.
[PAUSE]
It seems odd
that we add water to wine
when wine is
mostly water anyway.
But lots of things
on this planet
are mostly water.
Indeed,
it is said that we human beings
are more than
two-thirds water.
So when we drink water,
it's like the adding
of water to wine.
And this is deliberate.
We see,
in adding water to wine
the truth that we say
in the Athanasian Creed.
When Jesus becomes Incarnate,
He doesn't convert His Divine Nature
into Human Nature
but takes our Nature into His.
He takes the water
of our Humanity
into the wine of His Divinity.
Our Human nature
sits in Christ
like the water
sits in wine.
This is how
the sacrifice of the Mass
brings us into
communion with God
because we take
the true substance of God
into our selves.
Of course,
that's a bit like
adding wine to water.
But this communion
here and now
points to our salvation
in Christ when He performs
the miracle of Cana again,
this time changing
the water of our Humanity
into the wine of His Divinity
within us.
While St Paul may be
thinking of St Timothy's
physical health
when he bids him
take a little wine for his stomach,
he is also pointing us
to the health-giving benefit of wine
as an image of the life-giving benefit
of the Blood of Christ
under the figure of wine.
The Chalice
contains
not just a taste of salvation
It is the promise
- the New Covenant -
of salvation to Eternity.
This is the same promise
that Our Lord shows
at the wedding in Cana.
He may say to His mother
that His hour has not yet come
but instead
He promises what will happen
at the hour
- the hour of Crucifixion -
by showing us our salvation
in His blood
and the taking up
of our Humanity
into God.
[PAUSE]
When you look into the chalice,
you might catch a glimpse
of your face
reflected on the surface
of the Consecrated Wine.
This is no accident
for you see yourself
looking back at you
from Eternity.
Tuesday, January 09, 2024
Sunday, January 07, 2024
Renewing from the library
Sermon for the first Sunday after Epiphany
When was the last time
you ever borrowed a book
from the library?
Perhaps you remember
being given a date
by which
you had to return the book.
But what if you hadn't finished it
by that date?
Well, then you'd pop along
to the library and ask
to renew it.
Then you'd be given
a new date
by which to return the book.
Your borrowing
of the book has been
reset.
Is this what St Paul means
when he tells us
to renew our minds?
[PAUSE]
The idea of renewal
that St Paul is using
is a return to an
uncorrupted state.
We see that our sins
leave a mark on how we think
and how we think
can lead us into sin.
As far as our thinking goes,
we have a vicious cycle
- quite literally -
sin begets a vice
and vice weakens our mind,
our mind cannot resist temptation
so we sin.
That first sin of Adam
kick starts the whole cycle:
we sin because Adam sinned
and weakened us
to sin further.
The corruption of our mind is clear,
and we cannot truly know
what is good while our minds
are in a fallen state.
But just how do we renew it?
We need to go back to the library.
[PAUSE]
St Paul tells us
that he speaks through Grace
- God's active presence working in us.
Our first grace of justification
occurs at our Baptism
when we are cleansed from sin
and incorporated
into Holy Church.
This is our first renewal.
But what then?
What about our sin after Baptism?
[PAUSE]
Our Lord sanctifies
the waters of Baptism
to make them
not just waters of repentance
but waters of life itself.
When we confess our sins
and repent of them
then the fountain of grace
that pours within us is made clean
and we return to "factory settings".
Renewing our minds
doesn't mean that we reject tradition
and the teaching of Holy Scripture
and the Fathers.
It doesn't mean that we need
to make new doctrines
for the present age.
To renew
means to go back,
back to the fountain,
back to the library of Faith,
back to those whose teaching
we need to refamiliarise
our minds.
We go back,
through the grace of God
given to us in our Baptism
and turn our minds
to Him
actively
wholeheartedly
and uncompromisingly.
The beauty of our Faith
is that God ALWAYS
gives us space to repent
no matter what we have done.
The opportunity to renew
and be renewed is always there
for us to grasp
in the sacraments
especially the Sacrament of Confession
which is there for our comfort
not our damnation
or judgement.
But we really must
want to be renewed
and take It seriously.
[PAUSE]
One day,
time will run out
when we will be renewed
no longer.
Our borrowed time will be finished
and we must return our books
to the library.
Our Lord,
however,
will make all things new in Him
and,
if we choose,
we can accept our final renewal
and enter into that new life
complete, whole and perfect.
And we won't have any fine to pay, either.
Thursday, January 04, 2024
Constant Change
The universe has been changing from its very moment of beginning (even Genesis demonstrates that); why should Christian belief be any different?
I am happy to believe the Theory of Evolution. It fits the evidence that I see around me and, having studied dynamical systems during my mathematical studies, I recognise behaviours in cosmology and the natural world that are predicted by these mathematical models. The empirical evidence is compelling but it is not absolutely certain. As Ross Geller says, there may be a teeny tiny possibility that it's wrong. The philosophical possibility that the Universe was created five minutes ago together with memories of aeons is not easily debunked. The opening chapters of Genesis could still be literally true as well as being theologically true.
As I say, I don't require Genesis to be literally true for my faith in God to hold. I believe in the Word of God and the Bible is secondary to that Word, unlike the Q'ran in Islamic thought in which the Word of God is the Q'ran. Genesis is theologically true which means it faithfully describes truth about God, Man and the relationship between them without requiring that truth to be expressed within the confines of scientific enquiry.
The question above was posed on the Thinking Anglicans blog. It's an interesting question in that it seeks to put Christian belief in the same category as scientific development. In the Natural Sciences, the geocentric model of the solar system is replaced with the heliocentric model which is, in turn refined by the Keplerian model before we reach today's understanding of chaotic orbits of planets orbiting a star that is itself dancing around the Milky Way. Everything is in a state of flux.
But is Christian belief something that evolves? Certainly, the Bible charts our understanding of God relationship with Man, how the eternal relates with the ephemeral. That poses a problem: if God created all things, then He created Space and Time. There is no room for His evolution. The begetting of the Son and the procession of the Holy Ghost demonstrate that the Father is the single source of all being but, in that the begetting and procession occur outside Time, this dependency of being on the Father does not diminish the Divinity of Son and Holy Ghost.
What does this mean for poor, temporal humanity? Well, if the Christian Faith is true, then it is Eternally true. The Holy Trinity is the Holy Trinity as much as at the Creation as it is at the Council of Ephesus in AD431 and as it is now and as it is when the Universe grows cold and dark in the ensuing billions of years to come.
The Christian belief is changeless but a Christian's belief grows as he discovers the same truth as Enos, Abram, Solomon, and the saints of God grow in the Faith. Since human beings all share the same nature, the nature of the relationship between Man and God is also eternal even though each one of us has to grow in that relationship. This means that what constitutes sin is eternal because sin is a breach in that relationship. Murder is as sinful now as it was when Cain killed his innocent brother. Adultery has not changed, nor has coveting. This is why they are carried by Christ from the Old Testament into the New.
If Christian belief were to change then what would be the cause of this change? What would have the authority and power to change the belief of St Ignatius to the belief of John Shelby Spong? If they are both right in their time, then what changed? Human understanding of the universe? But our understanding of the universe is always incomplete as Prof Edward Feser ably shows in The Last Superstition. Thus we can never be sure that whether the change in our belief is correct. A true change in belief must come from God, but this would render God subject to time.
While the laws of physics require refinement and correction, the underlying mathematics does not. 1+1=2 eternally. HyperKähler manifolds only admit a tri-simplectic reduction by a Lie group if they are not compact eternally. But then, it's not the laws of physics that change but our understanding of them. That Mars goes into retrograde motion across the sky is a brute fact but has different explanations depending on whether you are Ptolemy or Copernicus. The Holy Trinity is a brute fact whether you are Samuel, St Peter or St Gregory Nazianzen.
Could, then, our Faith evolve so that Christians are required to believe in a Holy Quaternity? God could, conceivably, be experienced in more persons than three. This, however, defies what has been revealed. If God reveals that He is the Trinity to Eric but a Quaternity to George this raises difficult questions. Are Eric and George believing in the same God? Why does George warrant knowing the extra Divine person and not Eric? How can Christ build a Church on a rock that shifts like sand, contradicting His own parable. How can Christ commission His disciples to baptise in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost if there is also a Person X as well but does not share the Name?
The fact is that the Trinity has always been part of the Divine self-revelation from Genesis i to Revelation xxii, from Tertullian to St John Damascene. The truth has always been there to see. The Bible is inerrant in its theological truth but requires the Church Fathers to compile and gather that truth according to the tradition that they learned from their teachers all the way back to the apostles. This truth is eternal and this is why Christian belief stands outside the category of things that evolve. It is why sin is sin no matter what time period you are from and why the Church possesses an essential unity across the human epoch of this planet.
I have often found that people ask the question in order to justify their practices which run contrary to the teaching of the Church. "Times change and so must the Church. We cannot hold the same terrible beliefs of the first Christians!" As I say, the onus on these folk is to show why the Church has always got it wrong or what has the power, authority and motive to make that change happen. I often find that their answer to this question is, at best, unconvincing.
Monday, January 01, 2024
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