Category: Archive

In light of Queen Vicky Gene and the Anglican demise, I wonder what our readers think of Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) as the Bishop of Rome. Staunch to be sure, I imagine some papal ass kickin is on the horizon.

Padawan Niece is Bantha Pudu 

PN,
In our efforts to get you to prove sola scriptura from Scripture, you said, ‘the Trinity is paradoxical’ because it is not found in Scripture per se.

You have made my point. Without a doctrinal grid, or a ‘traditional’ reading of Scripture, the doctrine of the Trinity goes bye bye. Yes, the Bible teaches the Trinity, but only when our reading is informed by the council of Nicea. Don’t forget from the Arians to the Jehovah’s Witnesses there have been those who have affirmed the authority of Scripture and denied the Deity of Christ.

You need Tradition to help you read the Scripture on the very nature of God, and the very nature of salvation. Good luck interpreting Scripture without it.

pn said:

Sola scriptura: “This doctrine means that Scripture alone is our only final authority because Scripture, due to its inspiration, uniquely preserves God’s revelation to humanity,” Dr. Finkbeiner, a Moody prof. Tradition (παραδοσις) needs to be subject to Scripture otherwise you’ll be juked. It is true that tradition is found in Scriptura. Though, don’t I remember the Pharisees being rebuked by Jesus for such things (see Mark 7:5)?

A few qs my young padawan. Did Jesus follow the traditions of Moses? Who decided what books were to be in the Bible (esp. the NT)?

Who told the early church of the first three centuries how to live, how to worship, what to believe, etc., since they didn’t have a black leatherbound Scofield NT to work with? Since ‘tradition needs to be subject to Scripture’ the big question is what tradition??

Young Padawan,

Who is this Trace character? My…name…is…Neo.

Jump in on brother Constantine’s erudite comments on hell and such. I love the parable about Judas.

Where we can start girl padawan is the famous ‘solas’ of the Reformation. Let’s start with sola scriptura. Where is that in scriptura? I know that Moody chicks think derive their doctrine from the ‘Bible alone,’ but do you?

St. John Chrysostom’s sample on Easter:

Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast. The table is fully laden; feast sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away. Enjoy the feast of faith; receive all the riches of loving kindness. Let no one weep for their iniquities, for pardon has shone forth from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior’s death has set us free: he that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it. By descending to hell, he made hell captive.

Hell was embittered, for it was abolished. It was embittered, for it was mocked.

O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen and life reigns. Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.

How are you (western) faithful out there celebrating holy week?

Richard Neuhaus says, “from the beginning God knew what he would do about a humanity he created free to love him, and therefore free to hate him…From the beginning ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.’ This is what it means to love; this is what it means to be love; this is what it means to say that God is love…What was separated by an abyss of wrong has been reconciled by the deed of perfect love.”

It has come to my attention that our discussions are a bit esoteric and confusing. Our current discussion is on hell. We have talked about things like Gnosticism, Christian martyrs and all sorts and conditions of topics. My basic premise is that the church is in captivity to the Matrix. How do we ‘unplug?’ Therin lies our discussion.

Let’s return to the topic of Islam that we discussed on a previous post. Are Muslims a part of the ‘matrix?’ or is that reserved for secularism?

Padawon,

You said:
Fr. Neo, your boy St. Isaac seems to be quite a guy. But if this young Padowan may be so bold, I think he’s somewhat misplaced. Exactly what is the point in weeping for “birds, animals, and every creature”? Were they made in God’s own image? Are their “souls” even comparable to ours? To whom exactly did God send His Son to rescue? Is God more concerned in a relationship with His children or Toto, too?

And as for having tears for demons, I have a hard time considering anything of the sort [see Rev. 18:20]. If the very essence of God is Love, and not just an attribute, then God’s very essence is also Truth, Righteousness, Holiness, and Justice (to name a few). These perfections are inseparable.

Ergo, in striving to be Christ-like, we must of course exhibit love and mercy, but should we not also remember that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the powers, the world forces of this present darkness; against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places?
You are not a Jedi yet–too much of your father in you.

St. Isaac’s musings on animals were in the context of their suffering. Here’s what you need to do. Unlearn. You must unlearn. Transcend the categories that you are tempted live into. Consider the ‘butterfly effect’ that the ONE brought to our pathetic little planet. Don’t think of his death simply as a payment to the Father’s righteousness and holiness (attributes that the ONE also has), or his life simply a way to cancel the Law of Moses. Think of his birth, life, temptations, death and resurrection as a great reversal of everything we know of as disordered and evil– a reversal similar to what physicists would call the ‘butterfly effect.’ The eternal ONE invades the temporal world to bring a Kingdom in which love reigns. This is not some sissy ecological-hug a puppy-kind of love, this is love of an alien sort. This is the kind of love that encompasses all that is righteous and all that is holy. Even God’s retributive love is never meant to be vengeance. It is love that penetrates the darkness and invades the powers of hell. If we had a fraction of that kind of love, the kind that St. Isaac describes, we would weep for all things that are not in the circle of the THREE. Let me repeat, this is not some liberal fuzzy wuzzy was a bear love, it is, like Constantine said, God’s very essence.

Constantine,

I like your style. I juxtaposed the ‘Rescue’ with Constantine’s portrayal of eternal damnation for just the reason you gave. An article I really like on the topic of hell was written by Dr. Alexander Kalomiros and can be found at:

http://www.philthompson.net/pages/library/riveroffire.html

Basically, he says that the love of God in Christ is the purging fire of heaven and hell. For some it is glorious, for others it is quite painful.

Beyond that, I like St. Isaac the Syrian’s desire:

From the Saint’s eighty-first Discourse:

‘And what is a merciful heart?’ And he said: ‘the burning of the heart for all creation, for men, birds, animals, and demons, and for every creature. From the memory and contemplation of them, his eyes pour forth tears. Out of the great and intense mercy that grips his heart, and from great fortitude, his heart is humbled, and he cannot bear to hear or to see any kind of harm or the least distress come over creation. And for this reason, he offers tearful prayer at every hour, even for irrational creatures, for the enemies of the Truth, and for those who injure him, that they might be kept safe and receive mercy, and likewise for the genus of reptiles, out of the great mercy that is aroused in his heart boundlessly, in the likeness of God.’

If a monk has this kind of compassion, to have mercy on even the evil ones, surely Christ’s mercy is greater and his rescue extends beyond the grave. To paraphrase Bishop Kallistos, it is presumption to expect God to save everyone, but we can surely hope and pray that he does!