Gregory of Nazianzus, the conclusion to the treatise, On the Son, The third Theological Oration.
What a glorious affirmation of the Incarnation and all of it in service to us, for salvation.
He was baptized as Man—but He remitted sins as God—not because He needed purificatory rites Himself, but that He might sanctify the element of water.
He was tempted as Man, but He conquered as God; yea, He bids us be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world.
He hungered—but He fed thousands; yea, He is the Bread that giveth life, and That is of heaven.
He thirsted—but He cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.
Yea, He promised that fountains should flow from them that believe.
He was wearied, but He is the Rest of them that are weary and heavy laden.
He was heavy with sleep, but He walked lightly over the sea.
He rebuked the winds, He made Peter light as he began to sink.
He pays tribute, but it is out of a fish yea, He is the King of those who demanded it.
He is called a Samaritan and a demoniac; --but He saves him that came down from Jerusalem and fell among thieves; the demons acknowledge Him, and He drives out demons and sinks in the sea legions of foul spirits, and sees the Prince of the demons falling like lightning.
He is stoned, but is not taken.
He prays, but He hears prayer.
He weeps, but He causes tears to cease.
He asks where Lazarus was laid, for He was Man; but He raises Lazarus, for He was God.
He is sold, and very cheap, for it is only for thirty pieces of silver; but He redeems the world, and that at a great price, for the Price was His own blood.
As a sheep He is led to the slaughter, but He is the Shepherd of Israel, and now of the whole world also.
As a Lamb He is silent, yet He is the Word, and is proclaimed by the Voice of one crying in the wilderness.
He is bruised and wounded, but He healeth every disease and every infirmity.
He is lifted up and nailed to the Tree, but by the Tree of Life He restoreth us; yea, He saveth even the Robber crucified with Him;
yea, He wrapped the visible world in darkness. He is given vinegar to drink mingled with gall. Who? He who turned the water into wine who is the destroyer of the bitter taste, who is Sweetness and altogether desire.
He lays down His life, but He has power to take it again and the veil is rent, for the mysterious doors of Heaven are opened; the rocks are cleft, the dead arise.
He dies, but He gives life, and by His death destroys death. He is buried, but He rises again; He goes down into Hell, but He brings up the souls; He ascends to Heaven, and shall come again to judge the quick and the dead.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
April Council Meeting at St. Barnabas Lutheran Church, Blandville
You must read this. If you have ever been in a church meeting. It is hilarious. Christopher Bailey reports the Minutes of the April Council Meeting at St. Barnabas Lutheran Church, Blandville, from the latest edition of Touchstone Magazine.
A taste:
Under Old Business, Pastor Hamilton mentioned that the light bulb in his pulpit reading lamp is still burned out. Mrs. Woodstock asked him whether that was the reason he had embarrassed the whole congregation during the Psalm last Sunday. Pastor Hamilton answered that it was.
Mrs. Blickensderfer said she thought the light-bulb problem had been remanded to the Building Committee.
Mr. Sholes said that no record of any such remandment appeared in the minutes of the March meeting.
Mrs. Blickensderfer said she didn’t think “remandment” was a word.
Mr. Fox thought that the pulpit was under the jurisdiction of the Worship and Music Committee.
Mrs. Yost thought that the lighting was the responsibility of the Evangelism Committee.
Mr. Fox wanted to know what sort of dunderhead thought lighting had anything to do with evangelism.
Mrs. Woodstock pointed out that it made no difference, since the Building Committee, the Worship and Music Committee, and the Evangelism Committee were all Mrs. Voss.
Mrs. Voss answered that she didn’t know anything about electricity, and if people wanted her to take care of something they should tell her about it instead of expecting her to read their minds.
A taste:
Under Old Business, Pastor Hamilton mentioned that the light bulb in his pulpit reading lamp is still burned out. Mrs. Woodstock asked him whether that was the reason he had embarrassed the whole congregation during the Psalm last Sunday. Pastor Hamilton answered that it was.
Mrs. Blickensderfer said she thought the light-bulb problem had been remanded to the Building Committee.
Mr. Sholes said that no record of any such remandment appeared in the minutes of the March meeting.
Mrs. Blickensderfer said she didn’t think “remandment” was a word.
Mr. Fox thought that the pulpit was under the jurisdiction of the Worship and Music Committee.
Mrs. Yost thought that the lighting was the responsibility of the Evangelism Committee.
Mr. Fox wanted to know what sort of dunderhead thought lighting had anything to do with evangelism.
Mrs. Woodstock pointed out that it made no difference, since the Building Committee, the Worship and Music Committee, and the Evangelism Committee were all Mrs. Voss.
Mrs. Voss answered that she didn’t know anything about electricity, and if people wanted her to take care of something they should tell her about it instead of expecting her to read their minds.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
A chime in the church ever ringing
This quote is from Pius Parsch, The Church's Year of Grace. He is writing about Trinity Sunday.
Why is this feast celebrated at this particular time ? It may be interpreted as a finale to all the preceding feasts. All three Persons contributed to and shared in the work of redemption. The Father sent His Son to earth, for "God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son." The Father called us to the faith. The Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, became man and died for us. He redeemed us and made us children of God. He ever remains the liturgist par excellence to whom we are united in all sacred functions. After Christ's ascension the Holy Spirit, however, became our Teacher, our Leader, our Guide, our Consoler. On solemn occasions a thanksgiving Te Deum rises spontaneously from Christian hearts.
The feast of the Most Holy Trinity may well be regarded as the Church's Te Deum of gratitude over all the blessings of the Christmas and Easter seasons; for today's mystery is a synthesis of Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. This feast, which falls on the first Sunday after Pentecost, should make us mindful that actually every Sunday is devoted to the honor of the Most Holy Trinity, that every Sunday is sanctified and consecrated to the triune God.
Sunday after Sunday we should recall in a spirit of gratitude the gifts which the Blessed Trinity is bestowing upon us. The Father created and predestined us; on the first day of the week He began the work of creation. The Son redeemed us; Sunday is the "Day of the Lord," the day of His resurrection. The Holy Spirit sanctified us, made us His temple; on Sunday the Holy Spirit descended upon the infant Church. Sunday, therefore, is the day of the Most Holy Trinity.
Try to realize how your whole life begins and ends by virtue of the Holy Trinity. Recall how the sacraments or how the blessings are administered in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Take, for instance, the sacrament of baptism, "I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Or the sacrament of penance, "I absolve you from your sins in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy spirit.
One could also meditate on the many prayers that are directed to the Blessed Trinity. First of all, the "Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the begin;ing, is now, and ever shall be, world without end Amen." Surely no prayer is said more often. It forms the conclusion to every psalm, and every Hour of the Divine Office is begun with it. Truly the "Glory be" is like a chime in the church tower that is ever ringing.
Why is this feast celebrated at this particular time ? It may be interpreted as a finale to all the preceding feasts. All three Persons contributed to and shared in the work of redemption. The Father sent His Son to earth, for "God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son." The Father called us to the faith. The Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, became man and died for us. He redeemed us and made us children of God. He ever remains the liturgist par excellence to whom we are united in all sacred functions. After Christ's ascension the Holy Spirit, however, became our Teacher, our Leader, our Guide, our Consoler. On solemn occasions a thanksgiving Te Deum rises spontaneously from Christian hearts.
The feast of the Most Holy Trinity may well be regarded as the Church's Te Deum of gratitude over all the blessings of the Christmas and Easter seasons; for today's mystery is a synthesis of Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. This feast, which falls on the first Sunday after Pentecost, should make us mindful that actually every Sunday is devoted to the honor of the Most Holy Trinity, that every Sunday is sanctified and consecrated to the triune God.
Sunday after Sunday we should recall in a spirit of gratitude the gifts which the Blessed Trinity is bestowing upon us. The Father created and predestined us; on the first day of the week He began the work of creation. The Son redeemed us; Sunday is the "Day of the Lord," the day of His resurrection. The Holy Spirit sanctified us, made us His temple; on Sunday the Holy Spirit descended upon the infant Church. Sunday, therefore, is the day of the Most Holy Trinity.
Try to realize how your whole life begins and ends by virtue of the Holy Trinity. Recall how the sacraments or how the blessings are administered in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Take, for instance, the sacrament of baptism, "I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Or the sacrament of penance, "I absolve you from your sins in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy spirit.
One could also meditate on the many prayers that are directed to the Blessed Trinity. First of all, the "Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the begin;ing, is now, and ever shall be, world without end Amen." Surely no prayer is said more often. It forms the conclusion to every psalm, and every Hour of the Divine Office is begun with it. Truly the "Glory be" is like a chime in the church tower that is ever ringing.
Trinity Sunday thoughts
This coming Sunday is Trinity Sunday. So often this Sunday is a hard one because either we present it in the language of severe systematics, parsing the technical language and philosophical distinctions or we fly right over all of it with a thin "we can't understand it, we just worship it.
Neither approach is very helpful. Rather the Trinity is the mark of our salvation. It is the supreme Gospel moment when all of the Gospel of the church year up to this point reaches a joyful crescendo.
Trinity Sunday is a day to reflect on the God of grace. The God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the God of our baptism, the God we trust in. That Father sent His son to earn and grant salvation. That His salvation might be ours, the Son gave the Holy Spirit to us in our baptism. It is these gifts that we celebrate. Ours is a Trinitarian salvation. we are "in the Son". We believe through the power of the Spirit. The Son has brought us adoption so that we are children of the Father.
Neither approach is very helpful. Rather the Trinity is the mark of our salvation. It is the supreme Gospel moment when all of the Gospel of the church year up to this point reaches a joyful crescendo.
Trinity Sunday is a day to reflect on the God of grace. The God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the God of our baptism, the God we trust in. That Father sent His son to earn and grant salvation. That His salvation might be ours, the Son gave the Holy Spirit to us in our baptism. It is these gifts that we celebrate. Ours is a Trinitarian salvation. we are "in the Son". We believe through the power of the Spirit. The Son has brought us adoption so that we are children of the Father.
They do nothing but entreat
Cyprian recognizes the inner logic of infant baptism: that baptism is an act wherein God works. The inability of a person to do or offer or give anything to God is not a reason to forbid them baptism but rather is the very reason to bring them. God gives gifts and infants are especially fine candidates since they can do nothing other than beg and entreat for the gifts God bestows in and through baptism.
If anything could hinder men from obtaining grace, their more heinous sins might rather hinder those who are mature and grown up and older. But again, if even to the greatest sinners, and to those who had sinned much against God, when they subsequently believed, remission of sins is granted-and nobody is hindered from baptism and from grace-how much rather ought we to shrink from hindering an infant, who being lately born, has not sinned, except in that, being born of the flesh according to Adam, he has contracted the contagion of the ancient death at its earliest birth, who approaches the more easily on this very account to the reception of the forgiveness of sins that to him are remitted, not his own sins, but the sins of another.
And therefore, dearest brother, this was our opinion in council, that by us no one ought to be hindered from baptism and from the grace of God, who is merciful and kind and loving to all … We think [baptism] is to be even more observed in respect of infants and newly-born persons, who on this very account deserve more from our help and from the divine mercy, that immediately, on the very beginning of their birth, lamenting and weeping, they do nothing else but entreat.
Epistle 64, ANF 5, 354.
If anything could hinder men from obtaining grace, their more heinous sins might rather hinder those who are mature and grown up and older. But again, if even to the greatest sinners, and to those who had sinned much against God, when they subsequently believed, remission of sins is granted-and nobody is hindered from baptism and from grace-how much rather ought we to shrink from hindering an infant, who being lately born, has not sinned, except in that, being born of the flesh according to Adam, he has contracted the contagion of the ancient death at its earliest birth, who approaches the more easily on this very account to the reception of the forgiveness of sins that to him are remitted, not his own sins, but the sins of another.
And therefore, dearest brother, this was our opinion in council, that by us no one ought to be hindered from baptism and from the grace of God, who is merciful and kind and loving to all … We think [baptism] is to be even more observed in respect of infants and newly-born persons, who on this very account deserve more from our help and from the divine mercy, that immediately, on the very beginning of their birth, lamenting and weeping, they do nothing else but entreat.
Epistle 64, ANF 5, 354.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Evolution for Everyone?
Thoughtful review essay on the First Things blog.
First paragraph:
The dirty Darwinian secret is now out of the closet: If evolution is true, then it must be true about everything. Most Darwinians used to be very restrained about the relevance of their theory for cultural and moral issues, for obvious reasons. If evolution is true about everything, then randomness and competition are the foundations for the highest human ideals as well as the lowest organic life forms. Scientists have trouble enough restricting Darwinism to biology. What if that restriction is unscientific? What parents would want their children being taught that Darwinism explains not only speciation but also altruism?
First paragraph:
The dirty Darwinian secret is now out of the closet: If evolution is true, then it must be true about everything. Most Darwinians used to be very restrained about the relevance of their theory for cultural and moral issues, for obvious reasons. If evolution is true about everything, then randomness and competition are the foundations for the highest human ideals as well as the lowest organic life forms. Scientists have trouble enough restricting Darwinism to biology. What if that restriction is unscientific? What parents would want their children being taught that Darwinism explains not only speciation but also altruism?
Thursday, May 24, 2007
The Holy Spirit is given to none except to those who are in sorrow and fear
The two must always be mingled, in our feelings the Holy Spirit and our sin and imperfection. Our case must be like that of a sick man who is in the hands of the physician; presently he will be better. Therefore let no one think: Such a one possesses the Holy Spirit, consequently he must be altogether strong, without infirmities, and do only precious works. No, not yet.
The Gospel is not a proclamation for everybody. It is a proclamation exceedingly gracious, but a coarse, hard heart may hear it without receiving any good; rather are such made more audacious and careless, imagining they need not war against the flesh, because they do not feel their sin and misery. The Holy Spirit is given to none except to those who are in sorrow and fear; in them it produces good fruit. This gift is so precious and worthy that God does not cast it before dogs. Though the unrepentant discover it themselves, hearing it preached, they devour it and know not what they devour. The hearts which receive it with profit are such as feel their evil lust but are unable to escape from it. There must be struggling if the Holy Spirit is to abide in the heart, and let no one dare think it will be
otherwise.
Luther, Sermon for Pentecost, complete Sermons, Vol. 2, 281-282.
The Gospel is not a proclamation for everybody. It is a proclamation exceedingly gracious, but a coarse, hard heart may hear it without receiving any good; rather are such made more audacious and careless, imagining they need not war against the flesh, because they do not feel their sin and misery. The Holy Spirit is given to none except to those who are in sorrow and fear; in them it produces good fruit. This gift is so precious and worthy that God does not cast it before dogs. Though the unrepentant discover it themselves, hearing it preached, they devour it and know not what they devour. The hearts which receive it with profit are such as feel their evil lust but are unable to escape from it. There must be struggling if the Holy Spirit is to abide in the heart, and let no one dare think it will be
otherwise.
Luther, Sermon for Pentecost, complete Sermons, Vol. 2, 281-282.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Why the Gift of Tongues is not given now?
Augustine answers:
Is the Holy Spirit not given now, Brethren? Whoever thinks this is not worthy to receive Him. He is given; even now. How is it then that no ope speaks in the tongues of all nations, as they spoke who at that time were filled with the Holy Ghost? Why?
Because what this wonder signified is now fulfilled. What is that? When we celebrated Quadragesima (the fortieth day, i.e. the Ascension) you remember that we told you, that the Lord Jesus Christ had established His Church, and ascended into heaven. His Disciples had asked Him, when shall the end of the world be? He answered: It is not for you to know the times or moments, which the Father had
put in his own power.
Yet He promised them what He has this day fulfilled: You shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts i. 6-8).
The Church that was then within one house received the Holy Spirit: it was few in numbers, in tongues it represented the whole earth. Behold how far it has now spread.
That this little church spoke With the tongues of all nations, what does this mean but that this mighty Church, from the rising of the sun to its going down, speaks in the tongues of all nations? What was then promised, is now fulfilled. We have heard, and we have seen. Hearken, O Daughter, and see (Ps. xliv. II). To the queen (the Church) was it said: Hearken, O Daughter, and see. Hear the promise; see the fulfilment. Thy God has not deceived thee; thy Spouse has not failed thee; He has not failed thee who endowed thee with His Blood. He has not failed thee who changed thee from ugliness to beauty, from a wanton to a virgin. Thou wert promised to thyself; promised to a few, but fulfilled in many.
Sermons of the Great Fathers, vol 3, p. 26-27
Is the Holy Spirit not given now, Brethren? Whoever thinks this is not worthy to receive Him. He is given; even now. How is it then that no ope speaks in the tongues of all nations, as they spoke who at that time were filled with the Holy Ghost? Why?
Because what this wonder signified is now fulfilled. What is that? When we celebrated Quadragesima (the fortieth day, i.e. the Ascension) you remember that we told you, that the Lord Jesus Christ had established His Church, and ascended into heaven. His Disciples had asked Him, when shall the end of the world be? He answered: It is not for you to know the times or moments, which the Father had
put in his own power.
Yet He promised them what He has this day fulfilled: You shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts i. 6-8).
The Church that was then within one house received the Holy Spirit: it was few in numbers, in tongues it represented the whole earth. Behold how far it has now spread.
That this little church spoke With the tongues of all nations, what does this mean but that this mighty Church, from the rising of the sun to its going down, speaks in the tongues of all nations? What was then promised, is now fulfilled. We have heard, and we have seen. Hearken, O Daughter, and see (Ps. xliv. II). To the queen (the Church) was it said: Hearken, O Daughter, and see. Hear the promise; see the fulfilment. Thy God has not deceived thee; thy Spouse has not failed thee; He has not failed thee who endowed thee with His Blood. He has not failed thee who changed thee from ugliness to beauty, from a wanton to a virgin. Thou wert promised to thyself; promised to a few, but fulfilled in many.
Sermons of the Great Fathers, vol 3, p. 26-27
Augustine: The Holy Spirit is the soul of the church
If you wish to have the Holy Spirit, attend to what I say, my brethren. The spirit within us, by which a man lives, is called a soul; our spirit, by which each single one of us lives is called the soul. Consider what the soul does within the body. It gives life to all the members. It sees through the eyes, hears through the ears, smells through the nostrils, speaks by the tongue, works by means of the hand, walks by means of the feet. It is present at the same time in all the members, that they may live. It gives life to all; to each it allots duties. The eye does not hear, the ear does not see, the tongue does not see, and neither does the eye speak, or the ear; and yet each lives. The ear lives, the tongue lives. The duties are diverse, but the life is one.
Such is the Church of God. In some of its saints it works miracles, in others of the saints it utters truth; in some saints it cherishes virginity, in others of the sanctified it upholds conjugal modesty; in others this, in others that. Each one does what belongs to him, but they live in the same manner. What the soul is to the body of man, the Holy Ghost is to the Body of Christ: which the Church is. What the soul does in all the members of one body, this the Holy Spirit does throughout the Church.
But see that you are on your guard, see that you are restrained, see that you fear God. It happens sometimes in the human body, that from this same body something is cut off; a hand, a finger, a foot. Do you think the soul follows the part cut thus off? While it belonged to the body it lived. Cut off it loses life. So likewise the
Christian Catholic man; while in the Body he lives, becoming a heretic he is cut off: for the Spirit follows no amputated member. If therefore you wish to live in the Holy Ghost, hold fast to the bond of charity, love the Truth, long for Unity, that you may attain to eternity.
Sermons of the Great Fathers, vol. 3, p. 27.
Such is the Church of God. In some of its saints it works miracles, in others of the saints it utters truth; in some saints it cherishes virginity, in others of the sanctified it upholds conjugal modesty; in others this, in others that. Each one does what belongs to him, but they live in the same manner. What the soul is to the body of man, the Holy Ghost is to the Body of Christ: which the Church is. What the soul does in all the members of one body, this the Holy Spirit does throughout the Church.
But see that you are on your guard, see that you are restrained, see that you fear God. It happens sometimes in the human body, that from this same body something is cut off; a hand, a finger, a foot. Do you think the soul follows the part cut thus off? While it belonged to the body it lived. Cut off it loses life. So likewise the
Christian Catholic man; while in the Body he lives, becoming a heretic he is cut off: for the Spirit follows no amputated member. If therefore you wish to live in the Holy Ghost, hold fast to the bond of charity, love the Truth, long for Unity, that you may attain to eternity.
Sermons of the Great Fathers, vol. 3, p. 27.
Augustine on Pentecost: The new wine of the Spirit
Here is a bit of Augustine from a sermon on Pentecost. It is a very interesting selection. He points to the apostles as being the new wine skins filled with new wine. Christ himself is the grape cluster crushed in his passion yielding the wine of the Spirit.
He manages with this picture to connect the Spirit to the passion of Christ and indicate the Spirit himself gives nothing but Christ, the new wine of the cross.
Today we celebrate the Coming of the Holy Ghost. For this day the Lord sent down the Holy Spirit whom He had promised us while He was on earth. And as He had so promised that He was about to send Him from heaven, for he cannot come, He says, unless I go but when I go I will send Him to you. He then suffered, He died, He rose again, He ascended into heaven. There remained then that He should fulfill what He had promised.
Sermons of the Great Fathers, vol. 3, p. 26.
Therefore, His Disciples, to the number of one hundred and twenty souls, as it is written, tenfold the number of the Apostles, for He had chosen twelve, and sent the Holy Spirit down on one hundred and twenty, persevered together in prayer, in one house, awaiting the fulfillment of His promise. Now they began to desire with this with faith, with prayer, with eagerness of the Spirit. They were the new Wine skins, and they looked for the new wine from heaven. For the Great Grape Cluster had been trodden out, and glorified. For we read in the Gospels: The Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified …
The Sacred Writings teach that after men had believed, were baptized, and received the Holy Ghost, they began to speak in the tongues of all nations. Those present were astonished, some wondering, some mocking, so that they said: These men are full of new wine. They laughed, yet they said a true thing. For these skins were filled with new wine. You heard when the Gospel was being read,
how, no one puts new wine into old wine skins: the carnal minded cannot grasp spiritual things. The carnal mind is age, grace is newness. To whatever degree a man is changed for the better, so much the more does he grasp the flavour
of truth. The new wine bubbled up, and as the must boiled, the tongues of the nations poured forth.
He manages with this picture to connect the Spirit to the passion of Christ and indicate the Spirit himself gives nothing but Christ, the new wine of the cross.
Today we celebrate the Coming of the Holy Ghost. For this day the Lord sent down the Holy Spirit whom He had promised us while He was on earth. And as He had so promised that He was about to send Him from heaven, for he cannot come, He says, unless I go but when I go I will send Him to you. He then suffered, He died, He rose again, He ascended into heaven. There remained then that He should fulfill what He had promised.
Sermons of the Great Fathers, vol. 3, p. 26.
Therefore, His Disciples, to the number of one hundred and twenty souls, as it is written, tenfold the number of the Apostles, for He had chosen twelve, and sent the Holy Spirit down on one hundred and twenty, persevered together in prayer, in one house, awaiting the fulfillment of His promise. Now they began to desire with this with faith, with prayer, with eagerness of the Spirit. They were the new Wine skins, and they looked for the new wine from heaven. For the Great Grape Cluster had been trodden out, and glorified. For we read in the Gospels: The Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified …
The Sacred Writings teach that after men had believed, were baptized, and received the Holy Ghost, they began to speak in the tongues of all nations. Those present were astonished, some wondering, some mocking, so that they said: These men are full of new wine. They laughed, yet they said a true thing. For these skins were filled with new wine. You heard when the Gospel was being read,
how, no one puts new wine into old wine skins: the carnal minded cannot grasp spiritual things. The carnal mind is age, grace is newness. To whatever degree a man is changed for the better, so much the more does he grasp the flavour
of truth. The new wine bubbled up, and as the must boiled, the tongues of the nations poured forth.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Misery memoirs
Yes, I've read my share of these books. Memoirs that center on a horrific childhood and how the author grew up and survived. There is some kind of strange attraction these books have. A kind of literary Jerry Springer where the shades are lifted on the supposedly terrible and perverted lives our neighbors are leading.
But Frank Furedi says all this better than I can. He does a fine job and attacking the myths that such memoirs peddle. He calls them "misery memoirs". He calls them "emotional striptease". He advises : "Ignore those publishers who claim ‘misery memoirs’ are popular because they tell life-affirming stories of survival. In truth, these books are a voyeur’s wet dream."
The article is worth reading.
But Frank Furedi says all this better than I can. He does a fine job and attacking the myths that such memoirs peddle. He calls them "misery memoirs". He calls them "emotional striptease". He advises : "Ignore those publishers who claim ‘misery memoirs’ are popular because they tell life-affirming stories of survival. In truth, these books are a voyeur’s wet dream."
The article is worth reading.
Why do you approach your Benefactor as if you had something to give?
This may be a bit difficult to read but it is a nice selection from Gregory of Nyssa on the Holy Spirit. He is writing against those who deny the Spirit's divinity.
Nice how he highlights the gift character of the Spirit's work and how our worship is really inconsequential in relation to the actual giving of the gifts of the Spirit. We do not approach our God as if we had something to give rather as those whom receive all from Him, the Giver.
If such, then, is the greatness of the Spirit, and whatever is morally beautiful, whatever is good, coming from God as it does through the Son, is completed by the instrumentality of the Spirit that "works all in all," why do they set themselves against their own life? Why do they alienate themselves from the hope belonging to "such as are to be saved"? Why do they sever themselves from their cleaving unto God? For how can any man cleave unto the Lord unless the Spirit operates within us that union of ourselves with Him? Why do they haggle with us about the amount of service and of worship? Why do they use that word"worship" in an ironical sense, derogatory to a Divine and entirely Independent Being, supposing that they desire their own salvation?
We would say to them, "Your supplication is the advantage of you who ask, and not the honouring of Him Who grants it. Why, then, do you approach your Benefactor as if you had something to give? Or rather, why do you refuse to name as a benefactor at all Him Who gives you your blessings, and slight the Life-giver while clinging to Life? Why, seeking for His sanctification, do you misconceive of the Dispenser of the Grace of sanctification; and as to the giving of those blessings, why, not denying that He has the power, do you deem Him not worthy to be asked to give, and fail to take this into consideration, viz. how much greater a thing it is to give some blessing than to be asked to give it? The asking does not unmistakably witness to greatness in him who is asked; for it is possible that one who does not have the thing to give might be asked for it, for the asking depends only on the will of the asker. But one who actually bestows some blessing has thereby given undoubted evidence of a power residing in him. Why then, while testifying to the greater thing in Him,—I mean the power to bestow everything that is morally beautiful—do you deprive Him of the asking, as of something of importance; although his asking, as we have said, is often performed in the case of those who have nothing in their power, owing to the delusion of their devotees?
For instance, the slaves of superstition ask the idols for the objects of their wishes; but the asking does not, in this instance of the idols, confer any glory; only people pay that attention to them owing to the deluded expectation that they will get some one of the things they ask for, and so they do not cease to ask. But you, persuaded as you are of what and how great things the Holy Spirit is the Giver, do you neglect the asking them from Him, taking refuge in the law which bids you 'worship God and serve Him only?' Well, how will you worship Him only, tell me, when you have severed Him from His intimate union with His own Only-begotten and His own Spirit? This worship is simply Jewish.
Nice how he highlights the gift character of the Spirit's work and how our worship is really inconsequential in relation to the actual giving of the gifts of the Spirit. We do not approach our God as if we had something to give rather as those whom receive all from Him, the Giver.
If such, then, is the greatness of the Spirit, and whatever is morally beautiful, whatever is good, coming from God as it does through the Son, is completed by the instrumentality of the Spirit that "works all in all," why do they set themselves against their own life? Why do they alienate themselves from the hope belonging to "such as are to be saved"? Why do they sever themselves from their cleaving unto God? For how can any man cleave unto the Lord unless the Spirit operates within us that union of ourselves with Him? Why do they haggle with us about the amount of service and of worship? Why do they use that word"worship" in an ironical sense, derogatory to a Divine and entirely Independent Being, supposing that they desire their own salvation?
We would say to them, "Your supplication is the advantage of you who ask, and not the honouring of Him Who grants it. Why, then, do you approach your Benefactor as if you had something to give? Or rather, why do you refuse to name as a benefactor at all Him Who gives you your blessings, and slight the Life-giver while clinging to Life? Why, seeking for His sanctification, do you misconceive of the Dispenser of the Grace of sanctification; and as to the giving of those blessings, why, not denying that He has the power, do you deem Him not worthy to be asked to give, and fail to take this into consideration, viz. how much greater a thing it is to give some blessing than to be asked to give it? The asking does not unmistakably witness to greatness in him who is asked; for it is possible that one who does not have the thing to give might be asked for it, for the asking depends only on the will of the asker. But one who actually bestows some blessing has thereby given undoubted evidence of a power residing in him. Why then, while testifying to the greater thing in Him,—I mean the power to bestow everything that is morally beautiful—do you deprive Him of the asking, as of something of importance; although his asking, as we have said, is often performed in the case of those who have nothing in their power, owing to the delusion of their devotees?
For instance, the slaves of superstition ask the idols for the objects of their wishes; but the asking does not, in this instance of the idols, confer any glory; only people pay that attention to them owing to the deluded expectation that they will get some one of the things they ask for, and so they do not cease to ask. But you, persuaded as you are of what and how great things the Holy Spirit is the Giver, do you neglect the asking them from Him, taking refuge in the law which bids you 'worship God and serve Him only?' Well, how will you worship Him only, tell me, when you have severed Him from His intimate union with His own Only-begotten and His own Spirit? This worship is simply Jewish.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
ELCA tries to reach African Americans
An article on the ELCA's push to reach African Americans. The LCMS is mentioned also.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Falwell and Saving Chickens
Here is a human, decent take on Jerry Falwell that gets past the stereotype and the almost hatred many had toward him. He was no favorite of mine and he said some stupid things but the image of him in the press was very distorted.
Plus the column has a great quote:
One of the country's leading Pentecostal figures broke off relations after Falwell publicly sneered at her effort to heal a chicken through faith. "We Baptists don't save chickens, we eat them," he told her.
Plus the column has a great quote:
One of the country's leading Pentecostal figures broke off relations after Falwell publicly sneered at her effort to heal a chicken through faith. "We Baptists don't save chickens, we eat them," he told her.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
The members of His body are loved
Perhaps this thought is so obvious it need not be shared. But ....
Grace is Trinitarian.
Dont we often speak of grace as some sort of thing out there on its own, perhaps deriving from Christ's cross in some way but otherwise a generic forgiveness, some "substance" God gives?
Grace is Trinitarian.
God loves us because he loves His Son. God loves us because He is a Trinity, a community of persons bound by love which is God. That Trinity is unknown to us and unavailable apart from the Incarnation of the second person of that Trinity and his redeeming death, resurrection, ascension and gift of the Spirit.
Our Trinitarian baptism adopts us as his sons and thus the love of God, which is God, manifested on the cross, is given to us so that we can call God Father.
A quote from Jerome:
You see, then that we are privileged to to partake of his essence, not in the realm of nature but of grace. And the reason why we are beloved of the Father is that he has loved the son--and the members of His body are loved.
Against Jovinian, 2.29
Liturgy and Culture
Here is a nice little article by Arthur Just of the Fort Wayne LCMS seminary on liturgy and culture. Not too long and worth reading. Here is a snippet:
Many people today are driving an artificial wedge between those who want to maintain a traditional form of Lutheran liturgy and those who want liturgy to speak to this day and age. These concerns are not mutually exclusive. There are some who desire a nostalgic 16th century liturgy and could care less whether it speaks to today's world. There are also some who want to discard everything Lutheran in favor of an American Protestant liturgy. The majority of us, however, want Lutheran liturgy in a modern context. The issue is not traditional liturgy on the one hand, and contemporary liturgy on the other. Rather, the question is how Lutheran liturgy is both ancient and contemporary, and how to best proclaim that to this generation. In recent times too much of our liturgy has been given away to a culture that is hostile and antithetical to Lutheran theology. The reason for this loss is not what many people think it is-there is no great malevolence here, no crazed society for the death of the liturgy. These are sincere pastors who want to save souls by appealing to people in a way that won't "turn them off."
Many people today are driving an artificial wedge between those who want to maintain a traditional form of Lutheran liturgy and those who want liturgy to speak to this day and age. These concerns are not mutually exclusive. There are some who desire a nostalgic 16th century liturgy and could care less whether it speaks to today's world. There are also some who want to discard everything Lutheran in favor of an American Protestant liturgy. The majority of us, however, want Lutheran liturgy in a modern context. The issue is not traditional liturgy on the one hand, and contemporary liturgy on the other. Rather, the question is how Lutheran liturgy is both ancient and contemporary, and how to best proclaim that to this generation. In recent times too much of our liturgy has been given away to a culture that is hostile and antithetical to Lutheran theology. The reason for this loss is not what many people think it is-there is no great malevolence here, no crazed society for the death of the liturgy. These are sincere pastors who want to save souls by appealing to people in a way that won't "turn them off."
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
The Word, the all-important thing
The church and her ministers are, as they say these days, all about the Gospel. All we do is centered around the incredible proclamation of Christ, a proclamation which rescues from hell. It is a living Word. Here is Luther from an Ascension sermon on the importance of being about the Gospel.
The sum and substance of the lesson, therefore, is, for us to give heed to the Word and teaching, and not to judge whether one truly believes or not. Where the Word is, there we shall also administer baptism, be the people young or old. For we are not commanded to accomplish the impossibility of looking into a man's heart to judge whether he believes or not. This must be left to Christ alone. Neither is it commanded us, in our office of preaching, to seek to know how each one may believe, or who accepts the Word and who does not. It will not do for you to say that you would preach only to those whom you could first know to be ready to believe and accept the Word. In that case you would never dare to preach at all.
The same holds in baptism. You must not wait until you are sure as to who believes and who does not, but give heed to this: Wherever the Word is preached and heard, and baptism is desired, there you are commanded to administer baptism, both to young and old. Where the Word, the all-important thing, is rightly preached, the other will naturally follow. And, again, where the teaching of the Word is in error, all else is in vain; because there is neither faith nor Christ. It is the Word that brings us everything, the sacraments with their power, peace of conscience and even Christ himself; for it is his power and strength, or, as David calls it: "The rod of his strength out of Zion," Ps 110, 2; or, as St. Paul says, "The power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth," Rom 1, 16.
Sermon for Ascension Day
The sum and substance of the lesson, therefore, is, for us to give heed to the Word and teaching, and not to judge whether one truly believes or not. Where the Word is, there we shall also administer baptism, be the people young or old. For we are not commanded to accomplish the impossibility of looking into a man's heart to judge whether he believes or not. This must be left to Christ alone. Neither is it commanded us, in our office of preaching, to seek to know how each one may believe, or who accepts the Word and who does not. It will not do for you to say that you would preach only to those whom you could first know to be ready to believe and accept the Word. In that case you would never dare to preach at all.
The same holds in baptism. You must not wait until you are sure as to who believes and who does not, but give heed to this: Wherever the Word is preached and heard, and baptism is desired, there you are commanded to administer baptism, both to young and old. Where the Word, the all-important thing, is rightly preached, the other will naturally follow. And, again, where the teaching of the Word is in error, all else is in vain; because there is neither faith nor Christ. It is the Word that brings us everything, the sacraments with their power, peace of conscience and even Christ himself; for it is his power and strength, or, as David calls it: "The rod of his strength out of Zion," Ps 110, 2; or, as St. Paul says, "The power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth," Rom 1, 16.
Sermon for Ascension Day
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Brings forth his sleeping Saints to light
Light's glittering morn bedecks the sky,
Heaven thunders forth its victor cry,
The glad earth shouts its triumph high,
And groaning hell makes wild reply :
While he, the King of glorious might
Treads down death's strength in death's despite,
And trampling hell by victor's right,
Brings forth his sleeping Saints to light.
Fast barred beneath the stone of late
In watch and ward where soldiers wait,
Now shining in triumphant state,
He rises Victor from death's gate.
Hell's pains are loosed, and tears are fled;
Captivity is captive led;
The Angel, crowned with light, hath said,
The Lord is risen from the dead.
We pray thee, King with glory decked,
In this our Paschal joy, protect
From all that death would fain effect
Thy ransomed flock, thine own elect.
Latin Hymn, Aurora cælum purpurat, translation .here
Heaven thunders forth its victor cry,
The glad earth shouts its triumph high,
And groaning hell makes wild reply :
While he, the King of glorious might
Treads down death's strength in death's despite,
And trampling hell by victor's right,
Brings forth his sleeping Saints to light.
Fast barred beneath the stone of late
In watch and ward where soldiers wait,
Now shining in triumphant state,
He rises Victor from death's gate.
Hell's pains are loosed, and tears are fled;
Captivity is captive led;
The Angel, crowned with light, hath said,
The Lord is risen from the dead.
We pray thee, King with glory decked,
In this our Paschal joy, protect
From all that death would fain effect
Thy ransomed flock, thine own elect.
Latin Hymn, Aurora cælum purpurat, translation .here
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Christ's Ascension is our uplifting
And truly great and unspeakable was their cause for joy, when in the sight of the holy multitude, above the dignity of all heavenly creatures, the Nature of mankind went up, to pass above the angels' ranks and to rise beyond the archangels' heights, and to have its uplifting limited by no elevation until, received to sit with the Eternal Father, it should be associated on the throne with His glory, to Whose Nature It was united in the Son.
Since then Christ's Ascension is our uplifting, and the hope of the Body is raised, whither the glory of the Head has gone before, let us exult, dearly-beloved, with worthy joy and delight in the loyal paying of thanks. For today not only are we confirmed as possessors of paradise, but have also in Christ penetrated the heights of heaven, and have gained still greater things through Christ's unspeakable grace than we had lost through the devil's malice. For us, whom our virulent enemy had driven out from the bliss of our first abode, the Son of God has made members of Himself and placed at the right hand of the Father, with Whom He lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.
Leo the Great, Sermon 73.
Did you know that this is the 20th anniversary of the ELCA?
Neither did I. But Jim Ketchum did. And he wrote a thought provoking little piece on it here.
A taste:
The merging took four days, beating God's creation record by three days. Thus the ELCA was created with hopes it would be fruitful and multiply. It could have been done easily in 48 hours. They probably rented the convention center without a discount for finishing early, so, being good frugal Germans, they wanted to get their money's worth.
Twenty years later, the results have been mixed. Some ELCA churches and mission programs are thriving. Still, ELCA Lutherans, along with other mainline Protestants are seeing too many empty pews on Sunday and dwindling cash to do mission work.
What will it take to reinvigorate those hopes from 1987?
Opened for man to rise heavenward
The gospel of Matthew ends without really ending. Jesus rises from the dead, and then promises to remain Emanuel, God with us unto the end of the age. Luke, however, finishes telling the story of the Apostles Creed by recording Jesus Ascension into heavenly glory. The glory that Jesus possesses is given by the Father. As Peter says, "The God of our fathers glorified his servant Jesus whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate." (Acts3:13).
Even Jesus' heavenly title and status is a gift from God. In Acts 2:36, for example, Peter says, God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. In light of such formulations, some have attributed to Luke a kind of naive adoptionism or subordinationism. Those schooled in Nicene theology rightly ask, But wasn't Jesus Lord and Christ before theascension?
Of course, the answer is yes. But, again, Luke has another point to make. The one who reigns at the right hand of God is not simply the second person of the Trinity, but Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, the representative man is raised into heavenly splendor. From his place of exaltation he comforts Stephen and calls Paul. All the while watching over his church.
Through his ascension, the clouds of heaven are opened, not simply for God to speak, or for him to descend, but they are opened for man to rise heavenward. Luke's gospel, then, is not more primitive, but it is actually an exalted theology of man's nature, assumed by Christ. As Leo the Great puts it, "The nature of our human race ascended over the dignity of all heavenly creatures. Our human nature, united with the divinity of the Son, was on the throne of glory." The ascension of Christ is our elevation.
Peter Scaer, Lucan Christology: Beautiful Savior
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Not for his own sake but for us
The key to understanding the Ascension of Our Lord is the "for you" character of the event. He ascends to raise us up just as he descended to earth and bore the cross. It is we, our nature, that is exalted in the Ascension. Cyril of Alexandria expresses all this well.
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter cannot come unto you."
In order then that He might free from corruption and death those that lay under the condemnation of that ancient curse, He became Man; investing Himself, Who was by Nature the Life, with our nature. For thus the power of death was overcome, and the dominion of corruption, which had gained sway over us, was destroyed. And, since the Divine Nature is wholly free from inclination to sin, He exalted us by His own Flesh. For in Him we all have our being, inasmuch as He manifested Himself as Man. In order that He might mortify the members, which are upon the earth, that is, the affections of the flesh, and might quench the law of sin that holds sway in our members, and also that He might sanctify our nature, and prove Himself our Pattern and Guide in the path to piety, and that the revelation of the truth according to knowledge, and of a way of life beyond possibility of error might be complete----all this Christ, when He became Man, accomplished.
It was necessary then to confer on the nature of man the height of blessedness, and not only to rid it of death and sin, but to raise it even to the heavens themselves, and to make man a companion of the angels, and a partaker in their joys. And just as by His own Resurrection He renewed in us the power of escaping corruption, even so He thought it right to open out for us the path heavenwards, and to set in the Presence of the Father the race of man who had been cast out of His sight owing to Adam's transgression. And the inspired Paul, adopting this view, says: For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, nor into one like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the Face of God for us. He tells us that being ever in His Father's Presence, and partaking of His Nature by reason of the sameness of Their Essence, He now manifests Himself not for His own sake but for us. For I will repeat what I have already said. He places us in the sight of the Father, by departing into heaven as the firstfruits of humanity. For just as, being Himself the Life by Nature, He is said to have died and risen again for our sake, even so He is said, ever beholding His Father and being in like manner beholden of Him, to appear as Man now, that is, when He has taken human nature upon Him, not for His own sake but for us.
And as this one thing was seen to be lacking in His dispensation to us, our ascension into heaven has been prepared for us in Christ, Who was the firstfruits and the first of men to ascend. For He ascended thither as our forerunner, as the inspired Paul also himself says. There, as Man, He is in very truth still the High Priest of our souls, our Comforter, and the propitiation for our sins; and, as God and Lord by Nature, He sits on His own Father's throne, and even on us too will the glory thereof be reflected. For this reason also Paul said concerning the Father: And He raised us up with Him, and made us to sit with Him in the heavenly places in Christ. When then His mission on earth was accomplished, it was necessary that He should fulfil what yet remained----His Ascension to the Father. Wherefore He says: It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away the Comforter cannot come unto you
Cyril, On the Gospel of John
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Some thoughts on the baptism of Jesus
St. Paul says every baptism is a baptism into Christ. The Gospels proclaim the same reality in the story of Christ’s baptism. We are baptized into his baptism. He takes our baptism, our sin, and makes it his own so that his baptism becomes ours. A baptismal exchange! One might say that what happens to Jesus in his baptism happens to us. As Jesus took on our flesh and submitted to baptism when we submit to baptism, we put on Jesus’ baptism so that the Father’s voice speaks to us and the promise of the Father is applied to us. On account of Christ, we are his beloved children, in us he is well pleased,. He is not pleased with us on account of our relationship to him by nature but by grace. He is pleased with us because in baptism Christ put us on and we put Him on.
Another intriquing aspect of the baptism of Jesus is its connection to the crucifixion. Nothing in the story itself seems to suggest an explicit connection between the crucifixion of Jesus and his baptism but in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus himself makes the link. He asks his disicples if they are able to be baptized with the baptism he will undergo. Here our Savior calls his cross and suffering and resurrection a baptism. In this passage he connects the fire of God’s wrath to his cross and with His baptism. With these words Jesua is bringing together his substitutionary work as the one who suffers in our place with his baptism. On the cross Jesus is in the sinner's place but this true not only on the cross but but through out his ministry and the beginning of all of this is his descent into the Jordan.
What this means for baptized Christians is that baptism places Christians under the cross as those for whom He has been substituted. The rites of the church display this link when the invocation of the triune name and the sign of the cross and baptism are all intimately attached to one another. In an ancient baptismal custom, the sign of the cross is made over the heart and on the forhead of the bapitzed to mark him as redeemed by Christ. It is also an almost universal custom to make the sign of the cross when the baptismal Trinitarian name is invoked.
Another intriquing aspect of the baptism of Jesus is its connection to the crucifixion. Nothing in the story itself seems to suggest an explicit connection between the crucifixion of Jesus and his baptism but in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus himself makes the link. He asks his disicples if they are able to be baptized with the baptism he will undergo. Here our Savior calls his cross and suffering and resurrection a baptism. In this passage he connects the fire of God’s wrath to his cross and with His baptism. With these words Jesua is bringing together his substitutionary work as the one who suffers in our place with his baptism. On the cross Jesus is in the sinner's place but this true not only on the cross but but through out his ministry and the beginning of all of this is his descent into the Jordan.
What this means for baptized Christians is that baptism places Christians under the cross as those for whom He has been substituted. The rites of the church display this link when the invocation of the triune name and the sign of the cross and baptism are all intimately attached to one another. In an ancient baptismal custom, the sign of the cross is made over the heart and on the forhead of the bapitzed to mark him as redeemed by Christ. It is also an almost universal custom to make the sign of the cross when the baptismal Trinitarian name is invoked.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Home repair, drinking, and God on campus
I like to read the NY times. I know in some matters it is a hopelessly biased paper. But the paper is interesting. The obvious biases can even be instructive as you come across them. In addition, there is not a better way to chart the steady decline of everything good and holy in the universe than reading the NY Times.
Anyway, I am newspaper addict and for all its faults it is a great read. I prefer the paper edition (and there are now 4, yes, 4 places where one can buy it daily in the sprawling metropolis of Hickory, NC)
All of this leads up to a few interesting reads from ... the NY Times.
Here is a good article to hand to your wife when she wants you to take care of some home fix it project. Its too dangerous! The article is full of funny horrifying accidents at home with power tools. Great fun.
We've tried and we've tried but that God guy keep sneaking back on campus.
Here is an entertaining review of a book on the history of alcohol consumptionentitel the Joy of Drinking.
Here is a humorous quote:
She reminds us that in 1787, two days before their work was done, the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention “adjourned to a tavern for some rest, and according to the bill they drank 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, 8 of whiskey, 22 of port, 8 of hard cider and 7 bowls of punch so large that, it was said, ducks could swim around in them. Then they went back to work and finished founding the new Republic.”
Anyway, I am newspaper addict and for all its faults it is a great read. I prefer the paper edition (and there are now 4, yes, 4 places where one can buy it daily in the sprawling metropolis of Hickory, NC)
All of this leads up to a few interesting reads from ... the NY Times.
Here is a good article to hand to your wife when she wants you to take care of some home fix it project. Its too dangerous! The article is full of funny horrifying accidents at home with power tools. Great fun.
We've tried and we've tried but that God guy keep sneaking back on campus.
Here is an entertaining review of a book on the history of alcohol consumptionentitel the Joy of Drinking.
Here is a humorous quote:
She reminds us that in 1787, two days before their work was done, the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention “adjourned to a tavern for some rest, and according to the bill they drank 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, 8 of whiskey, 22 of port, 8 of hard cider and 7 bowls of punch so large that, it was said, ducks could swim around in them. Then they went back to work and finished founding the new Republic.”
Saturday, May 05, 2007
News flash: Technology not a cure all
There is something so satisfying to me about stories like these.
A laptop for every student ... that will change education in America. Internet, the information superhighway. That was the cry.
The reality?
So the Liverpool Central School District, just outside Syracuse, has decided to phase out laptops starting this fall, joining a handful of other schools around the country that adopted one-to-one computing programs and are now abandoning them as educationally empty — and worse.
More quotes from the NY Times story:
It’s a distraction to the educational process.
Last month, the United States Department of Education released a study showing no difference in academic achievement between students who used educational software programs for math and reading and those who did not.
Students like Eddie McCarthy, 18, a Liverpool senior, said his laptop made him “a lot better at typing.”
People have such a capacity for believing in the next big thing, technology, a new approach. And it turns out the kids use the Internet to look at porn, im each other about American Idol and they get dumber not smarter.
I guess people are flawed people and getting smart is a matter of reading, teachers who get students to study, actually studying, having a decent family life and working hard.
The story is here.
A laptop for every student ... that will change education in America. Internet, the information superhighway. That was the cry.
The reality?
So the Liverpool Central School District, just outside Syracuse, has decided to phase out laptops starting this fall, joining a handful of other schools around the country that adopted one-to-one computing programs and are now abandoning them as educationally empty — and worse.
More quotes from the NY Times story:
It’s a distraction to the educational process.
Last month, the United States Department of Education released a study showing no difference in academic achievement between students who used educational software programs for math and reading and those who did not.
Students like Eddie McCarthy, 18, a Liverpool senior, said his laptop made him “a lot better at typing.”
People have such a capacity for believing in the next big thing, technology, a new approach. And it turns out the kids use the Internet to look at porn, im each other about American Idol and they get dumber not smarter.
I guess people are flawed people and getting smart is a matter of reading, teachers who get students to study, actually studying, having a decent family life and working hard.
The story is here.
Friday, May 04, 2007
You mean not all Southerners were racists?
Here is a nice little post on Get Religion about the complexity of investigating the history of the South and racism. And the complexity of religion in the midst of all of it.
This little while
A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”
And so to those who were then seeing Him in the Body He says: A little while and you shall not see me: for He was about to go to His Father, and from thence forward they would not again see Him as the mortal man they were seeing while He spoke these words. What He added here, namely: And again a little while, and you shall see me, He promises to the whole Church. This little while seems long while it is endured by us; but when it is over, then we shall see how little it was.
-- Augustine
But when she hath brought forth the child; that is, when she has overcome pain in the contest of her travail and attained the palm of victory, she remembereth no more the anguish, that went before, for joy of the reward received, that man is born into the world. For as the woman rejoices that a man~ child is born into this world, so is the Church filled with exultation at the multitude of the faithful born to eternal life.
Nor should it appear to you strange that he is called born who has departed from this life. For as a man is said to be born when coming forth from his mother's womb he enters into the light of day, so may he be said to be born who from the bonds of the flesh is uplifted to that light which is eternal. So the commemorations of the saints are not called funeral ceremonies, but birth day festivities (Natalitia).
--Bede
Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, vol 2.
And so to those who were then seeing Him in the Body He says: A little while and you shall not see me: for He was about to go to His Father, and from thence forward they would not again see Him as the mortal man they were seeing while He spoke these words. What He added here, namely: And again a little while, and you shall see me, He promises to the whole Church. This little while seems long while it is endured by us; but when it is over, then we shall see how little it was.
-- Augustine
But when she hath brought forth the child; that is, when she has overcome pain in the contest of her travail and attained the palm of victory, she remembereth no more the anguish, that went before, for joy of the reward received, that man is born into the world. For as the woman rejoices that a man~ child is born into this world, so is the Church filled with exultation at the multitude of the faithful born to eternal life.
Nor should it appear to you strange that he is called born who has departed from this life. For as a man is said to be born when coming forth from his mother's womb he enters into the light of day, so may he be said to be born who from the bonds of the flesh is uplifted to that light which is eternal. So the commemorations of the saints are not called funeral ceremonies, but birth day festivities (Natalitia).
--Bede
Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, vol 2.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
What always gets me
What always gets me about the way Bible talks about the new life in Christ is the naturalness of the images and words that Scripture uses: seeds growing, bearing fruit, birth and growth, new creation, vines and grapes, bodies and limbs.
No one stands out in the yard haranguing a tree to get with it and start bearing fruit. The tree just does it because it is that kind of tree. What the tree needs is to be fed air, water, sunshine, soil.
A constant refrain in the ears of Christians that they must obey or witness or do this or that while not untrue (Christians are to do many such things and not do others) but it is unnatural. It is not how Christians grow. It is counter productive. It is not how they do good works. They need Jesus food, gospel sunshine, sacramental strength to their sagging limbs that their hands might work.
No one stands out in the yard haranguing a tree to get with it and start bearing fruit. The tree just does it because it is that kind of tree. What the tree needs is to be fed air, water, sunshine, soil.
A constant refrain in the ears of Christians that they must obey or witness or do this or that while not untrue (Christians are to do many such things and not do others) but it is unnatural. It is not how Christians grow. It is counter productive. It is not how they do good works. They need Jesus food, gospel sunshine, sacramental strength to their sagging limbs that their hands might work.
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