Safe Haven

Pursuant to the last post, you can read Ignatius' seven epistles by clicking on the links in sequence here. I suppose you could save yourself time by reading Bryan's selected quotations, but I'd rather read him for myself, so I did. Boy, if the Church fell into error with the establishment of the hierarchy, it happened quick. This cat died in 107. He knew John the Apostle, heard him teach. What we Protestants must explain (and our individual variations must also) is, "What is the criteria for judging truth and error?" We have to begin to see that our theological differences as Protestants are actually judgments of the Church's supposed error from distinctly different angles and emphases, (free will, sacraments, government, et al) so our actual unity consists of only one thing: anti-Catholicism, or at best, non-Catholicism. What I'm bothered by is that we presume our own ecclesiological legitimacy, wherever we are, and then, we each make arbitrary decisio...

5 Thoughts When Reading the 7 Letters of St. Ignatius 5. He certainly throws in "blood" at interesting times. 4. Is this guy nuts? The man talks as if he wants to die, as if he'll be let down if he lives. 3. It takes some brass to ask your brothers and sisters to pray that you die for Christ. 2. Ignatius sure sounds Catholic to me. 1. Why don't they call him "St. Bishop"? :) I feel like asking the Bishop for permission to write this post. :)

1 Cor 11, and Its Obvious Implications, Often Overlooked I noticed the last time I celebrated the Lord's Supper that, in my best estimation, we had entirely missed the point. That is, if I had taken the pastor's words as representative of all of us, his words as a summary of what we were confessing by taking and eating, then (respectfully) we were quite far afield of what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians. And that was quite alarming, given that he attempted to quote the text. [As an aside, I am sidestepping the Catholic critiques of the Protestant eucharist for the moment, despite whatever sympathies I may have toward that view.] Leaving aside the fact that, at the very least, the text here should be read or memorized and spoken liturgically at some point, apart from any interpretive comments, I was bothered first by this: "Each time we eat this bread and drink this cup, we remember the Lord's death until He comes." Following this was a fairly lengthy pronouncement t...

Prompted by, I don't know, warm reflection, I thought of the movie, The Passion of the Christ. I remember thinking that it actually did sanctify me; I was glad to have watched it with a good chunk of my fellow church members. I'm sure reasonable criticisms could be made of it along many lines, but I don't blame my fellow committed Christians for praising it as they did, and being open to how God might teach them through it. I remember having several interesting thoughts at the time which I may have spoken, but never wrote down. Sounds like good material for a list o' five! And so: 5 Thoughts I Had While Watching The Passion of the Christ 5. "If this is Catholicism, sign me up." [Deeply ironic, now, perhaps.] 4. "These cut scenes to the Lord's teaching are the only thing saving me from weeping in this movie theater." 3. "I was relieved when He finally got to the cross, and I'm not sure that's how I should feel." 2. "My favor...

5 Signs You Are Not A Calvinist 5. If you use the word, "choice," ever, at any time. 4. If you have seen Minority Report, and thought it was a good summary of the conundrum of free will vs. sovereignty. That is, that there is a conundrum. 3. If you have ever used the word, "mystery," ever, at any time. [Note however, that a Calvinist will use the word when confronted with the philosophical determinism of Calvinism, thusly: "It's a mystery!"] 2. If you have ever complimented John Wesley on anything ever, without qualification. [Calvinist example: "That's a great hymn by John Wesley...too bad he was an Arminian."] 1. If your reaction to Calvin's 500th birthday did not border on the veneration of a saint.