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Posts Tagged ‘Early Church Fathers’

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Correct viewpoint

In 06 Scripture & Theology on 2011/05/09 at 9:53 AM

“All around us there is a constant movement, and ebbing and flowing of currents of opinion, of doctrines, of ideologies, of very distinct interpretations of man and of life….In the midst of all this doctrinal confusion there is a need for a norm of discernment, a clear, steady and profound criterion which allows us to see everything with the unity and consistency of the Christian view of life which knows that everything derives from God and is ordained to God.

The Faith provides us with a stable criterion of guidance and the firmness of the Apostles in putting it into practice.  It gives us a clear vision of the world, of the value of things and of people, of true and false goods.  Without God and without knowledge of the ultimate end of man the world ceases to be intelligible or is seen only from a partial and deformed angles.  ‘Precisely the most pernicious typical aspect of the modern era consists in the absurd attempt to reconstruct a solid and fruitful temporal order divorced from God, the only foundation on which it can endure.’ 1 The Christian should not leave his faith aside in any circumstance.”

1 John XXIII MATER ET MAGISTRA, 1961 cited by Francis Fernandez IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD, Vol II, 58.2.

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Resurrection of Jesus

In 06 Scripture & Theology on 2011/04/25 at 1:39 PM

    The most concise definition/explanation of the Resurrection can be found in the Glossary  of Joseph Ratzinger’s (Pope Benedict XVI) JESUS OF NAZARETH, Part Two) Ignatius Press

“The entrance by Jesus, following his death on the Cross, into an entirely new form of life that lies beyond the order of natural biological generation, resuscitation, and  dying and that includes a transformed bodily dimension of existence, possessing physical and spiritual aspect. (Mt. 22:30; 1 Cor. 15:42-44, 50-54; Luke 24:39; Jn 20:24:24-27)

“The Resurrection is the Father’s vindication of Jesus’ divine sonship and validation of the believer’s faith in Jesus’ redemption of sinful humanity.”  (Acts 2:24; Rom.1:4; 1 Cor. 15: 14, 17)

“It is also the pledge of  ‘first fruits’ of a general resurrection, the beginning of a new kind of humanity to be realized in the age to come.”  (1 Cor 15:23)

“The Resurrection of Jesus in not the mere passing of a spirit into the next life or a miraculous resuscitation to mortal existence, as with Lazarus.  It is an entirely new mode of bodily existence.”

For a spiritual and scholarly expansion, see chapter 9, Jesus’ Resurrection from the Dead.

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Church Fathers

In 14 Book Corner on 2011/04/20 at 7:40 PM

THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH FATHERS by John R. Willis, S. J. Foreword by Karl Keating.  Ignatius Press

If you want to know what the early Church Fathers had to say on theological questions, search no further.  This compact volume is arranged topically and logically.  Under each topic, you will find, in chronological order what each of the early Church Fathers had to say on that topic and with an attentive ear, you can hear each speak to you in his own words.

A former Congregational minister, John Willis became a Catholic in 1955 largely through reading the Fathers.  He  was the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston College and History professor.

Some of the Church Fathers quoted include: Ambrose, Athanasius, Augustine, Basil, Clement of Alexandria, Clement of Rome, Cyprian, Cyril of Alexandria, Cyril of Jerusalem, Eusebius of Caesarea, Gregory the Great, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory of Nyssa, Hilary, Ignatius of Antioch, Ireneaus, Jerome, Chrysostom, Justin Martyr, Origen, Polycarp, Tertullian, Vincent of Lerins.

The major topics (containing numerous subdivisions)  are:

  1. Revealed Religion
  2. The Church
  3. Sacred Scripture and Tradition
  4. One God
  5. The Triune God
  6. Creation
  7. Sin
  8. Actual Grace
  9. Habitual Grace
  10. The Incarnate Word
  11. Mary, Mother of God and Virgin
  12. The Sacraments
  13. The Last Things
“The Fathers of the Church have been a vital source of wisdom and inspiration for countless saints, popes, peasants, and converts throughout the history of the Church. In this powerful one-volume library, Father Willis presents more than 250 selected doctrinal topics in an exhaustive selection of writings from the major sources of the Fathers. He lets the Fathers speak for themselves on a wide variety of spiritual themes.” Back cover comment
I have recommended this book to many Catholic women married to men of various Protestant denominations, and the wives have told me t the readings have been catalyst to worthwhile spiritual exchanges and comfort in an area of communications previously fraught with insecurity.

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The Risen One, the New Temple

In 06 Scripture & Theology on 2011/04/12 at 5:34 PM

The Apostle John records a three word powerful sentence concluding the Prologue:  He explains Him. John 1:18.  He (Christ) explains Him (the Father).

In this theological Gospel, John reveals the person of Jesus intimately, perceiving His inner most thoughts and emotions. If you want  to understand the true meaning of life, if you seek eternal life, if you long to know God, you will find all those desires fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ as revealed in all the Gospels.

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to enlighten the apostles so that they recorded, with divine authority, God’s truth.  Imagine the power that inspired a teenage fisherman to later write: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John 1: 1. And, later in an epistle:  “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.” I John 1:1.

Each Gospel writer had a goal and specific audience in mind, which  guided him to select certain miracles or signs to point to the different aspects of eternal truth. The Synoptic Gospel were recorded much earlier than John’s Gospel.  Matthew, Mark and Luke simply recorded what Jesus did and what He said. It is the beloved disciple, John, who  gives a special emphasis on what Jesus meant. All four portrait painters of Jesus had one goal, expressed by John: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”  John 20:31

Jesus is divine; He is also human.  He is now in heaven in His human resurrected body which although invisible to us, is nonetheless is as real as you are. Peter knew what was what when he said to our Lord: “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6: 66-69. The doubting disciple,  Thomas who as a Jew was strictly monotheistic, recognized the divinity of Christ when he exclaimed in faith: “my Lord and my God.”  John 20:28.

Christ is a living person, who has come to make knowledge become light and life in you.  Trust Him and as you read the Gospels, expect Him to show you He can help you now.  Seek to find  in the heart of Jesus, the meaning  of His words and miracles. Look  into your own heart.  Expect Him to enable you to see whatever changes you can make in your life for your own good.

In his recent book, Jesus of Nazareth, Part Two, Pope Benedict XVI states: “God revealed his ‘name’ to Moses.  That ‘name’ was more than a word.  It meant that God allowed himself to be invoked, that he had entered into communion with Israel….God’s name means: God present among men.”

“The revelation of the name is a new mode of God’s presence among men, a radically new way in which god make his home with them.  In Jesus, God gives himself entirely into the world of mankind: whoever sees Jesus sees the Father. (cf.Jn 14:9)”

“In him God is truly ‘God-with-us’….As the Risen One, he comes once more, in order to make all people into his body, the new Temple.”

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Parables Unravelled?

In 06 Scripture & Theology on 2011/04/04 at 12:32 AM

Following the custom of the Orient, Jesus often employed parables, that favorite form of speech among people who think figuratively.  The parable stimulates the imagination, which in turns illumines the sense behind the suggested image.  However, that sense is not necessarily univocal, as is the abstract teaching, but complexly interwoven into life and the situation of the moment.  Vital truth speaks here in a homophony of many voices, theme, and accompaniment.  In this for it is flexible, now stressing one note, now another.  Thus the parable is a fluctuating, mobile thing and difficult to pin down.  In a barren hour it remains dumb; indeed, it may even be an obstacle to understanding, serving that dark mystery touched upon in Matt.13: “Hearing you will hear, but not understand; and seeing you will see, but not perceive.”

We have heard most of the parables of the New Testament many times, usually so enveloped in the Lord’s authority that unconsciously we accept them without giving much thought to our personal reaction….Only in the clash of thesis and antithesis, is its full clarity released.  (The author, Romano Guardini, goes on to a fascinating analysis of the Prodigal Son and the Last Hour Laborers.)

In a sense, Msgr. Guardini’s writings are meditations.  They are replete with verbal imagery in elegant spiritual prose.  One beautiful example: Jesus looms like a rescuing cliff above the tides of human suffering.

This excerpt is from Romano Guardini’s  THE LORD.

/www.amazon.com/Lord-Romano-Guardini/dp/0895267144/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307417186&sr=8-1