That Where There is No True Religion There are No True Virtues

For though the soul may seem to rule the body admirably, and the reason the vices, if the soul and reason do not themselves obey God, as God has commanded them to serve Him, they have no proper authority over the body and the vices. For what kind of mistress of the body and the vices can that mind be which is ignorant of the true God, and which, instead of being subject to His authority, is prostituted to the corrupting influences of the most vicious demons? It is for this reason that the virtues which it seems to itself to possess, and by which it restrains the body and the vices that it may obtain and keep what it desires, are rather vices than virtues so long as there is no reference to God in the matter. For although some suppose that virtues which have a reference only to themselves, and are desired only on their own account, are yet true and genuine virtues, the fact is that even then they are inflated with pride, and are therefore to be reckoned vices rather than virtues. For as that which gives life to the flesh is not derived from flesh, but is above it, so that which gives blessed life to man is not derived from man, but is something above him; and what I say of man is true of every celestial power and virtue whatsoever.

St. Augustine, City of God, 19.25.

Toward a Liturgical Worldview

Being a disciple of Jesus is not primarily a matter of getting the right ideas and doctrines and beliefs into you head in order to guarantee proper behavior; rather, it’s a matter of being the kind of person who loves rightly—who loves God and neighbor and is orientated to the world by the primacy of that love. We are made to be such people by our immersion in the material practices of Christian worship—through affective impact, over time, of sights and smell in water and wine.

The liturgy is a “hearts and minds strategy, a pedagogy that trains us as disciples precisely by putting our bodies through a regimen of repeated practices that get hold of our heart and “aim” our love toward the kingdom of God. Before we articulate a worldview, we worship. Before we put into words the lineaments of an ontology or an epistemology, we pray for God’s healing and illumination. Before we theorize the nature of God, we sing his praises. Before we express moral principles, we receive forgiveness. Before we codify the doctrine of Christ’s two natures, we receive the body of Christ in the Eucharist. Before we think, we pray. That’s the kind of animals we are, first and foremost: loving, desiring, affective, liturgical animals who, for the most part, don’t inhabit the world as thinkers or cognitive machines…My contention is that given the sorts of animals we are, we pray before we believe, we worship before we know—or rather, we worship in order to know.

James K. A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Cultural Liturgies, Vol. 1), 33—34   

The Anvil – God’s Word

Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s door,

            And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;

Then, looking in, I saw upon the floor

            Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.

“How many anvils have you had,” said I,

            “To wear and batter all these hammers so?”

“Just one,” said he, and then, with twinkling eye,

            “The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.”

And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s Word,

            For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;

Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,

            The Anvil is unharmed—the hammers are gone.

— Anonymous

The Third Sunday after Easter: The Collect

ALMIGHTY God, who showest to them that are in error the light of thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness; Grant unto all those who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ's Religion, that they may avoid those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Book of Common Prayer, 1928

Federal and Natural Headship By Kevin T. Bauder

Most people balk when they are first confronted with the biblical teaching that all humans sinned in Adam. Their initial reflex seems to be, “How can God hold me accountable for something that Adam did?” This intuitive reaction to the doctrine of original sin is so consistent that it might just lead to the suspicion that most people are born Pelagians.


The two principal theories that attempt to answer this question are called federal headship and natural headship. To most people, the theories are hardly more comprehensible than the doctrine itself. Federal headship states that God sovereignly appointed Adam as the representative head of the human race, so that whatever obedience or disobedience Adam chose would be imputed to his posterity. Natural headship states that all of the human race was somehow in Adam, participating in his sin. Read more...

Why Dr. Kermit Gosnell's Trial Should Be a Front-Page Story

The dead babies. The exploited women. The racism. The numerous governmental failures. It is thoroughly newsworthy.

Please note: This [original] post contains graphic descriptions and imagery.
 
The grand jury report in the case of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, is among the most horrifying I've read. "This case is about a doctor who killed babies and endangered women. What we mean is that he regularly and illegally delivered live, viable babies in the third trimester of pregnancy - and then murdered these newborns by severing their spinal cords with scissors," it states. "The medical practice by which he carried out this business was a filthy fraud in which he overdosed his patients with dangerous drugs, spread venereal disease among them with infected instruments, perforated their wombs and bowels - and, on at least two occasions, caused their deaths."  Please, keep reading...and share the link!

Total Depravity Verse List by Travis Carden

"The doctrine of total depravity (or total inability) says that all men, as a consequence of the Fall, are born morally corrupt, enslaved to sin, at enmity with God, and unable to please Him or even of themselves to turn to Christ for salvation. (Thus the necessity of a gracious, unconditional election.) Here is a sweeping survey of the biblical support for the doctrine."  See Travis' site for a generous list of passages that forcefully teach this crucial doctrine. 

When the Gavel Comes Crashing Down

In the United States, the Supreme Court has final say over whether any law is constitutional. So in a way it's the final barrier that prevents any legislators from getting too crazy or racist in the laws they pass.

But the Supreme Court itself is not made up of gods or wizards. They are just people, with agendas. And sometimes they have rendered opinions that make you wonder if the whole legal system isn't just full of crazy people from the top down. For instance, the court has ruled...continue reading if you have the nerve

Doves Going to Nigeria with Rafiki Foundation

For centuries, the faithful Church has prayed,

Almighty God, look mercifully upon the world which thou hast redeemed by the blood of thy dear Son, and incline the hearts of many to dedicate themselves to the sacred Ministry of thy Church; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (Book of Common Prayer 1928).

Insofar as mission is an integral part of the Church’s ministry to our broken, ignorant, hurting, gospel-needing world, God has given a personal answer to that prayer through two friends of ours.

Our dear brother and sister in Christ, Gehrig and Ronda Dove, have answered the Lord’s call to serve him in Africa through the powerful and faithful ministry of the Rafiki Foundation.  Rafiki is a unique missional organization, which truly seeks to give flesh and bone to St. James’ description of “pure religion,” which is to “visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction” (1:27). 

The mission of the Rafiki Foundation is to help Africans know God by caring for and educating orphans, providing materials and training in education and Bible study, and giving economic opportunities to widows. 

The Doves are currently preparing to leave their home in Lexington, Virginia for Nigeria by April 20, if passports and other logistical needs come through.  I know there is still much demanding their attention on the home front.  So, I would challenge you to support these two in the good work on which they are embarking for Christ’s namesake.  Please pray for them.  You can better know how to pray by reading their current newsletters and adding your name to their newsletter updates through email.  I would also challenge you to consider offering the Doves financial support .  There are a number of uncertainties before the Doves, but one thing is not: they are palpably aware of their utter dependence upon God’s mercy, grace, and blessings for each day and those ahead. 

So, just know, “beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brethren, strangers as they are...You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God.  For they have gone out for the sake of the name...Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth” (3 Jn. 5—8). 

O LORD, our heavenly Father, whose blessed Son came not to be ministered unto, but to minister; We beseech thee to bless all who, following in his steps, give themselves to the service of their fellow men. Endue them with wisdom, patience, and courage to strengthen the weak and raise up those who fall; that, being inspired by thy love, they may worthily minister in thy Name to the suffering, the friendless, and the needy; for the sake of him who laid down his life for us, the same thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen (BCP 1928). 

W. H. Griffith-Thomas on Faith

Trust is the only adequate answer to God’s revelation.  Just as the absence of faith makes it impossible for human beings to have any dealings with each other, so the absence of faith in God makes it wholly impossible for us to have any association with Him.  “He that cometh to God must believe” (Heb. 11:6).  Trust is thus the correlative of truth.  Faith in man answers to grace in God.  As such it affects the whole of man’s nature...

Faith is not blind, but intelligent, since it rests on the conviction of the authority of Christ as Teacher, Savior, and Lord.  The three-fold Revelation of Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King, revealing, redeeming, and ruling, is met by the response of the whole life, intellect, emotion, and will.

The Principles of Theology: An Introduction to the Thirty-Nine Articles, xx—xxi.