Whatsoever Things Are True

Annunciation

2010-03-25T17:46:00.000Z

2009-07-28T17:31:00.001Z

Ascensiontide

2009-05-22T18:28:00.004Z

⁶So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” ⁹When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. ¹¹They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Alcuin of York

2009-05-20T17:31:00.003Z

Isaiah 26
We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks.
Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps faith
may enter in. You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord for ever,
for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
The way of the righteous is level;
you who are upright make smooth the path of the righteous.
In the path of your judgements, O Lord, we wait for you;
your name and renown is the desire of our soul.
My soul yearns for you in the night,
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
For when your judgements are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
O Lord, you will ordain peace for us,
for indeed all that we have done you have done for us.

2009-05-07T21:57:00.004Z

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.--CS Lewis

John 15

2009-05-06T20:37:00.002Z

15”I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ²He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. ³You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

1 Peter 1

2009-05-06T19:56:00.001Z

Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ!
By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading,
kept in heaven for you,
Who are being protected by the power of God through faith,
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
You were ransomed from the futile ways of your ancestors
not with perishable things like silver or gold
But with the precious blood of Christ
like that of a lamb without spot or stain.
Through him you have confidence in God,
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are set on God.

Hebrews 10

2009-05-05T17:09:00.001Z

And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, 'he sat down at the right hand of God', and since then has been waiting 'until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.' For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified

"Love Hath Come Again"

2009-04-28T16:13:00.005Z

Saint George

2009-04-23T18:55:00.001Z

Inquiring Minds

2009-04-22T16:36:00.008Z

Many blogs deal with the politics of the church. Still more provide platforms for attack.

I am interested in providing a portal for the soul who wishes to keep her/his head on that part of life where moth and rust do not prevail, where God beckons us to be still.

On this page you will find many links concerning Scripture and theology, devotion and charity. Explore! Each provides a proverbial rabbit hole down which to tumble with a word of Scripture or an idea or an open mind.

One of the great minds this diocese has known, the late Revd. Dr. Richard Hooker Wilmer was fond of saying one needed 2 books to understand the Anglican faith: "The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity" and "Alice in Wonderland"!

I like to think he would be an avid theological surfer! Explore this site; read and go where the Holy Spirit wills.

There is much more to the web than consternation and bad news!

Good Friday 3.15 p

2009-04-10T19:14:00.002Z

"Unreal City,	60
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not thought death had undone so many.
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.	65
Flowed up the hill and down King William Street,
To where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours
With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine." (TS Eliot)

2009-03-26T18:05:00.001Z

Hebrews 5:1-10

5Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. ²He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; ³and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. ⁴And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was. ⁵So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; ⁶as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” ⁷In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ⁸Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; ⁹and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

¹⁰having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/apr1992/v49-1-article3.htm

A Song of Christ's Appearing (1 Timothy 3.16;6.15,16)

2008-10-10T00:51:00.000Z

Christ Jesus was revealed in the flesh
and vindicated in the spirit.
He was seen by angels
and proclaimed among the nations.
Believed in throughout the world,
he was taken up in glory.
This will be made manifest at the proper time
by the blessed and only Sovereign,
Who alone has immortality,
and dwells in unapproachable light.
To the King of kings and Lord of lords
be honour and eternal dominion. Amen.

Romans 5

2008-09-05T21:13:00.003Z

We even exult in our sufferings,
for suffering produces endurance,
And endurance brings hope,
and our hope is not in vain,
Because God's love has been poured into our hearts,
through the Holy Spirit, given to us.

Consuming Fire In Hebrews12

2008-08-06T18:46:00.002Z

We have come before Jesus,
the mediator of the new covenant.

We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken:
so let us give thanks and offer to God acceptable worship,

full of reverence and awe;
for our God is a consuming fire

Aftter Brideshead

2008-08-03T22:18:00.000Z

FIRST READING [Ecclesiasticus 35:10-19]:

Be generous when you worship the Lord,
and do not stint the first fruits of your hands.
With every gift show a cheerful face,
and dedicate your tithe with gladness.
Give to the Most High as he has given to you,
and as generously as you can afford.
For the Lord is the one who repays,
and he will repay you sevenfold.

Do not offer him a bribe, for he will not accept it;
and do not rely on a dishonest sacrifice;
for the Lord is the judge,
and with him there is no partiality.
He will not show partiality to the poor;
but he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged.
He will not ignore the supplication of the orphan,
or the widow when she pours out her complaint.
Do not the tears of the widow run down her cheek
as she cries out against the one who causes them to fall?

2008-07-29T02:54:00.000Z

Abstract: John’s first verses comprise a poem or a hymn to God in Christ. John writes his hymn, his poem which serves as the introduction to his gospel, about the Word, Jesus, that is God; about creation and the world; about what it means for us that Jesus came into the world--as God and man--and dwelt among us. “From his fullness have we received, grace upon grace,” John writes. ‘Come thou long expected Jesus.’ Jesus is the light--the true light that enlightens every man. We are the children of God. We are born of God. Hope and Love and Grace and Faith are miracles, the gift from God to his children--the one and eternal Christmas present. One theologian writes about the book of John being a record of glory breaking into the world through the flesh. The glory of God, the glory of his church comes into the world. Physical light comes to a darkened space, where we all stand as God's children. Glory shines through in this world in God's presence among his people. Pray for healing and God’s grace.

Darkness Cannot Quench It

In the past seven days we have witnessed two acts of God, one major and one minor. First, we continue to pray for the untold lives lost in the Far East. We pray that light perpetual will shine upon the dead, and that disease will spare the living. The minor event was last week’s storm that kept from preaching about one of my favorite texts in the Gospels, the prolegomena—or introduction—to the gospel according to John. Not to be too beholden to the lectionary, therefore, we will use that gospel this morning.

John’s first verses comprise a poem or a hymn to God in Christ. To employ a musical analogy about this hymn, John sets in 18 verses, the key signature for one of the most difficult and moving and recognized passages in the New Testament. John writes his hymn, his poem which serves as the introduction to his gospel, about the Word, Jesus, that is God; about creation and the world; about what it means for us that Jesus came into the world--as God and man--and dwelt among us. “From his fullness have we received, grace upon grace,” John writes.

In the church year, we have come to that wonderful season of Christmas. All of our presents are opened; hopefully you have all had a good long nap or two. Now we reflect upon and ponder the wonderful event of Christmas--the coming of the Christ-child. Come thou long expected Jesus. All throughout Advent we prepared ourselves for the greatness that was coming. Now we sit back to allow the full implications of the coming of the Christ wash over us. That is why we are brought to this place in John for Christmas season.

In these words of John we have a kind of poetic "explanation" or poem of praise to capture the wonder of the Christmas season. John engages our hearts and minds prayerfully in the knowledge and love of God in order to root us in the hay of that manger. Listen to John: The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world…He came to his home...To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become the children of God." This Messiah has come. God took human form to live and die as one of us. Eighteen verses prepare us; help us to pray upon the central point in the history of civilization.

Many comfortable phrases are used here. Jesus is the light--the true light that enlightens every man. John gives us analogies so that we might understand how we fit in to this miraculous event called the Incarnation, the Word becoming flesh. We are the children of God. We are born of God, John writes, neither of blood nor of the will neither of the flesh nor of the will of man. We are born of God.

No wonder the lectionary gives a few days to rest up after the holidays! This is pretty heavy and wonderful stuff. Imagine: Jesus came into the world, a light to enlighten the nations that we might believe in Him and find salvation. "From his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace."

A miraculous thing happened in Bethlehem these 2000 years ago. Hope and love and grace and Faith are miracles, the gift from God to his children--the one and eternal Christmas present.

One theologian writes about the book of John being a record of glory breaking into the world through the flesh. The glory of God, the glory of his church comes into the world. Physical light comes to a darkened space, where we all stand as God's children. Spiritual light comes to a darkened, starving, disaster-ridden world in the form of Jesus Christ, that we all might believe. We know that we live and move and have our being in Him.

Glory breaks into the world through the flesh, through the birth of the baby Jesus. This is the one and eternal present of Christmas-- the gift that keeps on giving. Glory shines through in this world in God's presence among his people. Receive that gift and believe. Receive the sign of glory in communion: Christ came into the world for you.

Pray for those who cannot come to an altar this day, wherever they may be. Pray for healing and God’s grace. Feed on him in your hearts by faith with thanksgiving.

--WHM+.

MLK Sermon

2008-07-22T22:23:00.003Z

One Episcopal Priest’s sermon on Martin Luther King

King of the Commonwealth

“’I am the LORD, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself,
who frustrates the signs of liars
and makes fools of diviners,
who turns wise men back
and makes their knowledge foolish,
who confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited.’”

Isaiah 44.24-26

I bring you Good News this evening. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob–the God who sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to live and die as one of us–loves you. God watches over you this night as He works out His plan of redemption in history. As we read in Psalm 37, “He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.”

We worship together on this second Sunday in Epiphany to praise God and to remember the ministry and witness of His servant, The Reverend Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. In the season of Epiphany Isaiah’s prophecy proclaims that we shall see God’s promise of salvation at work in the world. In the words of our hymn, we see ‘God in man made manifest,’ just as the Wise Men saw a star. Epiphany means ‘revealed’ or ‘made manifest.’ Nearly fifty years ago, God’s will became manifest in the ministry of one man whose witness we celebrate, an African American who followed a Jewish carpenter to transform America. Epiphany offers a sign, like a dove descending, that our world can and will change. I bear witness tonight to the radical power of God, who changed how we live in this country–black and white, rich and poor—working through his servant The Reverend Dr King, making manifest the vision of justice and salvation.

I want to tell you the story of Martin, a preacher’s son. Martin heard the call of his father’s voice in the same Scripture you hear each week in the pews of this Alumni Memorial Chapel. Before there was a Doctor King, there was a boy named Martin. Martin faced all the challenges you faced as a child, realizing as he became increasingly conscious of the world around him that justice and equity did not reign. He saw barriers and divisions. He also saw God’s vision for humanity (in a world fraught with injustice) for all who would look. Martin saw in God a plan made manifest in history, a kingdom where no second-class citizenship exists, no barriers hobble God’s children because of the color of their skin.

Before Christmas, we gathered to hear Isaiah’s call to a world that changed forever by the birth of God’s son, the Messiah. Isaiah writes to a people who have eyes, but cannot see, and ears but cannot hear. Isaiah writes, “Here am I, Lord, send me, Lord.”

Nearly two thousand years later, Martin saw what Isaiah saw. Martin heard God’s call. Martin spoke. The victory he proclaimed from pulpit and lectern unfolds this very night, nearly forty years after his murder. We hear in Isaiah the words of a loving God who transforms lives and cultures, who beneficently rules a commonwealth in which the peace of Jerusalem is established, may they prosper who love her. Martin lived with that peace. It gave him strength and resolve to do God’s will on this earth, no matter the cost. The cost was his life, just like the Jewish carpenter he followed.

Martin listened to the Word in his Father’s church. He studied the Law and covenant of Scripture. Doctor King grew from a carefully cultivated and nurtured field that equipped him for the work of ministry. He took up his vocation to become (not a medical doctor), but a doctor of the church. He entered the mission field with the tools of a theologian.

In the entire Bible, we glimpse Jesus the young man only once, in the Gospel of Luke. After the Feast of the Passover, Jesus goes missing. His frantic mother leaves the great caravan returning north to Nazareth. Mary finds Jesus in the Temple precincts, arguing and parsing Hebrew Scripture with the rabbis, the doctors of the church. Jesus answers his bewildered mother, “Did you not know I would be in my Father’s house?”

As the young Jesus grew to manhood—the Messiah—to establish the peace of Jerusalem, so did young Martin grow to proclaim the message of the Acceptable Year of the LORD, a time when the blind see and the deaf hear, when the windowed and orphaned are loved, and the joyous shielded. As God’s servant, Dr. King pruned the choking weeds of segregation and injustice from the field given to him by his Father in heaven. He tended a civilization almost—but not quite–ready to break into blossom.

Tonight we sing praise to “God in man made manifest.”

This evening I bring Good News. Be radically transformed by the words of Isaiah and Luke and Doctor King. Leave this church tonight strengthened by this journey to the altar of God whose child, Martin, saw the vision of a world where divisions cease. See God manifest in the world. “Fret not yourself because of evildoers” as you follow the path. God’s power will sustain you. God’s power sustained Doctor King in his ministry, his proclamation of a citizenship in a commonwealth where no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, and no authority reigns except that of an All Loving and All Merciful creator. For a time, we gather as a community triumphant, ready to march forward strengthened by God’s word and sacrament, bearing joyous witness and praise and blessing and honor to our Everlasting King.—Amen.

–The Rev. William Marchl

Summer Schedule

2008-06-12T20:30:00.000Z

Summer I

M&W 1:30-5

T&TH 6:00-8:15(ish)

Summer II

M&W 9-12:30

T&TH 6-9:30

VBS is June 16-20

Beach is June 20-28th

A Song of Humility (Hosea 6.1-6)

2008-06-05T11:55:00.000Z

Come, let us return to the Lord
who has torn us and will heal us.
God has stricken us
and will bind up our wounds.
After two days, he will revive us,
and on the third day will raise us up,
that we may live in his presence.
Let us strive to know the Lord;
his appearing is as sure as the sunrise.
He will come to us like the showers,
like the spring rains that water the earth.
'O Ephraim, how shall I deal with you?
How shall I deal with you, O Judah?
'Your love for me is like the morning mist,
like the dew that goes early away.
'Therefore, I have hewn them by the prophets,
and my judgement goes forth as the light.
'For loyalty is my desire and not sacrifice,
and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.'

2007-08-23T15:02:00.000Z

William Blake. 1757–1827

489. The Tiger

TIGER, tiger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
5
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder and what art

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
10
And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? What dread grasp
15
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,

And water'd heaven with their tears,

Did He smile His work to see?

Did He who made the lamb make thee?
20

Tiger, tiger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

2007-08-01T14:40:00.000Z

La Jetee

2007-07-23T22:27:00.000Z

http://www.scifilm.org/images3/lajetee1.jpg

Christ Falls

2007-07-23T20:05:00.000Z

2007-07-22T16:17:00.001Z

It's All Obvious, or "Think!"

2007-07-22T16:08:00.000Z

Jewish and Christian Bibles: A Comparative Chartby Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.

Introduction: Although the "New Testament" contains the same twenty-seven books for almost all Christians, there are some major and important differences between the "Hebrew Bible" (HB) used by Jews and different versions of the "Old Testament" (OT) used by various Christian churches and denominations: The foundational texts are different: Jewish Bibles are based on the HB; the OT section in Christian Bibles is arranged according to the order of books in the "Septuagint" (LXX), the ancient Greek version of the Jewish scriptures;
however, the translations of individual OT books in Christian Bibles are now usually based on the texts of the HB.
The total number of biblical books is different:
Jews count 24, Protestants 39, Catholics 46, Orthodox Christians up to 53;
certain books of the HB are subdivided in the LXX; e.g., "The Twelve" minor prophets are considered one book in the HB, while the LXX and Christian Bibles count these as twelve separate books;
the LXX contains several additional books not found in the HB; Orthodox and Catholic Christians regard these additional books as part of the OT canon (calling them the "Deuterocanonical Books"), while Jews and most Protestant Christians do not (calling them the "Apocrypha").

The Deceiver Buckled in Paschal Victory

2007-04-10T15:24:00.000Z

And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon andhis angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them inheaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil andSatan, the deceiver of the whole world he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels werethrown down with him

Viva Romero!

2007-03-23T18:49:00.000Z

If we say that we have no sin,we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.If we confess our sins,the One who is faithful and just will forgive usand cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Deliverance?

2007-03-21T19:47:00.000Z

2and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction.[a] You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. 5But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.

The Salt of the Earth

2007-03-20T18:49:00.000Z

7"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.
10"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

13"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

Pictures from Jerusalem (4 of 48)

2007-03-16T13:30:00.000Z

Pictures from Jerusalem (4 of 48)

Psalm 42

2007-03-13T06:37:00.000Z

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
2My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
3My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
4When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.
5Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
6O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.
7Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
8Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
9I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
10As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?
11Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Jeremiah Dreams

2007-03-09T10:21:00.001Z

17At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD;

and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD,

to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk

any more after the imagination

of their evil heart.

Cur Deus Homo? (click on the Sacred Heart)

2007-03-06T16:42:00.000Z

Ecce Homo

2007-03-05T08:33:00.000Z

Arglwydd, arwain trwy’r anialwch

2007-03-01T02:07:00.000Z

One Born Every Minute!

2007-02-27T09:12:00.001Z

Also For Sale Cheap!
One Unopened Copy of The DaVinci Code,comes with Bridge and swamp land (see link)

"The man who gave Hollywood the Titanic is stirring up biblical scholars and the clergy with a documentary on what he says could be the bones of Jesus - and his son.
James Cameron's "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," which will air Sunday on the Discovery Channel, argues that 10 ossuaries - stone caskets used to store bones - discovered in a suburb of Jerusalem in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family.

Six of the 10 caskets discovered have names inscribed on them, including "Judah, Son of Jesus," which would imply that Jesus had a child.

And the very fact that Jesus had an ossuary contradicts the Christian belief that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven."

2007-02-25T23:48:00.001Z

[]

The Pilgrim's Way

2007-02-25T23:19:00.000Z

How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts!*
My soul has a desire and longing
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.
The sparrow has found her a house
and the swallow a nest
where she may lay her young;*
by the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
Happy are they who dwell in your house!*
they will always be praising you.
Happy are the people whose strength is in you!*
whose hearts are set on the pilgrims’ way.
Those who go through the desolate valley
will find it a place of springs,*
for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.
They will climb from height to height,*
and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.
Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;*
hearken, O God of Jacob.
from Psalm 84

Milk and Honey

2007-02-25T13:03:00.000Z

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, 2you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. 3You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” 4When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, 5you shall make this response before the Lord your God:

“A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.
6When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us,
7we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.
8The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders;
9and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.”

Polycarp of Smyrna, martyr

2007-02-22T21:35:00.000Z

A Song of Christ the Servant (1 Peter 2.21b-25)

Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example,
that you should follow in his steps.

He committed no sin, no guile was found on his lips,
when he was reviled, he did not revile in turn.

When he suffered, he did not threaten,
but he trusted himself to God who judges justly.

Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the tree,
that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

By his wounds, you have been healed,
for you were straying like sheep,
but have now returned
cato the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

The Incredibles, permalink to NYT article about Independent Schools

2007-01-10T22:26:00.000Z

Memorize This for JC Roots Quiz

2007-01-09T14:11:00.000Z

Psalm 121

A Song of Ascents.

1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.

Kindly click the title for The Bible Gateway, also linked from my index.

Lord of the Flies, Old School

2007-01-07T17:50:00.000Z

Click on the title for another teacher's approch to the novel, a web-venture.

2007-01-07T17:01:00.000Z

Click Here to sign the Darfur Petition!

Aquinas on Natural Law

2007-01-05T14:22:00.000Z

Question 94. The natural law

What is the natural law?
What are the precepts of the natural law?
Are all acts of virtue prescribed by the natural law?
Is the natural law the same in all?
Is it changeable?
Can it be abolished from the heart of man?

Article 1. Whether the natural law is a habit?Objection 1. It would seem that the natural law is a habit. Because, as the Philosopher says (Ethic. ii, 5), "there are three things in the soul: power, habit, and passion." But the natural law is not one of the soul's powers: nor is it one of the passions; as we may see by going through them one by one. Therefore the natural law is a habit.

Objection 2. Further, Basil [Damascene, De Fide Orth. iv, 22 says that the conscience or "synderesis is the law of our mind"; which can only apply to the natural law. But the "synderesis" is a habit, as was shown in the I, 79, 12. Therefore the natural law is a habit.

Objection 3. Further, the natural law abides in man always, as will be shown further on (6). But man's reason, which the law regards, does not always think about the natural law. Therefore the natural law is not an act, but a habit.

On the contrary, Augustine says (De Bono Conjug. xxi) that "a habit is that whereby something is done when necessary." But such is not the natural law: since it is in infants and in the damned who cannot act by it. Therefore the natural law is not a habit.

I answer that, A thing may be called a habit in two ways. First, properly and essentially: and thus the natural law is not a habit. For it has been stated above (90, 1, ad 2) that the natural law is something appointed by reason, just as a proposition is a work of reason. Now that which a man does is not the same as that whereby he does it: for he makes a becoming speech by the habit of grammar. Since then a habit is that by which we act, a law cannot be a habit properly and essentially.

Secondly, the term habit may be applied to that which we hold by a habit: thus faith may mean that which we hold by faith. And accordingly, since the precepts of the natural law are sometimes considered by reason actually, while sometimes they are in the reason only habitually, in this way the natural law may be called a habit. Thus, in speculative matters, the indemonstrable principles are not the habit itself whereby we hold those principles, but are the principles the habit of which we possess.

Reply to Objection 1. The Philosopher proposes there to discover the genus of virtue; and since it is evident that virtue is a principle of action, he mentions only those things which are principles of human acts, viz. powers, habits and passions. But there are other things in the soul besides these three: there are acts; thus "to will" is in the one that wills; again, things known are in the knower; moreover its own natural properties are in the soul, such as immortality and the like.

Reply to Objection 2. "Synderesis" is said to be the law of our mind, because it is a habit containing the precepts of the natural law, which are the first principles of human actions.

Reply to Objection 3. This argument proves that the natural law is held habitually; and this is granted.

To the argument advanced in the contrary sense we reply that sometimes a man is unable to make use of that which is in him habitually, on account of some impediment: thus, on account of sleep, a man is unable to use the habit of science. In like manner, through the deficiency of his age, a child cannot use the habit of understanding of principles, or the natural law, which is in him habitually.

Kindly click the title for a link to the Summa Theologica.

The Acceptable Year Proclaimed

2006-12-25T03:26:00.000Z

Father, you loved the world so much that in the fullness of
time you sent your only Son to be our Savior. Incarnate by
the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, he lived as one of
us, yet without sin. To the poor he proclaimed the good news
of salvation; to prisoners, freedom; to the sorrowful, joy. To
fulfill your purpose he gave himself up to death; and, rising
from the grave, destroyed death, and made the whole
creation new.

And, that we might live no longer for ourselves, but for him
who died and rose for us, he sent the Holy Spirit, his own
first gift for those who believe, to complete his work in
the world, and to bring to fulfillment the sanctification of all.

Christian Renaissance on Horizon, Says Academie Inductee

2006-12-20T21:35:00.000Z

ROME, DEC. 17, 2006 (Zenit.org).- French anthropologist René Girard, one of the most influential intellectuals of contemporary culture, thinks that a Christian Renaissance lies ahead.

Girard, recently elected to be one of the 40 "immortals" of the French Academy, said: "I believe we are on the eve of a revolution in our culture that will go beyond any expectation, and that the world is heading toward a change in respect of which the Renaissance will seem like nothing." The text published by Transeuropa, is the result of 10 years of meetings between the French thinker and Italian professor Gianni Vattimo, theorist of so-called weak thought, on topics such as faith, secularism, Christian roots, the role of the Gospel message in the history of humanity, relativism, the problem of violence, and the challenge of reason.

The book presents specifically to the general public the transcription of three unpublished conferences in which the two authors challenge each other on the most radical points of their thought.

"Y'all Come Back, Sometime"--Marshall Marchl

2006-12-16T17:56:00.000Z

"I Am Spartacus!"

2006-12-10T19:08:00.000Z

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- My name is Kirk Douglas. You may know me. If you don't ... Google me. I was a movie star and I'm Michael Douglas' dad, Catherine Zeta-Jones' father-in-law, and the grandparents of their two children. Today I celebrate my 90th birthday.

I have a message to convey to America's young people. A 90th birthday is special. In my case, this birthday is not only special but miraculous. I survived World War II, a helicopter crash, a stroke, and two new knees.

It's a tradition that when a "birthday boy" stands over his cake he makes a silent wish for his life and then blows out the candles. I have followed that tradition for 89 years but on my 90th birthday, I have decided to rebel. Instead of making a silent wish for myself, I want to make a LOUD wish for THE WORLD.

Let's face it: THE WORLD IS IN A MESS and you are inheriting it. Generation Y, you are on the cusp. You are the group facing many problems: abject poverty, global warming, genocide, AIDS, and suicide bombers to name a few. These problems exist, and the world is silent. We have done very little to solve these problems. Now, we leave it to you. You have to fix it because the situation is intolerable.

You need to rebel, to speak up, write, vote, and care about people and the world you live in. We live in the best country in the world. I know. My parents were Russian immigrants. America is a country where EVERYONE, regardless of race, creed, or age has a chance. I had that chance. You are the generation that is most impacted and the generation that can make a difference.

I love this country because I came from a life of poverty. I was able to work my way through college and go into acting, the field that I love. There is no guarantee in this country that you will be successful. But you always have a chance. Nothing should interfere with it. You have to make sure that nothing stands in the way.

When I blow out my candles -- 90! ... it will take a long time ... but I'll be thinking of you.

'On Fairy Stories'

2006-12-05T14:40:00.000Z

Philology has been dethroned from the high place it once had in this court of inquiry. Max
Müller's view of mythology as a “disease of language” can be abandoned without regret.
Mythology is not a disease at all, though it may like all human things become diseased. You
might as well say that thinking is a disease of the mind. It would be more near the truth to
say that languages, especially modern European languages, are a disease of mythology. But
Language cannot, all the same, be dismissed. The incarnate mind, the tongue, and the tale are in our world coeval. The human mind, endowed with the powers of generalization andabstraction, sees not only green-grass, discriminating it from other things (and finding it fair to look upon), but sees that it is green as well as being grass. But how powerful, how stimulating to the very faculty that produced it, was the invention of the adjective: no spell or incantation in Faerie is more potent. And that is not surprising: such incantations might indeed be said to be only another view of adjectives, a part of speech in a mythical grammar. The mind that thought of light, heavy, grey, yellow, still, swift, also conceived of magic that would make heavy things light and able to fly, turn grey lead into yellow gold, and the still rock into a swift water. If it could do the one, it could do the other; it inevitably did both.When we can take green from grass, blue from heaven, and red from blood, we have already an enchanter's power—upon one plane; and the desire to wield that power in the world
external to our minds awakes. It does not follow that we shall use that power well upon any
plane. We may put a deadly green upon a man's face and produce a horror; we may make the
rare and terrible blue moon to shine; or we may cause woods to spring with silver leaves and
rams to wear fleeces of gold, and put hot fire into the belly of the cold worm. But in such
“fantasy,” as it is called, new form is made; Faerie begins; Man becomes a sub-creator.
--JRR Tolkien
click link for full essay

How does the deeper magic of Narnia, from before time began, reveal God’s plan for salvation?

2006-12-01T06:02:00.000Z

Leviticus 4:1–7, 35
Matthew 27:27–55; 28:1–10
Romans 8:1–4
Ephesians 6:11–18
Hebrews 9:11–10:18

...for more clues, click the title!

Peter Kreeft on CS Lewis

2006-11-28T16:44:00.000Z

click on title for Peter Kreeft's 2005 Oxford lecture about "The Good, The True, and The Beautiful"

Pourquoi Pas?

2006-11-21T09:48:00.000Z

CHAPITRE II
POURQUOI L'HOMME VINT LE DERNIER DANS LA CREATION

Cette grande et précieuse [1] chose qu'est l'homme n'avait pas encore trouvé place dans la création. II n'était pas naturel que le chef fît son apparition avant ses sujets, mais ce n'était qu'après la préparation de son royaume que devait logiquement être révélé le roi, lorsque le Créateur de l'univers eut pour ainsi dire préparé le trône de celui qui devait régner [2]. Voici la terre, les îles, la mer et sur eux, la voûte du ciel comme un toit. Des richesses de toutes sortes avaient été placées dans ces palais : par richesses, j'entends toute la création, tout ce que la terre produit et fait germer, tout le monde sensible, vivant et animé et aussi (s'il faut compter dans ces richesses ces matières que leur beauté rend précieuses aux yeux des hommes, tel que l'or, l'argent et ces pierres tant convoitées) tous ces biens que Dieu cache en abondance dans le sein de la terre comme en des celliers royaux. Alors Dieu fait paraître l'homme en ce monde, pour être des merveilles de l'univers et le contemplateur et le maître : il veut que leur jouissance lui donne l'intelligence de celui qui les lui fournit, tandis que la grandiose beauté de ce qu'il voit le met sur les traces de la puissance ineffable et inexprimable du Créateur [3].

"Like Drops of Rain They Fell So Thicke"

2006-11-20T17:07:00.000Z

Edmund the blessed, king of the East Angles, was wise and honorable and by his excellent conduct ever glorified Almighty God. He was humble and devout, and continued so steadfast that he would not yield to shameful sins, nor in any direction did he bend aside his practices, but was always mindful of true doctrine. If you are made a chief man, do not exalt yourself, but be among men as one of them. He was bountiful to the poor and like a father to widows, and with benignity guided his people ever to righteousness, and controlled the violent, and lived happily in the true faith.

A Wandering Aramaean

2006-11-19T18:53:00.000Z

" You shall make this response before the Lord your God: 'A wandering Aramean was my father; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us, we cried to the Lord, the Godof our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw ouraffliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, andwith signs and wonders; and he brought us into this placeand gave us this land, a land flowing with milk andhoney. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.' You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God."

(Deuteronomy 26.5ff)

With Milk and Honey Blessed

2006-11-15T07:12:00.000Z

'Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her all you who love her', says the Lord.'Rejoice with her in joy,all you who mourn over her,'That you may drink deeply with delightfrom her consoling breast.'For thus says our God,'You shall be nursed and carried on her arm.'As a mother comforts her children,so I will comfort you;'You shall see and your heart shall rejoice;you shall flourish like the grass of the fields.'
Isaiah 66

"Who Will Go For Us?"

2006-10-29T22:58:00.000Z

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

He said, "Go and tell this people:
" 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'

Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed."

Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?"
And he answered:
"Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
and the fields ruined and ravaged,

until the LORD has sent everyone far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.

And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the land."

Isaiah 6

Joshua Fulfills Holy History

2006-10-27T01:00:00.000Z

1 After a long time had passed and the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then old and well advanced in years, 2 summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: "I am old and well advanced in years. 3 You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you. 4 Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Great Sea [a] in the west. 5 The LORD your God himself will drive them out of your way. He will push them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you. 6 "Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have until now.9 "The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 So be very careful to love the LORD your God.

C. Seitz on Brevard Childs

2006-10-06T01:32:00.000Z

But we can now list alternatives to Childs's subtle version of authorial intention: 1) The text has an intentionality that transcends and is not strictly derivative of any authorial intention; such intentionality is supple and pluriform (New Criticism).
2) The various intentionalities revealed by critical method must not be correlated in such a way as to give undue priority to the final form of the text, which is only one of many, either enriching or distorting, points of view (redaction criticism). 3) The search for intentionality is a deception—readers alone supply intentionality, not texts (deconstruction).
4) What intentionality we can discover in the Old Testament is culturally bound and must therefore be run through a critical sieve to determine its political usefulness; to do otherwise would be to distort the Bible's essentially political and materialist handling of God and reality (various forms of materialist demythologizing).

Memorize This For The Test

2006-10-03T01:18:00.000Z

Do Not Be Anxious

2006-10-01T16:29:00.000Z

1 Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!....4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

10 I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4 Click title for an oasis of calm.

A Message from Isaiah

2006-09-30T13:35:00.000Z

1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins.

3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Isaiah 40.1-11. Click title for online exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Ahh, Peaceful Fruit

2006-09-12T13:19:00.000Z

Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners,
so that you may
not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not
yet resisted to
the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the
exhortation that
addresses you as children
'My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
or lose heart when you are punished by him;
for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves,
and chastises every child whom he accepts.'
Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as
children; for what child
is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that
discipline in which
all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children.
Moreover, we had
human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be
even more
willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they
disciplined us for a short
time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in
order that we may
share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than
pleasant at the
time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those
who have been
trained by it.

A Song of the Lamb

2006-09-03T20:16:00.000Z

Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
whose judgements are true and just.

Praise our God, all you his servants,
all who fear him, both small and great.

The Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns:
let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory.

The marriage of the Lamb has come
and his bride has made herself ready.

Blessed are those who are invited
to the wedding banquet of the Lamb.

To the One who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honour and glory and might,
for ever and ever. Amen.

(from Revelation 19)

St. Mary the Virgin

2006-08-15T04:34:00.000Z

A Song of Hannah

My soul exults in the Lord;
my strength is exalted in my God.

My mouth derides my enemies,
because I rejoice in your salvation.

There is no Holy One like you, O Lord,
nor any Rock like you, our God.

For you are a God of knowledge
and by you our actions are weighed.

The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble gird on strength.

Those who were full now hire themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry are well fed.

The barren woman has borne sevenfold,
but she who has many children is forlorn.

Both the poor and the rich are of your making;
you bring low and you also exalt.

You raise up the poor from the dust,
and lift the needy from the ash heap.

You make them sit with the rulers
and inherit a place of honour.

For the pillars of the earth are yours
and on them you have set the world.

(1 Samuel 2.1-2,3b-5,7-8)

Dillard's BBQ in Durham Says 'Deut. 8.3'

2006-08-14T21:54:00.000Z

3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

A Song of God's Children

2006-08-14T05:04:00.000Z

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has set us free from the law of sin and death.

All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God;
for we have received the Spirit that enables us to cry, 'Abba, Father'.

The Spirit himself bears witness that we are children of God
and if God's children, then heirs of God;

If heirs of God, then fellow-heirs with Christ;
since we suffer with him now, that we may be glorified with him.

These sufferings that we now endure
are not worth comparing to the glory that shall be revealed.

For the creation waits with eager longing
for the revealing of the children of God.
(Romans 8:2,14,15b-19)

John Henry Newman

2006-08-12T16:34:00.000Z

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!(Mt. 7.7-11)

A Recurring Question

2006-08-11T19:24:00.000Z

Luke 3.3-10
3And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;

4As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;

6And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

7Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

8Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

9And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

10And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?

Clare of Assisi

2006-08-11T04:25:00.000Z

A Song of the Word of the Lord (Isaiah 55:6-11)

Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;

Let the wicked abandon their ways,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;

Return to the Lord,
who will have mercy;
to our God, who will richly pardon.

'For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways', says the Lord.

'For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

'As the rain and the snow come down from above,
and return not again but water the earth,

'Bringing forth life and giving growth,
seed for sowing and bread to eat,

'So is my word that goes forth from my mouth;
it will not return to me fruitless,

'But it will accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the task I gave it.'

A Song of Baruch (Baruch 5.5,6c,7-9)

2006-08-10T06:48:00.000Z

Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height:
look to the east and see your children,

Gathered from the west and the east
at the word of the Holy One.

They rejoice that God has remembered them
and has brought them back to you.

For God has ordered that every high mountain
and the everlasting hills be made low,

And the valleys filled up to make level ground
so that they may walk safely in the glory of God.

The woods and every fragrant tree
have shaded them at God's command.

For God will lead his people with joy
in the light of his glory
with the mercy and righteousness that comes from God.

Religion in Literature

2006-06-10T20:39:00.000Z

click title for Project Gutenberg

The Virtues
Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
The Palace Thief, E. Canin
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
The Man Who Planted Trees, The Chosen, Cancer Ward* --excerpts Selected poetry

Suffering and Evil
Barabbas, P Lagerkvist
Night, Elie Wiesel
“JB” Archibald MacLeish
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
The Poorhouse Fair; The Human Comedy; A Bed by the Window*: excerpts

Freedom and Responsibility
The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
Three by Flannery O’Connor, O’Connor
East of Eden*, excerpt

The Inward Journey
The Secret Sharer, Joseph Conrad
The Color Purple, Alice Walker
Should Wizard Hit Mommy? *—excerpt
Children of Gebelaawi, N. Mahfouz
Selected poems

Death
A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean
“Pigeon Feathers” and “The Open Boat”*

The Apocalyptic Vision
The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis

Coda
“Emperor of the Air”*
Selected poems

* From Many Rooms

Judeo-Christian Roots

2006-06-04T17:39:00.000Z

Click link for text information

UNIT # TOPIC READINGS LECTURES

1. Introduction Diagnostic test
Don’t Know Much About The Bible, Kenneth C. Davis Intro.+perspectives: introduction

2. Introduction text pp.3-23 Oral tradition and authorship

3. Introduction text pp.23-33 Presuppositions English Bible xerox

4. Introduction U.S. News & World Report Exegesis
Xerox

5. Creation Genesis 1&2; text pp.35-46

6. Creation text pp.46-51 Myth and etiologies

7. The Fall Gen.3; text pp.52-56

8. Cain & Abel Gen.4; text pp.56-59

9. The Flood Gen.6-9; text pp.59-66

10. Babel Gen.11:1-9; text pp.66-68

11. Abram patriarchal xerox; “Leap of Faith”
“Legacy of Abraham” xerox

12. Abraham/Isaac text pp.68-80 Isaac lecture

13. Jacob text pp.80-85 eponyms, birthright

14. Joseph “The Joseph Strategy” Xerox
text pp.85-94

15. Exodus text pp.95-100 Moses’ religion

16. Passover Exodus 12,
text pp.100-104, 108-110 miracles, signs

17. Decalogue, covenant code text pp.111-124 YHWH worship

18. Wilderness text pp.137-142 golden calf

19. Conquest text pp.147-153 Canaanite culture
Joshua conquest
perspectives on settlement

20. Judges text pp.161-168 Judges conquest

21. Ruth text pp.168-170

22. Samuel/Saul text pp.173-176 Saul summary
(Monarchy)

23. David text pp.176-184 David: pros & cons
(Monarchy)

24. Solomon text pp.189-196
(Monarchy)

25. History/exile text pp.196-205, 212-214

26. Amos/Hosea text pp.219-223 prophecy intro.
(Prophecy)

27. Isaiah text pp.223-228
(Prophecy)

28. Post-exile text pp.237-244

29. Ezekiel text pp.248-251

30. Jonah Jonah, text pp.258-259

31. Job text pp.267-272 Wisdom Literature
Theodicy

32. Psalms (Wisdom) text pp.275-283

33. Proverbs (Wisdom) text pp.285-293

34. Ecclesiastes (Wisdom) text pp.295-300

35. Song of Solomon (Wisdom) text pp.301-307

Online Resources
“Whatsoever Things Are True” Father Marchl’s links blog
http://suntvera.blogspot.com

Judeo-Christian Roots: New Testament

2006-05-27T19:43:00.000Z

Click title for text information

Topic Homework Lectures

1) Apocrypha Don’t Know Much About The Bible (text),
pp.319-320 Political history

2) N.T. Introduction Text, pp.329-335 Religious scene

3) Authorship Text, pp.335-339 M,Mark,Q,&L

4) Gospels Text, pp.339-345

5) The Birth Text, pp.347-357

6) The Birth II Text, pp.357-366

7) John the Baptist Text, pp.366-370

8) Disciples Text, pp.370-373

9) Sermon on the Mount Text, pp.374-382 New Ethic
Love

10) Women Text, pp.384-386

11) Parables Text, pp.387-392

12 Parables lost sheep – Mtt.18:12-14
lost coin – Lk.15:8-10
prodigal – Lk.15:11-32
sowers – Mtt.13:3-23
C.B. Marshall parables xerox

13) Parables marriage feast – Mtt.22:1-14
talents – Mtt.25:14-30
vineyard – Mtt.20:1-16

14) Parables good Samaritan – Lk.10:25-37
eye of needle – Lk.18:18-27
taxes – Mtt.22:15-22

15) Jews Text, pp.392-396

16) Miracles Text, pp.396-400 Miracles

17) Last Supper Text, pp.403-406

18) Crucifixion Text, pp.406-410

19) Resurrection Text, pp.410-416

20) The Acts Text, pp.420-427 Acts lecture
Peter lecture
Paul’s trips

21) Paul Text, pp.427-432 Paul’s Theology

22) Epistles Text, pp.435-438, 440,442-443

23) Revelation Text, pp.459-464

24) Coda Text, pp.467-473

Online Resources
“Whatsoever Things Are True” Father Marchl’s links and blog
http://suntvera.blogspot.com

"The Lost Tools of Learning" by Dorothy Sayers

2006-05-17T18:13:00.000Z

http://www.gbt.org/text/sayers.html

"This reminds me of the grammar of Theology. I shall add it to the curriculum, because theology is the mistress-science without which the whole educational structure will necessarily lack its final synthesis. Those who disagree about this will remain content to leave their pupil's education still full of loose ends. This will matter rather less than it might, since by the time that the tools of learning have been forged the student will be able to tackle theology for himself, and will probably insist upon doing so and making sense of it. Still, it is as well to have this matter also handy and ready for the reason to work upon. At the grammatical age, therefore, we should become acquainted with the story of God and Man in outline--i.e., the Old and New Testaments presented as parts of a single narrative of Creation, Rebellion, and Redemption--and also with the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. At this early stage, it does not matter nearly so much that these things should be fully understood as that they should be known and remembered."