Today Christ's Church commemorates the feast of St. Cyril of Alexandria, leaving many to ask: Who was St. Cyril? Where is Alexandria? Why do weird popish - baby dunking - Christians like Andrew celebrate him? Besides the obvious reason that he's slavishly devoted to men in robes, candles, and chants. Well: -St. Cyril expelled the Novationists from Alexandria. What's a … [Read more...]
The City of God (Pt. 2)
Yesterday, we noted a great moment in the history of the Church: the story of Noah. From it and from Augustine, we noted the difference between the City of God and the City of Man, and how these two are continually opposed. In the same way Noah had been rejected by men for holding fast to the faith and preserving the City of God, King David prayed in the Psalms: "Let not … [Read more...]
The Level Ground At The Foot of the Cross
"The Christian religion, though scattered and abroad will in the end gather itself together at the foot of the cross." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe There's an old saying in the American church that "the ground is level at the foot of the cross". Gathered in that moment, and seeing what the world has done, crucified its Lord and Saviour, everyone in their confession of guilt … [Read more...]
The Freedom of the Will: John Calvin & Justin Martyr & Martin Luther
St. Augustine of Hippo One of the fundamentally differing premises between Catholicism and Protestantism, was the doctrine of the human will. Where Catholics argued that the will was weakened by original sin, but free to do good or evil, Protestants argued that the will was free only to choose between sins; free only to do evil. Here's a quotation from John Calvin's "The … [Read more...]
Flee From Sin / Occasion to Sin
"Have you sinned, my child? Do so no more, but ask forgiveness for your past sins. Flee from sin as from a snake; for if you approach sin, it will bite you.Its teeth are lion’s teeth, and can destroy human lives." - Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 21:1-2I came across an interesting theory/theology the other day. Fr. Vincent McNabb, an English Dominican, who lived at the time of … [Read more...]