Nicene Creed (homoousian creed)

Christianity is Triune (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost) and therefore must express the Word, Sacraments and Creation and it must include a homoousian creed. (The spelling must be right!)

The implications build Christianity, the Gospel message. It gives hope and a purpose for our justification (or Christ's death and ressurection is for nothing but a fire and life insurance scam). Salvation is physical as well as spiritual and eminates out of ones core and touches everything and everyone around. If the Spirit dwells in a place there is liberty.  The implications are far reaching not limited. "No man, when he hath lighted a candle,  putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a  candlestick, that they which come in may see  the light.  The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye  is single, thy whole body also is full of  light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.   Take heed therefore that the light which  is in thee be not darkness.  If thy whole body therefore be full of  light, having no part dark, the whole  shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give  thee light. "  St Luke 11:32-36

Verse 1Joy to the world! the Lord is come;Let earth receive her King;Let every heart prepare him room,And heaven and nature sing,And heaven and nature sing,And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.Verse 2Joy to the Earth! the Saviour reigns;Let men their songs employ;While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plainsRepeat the sounding joy,Repeat the sounding joy,Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.Verse 3No more let sins and sorrows grow,Nor thorns infest the ground;He comes to make His blessings flowFar as the curse is found,Far as the curse is found,Far as, far as, the curse is found.Verse 4He rules the world with truth and grace,And makes the nations proveThe glories of His righteousness,And wonders of His love,And wonders of His love,And wonders, wonders, of His love.
 WIKI:

• Homoousian (Greek: ὁμοούσιος,  from the Greek: ὁμός,  homós, "same" and οὐσία,  ousía, "essence, being") is a technical theological term used in  discussion of the Christian understanding of God as Trinity.  The Nicene Creed describes Jesus as being homooúsios with God the Father — that is, they are of the "same substance"  and are equally God.  This term, adopted by the First Council of Nicaea, was intended to add  clarity to the relationship between Christ and  God the Father within the Godhead.

• Homoiousianism which maintained that the Son was  "like in substance" but not necessarily to be identified with the  essence of the Father.

• Homoianism which  declared that the Son was similar to God the father, without reference  to substance or essence. Some supporters of Homoian formulae also  supported one of the other descriptions. Other Homoians declared that  God the father was so incomparable and ineffably transcendent that even the ideas of  likeness, similarity or identity in substance or  essence with the subordinate Son and the Holy  Spirit were heretical and not justified by the Gospels. They held  that the Father was like the Son in some sense but that even to  speak of ousia was impertinent speculation.

• Heteroousianism (including Anomoeanism)  which held that God the father and the son were different in substance  and/or attributes.

Independence Day

I think we should call it "dependance on our Triune God Day".

"This Bible is for the government of the people, by the people and for the people" preface of Wycliffe's translation of the Holy Bible... and liberty is not provided by the Constitution (as you can now see no one respects it). Liberty is where the Spirit of our Lord is... where people govern themselves and family by the word of God, His sacraments and creation.

Build your house on the rock

There's nothing like and good song to explain the reading of the day.



St. Luke 6:39


And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye. For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Psalm 25 The Twenty-Fifth Psalm Ad te, Domine, levavi.

Aarhus Baroque Choir singing at a concert in March 2008.
Motet for five voices, from the collection 'Praetum Spirituale', 1620

Ad te levavi oculos meos,
qui habitas in coelis.
Ecce sicut oculi servorum
in manibus dominorum suorum,
sicut oculi ancillae
in manibus dominae suae,
ita oculi nostri
ad Dominum Deum nostrum,
donec misereatur nostri.
Miserere nostri, Domine
quia multum repleti sumus despectione.


UNTO thee, O LORD, will I lift up my soul; my God, I have put my trust in thee: * O let me not be confounded, neither let mine enemies triumph over me.

For all they that hope in thee shall not be ashamed; * but such as transgress without a cause shall be put to confusion.

Show me thy ways, O LORD, * and teach me thy paths.

Lead me forth in thy truth, and learn me: * for thou art the God of my salvation; in thee hath been my hope all the day long.

Call to remembrance, O LORD, thy tender mercies, * and thy loving-kindnesses, which have been ever of old.

O remember not the sins and offences of my youth; * but according to thy mercy think thou upon me, O LORD, for thy goodness.

Gracious and righteous is the LORD; * therefore, will he teach sinners in the way.

Them that are meek shall he guide in judgment; * and such as are gentle, them shall he learn his way.

All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, * unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

For thy Name's sake, O LORD, * be merciful unto my sin; for it is great.

What man is he that feareth the LORD? * him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.

His soul shall dwell at ease, * and his seed shall inherit the land.

The secret of the LORD is among them that fear him; * and he will show them his covenant.

Mine eyes are ever looking unto the LORD; * for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; * for I am desolate, and in misery.

The sorrows of my heart are enlarged: * O bring thou me out of my troubles.

Look upon my adversity and misery, * and forgive me all my sin.

Consider mine enemies, how many they are; * and they bear a tyrannous hate against me.

O keep my soul, and deliver me: * let me not be confounded, for I have put my trust in thee.

Let perfectness and righteous dealing wait upon me; * for my hope hath been in thee.

Deliver Israel, O God, * out of all his troubles. 

In te, Domine, speravi...

(Psalm 71)... Speravi in Latin (to hope) comes from sparevi, speravi ... which means to be aware of our abilities and character.  So "In te Domine, speravi" is to be aware of God's abilities and character. This is what gives us hope.  We to often forget to be AWARE that God is the great I Am and we are not.

Hence this hymn: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/watts/psalmshymns.Ps.152.html

In 1719 Isaac Watts wrote this hymn based on Psalm 71

The aged saint's reflection and hope.

My God, my everlasting hope, I live upon thy truth; Thine hands have held my childhood up, And strengthened all my youth.

My flesh was fashioned by thy power, With all these limbs of mine; And from my mother's painful hour, I've been entirely thine.

Still has my life new wonders seen Repeated every year; Behold, my days that yet remain, I trust them to thy care.

Cast me not off when strength declines, When hoary hairs arise; And round me let thy glory shine, Whene'er thy servant dies.

Then in the hist'ry of my age,

When men review my days,

They'll read thy love in every page,

In every line thy praise.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the following lines:

Shall we sit idly down and say,
The night hath come; it is no longer day?
The night hath not yet come; we are not quite
Cut off from labor by the failing light;
Something remains for us to do or dare;
Even the oldest tree some fruit may bear.

Whitsunday Sermon

This is a great homily on our comforter, the Holy Ghost:
MP3 AUDIO SERMON: The Sunday after the Ascension, 2008: The Comforter Recorded on May 4, AD 2008 at Christ Church Cathedral




Today's Scripture Readings

John 14 

“I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter.” John 14:16

Hymns Supplied Through the Gracious Generosity
of the Cyber Hymnal Website

Play MIDI

   

Holy Ghost, dispel our sadness;
Pierce the clouds of nature’s night;
Come, great Source of joy and gladness,
Breathe Your life, and spread Your light.
From the height which knows no measure,
As a gracious shower descend,
Bringing down the richest treasure
Man can wish, or God can send.

Author of the new creation,
Come with blessing and with power.
Make our hearts your habitation;
On our souls Your graces shower.
Hear, O hear our supplication,
Blessèd Spirit, God of peace!
Rest upon this congregation,
With the fullness of Your grace.

Homoousion versus Homoiousion: Nicea

Philip Schaff:
The council of Nicaea is the most important event of the fourth century, and its bloodless intellectual victory over dangerous error is of far greater consequence to the progress of true civilization, than all the bloody victories Constantine and his successors.

Athanasius
Homoousion:  being of one essence
Homoiousion:  of like essence

Archbishop McLaughlin's Podbeam

I just added a new link to Archbishop's McLaughlin's podbeam.  I hope you enjoy the homilies available.

The Apostles' Creed

THE GRADUAL FORMATION OF THE APOSTLES' CREED.

This Table shows the date of the several Articles and the verbal variations of the Apostles' Creed, as far as they can be ascertained, from the earliest rules of faith to the eighth century, or from Irenæus to Pirminius. The first occurrence of any word or phrase of the Creed is marked by small capitals.

"The Apostles' Creed is unlike all other creeds of other religions, whether humanist, Buddhist, Moslem, Hindu, or otherwise.  The faith of all other religions is in a body of ideas or claims concerning reality.  It may be a belief in the ultimacy of man, or the ultimacy of nothingness, in the office of a man (Mohammed as prophet), or an ultimate dualism or monism, but, in any event, it demands a belief in certain ideas or claims.  The Apostles' Creed is radically different:  it offers a synopsis of history, created by God the Father Almighty, requiring salvation by Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, who entered, lived, died, and was resurrected in history, and is now the Lord and judge of history.  His holy congregatuion is operative in history, which culminates in the general resurrection and everlasting life.  The whole creed therefore is a declaration concerning history."

St. Patrick's Breastplate and Letter To Coroticus

I, Patrick, a sinner, unlearned, resident in Ireland, declare myself to be a bishop.

Creedalism

This word seems to have been introduced by the use of the Latin credo, "I believe".
...That which is believed; any system of principles which are believed or professed; as a political creed.

1828 Webster's Dictionary  

WIKI:  Creed

A creed is more than a church's standard.  It is personal, "I believe".  It has vast implications on one's life in every sphere of life.  It's declaration spans history, ethics, morals, politics, and all laws.  When there is no declarative creed there is no direction in life and there is no justice.

Understanding the architechture of the church building:

Anglican Church Building Worksheet
Furnishings in a church building Worsheet


The rebuilding of the Dresdener Frauenkirche

ST. CORNELIUS THE CENTURION,

The Collect

The Epistle

The Gospel

“	The baptism of Cornelius is an important event in the history of the Early Church. The gates of the Church, within which thus far only those who were circumcised and observed the Law of Moses had been admitted, were now thrown open to the uncircumcised Gentiles without the obligation of submitting to the Jewish ceremonial laws.	”
—F. Bechtel, Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908.[3]

WIKI:  Stationed in Caesarea, the capital of Iudaea province, Cornelius is depicted in the New Testament as a God-fearing man who always prayed and was full of good works and deeds of alms. Cornelius receives a vision in which an angel of God tells him that his prayers have been heard. The angel then instructs Cornelius to send the men of his household to Joppa, where they will find Simon Peter, who is residing with a tanner by the name of Simon.
The conversion of Cornelius only comes after yet another vision given to Simon Peter (Acts 10:10-16) himself; in Simon Peter's vision, he sees all manner of four-footed beasts and birds of the air being lowered from Heaven in a sheet. A voice commands Simon Peter to eat. When he objects to eating those animals that are unclean to Mosaic Law, the voice tells him not to call unclean that which God has cleansed.
When Cornelius' men arrive, Simon Peter understands that the vision permits the conversion of the Gentiles. When Cornelius himself meets Simon Peter, Cornelius falls at his feet in adoration. Picking Cornelius up, Simon Peter welcomes him. After the two men share their visions, and Simon Peter tells of Jesus' ministry and the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit falls on everyone at the gathering. The Jews among the group are amazed that Cornelius and other uncircumcised should begin speaking in tongues, praising God. Thereupon Simon Peter orders that Cornelius and his followers be baptized.

How to live "The Good Life"

• Good Life, The

Should we all live in terms of our own desires?  Would that give each of us "The Good Life"?  If so than, for most of us, each of us must work for someone else because family businesses will be extinct and everyone knows that one man cannot do it all in order to make a business successful.  We would each have to pay a rent or mortgage, electric water, internet, ....  We would each have to pay car payments, insurance and all the other expenses that go with maintaining a car.  We would each have to pay for someone to care for us as we age and get sick.

The Good Life is not in terms of our own desires.  It is about others.  It is about the regeneration of the entire creation.  It requires a standard and a sovereign.  It requires God.  In and through God is The Good Life.  It may not be an easy life but it will produce and leave an inheritance greater than our understanding and we will all have justice in our lives.

Isaiah 30:21
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

Original Airdate 10/2/75 Season 4
John's 25th high school reunion finds him wrestling with feelings of personal failure.

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St. John Chrysostom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chrysostom

http://www.chrysostom.org/

 Bishop of Constantinople

The Collect

O GOD, who didst give grace to thy servant John, eloquently to declare thy righteousness in the great congregation, and fearlessly to bear reproach for the honour of thy Name: Mercifully grant unto all bishops and pastors such excellency in preaching, and fidelity in ministering thy Word, that thy people may be partakers with them of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle
Jeremiah 1:4-9.

THE word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, LORD God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

The Gospel
St. Luke 21:12-15. But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. 

THE HERESY OF DEMOCRACY WITH GOD

A church which denies God's authority will be in no position to resist the state's authority. It will look to authorities other than the Lord's for its justification, and, in yielding to the state, it will do so in the spirit of cooperation, not compromise, because its true fellowship is with man and the state, not the Lord. Ambrose, in A.D. 385, resisted the state's requisition of a church in Milan, declaring, "What belongs to God is outside the emperor's power." Ambrose said further, in his 'Sermon Against Auxentius', "We pay to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. Tribute is due to Caesar, we do not deny it. The Church belongs to God, therefore it ought not to be assigned to Caesar. For the temple of God cannot be Caesar's by right." The emperor, he added, could be in the church by faith, but never above or over it.
Chrysostom, in dealing also with conflict with Caesar, warned his people, in Concerning the Statutes, Homily III, 19:
"This certainly I foretell and testify, that although this cloud should pass away, and we yet remain in the same condition of listlessness, we shall again have to suffer much heavier evils than those we are now dreading; for I do not so much fear the wrath of the Emperor, as your own listlessness. "
Here Chrysostom put his finger on the heart of the matter: the threat was less the emperor and more a listless and indifferent church. The same problem confronts us today. The greater majority of church members do not feel that Christianity is worth fighting for, let alone dying for. They only want the freedom to be irrelevant, and to emit pious gush as a substitute for faithfulness and obedience. In soap opera religion, life is without dominion; instead, it is a forever abounding mess, met with a sensitive and bleeding heart. Soap opera religion is the faith of the castrated, of the impotent, and the irrelevant. The devotees of soap opera religion are full of impotent self-pity and rage over the human predicament, but are devoid of any constructive action; only destruction and negation become them.

WORKS:

• The Beatitudes: Excerpt from the Commentary on Matthew. Prevost translation, 1851. --- SPL
• The Divine Liturgy --- ORTHODOX PAGE
• Easter Sermon --- ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN FOUND.
• On Eutropius --- CCEL
• Exhortation to Theodore, After His Fall: The sinner should mourn for his deeds, and think of the fire of Hell and (what is worse) the loss of heaven, but at the same time never despair. The letter is addressed to a young monk who has fallen in love with a woman and intends to marry her in spite of his vow of celibacy. --- CCEL
• Instructions to Catachumens --- CCEL
• Letters to Innocent I, Pope of Rome --- CCEL
• Letters to Olympias --- CCEL
• Letter to a Young Widow: Addressing the widow of a fast-rising politician who died not yet in his prime, Chrysostom urges her to look forward to a reunion with her beloved husband in heaven; if, on the other hand, it is the sudden end of the couple's social climb which most distresses her, she should remember the teaching of the Greek philosophers (with whose works she is said to be familiar) concerning the transience and peril of earthly glory. And, he adds, during this time of barbarian invasion, there are many widows, including prominent ones. More importantly, widowhood is Biblically an honored state like virginity. --- CCEL
• Letter to some Priests of Antioch: --- NA
• The Lord's Prayer: Excerpt from the Commentary on Matthew. Prevost translation, 1851. --- SPL
• On Lowliness of Mind --- CCEL
• Against Marcionists and Manichaeans --- CCEL
• On the New Testament: --- CCEL
  
  
  • Matthew
    
    • The Beatitudes: Excerpt from the Commentary on Matthew. Prevost translation, 1851. --- SPL
    • The Lord's Prayer: Excerpt from the Commentary on Matthew. Prevost translation, 1851. --- SPL
      
  • John
  • Acts
  • Romans
  • I & II Corinthians
  • Galatians
  • Ephesians
  • Philippians
  • Colossians
  • Thessalonians
  • 1 Timothy
  • 2 Timothy
  • Titus
  • Philemon
  • Hebrews
• On the Paralytic Let Down Through the Roof --- CCEL
• On the Power of Demons --- CCEL
• On the Priesthood: Often considered the most important patristic account of this topic. Stephens translation, 1888. --- CCEL
• Against Publishing the Errors of the Brethren --- CCEL
• Homily on St. Babylas: Emphasising the failure of Julian the Apostate to suppress the veneration of the saint in Daphne, a city sacred to Apollo. Stephens-Brandram translation. --- CCEL
• Homily on St. Ignatius: Stephens-Brandram translation. --- CCEL
• On the Statues --- CCEL
• To Those Who Had Not Attended the Assembly, on Resentment: --- CCEL
• A Treatise to Prove That No One Can Harm the Man Who Does Not Injure Himself --- CCEL
  

Natural Law vs. God's Law

"As Christians we cannot believe in natural law, because we believe that nature is fallen. We have to see supernatural law as normative; nature is non-normative. Incidentally, the medieval usage of the term "natural law" really means the "law over nature", because it is defined by the medieval scholars as the word of God - because they identify it with God's law."  RJ Rushdoony



WIKI: Natural law or the law of nature (Latin: lex naturalis) is a theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set by nature and that therefore has validity everywhere.^[1] The phrase natural law is opposed to the positive law (which is man-made) of a given political community, society, or nation-state, and thus can function as a standard by which to criticize that law.^[2] In natural law jurisprudence, on the other hand, the content of positive law cannot be known without some reference to the natural law (or something like it). Used in this way, natural law can be invoked to criticize decisions about the statutes, but less so to criticize the law itself. Some use natural law synonymously with natural justice or natural right (Latin ius naturale), although most contemporary political and legal theorists separate the two.
Natural law theories have exercised a profound influence on the development of English common law,^[3] and have featured greatly in the philosophies of Thomas Aquinas, Francisco Suárez, Richard Hooker, Thomas Hobbes, Hugo Grotius, Samuel von Pufendorf, John Locke and Emmerich de Vattel. Because of the intersection between natural law and natural rights, it has been cited as a component in United States Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.
...
The 613 Mitzvot (Hebrew: תרי"ג מצוות‎: Taryag Mitzvot, "613 commandments") are statements and principles of law and ethics contained in the Torah or Five Books of Moses. These principles of Biblical law are sometimes called commandments (mitzvot) or collectively as the "Law of Moses" (Torat Moshe, תורת משה), "Mosaic Law", or simply "the Law" (though these terms are ambiguous and also applied to the Torah itself).
Although there have been many attempts to codify and enumerate the commandments contained in the Torah, the traditional view is based on Maimonides' enumeration. The 613 commandments are either "positive commandments" to perform an act (mitzvot aseh) or "negative commandments" to abstain from certain acts (mitzvot lo taaseh). There are 365 negative commandments, corresponding to the number of days in a solar year, and 248 positive commandments, ascribed to the number of bones and significant organs in the human body.^[1] Though the number 613 is mentioned in the Talmud, its real significance increased in later medieval rabbinic literature, including many works listing or arranged by the mitzvot.
Three categories of negative commandments fall under the category of yehareg ve'al ya'avor, meaning "One should let himself be killed rather than violate it". These are murder, idolatry, and forbidden sexual relations.^[2]
Many of the mitzvot cannot be observed following the destruction of the Second Temple, though they still retain religious significance. According to one standard reckoning, ^[3] there are 77 negative and 194 positive commandments that can be observed today. There are 26 commands that apply only within the Land of Israel.^[4] Furthermore, there are some time-based commandments from which women are exempt (examples include shofar, sukkah, lulav, tzitzit and tefillin).^[5] Some depend on the special status of a person in Judaism (such as kohanim), while others apply only to men and others only to women.

The Season is Epiphany

Epiphany
1st Sunday after Epiphany
2nd Sunday after Epiphany
3rd Sunday after Epiphany
4th Sunday after Epiphany
5th Sunday after Epiphany
6th Sunday after Epiphany

Anglo-Catholic Calendar of Holy Days - January

01 - Circumcision of Christ
06 - The Epiphany of our Lord
14 - St. Hilary
17 - St. Antony of Egypt
20 - St. Fabian
21 - St. Agnes
22 - St. Vincent & St. Anastasius
24 - St. Timothy
25 - The Conversion of St. Paul
26 - St. Polycarp of Smyrna
27 - St. John Chrysostom