Saturday, February 01, 2020

Ramsay: how Christianity spread

Saturday, February 1, 2020
    Commemoration of Brigid, Abbess of Kildare, c.525
Meditation:
    Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.
    —Titus 3:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The life of the early Church lay in constant intercommunication between all its parts; its health and growth were dependent on the free circulation of the life-blood of common thought and feeling. Hence it was first firmly seated on the great lines of communication across the empire, leading from its origin in Jerusalem to its imperial center in Rome. It had already struck root in Rome within little more than twenty years after the Crucifixion, and it had become really strong in the great city about thirty years after the Apostles began to look round and out from Jerusalem. This marvelous development was possible only because the seed of the new thought floated free on the main currents of communication, which were ever sweeping back and forward between the heart of the empire and its outlying members. Paul, who mainly directed the great movement, threw himself boldly and confidently into the life of the time; he took the empire as it was, accepted its political conformation and arrangement, and sought only to touch the spiritual and moral life of the people.
    ... Sir William M. Ramsay (1851-1939), Was Christ Born at Bethlehem? [1898], London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1898, p. 31-32 (see the book)
    See also Tit. 3:1-2; Rom. 13:1-7; Mic. 5:2; Matt. 2:6; 22:16-21; 1 Tim. 2:2; 1 Pet. 2:13-17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, let Your people see Your purpose beyond worldly affairs.
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Friday, January 31, 2020

Dodd: knowing God personally

Friday, January 31, 2020
    Commemoration of John Bosco, Priest, Founder of the Salesian Teaching Order, 1888
Meditation:
    To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
    —1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The Judaism [in which Paul had grown up] had become largely traditional: the word of the Lord, the Rabbis held, came to the prophets of old, but we can only preserve and interpret the truth they handed down. Jesus Christ, with a confidence that to the timid traditionalism of His time appeared blasphemous, asserted that He knew the Father and was prepared to let others into that knowledge. He did so, not by handing down a new tradition about God, but by making others sharers in His own attitude to God. This is what Paul means by “having the mind of Christ.” It was this clear, unquestioning conviction that gave Paul his power as a missionary: but he expected it also in his converts. To them too “the word of knowledge” came “by the same Spirit.” He prayed that God would give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Such knowledge is, as Paul freely grants, only partial, but, so far as it goes, it is real, personal knowledge. In friendship between men there is a mutual knowledge which is never complete or free from mystery: yet you can know with a certainty nothing could shake, that your friend is “not the man to do such a thing,” or that such-and-such a thing that you have heard is “just like him.” You have a real knowledge which gives you a criterion. Such is the knowledge the Christian has of his Father.
    ... C. Harold Dodd (1884-1973), The Meaning of Paul for Today, London: Swarthmore, 1920, reprint, Fount Paperbacks, 1978, p. 131-132 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 12:7-11; 8:1-3; 2 Cor. 10:3-6; Gal. 4:9; Eph. 1:17; Phil. 1:9-10; 2:5; Col. 2:2-3; 1 Thess. 1:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You know me better than I know myself, for You have granted me exactly those gifts through that same Spirit that most benefit of Your church.
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Thursday, January 30, 2020

Newbigin: asking the wrong question

Thursday, January 30, 2020
    Commemoration of Lesslie Newbigin, Bishop, Missionary, Teacher, 1998
Meditation:
    Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.
    —1 Peter 3:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If [instead of beginning with the fellowship,] we begin by saying that the Church exists where the Word is truly preached and the Sacraments rightly administered, we are immediately involved in the attempt to answer the question, “What is correct doctrine and correct administration?” In fact, the latter question has tended to drop out of the centre of Protestant discussion, for the Word was really central and the Sacrament was conceived essentially as the Word made visible. “The Word,” says Luther, “is the one perpetual and infallible mark of the Church.” The natural result of this position is that the question of doctrinal correctness becomes the all important one. And, ex hypothesi, this question has to be discussed in isolation, apart from consideration of the character of the fellowship in which the doctrine is taught. The Church is defined in terms of agreement about doctrine, and this doctrinal agreement must be agreement on paper. A written theological statement becomes the one determinative centre of the Church’s life [instead of the unity of the believers in Christ].
    ... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), The Household of God, London, SCM Press, 1953, New York: Friendship Press, 1954, p. 51 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 3:8; Matt. 12:1-8; 1 Cor. 1:10; Eph. 4:3; Heb. 10:25
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant us Your Spirit, that we may be united.
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Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Allen: learning about the Sacraments

Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Meditation:
    It was [Christ] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
    —Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I have a profound belief in the power of the Sacraments. I believe that in a Divine way the use of them teaches the teachable their inward meaning... and therefore I think that we need be in no hurry to attempt to teach new converts all that we think we know about them.
    ... Roland Allen (1869-1947), The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church and the Causes Which Hinder It, London: World Dominion Press, 1949, reprint, Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1997, p. 204 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 4:11-13; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25; Rom. 6:3-4; Eph. 1:7-10; Col. 2:11-12; 1 Pet. 3:21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit feeds Your people.
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Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Drummond: on Pilgrim's Progress

Tuesday, January 28, 2020
    Feast of Thomas Aquinas, Priest, Teacher of the Faith, 1274
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
    —Matthew 23:23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The tendency of the religions of all time has been to care more for religion than for humanity; Christ cared more for humanity than for religion—rather, His care for humanity was the chief expression of His religion. He was not indifferent to observances, but the practices of the people bulked in His thoughts before the practices of the Church. It has been pointed out as a blemish on the immortal allegory of Bunyan that the Pilgrim never did anything—anything but save his soul. The remark is scarcely fair, for the allegory is designedly the story of a soul in a single relation; and, besides, he did do a little. But the warning may well be weighed. The Pilgrim’s one thought, his work by day, his dream by night, was escape. He took little part in the world through which he passed. He was a Pilgrim travelling through it; his business was to get through safe. Whatever this is, it is not Christianity.
    ... Henry Drummond (1851-1897), The Programme of Christianity, New York: J. Potts, 1891, p. 9 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 23:13,23; Gal. 5:22-25; Jas. 1:27; 2 Pet. 1:5-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, keep our eyes on the substance of faith in You.
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Monday, January 27, 2020

Pascal: the centrality of Christ

Monday, January 27, 2020
Meditation:
    The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
    —Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Not only do we not know God except through Jesus Christ; we do not even know ourselves except through Jesus Christ.
    ... Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), Pensées (Thoughts) [1660], P.F. Collier & Son, 1910, #548, p. 177 (see the book)
    See also Jer. 17:9; Ps. 26:2; 139:23-24; Pr. 17:3; John 14:9; 2 Cor. 13:5-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are the only path to true knowledge.
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Sunday, January 26, 2020

Blake: the mind the gift of Jesus

Sunday, January 26, 2020
    Feast of Timothy and Titus, Companions of Paul
    Commemoration of Dorothy Kerin, Founder of the Burrswood Healing Community, 1963
Meditation:
    Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
    —James 1:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Remember: he who despises and mocks a mental gift in another, calling it pride, and selfishness, and sin, mocks Jesus, the giver of every mental gift, which always appear to the ignorance-loving hypocrite as sins. But that which is a sin in the sight of cruel men, is not so in the sight of our kind God. Let every Christian, as much as in him lies, engage himself openly and publicly before all the world in some mental pursuit for the building up of [the Kingdom].
    ... William Blake (1757-1827), Poems of William Blake, ed. William Butler Yeats, London: Lawrence & Bullen, 1893, p. 203 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 1:17; Pr. 2:6; Matt. 6:33; 7:11; Luke 11:13; Rom. 6:23; 12:6-8; 1 Tim. 4:13-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I never scorn Your gifts.
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