These the Catholic Church Anathematizes

Im continuing my readings in Early Christian Doctrines and I have now arrived at the chapter that details the ‘Nicene Crisis’.

Here is a part of the creed that I found interesting to read:

But as for those who say, There was when He was not, and, Before being born He was not, and that He came into existence out of nothing, or who assert that the Son of  God is from a different hypostasis or substance, or is created, or is subject to alteration or change – these the Catholic Church anathematizes. (232)

Im trying to think which ones apply to me. To be sure these are very specifically formulated to address a certain heresy and I am only now getting into the different positions there were, but I think its safe to say that certain of these things would be applicable to where I am now.

At this point I do not believe, or lets put it a bit less strongly, greatly doubt, Jesus’ pre-existence, as being taught in the NT. I personally read statements that seem to imply that in a similar way to how the Torah was seen as pre-existent by the Sages.

Which would probably be enough reason to be anathematized by the Church, and while Im not greatly worried about being dragged in front of a Church council, I do keep these views to myself and other than you privileged;) blog readers theres hardly anyone who has an idea about where I am on this issue.

I actually think this is a sad situation. The fact that Im afraid of how people would react to my views/questions.

Well thank God for WordPress:) at least that enables me to communicate and hear other views as interaction with people (albeit virtual) is different from reading books.

Church as Mother?

St. Cyprian wrote:

“He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother” (Treatise on Unity 6)

My relationship with the church for the last two years has not been great. That is in the sense of my attendance. Ive not been attending church for quite some time and only lately have begun going to an Anglican church from time to time.

At the same time my spiritual quest has been rather tough and Im thinking whether there is any relationship between the two. To be sure my relationship with the church has been on a low because of certain ideas and books I have been exposed to and in general the direction of my spiritual quest. But Im now thinking whether this relationship may have been two ways.

Adapted Creed of Nicea

Yesterday morning I was in a church where they recite the creed of Nicea while standing and as I didnt want to draw attention I stood as well and tried to recite the creed to the extent that I felt comfortable with it. The sentences with a line through it indicate the parts I skipped.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Are there any parts in this creed that you have difficulty with?

Jodenster

Jodenster is Dutch for Jewish star, referring to the yellow patch that was put on the Jews by the Nazi’s

But for those who think this was a novel practice, it wasnt. The yellow patch perhaps, but putting signs to mark out Jews from non-Jews was not a new phenomenon.

I know of one precedent in history which was the order of Pope Innocent III in 1215 to the Jews that they should be wearing distinctive clothes that would mark them out but apparently today is a day that is commemorated by some Jews for another moment in history that Jews were ordered to wear some kind of sign, marking them out:

The external decoration of synagogues was prohibited by Frederick III. on Oct. 12, 1366; in consequence of this law old synagogues that had already been decorated were pulled down. The wearing of a special badge was ordered by the same monarch on Dec. 25, 1369. The badge consisted of a piece of red material, not smaller than the largest royal seal; men were required to wear it under the chin, and women on the breast.¹

I really cringe when reading these things and wonder what this has to do with the religion Im part of, and at times even makes me wonder whether I want to be part of a religion that has this kind of history.

Its easy to say, they werent true Christians, which is most probably true, but this does not take away the fact that they were part of the greater Christian community, especially in the case of Pope Innocent III.

Anyways may this be a day we remember what the Jewish nation suffered at the hands of some of our ancestors and humble us in our approach to them.
——————————————————-
¹“Sicily“, JewishEncyclopedia.com

Just came back from (Anglican) church

I just came back from a visit to the Anglican Church in The Hague where I attended the morning service. My father used to come there and yesterday I asked if we could visit it.

It had been a long time since I went to church in general and this was the first time I attended an Anglican service!

It was an interesting experience, and I must say it was less frustrating than the Pentecostal services I usually attend(ed).

There was a sense of reverence and awe that I previously missed and some of the liturgy reminded me of parts of the Siddur (Jewish prayer book).

I did skip some parts in the Creed and didnt really enjoy going up for communion (forgive me) but on the whole I had a good time:)

Choices

I finished Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis and liked it alot:) He has a nice way of writing and his message was very constructive and in many ways timely, not only for the church at large but for me personally as well.

In the epilogue he relates a story from his youth which touched me, he recounts a moment in church where the preacher asked everybody to close their eyes and told that those who wanted could ask Jesus in their hearts by repeating his prayer. He then started to pray the prayer but Rob Bell kept his eyes open, the preacher after finishing his prayer asked the audience to keep their eyes closed so that those who had asked him into their hearts could raise their hands, thereupon he said he saw hands being raised one after the other, but Rob Bell who had his eyes open saw that nobody raised his hands! The preacher said, “I see a young lady in the front who has raised her hands, thanks for your choice, and overthere in the back” all the time while nobody was raising their hands. 

Rob then writes:

I am like you. I have seen plenty done in the name of God that Im sure God doesnt want anything to do with. I have lots of reasons for bailing on the whole thing.I am also like you because I have a choice. To become bitter, cynical, jaded, and hard. Anybody can do that. A lot have. Hatred is a powerful, unifying force. And there is a lot to be repulsed by.

This touched me as I realize that in some ways I am also becoming more cynical and at times even bitter. So many questions and so few people that are open to listen, without taking a heresy test. In search for an expression of my ‘faith’ that is both viable in the long term and true to my beliefs. Yet being frustrated as it seems the choices arent that broad but sociologically one is pushed into an all-embracing position. Still I think Rob Bell is right, its a choice to become bitter and cynical, and I dont want either of them… Would then the way to go be one where I keep my own ‘distinctive’ beliefs in the background and focus on whats mutually binding, how little that may be at times? 

———————————————————

[1] Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), pp.176-177

A mechitza in church

While on holidays (we were in the Dominican Republic) my father was asked by a Haitian pastor to preach in his church. We went off and it was really an interesting experience.

The church was newly finished, that is, walls were placed , and was situated in a place that most likely would be considered to be a ghetto.

We entered the church and it was all dark, you have to imagine the only thing that was constructed were four walls and a roof, no floor, and no lights.

As strange as this may sound, people were congregating every night in there!

Anyways, they lit some candles and started to sing hymns in Creole which sounded very nice and suddenly I noticed that all the men were sitting on one side and the women on the other side, and obviously being the tourist I sat in the wrong place!

Another thing I noticed was the fact that all women wore some sort of headcovering!

I was quite amazed seeing all this, I mean whoever heard of a mechitza in church and moreover headcovering!:D

Below is a picture of me with two lovely girls of the church:

While being there, I couldnt help feeling indifferent to whether these people knew of the Torah and had a proper understanding of the roots of their religion, it simply didnt matter, these people had nothing (in monetary terms), but I didnt for once question their closeness to Hashem. Their absolute reliance on Him, their unwavering faith, the way they were pouring out their hearts to Him, the way they refused to fall into the hands of pessimism.

It was truly amazing to witness this and made me realize again that I need to keep things in perspective.