#nicean creed

[pandabibble]

oh sweet I think I actually came up with a new one on new years, okay so hear me out (not even close to a christian, let alone catholic, and assume some other sect of christianity has already done this at some point):

If we accept that jesus is both divine and mortal in nature, as the nicean creed insists, therefore we must consider whether it's reasonable for a mortal woman such as mary to gestate and carry a divine and infinite entity.

Indeed, the only things capable of carrying a divine entity such as the nicean jesus is the father, who we must therefore hold was pregnant with jesus (or at least with jesus' divine aspect) up to the point of his birth via mary.

I call this heresy: dpreg (deity pregnancy)

Tumblr is like "isn't it weird that Christians never think about this fairly obvious implication of their own theology?", then proceeds to independently re-invent an eight-hundred-year-old heresy that caused three separate wars.

[occult-research-bibliography]

The Book of Enoch

One of the goat foundational books of mysticism and ancient wisdom

A human, god, and a bunch of actual angels are the main characters. It’s basically a travel journal. Also, God lives in a crystal palace. Who knew?

TW: Below is a bunch of text that thinks it’s a lot funnier and smarter than it actually is. Sorry x

But 1st, some history: The Book of Enoch is written on some of the most important pieces of ancient paper that exist. It is literally one of the Dead Sea scrolls, written down for the first time around 300ish BC -- 300 years literally before Jesus showed up (thus necessitating a New Testament, The Bible Part II, the sequel. God’s biography wasn’t enough anymore because the Son needed one, too.) For at least 700 years, all those clay jars containing content literally, communally, and officially altogether were The Bible Part I.

Until 325 AD, that is, when the Catholic Church decided to unceremoniously and metaphorically chuck the jar with Enoch in it out. It was at the Council of Nicea in 325 that a whole bunch of content from the Bible suddenly became officially not-part-of-the-Bible-anymore. They became (*gasp!*) the Apocrypha.

Imagine the movie. Like a reboot of the Heavenly Cinematic Universe. Foreshadowing and mixed-messaging ensues, predicting a disruption in the force of the canon.

In the distance, at the bottom of a deep canyon, a peaceful little town being burned to the ground by Romans casts flickering firelight against the shadowy cliff walls. From the mouth of a cave high overhead stare out a handful of soot-stained townspeople, while their comrades hide the town’s most greatestest of all treasured mcguffins. (Oddly enough, the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered by a runaway goat. Not kidding.) The townspeople had snuck, soot-stained, out the back of the massacre to save the town’s bible. Though their home was squashed out of existence, their bible survived. And the Book of Enoch was part of that stash of scrolls. More complete copies survived in Greek and Ethiopian languages, so you know it was a bestseller. And all the content was identical. They all included the Book of Enoch just as surely as they included the whole “Let there be light,” and “here are Ten Commandments that you’re fucked if you don’t follow” bits. For 700 years — at least, considering it was a pre-existing oral tradition long before it was written down. Think Homer, but with one God and wayyyyy more wars. And more characters who begot people. Soooo many people. And monsters. Soooo many monsters.

And then one day, 700ish years later, a bunch of Catholic Church leaders got together and looked at their bible and said, “All these scrolls are included. Except that one over there. That one you can pitch.” Except that there were a few other books they also decided were no longer part of the really, really, really Official bible. The Book of Enoch had suddenly become apocryphal “Apocrypha.” Just, you know, decided one day. Likely because Enoch’s version of how everything gets apocalypsed in the end doesn’t mention Jesus, which must have been incredibly awkward at dinner parties.

Suddenly, +/- 2,000 years after it was stashed, a modern Bedouin goat shepherd/archaeology discoverer calls somebody to pull a historically and cinematically important-looking collection of clay jars out of a cave. It is The Bible. Except now it’s The Bible Part I plus “a few other books over there that aren’t part of us, no sir, they must have snuck in. They’re not one of us.” And the discoverers thought, “It must be the Apocrypha. Not part of The really, really, really Official bible everybody believes in nowadays. Enoch had been uninvited, and orphaned, and all on the same day in 325 AD. But how could that one jar of paper know that he’d been disowned? I feel for him.

Worse yet, today, +/- 2,000 years after it was stashed in that cave, we’ve become all superstitious about it. We call the apocrypha “Occult.” (Oh the irony of that label being quite so completely not on brand!) Granted, the world had found it hidden away from uninitiated eyes in a cave like some sorcerer’s spell book. Except that it had sat next to The Bible thinking they were both the same thing, part of the same team, family. For God’s sake, they shared the same DNA. So the fact that it was all snuggled up against The really really really Official Bible Part I jars was kind of an inconvenient truth. Somebody carefully squirreled away the mostest Good book the world has ever known, right next to the mostest Bad books of all time that could apparently fuck it all up for everyone if it was ever discovered? Weird sense of humor, those massacred townspeople.

Note: If you like audiobooks, this narrator is iconic. Seriously. If you’re going to read something epic about fire and brimstone and apocalypses, you want this guy saying all the words. (I thank you, Roger Clark, for bringing it to life!) And when it says, “By R.H. Blahblahblah,” he isn’t claiming to be the author of the Book of Enoch — he’s the translator. Enoch was the author of the Book of Enoch.

[scleroticstatue]

When someone uses a doctrinal misunderstanding to spread misinformation about your sect but you don't need to bring conflict into your relationship and have no spiritual promptings to fight for it so you're just being the strongest little soldier.

[haemey]

Introducing my hella ambitious fanfic project: Credo

Screw it. I was going to wait with posting and uploading until I got further along, but nah, I'm way too impatient. And with the Ao3 servers back up earlier than expected after maintenance, what better time than the present?

Credo will be a series of Good Omens fanfics for which I treat the Nicean-Constantinopolitan Creed (aka Credo, Latin for "I believe," variations whereof are an indispensable part of many Christian liturgies) as a series of writing prompts. Most of the fics therein will be short oneshots, with many coming in under 1k words. At least one will be a long, multi-chapter fic (which I will only start uploading once I know I can finish it). For some of them, I will follow the original line from the Credo rather closely, others will be rather... abstract.

There will be silliness and fluff, there will be hurt and angst. There will be both comedy and tragedy. Everything will be sfw, most will be G or T rated. If there is an M rating, it will be because of really dark themes and high pain levels.

The fics will come out as I write them, so they won't be in order. I will arrange them correctly within the series, though. They can be read in any order though, since they will all work as standalones, even though, in my mind at least, they're all set in the same universe and might sometimes give additional context to one another.

Some will be plotty, others will just be character studies or theme explorations.

In other words, there will be something for everyone!

We'll begin with the first two, one for each of our Ineffables:

Credo in unum Deum, patrem omnipotentem (I believe in the one God, the Almighty Father), 711 words, G rated:

An exploration of Aziraphale's relationship with God and Heaven after Season 2. No plot, no set timeline, just thoughts and doubts.

Factorem Coeli et Terrae (The Maker of Heaven and Earth), 569 words, G rated:

Crowley reflecting on Creation. Just that.

I hope you give these a try, come along for the journey, and if you do, please tell me what you think!

Art by me :)

Edit: Ooooh, forgot to tag @goodomensafterdark :D

[andmaybegayer]

my sister in law has not really read any history and is a lifelong Hindu so she doesn't have a lot of context for the Churches. My brother and I started listing variants of Christianity and tried to describe them despite also not knowing that much about Christianity either. It's mostly Catholics here. They have the Pope. You know the priests with the black robes and pointy hats? That's Eastern Orthodox. They have them in Russia and the Balkans and also Greece. There was the Nicean Creed. Which was a big argument about the trinity. Then we had to try and explain the trinity. It was fun.

[physicsgoblin]

I've just asked a dude who messaged me on catholic match why he doesn't agree with the nicean creed. We'll see what he says. In fact I'm going to start asking men why they are going against church teaching when I see it. If I can't get married I will root out heresy

[racefortheironthrone]

So I know my homoiousios vs. homoousios, and my monophysite vs. dyophysite, and my monothelite vs. dyothelite, and how it all led to the Arab caliphates getting a decent navy and winning the Battle of the Masts.

I don't, and I'd love to! (If you feel like it, obviously.) I'm pretty sure the homoiousios one is about, like, the Trinity or something, but beyond that it's all Greek to me.

(At this point, I feel like I owe @apocrypals royalties or something, but I'm getting a weird kick from doing this on Saint Patrick's Day, so let's do this).

I covered the impact of the monophysite vs. dyophysite split and the Battle of the Masts here, so I'll start from the top.

You are quite correct that the homoiousios vs. homoousios split was, like most of the heresies of the early Church, a Cristological controversy over the nature of Christ and the Trinity. This is perhaps better known as the Arian Heresy, and it's arguably the great-granddaddy of all heresies.

The Arian heresy was the subject of the very first Council of the early Church, the Council of Nicea, convoked by Emperor Constantine the Great in order to end all disputes within the Church forever. (Clearly this worked out well.) In part because the Church hadn't really sat down and attempted to establish orthodoxy before, this debate got very heated. Famously, at one point the future Saint Nicholas supposedly punched Presbyter Arius in the face.

What got a room of men devoted to the "Prince of Peace" heated to the point of physical violence was that Arius argued that, while Christ was the son of God and thus clearly divine, because he was created by God the Father and thus came after the Father, he couldn't be of the same essence (homoousios) as the Father, but rather of similar essence (homoiousios). Eustathias of Antioch and Alexander of Alexandria took the opposing position, which got formulated into the Nicean Creed. As this might suggest, Arius lost both the debate and the succeeding vote that followed, as roughly 298 of 300 bishops attending signed onto the Creed. This got very bad for Arius indeed, because Emperor Constantine enforced the new policy by ordering his writings burned, and Arius and two of his supporters were exiled to Illyricum. Game over, right?

But something odd happened: the dispute kept going, as new followers of Arius popped up and showed themselves to be much better at the Byzantine knife-fighting of Church politics. About ten years later, the ever-unpredictable Constantine turned against Athanasius of Alexandria (who had been Alexander's campaign manager, in essence) and banished him for intruiging against Arius, while Arius was allowed to return to the church (this time in Jerusalem) - although this turned out to be mostly a symbolic victory as Arius died on the journey and didn't live to see his readmission.

....and then it turned out that Constantine the Great's son Constantius II was an Arian and he reversed policy completely, adopting the Arian position and exiling anyone who disagreed with him, up to and including Pope Liberius. While the Niceans eventually triumphed during the reign of Theodosius the Great, Arianism unexpectedly became a major geopolitical issue within the Empire.

See, both during their exile and during their brief period of ascendancy within the Church, one of the major projects of the Arians was to send out missionaries into the west to preach their version of Christianity. Unexpectedly, Arianism proved to be a big hit among the formerly pagan Goths (thanks in no small part to the missionary Ulfilas translating the Bible into Gothic), who were perhaps more familiar with pantheons in which patriarchal gods were considered senior to their sons.

While they weren't particularly given to persecuting Niceans in the West, the Ostrogothic, Visigothic, Burgundian, and Vandal Kings weren't about to let themselves be pushed around by some Roman prick in Constantinople either - which added an interesting religious component to Justinian's attempt to reconquer the West.

[nationwidedornermoment]

FUCK THE NICEAN CREED, EAT SHIT AND DIE TRINITARIANS

[ffcrazy15]

I thought that the heresy that person, was the one Saint Nicholas punched Arius for (since someone pointed out that Trinity dogma was established in Nicean synod). And I was like: "Oh, shit, I was talknig the other day about Saint Nick's punch, and now we have Arius 2.0!"

But no, after a short research, it turned out that Arius was more about Jesus not being both a Man and a God, and not about God birthing Jesus etc.

Yup, Arianism was about the hypostatic union, not the nature of the Trinity.

Modalism was condemned by Pope Dionysius under its then-current name "Sabellianism" in Against the Sabellians, AD 262. Trinitarian belief was also explicitly codified in the Nicene Creed at the good old Council of Nicaea in 325.

[mcgravin]

Arius is the Reason for the Nicean (Creed).

Imo, christians would have an easier time with the trinity if they described it as like, “my god has three faces” or “jesus is the feet on the earth, the spirit the hands, and god the head” instead of restating polytheism verbatim

We should have a gathering in a place called Nicaea and have this discussion with the various Church leaders, cause I think you're on to something

[orthodoxydaily]

SAINTS&READING: THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2025

january 10_january23

St GREGORY OF NYSSA (395)

Saint Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, was a younger brother of Saint Basil the Great (January 1). His birth and upbringing came at a time when the Arian disputes were at their height. Having received an excellent education, he was at one time a teacher of rhetoric. In the year 372, he was consecrated by Saint Basil the Great as bishop of the city of Nyssa in Cappadocia.

Saint Gregory was an ardent advocate for Orthodoxy, and he fought against the Arian heresy with his brother Saint Basil. Gregory was persecuted by the Arians, by whom he was falsely accused of improper use of church property, and thereby deprived of his See and sent to Ancyra.

In the following year Saint Gregory was again deposed in absentia by a council of Arian bishops, but he continued to encourage his flock in Orthodoxy, wandering about from place to place. After the death of the emperor Valens (378), Saint Gregory was restored to his cathedra and was joyously received by his flock. His brother Saint Basil the Great died in 379.

Only with difficulty did Saint Gregory survive the loss of his brother and guide. He delivered a funeral oration for him, and completed Saint Basil’s study of the six days of Creation, the Hexaemeron. That same year Saint Gregory participated in the Council of Antioch against heretics who refused to recognize the perpetual virginity of the Mother of God. Others at the opposite extreme, who worshipped the Mother of God as being God Herself, were also denounced by the Council. He visited the churches of Arabia and Palestine, which were infected with the Arian heresy, to assert the Orthodox teaching about the Most Holy Theotokos. On his return journey Saint Gregory visited Jerusalem and the Holy Places.

In the year 381 Saint Gregory was one of the chief figures of the Second Ecumenical Council, convened at Constantinople against the heresy of Macedonius, who incorrectly taught about the Holy Spirit. At this Council, on the initiative of Saint Gregory, the Nicean Symbol of Faith (the Creed) was completed.

Together with the other bishops Saint Gregory affirmed Saint Gregory the Theologian as Archpastor of Constantinople.

In the year 383, Saint Gregory of Nyssa participated in a Council at Constantinople, where he preached a sermon on the divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit. In 386, he was again at Constantinople, and he was asked to speak the funeral oration in memory of the empress Placilla. Again in 394 Saint Gregory was present in Constantinople at a local Council, convened to resolve church matters in Arabia.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa was a fiery defender of Orthodox dogmas and a zealous teacher of his flock, a kind and compassionate father to his spiritual children, and their intercessor before the courts. He was distinguished by his magnanimity, patience and love of peace.

Having reached old age, Saint Gregory of Nyssa died soon after the Council of Constantinople. With his great contemporaries, Saints Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian, Saint Gregory of Nyssa significantly influenced the Church life of his time. His sister, Saint Macrina, wrote: “You are renowned both in the cities, and gatherings of people, and throughout entire districts. Churches ask you for help.” Saint Gregory is known in history as one of the most profound Christian thinkers of the fourth century. Endowed with philosophical talent, he saw philosophy as a means for a deeper penetration into the authentic meaning of divine revelation.

Saint Gregory left behind many remarkable works of dogmatic character, as well as sermons and discourses. He has been called “the Father of Fathers.”

VENERABLE ANTIPAS OF VALAAM MONASTERY. (1882)

Saint Antipas was born in Moldavia, Romania in 1816. His father was a deacon in the village church, and his mother ended her life in a women’s monastery as a schemanun.

Saint Antipas came to Valaam Monastery from Mt Athos on November 6, 1865. He spent the rest of his life in the skete at Valaam, living like a hermit.

Blessed with the gift of clairvoyance, Saint Antipas fell asleep in the Lord on January 10, 1882.

Source: Orrthodox Church in America_OCA

James 1:19-27

19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which can save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

John 10:9-16

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

[self-deprogrammed]

With respect to conservative Christian support for Donald Trump…

Or the conservative Churches throwing their support to Ronald Regan rather than Jimmy Carter…

In this country we Liberals are perpetually amazed that many/most Christians don’t act in accordance with what we would expect advocates for our vision of Jesus the Reformer: the anti-Patriarchical, anti-misogynist, give-to-the-poor, woke Socialist.

Yet, USAmerican conservative Christians as well as the reactionary bloc of the GOP express views and act more in accordance with Trump and Regan than Jimmy Carter. Whereas Liberal USAmerican Christians and secular Liberals/Progressives extol the acts of Jimmy Carter.

Our Liberal expectation re seeing All Christians as one belief ignores the historical fact that there were no sermons in southern Christian churches against the practice of beating slaves to death. Nor the incestuous practice of sex with black female relatives.

Our Liberal expectation re AllChristians having common beliefs ignores that for the last 400+ years the American conservative churches have been cultural institutions supporting White Supremacy. That since Reconstriction that the Christian White Supremacists have very successfully spread that doctrine from the South to the rest of the nation.

US Conservative Churches added racial ethnicity to what the Roman Emperors’ hostile takeover of the Jesus Movement accomplished in the 4th Century when Constanine’s and Theodosius’s used handpicked Nicean bishops to ‘add’ doctrines of

unquestioning obedience to those highborn males whom the Church tells the populace that G-d placed over them,

provided justifications for exploitive labor practices,

required attendance, and monetary contributions to support dedicated buildings of worship wherein everyone will chant the same ritualized litany/lyrics of obedience to ‘higher authority’

enforced the Roman cultural value of patriarchy by demotion of women from positions of church leadership (see Nicean Canon #19)

provided in the Edict of Thessalonica the criminalization of any non-Nicean Tribiterian Christian sects as well as any non-Christians.

Guess what doctrine Christians feel has been stolen from them by the ‘tyrannical’ federal government.

We, as Liberals, wonder why the conservative Christians want to force the 10 Commandments and the Christian Bible into Public Schools.

Part of the conservative Christian Inquistional search for non-believers to punish.

Ritualized Fealty Oaths are an essential part of conservative Chritianities inquistional fetish. Begun with the Nicean Creed.

Currently every USA school child chants the Pledge every morning. ‘Under God’ being the critical part; the ‘Liberty and Justice’ part a sop for Libertards.

So, we, as Liberals, despite being faced with the OBVIOUS dual nature of Christianity have ignored our own national history wherein Christian Churches have and still do support racism.

Those of us who were or are still participants in the Christian Church also almost never examine the founding history of ‘our Faith’ even though Faith is often expressed directly oppositional to the Sermon on the Mount.

Why are we Liberals blind? Perhaps we should reevaluate which bloc it is that we say has been indoctrinated?

[the-single-element]

Trinity Sunday

Over the Easter season, we've heard the good news of Jesus's death and resurrection, and then, of his return to his "father", and then, of the coming of the Holy Spirit.

If we find something strange about this, I suspect it'll usually be the miracles themselves, not the cast of characters involved.

But in Jesus's time and place, in the Judah and Galilee of 2000 years ago, to describe how he talked about himself and the Father and the Spirit as "strange" would've been an understatement.

We discussed it back in Lent, didn't we? What was the most often repeated, most stressed, most belabored point in the Sinai covenant? "No other gods but God."

What is the "greatest commandment", confirmed by Jesus in his final debate in Jerusalem? "Hear, o Israel, the Lᴏʀᴅ is God, the Lᴏʀᴅ is one."

Surrounded by polytheistic cultures, Jewish culture was uncompromising on this point.

And yet Jesus claims, on the one hand, equality with God the Father (“before Abraham came to be”, “the Father and I are one”...), and on the other hand, converses with God the Father (”I know you always listen to me”, “into your hands I commend my spirit”...) and talks of the Spirit as something that can only arrive if he's steps back to make room for it.

How can we resolve this apparent contradiction? How can Jesus be divine, and distinguishable from the Father... and how can the Holy Spirit be divine, and distinguishable from both of them... and have them all still count as being "one", a monotheistic God?

We can start by digging into the notes and conclusions of the early Church, who had to solve this riddle first.

In the fourth century AD, Church leaders from across the whole "known world" met twice to debate certain points of doctrine: once in Nicaea in 325, then again in Constantinople in 381.

One of the products of their debate was a document we now call the "Nicean Creed", a summary of what everyone (other than a few Arian holdouts) had been willing to agree about, with regard to the contentious doctrinal issues of the time. And on the topic of the mysterious, seemingly impossible relationship we now call the "Trinity", it had this to say":

Jesus was “begotten, not made” - not a creation of God the Father, but rather, naturally following from his existence. This happened before anything else was created - “before all ages“.

Jesus and the Father are “consubstantial” - sharing one substance.

The Holy Spirit “proceeds” (with connotations of origination) from the Father - again, logically following from his existence.

So the Son and Spirit’s existence, in some way, is a natural consequence of the Father’s existence.

This... doesn't do much to clarify things, does it?

But it becomes more enlightening when we make use of another mysterious fact we know about God, which we discussed on Easter: God is love. "Love" in the sense that we use it when talking about the Kingdom, yes. But love.

And that kind of love can't exist alone.

Every example we're given in the Good News of the kind of love which defines God and God's Kingdom is a relationship with the other.

So the Trinity - the idea that God can be Father, Son, and Spirit while still being "one" - far from being a paradox, a doctrine invented to patch up a logical contradiction in the Good News... is, instead, almost a logical necessity if God is who we believe him to be.

What else could God be, to know love before Heaven and Earth were made? What else could God be, than either intrinsically in a relationship, or (if you parse it differently) intrinsically a relationship himself?

We can take this line of reasoning further. Consider what it means that the Father and the Son are not just distinguishable, but different. Different enough to have different preferences, different perspectives (as we saw, painfully, in Gethsemane). God’s love, the relationship of love that God embodies, is not the mere love of one's own close compatriots or kin, but the love for someone that has distinctions from you.

And so what does this mean for us? If God has always known what it is like to love and be loved, if the particular love between all three distinct divine persons is part of who God is... what lesson can we draw from it?

If that’s part of who he is...

...and if we’re made in his image...

...then he wants us to know that kind of love too.

Love for each other. Love for those different from ourselves, which nonetheless unites us. Love like the Spirit enabled at Pentecost, when everyone heard the good news in their own native tongue. Love like Jesus had for the Caananite woman. Distinction without disunity.

Best wishes to you and yours.

[thescienceofapologetics]

What are your thoughts on the Nicean Creed?

The Nicean Creed

“We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father. Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and was made human. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried. The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will never end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. He spoke through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church. We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and to life in the world to come. Amen.”

Yes, these are all absolutely biblical principles! Catholic here refers, not to the Roman Catholic church, but the word catholic (lowercase C) which means whole, such a the global church vs. one building. Baptism refers to spiritual baptism which comes by the Holy Spirit and is indeed how we are saved, not to be confused with water baptism which is merely a non-salvific outward symbol of the Holy Spirit’s transformative process. R.C. Sproul talks a little more about the phrase “One holy catholic and apostolic church” here.

[orthodoxlifeincolorado]

Bagging on prots... again

Bagging on prots… again

To be clear, when I say I am ‘bagging’ on someone it is THIS: bag on someone in. to criticize someone. Stop bagging on me! I’m tired of all your complaining. 2. n. to tease someone. The other day on twitter, someone pointed out that I tend to trash talk Protestants… alot. And they are correct. I do and I thought for a moment that I should perhaps change my ways because, they don’t know what…

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Sunday, June 16, 2024

june 3_june 16

SEVENTH SUNDAY OF PASCHA: THE FATHERS OF THE FIRST ECUMENICAL COUNCIL

On the seventh Sunday of Pascha, we commemorate the holy God-bearing Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council.

The Commemoration of the First Ecumenical Council has been celebrated by the Church of Christ from ancient times. The Lord Jesus Christ left the Church a great promise, “I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mt. 16:18). Although the Church of Christ on earth will pass through difficult struggles with the Enemy of salvation, it will emerge victorious. The holy martyrs bore witness to the truth of the Savior’s words, enduring suffering and death for confessing Christ, but the persecutor’s sword is shattered by the Cross of Christ.

Persecution of Christians ceased during the fourth century, but heresies arose within the Church itself. One of the most pernicious of these heresies was Arianism. Arius, a priest of Alexandria, was a man of immense pride and ambition. In denying the divine nature of Jesus Christ and His equality with God the Father, Arius falsely taught that the Savior is not consubstantial with the Father, but is only a created being.

A local Council, convened with Patriarch Alexander of Alexandria presiding, condemned the false teachings of Arius. However, Arius would not submit to the authority of the Church. He wrote to many bishops, denouncing the decrees of the local Council. He spread his false teaching throughout the East, receiving support from certain Eastern bishops.

Investigating these dissentions, the holy emperor Constantine (May 21) consulted Bishop Hosius of Cordova (Aug. 27), who assured him that the heresy of Arius was directed against the most fundamental dogma of Christ’s Church, and so he decided to convene an Ecumenical Council. In the year 325, 318 bishops representing Christian Churches from various lands gathered together at Nicea.

Among the assembled bishops were many confessors who had suffered during the persecutions, and who bore the marks of torture upon their bodies. Also participating in the Council were several great luminaries of the Church: Saint Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia (December 6 and May 9), Saint Spyridon, Bishop of Tremithos (December 12), and others venerated by the Church as holy Fathers.

With Patriarch Alexander of Alexandria came his deacon, Athanasius [who later became Patriarch of Alexandria (May 2 and January 18)]. He is called “the Great,” for he was a zealous champion for the purity of Orthodoxy. In the Sixth Ode of the Canon for today’s Feast, he is referred to as “the thirteenth Apostle.”

The emperor Constantine presided over the sessions of the Council. In his speech, responding to the welcome by Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, he said, “God has helped me cast down the impious might of the persecutors, but more distressful for me than any blood spilled in battle is for a soldier, is the internal strife in the Church of God, for it is more ruinous.”

Arius, with seventeen bishops among his supporters, remained arrogant, but his teaching was repudiated and he was excommunicated from the Church. In his speech, the holy deacon Athanasius conclusively refuted the blasphemous opinions of Arius. The heresiarch Arius is depicted in iconography sitting on Satan’s knees, or in the mouth of the Beast of the Deep (Rev. 13).

The Fathers of the Council declined to accept a Symbol of Faith (Creed) proposed by the Arians. Instead, they affirmed the Orthodox Symbol of Faith. Saint Constantine asked the Council to insert into the text of the Symbol of Faith the word “consubstantial,” which he had heard in the speeches of the bishops. The Fathers of the Council unanimously accepted this suggestion.

In the Nicean Creed, the holy Fathers set forth and confirmed the Apostolic teachings about Christ’s divine nature. The heresy of Arius was exposed and repudiated as an error of haughty reason. After resolving this chief dogmatic question, the Council also issued Twelve Canons on questions of churchly administration and discipline. Also decided was the date for the celebration of Holy Pascha. By decision of the Council, Holy Pascha should not be celebrated by Christians on the same day with the Jewish Passover, but on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the vernal equinox (which occured on March 22 in 325).

HIEROMARTYR LUCIAN , BISHOP OF BEAUVAIS, AND THOSE WITH HIM IN FRANCE (96)

The Hieromartyr Lucian lived in Rome, and his pagan name was Lucius. He was converted to Christ by the Apostle Peter, and was baptized. After Saint Peter’s death, Saint Lucian preached the Gospel in Italy. Saint Dionysius the Areopagite (October 3), a disciple of Saint Paul, arrived in Rome at this time. At the request of Saint Clement, Pope of Rome (November 25), he agreed to preach the Gospel in the West, and gathered companions and helpers for this task. Saint Clement consecrated Saint Lucian a bishop, then sent him off with Saint Dionysius, Saints Marcellinus and Saturninus, the Presbyter Maximian, and the Deacon Julian.

The holy preachers sailed from Italy to Gaul (modern France). Saint Marcellinus and those accompanying him continued on to Spain. Saint Saturninus went to Gaul, and Saint Dionysius and the others went to the region of Paris. From there Saint Lucian went to Belgium with Maximian and Julian.

Saint Lucian’s preaching was very successful. By the power of his words and the example of his life, he converted a large number of pagans to Christianity. Saint Lucian was a strict ascetic, and all day long he ate only a morsel of bread and some water. Towards the converted he was kindly, always joyful and cheerful of face. Soon almost all the settlements of Belgium were converted to Christ.

During this period, the Roman emperor Dometian (81-96) initiated a second persecution against Christians (after that of Nero, 54-68), and he issued an edict prescribing torture and execution for anyone who refused to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods.

Three officials were sent to Belgium to carry out the edict. The Lord revealed to Saint Lucian the ordeal facing him. He gathered the flock together, urging them not to fear threats, tortures or death, and then he gave thanks to God for granting him the possibility of joining the company of the holy martyrs. After praying, Saint Lucian and the priest Maximian and Deacon Julian withdrew to the summit of a hill, where he continued to teach the people who came with him.

Here the soldiers of the emperor came upon the saints and led them away for trial. Saints Maximian and Julian were urged to renounce Christ and offer sacrifice to idols, but both refused and were beheaded.

Then the judge began to interrogate Saint Lucian, accusing him of sorcery and disobedience to the emperor and Senate. The saint replied that he was not a sorcerer, but rather a servant of the true God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he refused to offer sacrifice to idols made by human hands.

The saint was subjected to fierce beatings, during which he repeated, “Never will I cease to praise Christ, the Son of God, in my heart, and with my lips.” Then the holy martyr was beheaded. A heavenly light shone over his body, and the Voice of the Savior was heard, summoning the valiant sufferer into the heavenly Kingdom to receive the martyr’s crown. By the power of God the saint stood up, picked up his severed head, and crossed over the river. Reaching the burial spot he had chosen, he lay down upon the ground and reposed in peace.

Because of this great miracle about 500 pagans were converted to Christ. Later, a church was built over Saint Lucian’s grave, to which the relics of the martyrs Maximian and Julian were transferred.

ACTS 20:16-18, 28-36

16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the Day of Pentecost. 17 From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. 18 And when they had come to him, he said to them: "You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, 28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. 31 Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. 32 So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. 34 Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. 35 I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' 36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

JOHN 17:1-13

1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. 6 I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. 8 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. 9 I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.