The Grammar of Theology

Mcguffey's Online Tutor: Defining Lent

2011-03-23T23:53:00.001-07:00

McGuffey's Readers teach children to think about the well being of others.

One of the many reason why your children should use McGuffey's Readers rather than most modern curriculums:

The McGuffey's Online Tutor: The Myth of Nature

2011-03-22T06:40:00.000-07:00

Remembering the Saints: Saint Bartholomew

2010-08-24T02:28:00.000-07:00

Nicene Creed (homoousian creed)

2010-07-10T02:10:00.000-07:00

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 1 Joy 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.

First Council of Nicea (325)	First Council of Constantinople (381)
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.	We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;	And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;
By whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth];	by whom all things were made;
Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man;	who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man;
He suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven;	he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.	from thence he shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead;
	whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Ghost.	And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the prophets.
	In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
[But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not;' and 'He was not before he was made;' and 'He was made out of nothing,' or 'He is of another substance' or 'essence,' or 'The Son of God is created,' or 'changeable,' or 'alterable'—they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.]

Orthodox Anglicanism:

For the Church has authoritatively set forth scriptural doctrine in the two great Creeds of Christendom: the Apostles’ Creed historically associated as the Baptismal Confession, and the Nicene Creed as the Eucharistic Confession—the veritable “Symbol of the Faith.” Orthodox Anglicans believe the Creeds. As the Eighth Article of Religion states, “they may be proved by the most certain warrants of Holy Scripture.” We thus believe in a literal Virgin Birth, a real death suffered by our Lord, a real Bodily Resurrection, the Lord’s Ascension witnessed by the Apostles, and we await His glorious return as our Judge. The authority of the Church dogmatically set forth the Creeds, and the doctrine the Creeds propounded was made binding for all Christians at all times.

On the other hand, can you see how a rejection of Holy Scripture leads, inevitably, to a rejection also of the Creeds? There are two ways in which portions of Christendom have rejected the Creeds, and thereby separated themselves from the historic faith. The first is the common Protestant habit of replacing the Creeds by “Affirmations”—platitudes to which individuals temporarily subscribe assent. They are the latest attempt to formulate the faith in a way acceptable to liberal social activists who control so much of the governing structures of mainline Protestantism.

The second way the Creeds are rejected is by subtly shifting the wording of them to allow theological ambiguity. This is more insidious form of creedal sleight-of-hand began with the Roman Communion’s attempt to promote modern language equivalents to the ancient liturgy after the days of the Second Vatican Council. Although these first efforts were no doubt sincere, the result has been to promote “fuzzy” theology ending finally in open heresy. A sample of this mid-sixties madness is found in a sermon preached by Episcopal Church Bishop James Pike in St. Louis, in 1964: “The fact is that we are in the midst of a theological revolution. Many of us feel that it is urgent that we rethink and restate the unchanging gospel in terms which are relevant to our day and to the people we would have hear it; not hesitating to abandon or reinterpret concepts, words, images, and myths developed in past centuries when men were operating under different world views and different philosophical structures.”

The outcome of this is apparent in the changes made in the Nicene Creed regarding the Incarnation and the miraculous Virgin Birth of our Lord. The orthodox American Book of Common Prayer states that our Lord “came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.” The Episcopal Church’s Prayer Book of 1979, following the lead of Rome, states our Lord “came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.” The former statement asserts that only one man in human history has ever been incarnate by the Holy Ghost: our Lord Jesus Christ. The latter statement differs not only in order but also in kind. It could be said that every human being is conceived by the power of God, and all children are the incarnation—the embodiment—of their parents. Thus, the change in the Creed only hints at a vague role for the divinity in the birth of Jesus, while retaining much of the cadence of the old Creed, and even use of the word “incarnate,” though in a different sense than that taught by the Fathers of the Church. One can stay in the pews (or keep one’s job at the church) and still confess the new “creed,” while remaining in unbelief.

Apostles' Creed

2010-07-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

Book of Common Prayer

I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth:

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead, and buried:
He descended into hell;
The third day he rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;
The holy Catholick Church;
The Communion of Saints;
The Forgiveness of sins;
The Resurrection of the body,
And the Life everlasting.
Amen.

Wiki: Apostles' Creed

Witsunday Sermon

2010-05-23T02:01:00.000-07:00

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

Fourth Sunday after Easter: God gives life!

2010-05-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

Job 19:21-27a
Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me. Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh? Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off from our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.

The Collect for the Day
The Fourth Sunday After Easter

O ALMIGHTY God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men; Grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Changing humanistic laws... but God does not change...

2010-04-15T01:59:00.000-07:00

and neither does his Law.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

For theft and property damage, full restitution or compensation is the standard of punishment (e.g. Exo. 21:22; Lev. 24:21). An insolvent debtor would not be thrown into prison (a punishment extraneous to biblical law), for that serves no dictate of justice; instead the man would be allowed to work off his debt.
Greg Bahnsen, Theonomy in Christian Ethics, 439 (1977 [1984]).

If a person intentionally steals or destroys his neighbor's property, he must restore what is taken plus some multiple of it as punishment for his wicked intent (Exo. 22:1).
- E. Calvin Beisner, Justice and Poverty: Two Views Contrasted, 6, at http://www.ecalvinbeisner.com/freearticles/Justpoor.pdf.

Maundy Thursday

2010-04-01T04:04:00.000-07:00

Interactive Bible

2010-03-03T01:07:00.000-08:00

I found this site and thought I'd pass it on. They claim not to be traditional. I think that is foolish. However, their site is good and full of tradition and great tools in the grammar of theology. Curious to hear what your thoughts are on these Bible studies and more.

Creedalism

2010-02-28T01:26:00.000-08:00

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.

The Blind Side

2010-02-27T01:22:00.001-08:00

The Blind Side is a story about Charity:

Understanding the architechture of the church building:

2010-02-18T10:12:00.000-08:00

Anglican Church Building Worksheet
Furnishings in a church building Worsheet

The rebuilding of the Dresdener Frauenkirche

St. Ignatius of Antioch

2010-02-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

Wiki: (also known as Theophorus from Greek Θεοφόρος "God-bearer") (ca. 35 or 50-between 98 and 117)^[1] was among the Apostolic Fathers, was the third Bishop and Patriarch of Antioch, and was a student of John the Apostle. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology. Important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the sacraments, and the role of bishops.
Epistles attributed to St. Ignatius report his arrest by the authorities and travel to Rome:

“

From Syria even to Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, even a company of soldiers, who only grow worse when they are kindly treated. —Ignatius to the Romans, 5.

”

Along the route he wrote six letters to the churches in the region and one to a fellow bishop.
He was sentenced to die in the Colosseum, to be eaten by lions.^[5]
In his Chronicle, Eusebius gives the date of his death as AA 2124 (2124 years after Adam), which would amount to the 11th year of Trajan, i.e. 108 AD.^[6] His body lies entombed under St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

The seven letters considered to be authentic are:
To the Ephesians
To the Magnesians
To the Philadelphians
To the Romans
To the Smyrnaeans
To the Trallians
To Polycarp

The martyrdom of Ignatius

Faith and liberty: the economic thought of the late scholastics By Alejandro Antonio Chafuen

2010-02-08T21:44:00.000-08:00

Online book link is HERE.

Vic Lockman: God's Law For Modern Man

2010-01-29T06:33:00.000-08:00

Vic Lockman God's Law For Modern Man

ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

2010-01-26T23:20:00.000-08:00

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

http://www.chrysostom.org/

Bishop of Constantinople
January 27.

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.

RJ Rushdoony (read it all)

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

2010-01-25T08:24:00.000-08:00

"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.

Propers: The first Sunday in Advent.

2009-12-04T00:26:00.000-08:00

The Collect

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

1. Zion's daughter, O rejoice!
Shout aloud, Jerusalem!
Lo, thy King doth come to thee,
Yea, He comes, the Prince of Peace!
Zion's daughter, O rejoice!
Shout aloud, Jerusalem!

2. Hail, hosanna, David's Son,
Be Thou to Thy people blest!
Thine eternal kingdom come!
Praise be sung to Thee on high!
Hail, hosanna, David's Son,
Be Thou to Thy people blest!

3. Hail, hosanna, David's Son,
Be Thou welcome, gentle King!
Firmly stands Thy throne of peace,
Thou, the Father's only Son!
Hail, hosanna, David's Son,
Be Thou to Thy people blest!

The Epistle
Romans xiii. 8.

OWE no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

The Gospel
St. Matthew xxi. 1.

WHEN they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name 'of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

In His Service: Chapter 6 - Power and Service

2009-09-27T05:15:00.000-07:00

The sixth chapter in RJ Rushdoony's book "In His Service" is about the common quest for power.

Not only will you find the quest for power within the family: husbands over wives, wives over husbands, siblings over siblings, children over parents, ... you find this quest for power in the church and in the state. Churches want power over the people, family, and also God. Their decisions and doctrines and their form of the sacraments and workings of the Holy Spirit are confined by this quest for power. The state has rallied to be the cradle to grave savior through fear-mongering in their quest for power. But power comes from the LORD. If you quest power then you must search kingdom of God.

Rev 18:1	And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 19:1	And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:

The spirit of God says to owe no man anything. NO DEBT! Yet the family, church and state make it a faith to be in great debt. There is no more Gold standard, no just weights and measures. The greater the debt the more faith. This is not power. This is self-destruction. This was not so in a free society. Debt enslaves.

Children at one time were taught just weights and measures and how to save. Here is an example:

Rose's new arithmetic: An explanatory and practical arithmetic, adapted to ...
By John Rose

It is interesting that a gold standard monetary system restrains power because gold is not inflationary. Once you saved a dollar you saved a dollar. Now you save a dollar and you save a fraction of a dollar because inflation eats it away.

The common humanistic quest for power can be by might and it can also be by legalized (and illegal) larceny. Rushdoony reminds us that Christians are summoned away from this kind of quest. The love of God means faithfulness in God's power, godly power, and obedience to His law-word. "By their faith ye shall know them" Matthew 7:20

In His Service: Chapter 5 - Humanism as It Affects the Family

2009-09-03T22:32:00.000-07:00

righteousness = justice
justice = righteousness

In this fifth Chapter of RJ Rushdoony's "In His Service" he continues to explain how Humanism destroys God's "Division of Labour" especially in regards to the family. What is "Division of Labour"?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Division of labour or specialization is the specialization of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and roles, intended to increase the productivity of labour. Historically the growth of a more and more complex division of labour is closely associated with the growth of total output and trade, the rise of capitalism, and of the complexity of industrialization processes.

So, in other words, we don't call a baker when our cow needs a c-section. Likewise we should not call on the state to have power and control over our children, education, property, inheritance, welfare or marriage. These responsibilities, labours, belong to the family.

Scripture divides the labour among three major institutions: family, church, and state. Family is God's basic institution and it is given the responsibility to have power and control over our children, education, property, inheritance, welfare and marriage. Yet, Humanism strives and has largely succeeded in tranfering these powers and controls over to the state. The division of labour is slowly being distroyed and with it a free and godly society. Without a free and godly society there is no justice, no righteousness.

In order to divide the labour. The institution of the family must be understood and established. Marriage must be understood and established. Marriage is a scarament of the family. Rushdoony points out the scripture that ordains man and woman by marriage as one, the woman from the man and the man from the woman. The rise in man's "rights"over women , as in the 18th century, and woman's "rights" over men, as in the 19th and 20th centuries, are ungodly and irresponsible because they "seek power apart from God and over eachother" . He explains the convenantal or the "giveness" of marriage as being the foundation of a godly family and the romantic, pragmatic, mercenary or the "free choice" of marriage as the foundation of a humanistic family.

The godly family works together to establish God's righteousness, justice, in the labour it has been ordained to do:
rearing children
owning family property (a trust from the Lord)
building inheritances (reserving assets for a godly seed to continue the establishment of God's kingdom on earth)
education
welfare

The godly family is the vehicle for the driving force of God's kingdom on earth, the regeneration of the entire creation.

In His Service: Chapter 4 The Battle for Righteousness

2009-08-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

The Application of Biblical Law to Secular Society

In R.J. Rushdoony's fourth chapter of In His Service he lists eight points on God's law as it relates to the renewal of all things. Before we look at the eight points a presupposition must be established. The law of God is the standard, the source and the law of justice. Even secular societies know this. Therefore, in order to have justice God's law must be applied to society. Also, in order to live a righteous life God's law must be applied to our daily life. It is important to know that the very law that is to be applied also forbids application by coercion; it is by regeneration, renewal.

Rushdoony lists eight applications of God's law that is done through regeneration unto regeneration. Renewal begets renewal.... First, the government must be under God. It is not under the state and not under the church. It is not under man. Man has been corrupted by the fall and therefore can only corrupt justice. The state and the church have very limited powers under God's law. Power and authority are God's. Government must be under God.

Second, God's law works through economics, the tithe. The tithes should be encouraged and humanistic taxes abolished. (allocation list) Tithes are more efficient than unjust state allocations, subsidies and wealth transfer schemes. Rushdoony points out the economic limits placed on the church and the state; "the sanctuary receives one percent of a man's increase" and "the civil government receives only a half a shekel a year from all males twenty and over." He also goes into further details. This makes the family the basic institution in Scripture.

The family, this is the third point. Treason is an act against the family rather than the state. Everything Rushdoony writes has something in it that stresses how important the family is to God. The laws protect the family. If the courts do not protect the family they are unjust.

The next five points are more straight forward but no less important. Fourth, courts must be just. Fifth, the penalty of restitution must be restored. There is no forgiveness without restitution. Resoration + must be made of the destruction made by sin. Remember, the goal of God's law is the renewal of all things to "very good". Restitution is necessary to bring about holiness. For example:

To be made for injury to life, limb, or property
Exodus 21:30-36; Leviticus 24:18

To be made for theft
Exodus 22:1-4; Proverbs 6:30,31; Ezekiel 33:15

To be made for dishonesty
Leviticus 6:2-5; Numbers 5:7; Job 20:18; Ezekiel 33:15; Luke 19:8

Sixth, the land must have it's Sabbaths. The renewal of all things also includes the earth. Seventh, Our duty is to work for righteousness sake. Riches are good and yet they are not our goal. Be content and not greedy. The LORD gives and takes according to His great plan in the regeneration of the entire creation. Eight, God's law must be enforced in us and through us.

Rushdoony reminds us again that the goal of God's law is the regeneration of all things, God's Kingdom. It is a physical and spiritual reality growing in total holiness unto the LORD. He has made his people co-heirs with Christ.

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In His Service: Chapter 3 The Battle for a Generation: Focus on Education

2009-08-25T04:21:00.000-07:00

In this third chapter Rushdoony makes clear that public education makes morality a subjective concern rather than an objective standard. This has deadly consequences. He says that there are two areas of society that clearly reveal the religion of the people, education and law.

When education makes morality a subjective concern then the law is also subjective. This means that authority, creeds and traditional wisdom is undermined. "Head religion" is replaced with "heart religion". Anselm's "I believe, in order that I may understand." (the belief of sanctifying renewal through the ages) has been replaced with, "I experience, in order that I believe." and "I test, in order that I may understand." Both deny authority, tradition and creeds. Both deny the authority of our Creator. Instead man assumes that he can be all knowing.

Rushdoony also points out something very interesting: "Instead of theology being the queen of sciences, it was no longer even a science." God's law word no longer commands the world and life according to modern society. Man is trying to be god. He is turning his back on the Source of all knowledge and life and instead trying to produce a man made sphere of chaotic and deadly intelligence and knowledge. Humanistic education has become this quest. A quest to save society without God.

Why is this quest deadly? Because it makes morality a subjective concern rather than an objective standard. It educates and teaches skills to unregenerate people. Immoral people with no objective standard increases lawlessness' power. Perversity is not checked. Without being conformed to Jesus, the Lord of Glory, but rather to depraved man society devolves. Immoral behavior becomes the right of any man. Man depersonalizes the world in order to have his right to sin. The world suffers.

Christian education, on the other hand, personalizes and upgrades man to the image of God. Being the children of light requires bring up children "in the nurture and the admonition of the LORD" not the image and deadly wisdom of humanists. We will be held accountable because "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our LORD, and of His Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." Rev. 11:15

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In His Service: Chapter 2 The Unseen Enemy: Secular Humanism

2009-08-20T23:55:00.000-07:00

In this second chapter Rushdoony points out the real enemy is secular humanism and, in Segerberg's words, man's "Modern Verification of His Wisdom and How It Can Help You" is the teaching of the day. Furthermore, even though "humanist can at times believe in God" they don't see Jesus as the Son of God but as a resource for man. This means that each man looks to himself for sovereignty in building society: determining each for himself what is good and evil. It is no wonder that there are so many conflicts and buildings full of laws and regulations. This is the true unseen enemy of liberty. Rushdoony makes four observations of secular humanism:

1. To take any word from God on faith is held to be irrational and bad religion.
2. It premises that it is possible that man's science, given enough time, will overcome all social and physical problems including death.
3. It follows that disobedience to God is the beginning of wisdom.
4. Every man will be his own source of law and morality instead of God's sovereignty.

These give us a clear understanding of salvation and what is necessary action in order to fight this unseen enemy. It is NOT the coercion of man to live by God's law word. It is regeneration. It is the opposite of the four observation Rushdoony laid out in this chapter:

1. Take every word of God on faith and apply it to our lives. Make it our religion.
2. Only Jesus, the Son of God and our atonement, has, is and will overcome all social and physical problems including death.
3. Obedience to God is the beginning of wisdom.
4. See Jesus as the Son of God, our atonement, Lord and Sovereign. "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt 4:4

Secular Humanism is suicidal. We are warned:
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Rev 18:4

William Federer highlights the Roman Empire society before it's fall and it doesn't seem too different from our own:

Rushdoony ends this chapter with the great commission. The LORD requires us to establish His law word in our lives as far as our authority reaches. This means individually spiritually, physically and with our children, in our homes, jobs, businesses and with those under our command, not by coercion but by application on faith. If this is not done then death is our society's end.

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In His Service: Chapter 1 The Place of Biblical Law in Society

2009-08-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

Another Rushdoony book has been released. He continues to educate and honor our triune God years after his passing. Chapter one of "In His Service" speaks to the chaos of the day and gives an easy solution, if only we would heed and do. He points out how God, through His tax (tithe) laws, severely limit the power of the ecclesiastical and civil governments. Who then has the responsibility to action?

"This means that the central area of action is within the covenant family and its members. The family is the cradle of life, man's first church, school, government, vocation. God's law does not allow us to shift our duties onto the state or to the church."

It cannot be argued that society has needs and problems. That need is to be dealt with. "Social financing is a necessity." But Rushdoony points out that most of those duties do not belong to a centralized power that is easily corrupted but to a decentralized covenant people . They are to provide for it. Furthermore, Rushdoony warns: "Wherever the Christian community abandons its necessary task of government and help, other forces take it over.... The purpose of the church's service is not an impressive musical or liturgical treat (even though they have their place*) but to provide marching orders to the soldiers of Christ."

*emphasis is my own

Go here http://www.chalcedon.edu/papers/Taxation.pdf to learn about what the Bible says about taxation and welfare. Here is a clip:

Justice (civil government):
The civil government is biblically charged with administering justice, not health, education or charitable work (Rom. 13:1-7). A Scriptural civil government is supported solely by a half-shekel poll tax that all citizens pay (the Bible says 20 years old males) as a strictly flat tax (Ex. 30:1-16), which keeps the size of civil government small and gives all citizens an equal stake in societal justice.
Health, education & welfare:
According to the Bible, health care, education, poverty relief and charitable work are personal concerns, not institutional concerns, and are to be administered by individuals, not by the state, through the various tithes. The 10% per year social tithe of Lev. 27:30-33 and Num. 18:20-24 is to be individually directed to education and health in the community, and the prorated 3.3% per year poor tithe of Deut. 14:28-29 is to be given directly to the poor without middlemen. When churches and Christians fail to pay God’s tithes and ensure their proper use toward fulfilling society’s needs, the state takes over with disastrous consequences. Prior to state involvement in health, education and welfare, churches built and ran hospitals (Christian ethics were upheld and doctors were respected as Christ’s servants), Christian families and communities founded schools and universities and educated their own children (literacy in America was vastly more extensive), and Christian communities met the needs of the sick and poor.
The poor tithe and eradication of poverty:
The modern state, by waging a secular “war on poverty” while violating God’s laws, has only increased poverty, not reduced it. Deut. 15:4 points out that if God’s laws are obeyed, “there shall be no more poor among you.” Obeying God’s Law of the poor tithe brings God’s blessing upon the people and their productivity (Deut. 14:28-29; 16:12-15). The Bible calls neglect of the poor tithe grinding the faces of the poor (Isa. 3:15). (When Jesus said in Matt. 26:11, “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have Me with you,” He was telling the disciples that in their lifetime they would not always have personal face-to-face contact with Him but they would encounter the poor. Christ here was indicting Israel’s violation of the poor tithe, quoting from Deut. 15:11 that “there shall always be poor people in the land” because those who should pay the poor tithe were “hardhearted and tightfisted” [Deut. 15:7].) Jesus told the rich young ruler in Mark 10:19ff he had failed to keep this law, and called on him to pay restitution to those he had covertly robbed through disobedience (similar to the four-fold restitution that repentant tax collector Zacchaeus, in obedience to God’s Law, announced he would pay to those he had defrauded, an action prompting salvation coming upon his house). The young ruler did not covet: verse 19’s unique term defraud not (Greek: apostereseis) is used in Deut. 24:14, Mal. 3:5 and Ex. 21:10 in regard to depriving or withholding from the needy. The amount he had withheld from the poor over the years, after God’s penalties were compounded, amounted to all he had (as Christ’s instruction to him makes clear), so to obey God’s Law and make restitution for his moral failure, he had to sell it all and return the lump sum to the poor (Mark 10:21). As with the woman at the well (John 4:18), Jesus pierced the ruler’s lawlessness. Because God is not a respecter of persons, Jesus focused on a specific sin (sin = transgression of God’s Law; 1 John 3:4) that required repentance. When the ruler persisted in transgressing God’s Law, he continued grinding the faces of the poor. Shortly thereafter we meet a likely victim of such grinding, the poor widow (Mark 12:43ff) for whom two mites amounted to “all she had.” Two centuries earlier her need could have been satisfied because Israel had, despite economically difficult times, maintained on hand the poor tithe offerings for such charitable relief (2 Macc. 3:10 – 600 talents of silver & gold).

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