April 2, 2007
"Easter message: Christ did not die for sin" - Is that right?
Christ did not die for sin - This is what pretty much all the loveable and all embracing heretic clergy of today would like to trumpet. We've heard this before in another primate's words: 'Jesus is not the only way.' Sadly enough, there is no one to question them or hold them accountable. And there are still followers of these wolves in sheep's clothing. Process theology and its advocates where are you heading?
Read on but don't miss what St. Augustine had to say right below this excerpt.
Easter message: Christ did not die for sin By Jonathan Wynne-Jones., Sunday TelegraphThe Church's traditional teaching of Christ's crucifixion is "repulsive" and "insane", a controversial cleric will claim on the BBC this week.
The Very Rev Jeffrey John, who had to withdraw before taking up an appointment as bishop of Reading in 2003 after it emerged he was in a long-term homosexual relationship, is set to ignite a row over one of the most fundamental tenets of Christian belief.
Clergy who preach this Easter that Christ was sent to earth to die in atonement for the sins of mankind are "making God sound like a psychopath", he will say.
advertisementIn a BBC Radio 4 show, Mr John, who is now Dean of St Albans, urges a revision of the traditional explanation, known as "penal substitution".
Christian theology has taught that because humans have sinned, God sent Christ as a substitute to suffer and die in our place.
"In other words, Jesus took the rap and we got forgiven as long as we said we believed in him," says Mr John. "This is repulsive as well as nonsensical. It makes God sound like a psychopath. If a human behaved like this we'd say that they were a monster."
Mr John argues that too many Christians go through their lives failing to realise that God is about "love and truth", not "wrath and punishment". He offers an alternative interpretation, suggesting that Christ was crucified so he could "share in the worst of grief and suffering that life can throw at us".
But listen to St. Augustine's homily marked for the Monday in Holy Week in the Breviary. We meditated on this tonight during our evening prayer.
The passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the hope of glory and a lesson in patience.What may not the hearts of believers promise themselves as the gift of God’s grace, when for their sake God’s only Son, co-eternal with the Father, was not content only to be born as man from human stock but even died at the hands of the men he had created?
It is a great thing that we are promised by the Lord, but far greater is what has already been done for us, and which we now commemorate. Where were the sinners, what were they, when Christ died for them? When Christ has already given us the gift of his death, who is to doubt that he will give the saints the gift of his own life? Why does our human frailty hesitate to believe that mankind will one day live with God?
Who is Christ if not the Word of God: in the beginning was the Word, and the Words was with God, and the Word was God? This Word of God was made flesh and dwelt among us. He had no power of himself to die for us: he had to take from us our mortal flesh. This was the way in which, though immortal, he was able to die; the way in which he chose to give life to mortal men: he would first share with us, and then enable us to share with him. Of ourselves we had no power to live, nor did he of himself have the power to die.
In other words, he performed the most wonderful exchange with us. Through us, he died; through him, we shall live.
The death of the Lord our God should not be a cause of shame for us; rather, it should be our greatest hope, our greatest glory. In taking upon himself the death that he found in us, he has most faithfully promised to give us life in him, such as we cannot have of ourselves.
He loved us so much that, sinless himself, he suffered for us sinners the punishment we deserved for our sins. How then can he fail to give us the reward we deserve for our righteousness, for he is the source of righteousness? How can he, whose promises are true, fail to reward the saints when he bore the punishment of sinners, though without sin himself?
Brethren, let us then fearlessly acknowledge, and even openly proclaim, that Christ was crucified for us; let us confess it, not in fear but in joy, not in shame but in glory.
The apostle Paul saw Christ, and extolled his claim to glory. He had many great and inspired things to say about Christ, but he did not say that he boasted in Christ’s wonderful works: in creating the world, since he was God with the Father, or in ruling the world, though he was also a man like us. Rather, he said: Let me not boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
Let us focus on Christ who suffered for our sins, including our beloved heretics who would stop at nothing, in order to paint a sinless world. For they would love to be loved as they are, even should they wallow in the myres of sin. According to them the commandments of God cause anxiety, so why admit what is sinful!
Father forgive even those who knowingly assault the very economy of salvation, for Christ died for them as well, just as He died for ours. By His stripes we are healed. Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders!
Posted by frleo at 9:53 PM | Comments (0)
May 18, 2006
Da Vinci Code: SOME ADVISE FROM THE ARCHBISHOP
The Da Vinci Code author Don Brown’s mega selling thriller kicks you into high gear. A full 454 pages, and you’ll discover a lot of shocking facts about history and Christianity. Or will you? The answer is a resounding NO! It’s pure trash-yellow journalism, at its absolute worst.
The Code says – Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, when he named her leader of the church before his death.
The Truth is: This fantasy has no support even from the “Gnostic gospels’ mentioned in the Da Vinci Code Book, let alone from historical data. I’ve read those so called gospels written, in some cases, hundreds of years after the time of the Apostles. They are foolish, childish and all try to deny the divinity of Jesus Christ.
The Code says- Since the year 1099, a super secret society called ‘The Priory of Sion’ has preserved knowledge of Jesus and Mary’s descendents.
The Truth is – Today’s “Priory of Sion” was founded in the 1960’s by a French con man who falsified documents to support the story of Jesus’ blood line.
The Code says – As a “Priory” leader and pagan goddess worshipper, Leonardo Da Vinci coded secret knowledge about Jesus and Mary into his paintings.
The Truth is - Da Vinci had no known ties to any secret societies. Any obscure images in his painting likely reflect his personal creativity.
The movie is being encouraged by a number of mainline denominations and some evangelical groups who have drifted off into fantasy and heresy. Actually, they are only fulfilling what St. John wrote about in his epistle Chapter 4 verses 1,2 3.
1. Beloved do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2. By this you know the Spirit of God: every sprit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is of God 3. and every sprit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, And this is the spirit of the Anti Christ, which you heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
Pope Benedict XVI wrote as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger in 2003 in book entitled “Truth and Tolerance”. He said
the uniqueness of Christ is directly related to the uniqueness of God and to the concrete form of this. Christ is not an avatar of God, perhaps an especially impressive one, one of the multifarious finite manifestations of the divine, in which we learn to have some inkling of the divine. He is not a “Manifestation” of the divine, but is God. In him, God has shown his face. Any one who sees Him sees the Father Jn14.9
As Christians we cannot allow ourselves to be drawn into persuasions, no matter their Hollywood slickness and presentation. To buy the Da Vinci Code book or to view the soon to be released film is not just a waste of time and money, but it is allowing oneself to seek out, to support, and to encourage those who are enemies of Christ and His Church.
It was St.Paul writing to Timothy in Chapter 4 verse 1-2 who said
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.”
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all
++ Stephen C. Reber Sr.
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