Aardvark Alley
Confessional Lutheran theology, hagiography, philosophy, music, culture, sports, education,
and whatever else is on the fevered mind of Orycteropus Afer
25 April 2007
+ Saint Mark, Evangelist +
25 April, New Testament
The book of Acts mentions a Mark, or John Mark, later called a kinsman of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10). The house of his mother Mary was a meeting place for Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12). When Paul and Barnabas, who had been in Antioch, came to Jerusalem, they brought Mark back to Antioch with them (12:25), and he accompanied them on their first missionary journey (13:5), but left them prematurely and returned to Jerusalem (13:13).
When Paul and Barnabas were about to set out on a second missionary journey, Barnabas proposed to take Mark, but Paul thought him unreliable, so that eventually Barnabas made one journey taking Mark, and Paul another journey taking Silas (15:36-40). Mark is not mentioned again in Acts. However, it appears that he became more reliable, for Paul mentions him as a trusted assistant in Colossians 4:10 and again in 2 Timothy 4:11.
The Apostle Peter had a co-worker whom he refers to as "my son Mark" (1 Peter 5:13). Papias, an early second century writer, in describing the origins of the Gospels, tells us that Mark was the "interpreter" of Peter, and that he wrote down ("but not in order") the stories that he had heard Peter tell in his preaching about the life and teachings of Jesus. Debate continues as to the veracity of some of Papias' records, but this one is considered genuine by many scholars.
The Gospel According to Saint Mark, in describing the arrest of Jesus (14:43-52), speaks of a young man who followed the arresting party, wearing only a linen cloth wrapped around his body, whom the arresting party tried to seize, but who left the cloth in their hands and fled naked. Many think that this young man was the writer himself, since the detail is hardly worth mentioning if he were not.
Tradition holds that after Peter's death, Mark left Rome and went to preach in Alexandria, Egypt, where he was eventually martyred.
It is natural to identify the John Mark of Acts with the Gospel-writer and interpreter of Peter, and this identification is standard in liturgical references to Mark. However, "Mark" is the commonest of Latin first names, and they may well have been separate people.
Mark's symbol in Christian art is a often a lion, usually winged. In Revelation 4 and throughout much of his vision, John sees about the throne of God four winged creatures — a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle. (Compare with the beings in Ezekiel 1 and 10.) Custom supposes that these represent the four Gospels or the four Evangelists (Gospel-writers).
One way to match the creatures with the Evangelists is to say that the man stands for Matthew, whose narrative begins with the human genealogy of Jesus and who often quotes Christ speaking of Himself as "the Son of Man"; the lion stands for Mark, whose narrative begins with John the Baptist crying out in the desert (a lion roars in the desert); the ox, a sacrificial animal, stands for Luke, whose narrative begins in the Temple; the eagle, then, stands for John, whose narrative begins in Heaven with the eternal Word and who writes in a lofty style.
Lection
Psalm 146
Isaiah 52:7-10
2 Timothy 4:5-18
Mark 16:14-20
Collect
O almighty God, You have enriched Your Church with the proclamation of the Gospel through the evangelist Mark. Grant that we may firmly believe these glad tidings and daily walk according to Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Technorati Tags: Saint Mark | St. Mark | Mark | winged lion | evangelist | Jesus | Jesus Christ | Christ | Nazareth | Church Year | liturgical calendar | Christianity | Christian feasts | biography | hagiography | historical theology | Church history | Bible history | New Testament | Gospel ¶ 00:01 | 2 comments |
The book of Acts mentions a Mark, or John Mark, later called a kinsman of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10). The house of his mother Mary was a meeting place for Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12). When Paul and Barnabas, who had been in Antioch, came to Jerusalem, they brought Mark back to Antioch with them (12:25), and he accompanied them on their first missionary journey (13:5), but left them prematurely and returned to Jerusalem (13:13).When Paul and Barnabas were about to set out on a second missionary journey, Barnabas proposed to take Mark, but Paul thought him unreliable, so that eventually Barnabas made one journey taking Mark, and Paul another journey taking Silas (15:36-40). Mark is not mentioned again in Acts. However, it appears that he became more reliable, for Paul mentions him as a trusted assistant in Colossians 4:10 and again in 2 Timothy 4:11.
The Apostle Peter had a co-worker whom he refers to as "my son Mark" (1 Peter 5:13). Papias, an early second century writer, in describing the origins of the Gospels, tells us that Mark was the "interpreter" of Peter, and that he wrote down ("but not in order") the stories that he had heard Peter tell in his preaching about the life and teachings of Jesus. Debate continues as to the veracity of some of Papias' records, but this one is considered genuine by many scholars.
The Gospel According to Saint Mark, in describing the arrest of Jesus (14:43-52), speaks of a young man who followed the arresting party, wearing only a linen cloth wrapped around his body, whom the arresting party tried to seize, but who left the cloth in their hands and fled naked. Many think that this young man was the writer himself, since the detail is hardly worth mentioning if he were not.
Tradition holds that after Peter's death, Mark left Rome and went to preach in Alexandria, Egypt, where he was eventually martyred.
It is natural to identify the John Mark of Acts with the Gospel-writer and interpreter of Peter, and this identification is standard in liturgical references to Mark. However, "Mark" is the commonest of Latin first names, and they may well have been separate people.
Mark's symbol in Christian art is a often a lion, usually winged. In Revelation 4 and throughout much of his vision, John sees about the throne of God four winged creatures — a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle. (Compare with the beings in Ezekiel 1 and 10.) Custom supposes that these represent the four Gospels or the four Evangelists (Gospel-writers).
One way to match the creatures with the Evangelists is to say that the man stands for Matthew, whose narrative begins with the human genealogy of Jesus and who often quotes Christ speaking of Himself as "the Son of Man"; the lion stands for Mark, whose narrative begins with John the Baptist crying out in the desert (a lion roars in the desert); the ox, a sacrificial animal, stands for Luke, whose narrative begins in the Temple; the eagle, then, stands for John, whose narrative begins in Heaven with the eternal Word and who writes in a lofty style.
Lection
Psalm 146
Isaiah 52:7-10
2 Timothy 4:5-18
Mark 16:14-20
Collect
O almighty God, You have enriched Your Church with the proclamation of the Gospel through the evangelist Mark. Grant that we may firmly believe these glad tidings and daily walk according to Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Technorati Tags: Saint Mark | St. Mark | Mark | winged lion | evangelist | Jesus | Jesus Christ | Christ | Nazareth | Church Year | liturgical calendar | Christianity | Christian feasts | biography | hagiography | historical theology | Church history | Bible history | New Testament | Gospel ¶ 00:01 | 2 comments |
24 April 2007
+ Johann Walter, Kantor +
24 April AD 1570
Johann Walter (also Johannes Walther) was born in 1496 and began serving at the age of 21 as a composer and bass singer in the court chapel of Frederick the Wise. In 1524, he published a collection of hymns arranged according to the church year. It was well received and served as the model for numerous subsequent hymnals.
In addition to serving for 30 years as kantor (church musician and choir director) in the cities of Torgau and Dresden, he also assisted Martin Luther in the preparation of the Deutsche Messe of 1526, a setting of the Liturgy to hymns in the German language.
Walter is remembered as the first Lutheran kantor and composer of church music. Among his most cherished works is Der Bräut'gam wird bald rufen (The Bridegroom Soon Will Call Us). Information on Walter, including some texts and music samples, may also be found through Hymnuts, Here of a Sunday Morning, and the Cyber Hymnal.
NB: Do not confuse this Johann Walter, whose output was largely hymns and other church music with the later Johann Jakob Walther (1650 - 1717), a Baroque composer best known for his violin works, or with Johann Gottfried Walther (1684 - 1748), also from the Baroque Period, who was a church organist and composer.
Technorati Tags: Johann Walter | Johannes Walther | composer | Martin Luther | liturgical theology | Lutheran | music | kantor | hymnody | Church Year | liturgical calendar | Christianity | biography | hagiography | historical theology | Church history | European history | German history | Reformation history ¶ 00:01 | 0 comments |
Johann Walter (also Johannes Walther) was born in 1496 and began serving at the age of 21 as a composer and bass singer in the court chapel of Frederick the Wise. In 1524, he published a collection of hymns arranged according to the church year. It was well received and served as the model for numerous subsequent hymnals.In addition to serving for 30 years as kantor (church musician and choir director) in the cities of Torgau and Dresden, he also assisted Martin Luther in the preparation of the Deutsche Messe of 1526, a setting of the Liturgy to hymns in the German language.
Walter is remembered as the first Lutheran kantor and composer of church music. Among his most cherished works is Der Bräut'gam wird bald rufen (The Bridegroom Soon Will Call Us). Information on Walter, including some texts and music samples, may also be found through Hymnuts, Here of a Sunday Morning, and the Cyber Hymnal.
NB: Do not confuse this Johann Walter, whose output was largely hymns and other church music with the later Johann Jakob Walther (1650 - 1717), a Baroque composer best known for his violin works, or with Johann Gottfried Walther (1684 - 1748), also from the Baroque Period, who was a church organist and composer.
Technorati Tags: Johann Walter | Johannes Walther | composer | Martin Luther | liturgical theology | Lutheran | music | kantor | hymnody | Church Year | liturgical calendar | Christianity | biography | hagiography | historical theology | Church history | European history | German history | Reformation history ¶ 00:01 | 0 comments |
22 April 2007
Live From Japan
... it's the forty-eighth edition of the Lutheran Carnival of Blogs. Thanks to the chaplain for a job well done and thanks to all who dropped by the Alley over the past fortnight to check out Carny 47.
Technorati Tags: Lutheran Carnival | blog carnival | Lutheran | confessional Lutheran | Living Sermons | Aardvark Alley ¶ 23:37 | 0 comments |
... it's the forty-eighth edition of the Lutheran Carnival of Blogs. Thanks to the chaplain for a job well done and thanks to all who dropped by the Alley over the past fortnight to check out Carny 47.
Technorati Tags: Lutheran Carnival | blog carnival | Lutheran | confessional Lutheran | Living Sermons | Aardvark Alley ¶ 23:37 | 0 comments |
21 April 2007
+ Anselm of Canterbury +
21 April AD 1109
Known as the father of medieval Scholasticism, Anselm was born in Italy in 1033. Most closely associated with England, he first served as prior and abbot of the Benedictine Abbey in Bec, Normandy, later becoming Archbishop of Canterbury for many years.
A brilliant scholar and writer who loved the works and followed in the way of Augustine, Anselm used his political skills with the British kings on behalf of the established Christian Church, affirming that it is the leadership of the Church and not the state which has the responsibility of establishing structure and maintaining order among the clergy.
Anselm's book Cur Deus homo (Why God Became Man) expresses his thoughts on Christ's atonement and taught that the reason for the incarnation was that Jesus, the Son of God, would suffer and die in place of sinners. His Monologium shows the beginnings of his ontological argument for the existence of God. He further developed this philosophical argument in the Proslogion (also spelled Proslogium).
He was canonized in 1494 by Pope Alexander VI.
More at the Christian Cyclopedia, Wikipedia, and James Kiefer's Hagiographies.
Lection
Psalm 139:1-9 or 37:3-6,32-33
Romans 5:1-11
Matthew 11:25-30
Collect
Almighty God, who raised up Your servant Anselm to teach the Church of his day to understand its faith in Your eternal Being, perfect justice, and saving mercy, provide Your Church in every age with devout and learned scholars and teachers, that we may be able to give a reason for the hope that is in us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Technorati Tags: Saint Anselm of Canterbury | Saint Anselm | St. Anselm | Anselm | Archbishop of Canterbury | Scholasticism | ontological argument | atonement | Christology | dogmatics | apologetics | systematic theology | Incarnation | Cur deus homo | Why God Became Man | Church Year | liturgical calendar | Christianity | Christian feasts | biography | hagiography | historical theology | Church history | European history | English history | British history ¶ 00:01 | 0 comments |
Known as the father of medieval Scholasticism, Anselm was born in Italy in 1033. Most closely associated with England, he first served as prior and abbot of the Benedictine Abbey in Bec, Normandy, later becoming Archbishop of Canterbury for many years.A brilliant scholar and writer who loved the works and followed in the way of Augustine, Anselm used his political skills with the British kings on behalf of the established Christian Church, affirming that it is the leadership of the Church and not the state which has the responsibility of establishing structure and maintaining order among the clergy.
Anselm's book Cur Deus homo (Why God Became Man) expresses his thoughts on Christ's atonement and taught that the reason for the incarnation was that Jesus, the Son of God, would suffer and die in place of sinners. His Monologium shows the beginnings of his ontological argument for the existence of God. He further developed this philosophical argument in the Proslogion (also spelled Proslogium).
He was canonized in 1494 by Pope Alexander VI.
More at the Christian Cyclopedia, Wikipedia, and James Kiefer's Hagiographies.
Lection
Psalm 139:1-9 or 37:3-6,32-33
Romans 5:1-11
Matthew 11:25-30
Collect
Almighty God, who raised up Your servant Anselm to teach the Church of his day to understand its faith in Your eternal Being, perfect justice, and saving mercy, provide Your Church in every age with devout and learned scholars and teachers, that we may be able to give a reason for the hope that is in us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Technorati Tags: Saint Anselm of Canterbury | Saint Anselm | St. Anselm | Anselm | Archbishop of Canterbury | Scholasticism | ontological argument | atonement | Christology | dogmatics | apologetics | systematic theology | Incarnation | Cur deus homo | Why God Became Man | Church Year | liturgical calendar | Christianity | Christian feasts | biography | hagiography | historical theology | Church history | European history | English history | British history ¶ 00:01 | 0 comments |
20 April 2007
Angels on the Headboard
Coming Soon in a Bedroom Near You?
Planned Parenthood Golden Gate released a press release accompanying its newest television commercial (see below). The group's chaplain admits that PP chose to use strong Christian symbolism in order to appeal to young people whose values may be influenced by religion.
Probably none of us is surprised at a media campaign that portrays angels completely differently than does Holy Scripture. It's a Wonderful Life ... Highway to Heaven ... Touched by an Angel ... Constantine ... each of these and many other productions feature angels as wax noses twisted into bizarre, unbiblical shapes by human "artists." If our Creator isn't off limits to video blasphemy (Oh, God, Bruce Almighty, et al. ad nauseum), should we expect better treatment for any of His creatures?
Committed, Biblically aware Christians know full well that "Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14)" However, as profaning instances pile one upon another, our senses dull and our reactions diminish. Are there any teachable moments that parents might find with their teens who happen across this commercial? (Although, since it's only scheduled to run on MTV, VH1 and FX, I could think of one sure-fire way to limit exposure.)
There are times during motion pictures, TV shows, or commercials that I'm watching with Little Aard when I'll turn to her and ask, "Which of the Commandments does this invite or encourage you to break?" If we're at home and not worried about disturbing folks seated around us, I also may ask her, "Can you recast what you've witnessed in a positive, Christian light?" If we view this commercial together, I wonder if the second question won't render her speechless.
Check out how Dawn Eden responded to this sleaze at The Dawn Patrol.
Technorati Tags: sex | sexuality | angels | angelology | Planned Parenthood | condoms | blasphemy | promiscuity | Lutheran | Christian | television | TV | advertising | motion pictures | film | Oh, God! | Bruce Almighty | It's a Wonderful Life | Highway to Heaven | Touched by an Angel | Constantine | Dawn Eden | The Dawn Patrol ¶ 11:08 | 1 comments |
Planned Parenthood Golden Gate released a press release accompanying its newest television commercial (see below). The group's chaplain admits that PP chose to use strong Christian symbolism in order to appeal to young people whose values may be influenced by religion.
Probably none of us is surprised at a media campaign that portrays angels completely differently than does Holy Scripture. It's a Wonderful Life ... Highway to Heaven ... Touched by an Angel ... Constantine ... each of these and many other productions feature angels as wax noses twisted into bizarre, unbiblical shapes by human "artists." If our Creator isn't off limits to video blasphemy (Oh, God, Bruce Almighty, et al. ad nauseum), should we expect better treatment for any of His creatures?
Committed, Biblically aware Christians know full well that "Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14)" However, as profaning instances pile one upon another, our senses dull and our reactions diminish. Are there any teachable moments that parents might find with their teens who happen across this commercial? (Although, since it's only scheduled to run on MTV, VH1 and FX, I could think of one sure-fire way to limit exposure.)
There are times during motion pictures, TV shows, or commercials that I'm watching with Little Aard when I'll turn to her and ask, "Which of the Commandments does this invite or encourage you to break?" If we're at home and not worried about disturbing folks seated around us, I also may ask her, "Can you recast what you've witnessed in a positive, Christian light?" If we view this commercial together, I wonder if the second question won't render her speechless.
Check out how Dawn Eden responded to this sleaze at The Dawn Patrol.
Technorati Tags: sex | sexuality | angels | angelology | Planned Parenthood | condoms | blasphemy | promiscuity | Lutheran | Christian | television | TV | advertising | motion pictures | film | Oh, God! | Bruce Almighty | It's a Wonderful Life | Highway to Heaven | Touched by an Angel | Constantine | Dawn Eden | The Dawn Patrol ¶ 11:08 | 1 comments |
+ Johannes Bugenhagen +
20 April AD 1558
Johannes Bugenhagen (1485-1558), from Pomerania in northern Germany. Because of his ancestral region, he took the Latin name Pomeranus and Martin Luther often called him "Doctor Pommer."
He was appointed pastor of Wittenberg in 1523 through the efforts of Luther and thus served as the reformer's pastor and confessor. One of the greatest scholars of the Reformation era, he helped translate the New Testament into Low German and wrote a commentary on the Psalms. He also worked to organize the Lutheran Church in northern Germany and Denmark, journeying to Copenhagen where he crowned both King and Queen and consecrated seven men to the offices of superintendent and bishop.
For those who think that their pastors preach too long, you share that complaint with Luther, who described Pomeranus' preaching as "whatever comes to mind," much like a maidservant chatting with another at the market. One story says that Luther recommended Bugenhagen cut his sermons in half and preach no more than an hour, lest all minds wander.
More information is available through the Christian Cyclopedia and Wikipedia.
Lection
Psalm 46
Isaiah 55:6-11
Romans 10:5-17
John 15:1-11
Collect
O Lord God, heavenly Father, who called Johannes Bugenhagen as pastor and confessor of the Faith, grant us faithful pastors in our time; pour our Your Holy Spirit on Your faithful people, keep them steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and comfort them in all temptation, defend them against all enemies of Your Word, and bestow on Christ's Church Militant Your saving peace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Technorati Tags: Bugenhagen | Docter Pommer | Pomeranus | Reformation | Lutheran Reformation | Martin Luther | Church history | historical theology | Lutheran | Lutheranism | German history | European history | Church Year | liturgical calendar | Christianity | Christian feasts | biography | hagiography ¶ 00:01 | 0 comments |
Johannes Bugenhagen (1485-1558), from Pomerania in northern Germany. Because of his ancestral region, he took the Latin name Pomeranus and Martin Luther often called him "Doctor Pommer."He was appointed pastor of Wittenberg in 1523 through the efforts of Luther and thus served as the reformer's pastor and confessor. One of the greatest scholars of the Reformation era, he helped translate the New Testament into Low German and wrote a commentary on the Psalms. He also worked to organize the Lutheran Church in northern Germany and Denmark, journeying to Copenhagen where he crowned both King and Queen and consecrated seven men to the offices of superintendent and bishop.
For those who think that their pastors preach too long, you share that complaint with Luther, who described Pomeranus' preaching as "whatever comes to mind," much like a maidservant chatting with another at the market. One story says that Luther recommended Bugenhagen cut his sermons in half and preach no more than an hour, lest all minds wander.
More information is available through the Christian Cyclopedia and Wikipedia.
Lection
Psalm 46
Isaiah 55:6-11
Romans 10:5-17
John 15:1-11
Collect
O Lord God, heavenly Father, who called Johannes Bugenhagen as pastor and confessor of the Faith, grant us faithful pastors in our time; pour our Your Holy Spirit on Your faithful people, keep them steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and comfort them in all temptation, defend them against all enemies of Your Word, and bestow on Christ's Church Militant Your saving peace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Technorati Tags: Bugenhagen | Docter Pommer | Pomeranus | Reformation | Lutheran Reformation | Martin Luther | Church history | historical theology | Lutheran | Lutheranism | German history | European history | Church Year | liturgical calendar | Christianity | Christian feasts | biography | hagiography ¶ 00:01 | 0 comments |
19 April 2007
And They Call Me Crazy!
A "Pro-Choice" Response to the VT Shootings
I was thinking about writing a brief comment concerning the killings at Virginia Tech, something along the lines of a recommendation that Americans be better trained in firearms safety and handling (i.e., real "gun control") and then allowed to carry weapons on their persons in nearly all places. After all, many of the places where armed criminal actions take place are currently off-limits to law-abiding gun carriers (e.g., schools and banks).
However, I got sidetracked when a link at Pro-Life Blogs led me from My Choice, His Life to a place called abortionclinicdays, wherein a self-proclaimed "abortion provider" quoted a rambling and senseless diatribe pinning a large amount of blame for current American violence upon "the anti abortion movement."
If this misguided killer of unborn babies truly wants to know how to stop the killings, perhaps s/he should examine all the blood upon the hands of American abortionists and then stare into the mirror and ask the person in the glass if maybe, just maybe the callousness of abortion rights people such as him/her hasn't desensitized the public against other hateful acts of violence beyond the slaughter of the unborn.
NB: I normally hate to link to places I find so reprehensible but thought that in this case, readers needed to view the entire text for themselves.
HT: My Choice, His Life, Pro-Life Blogs
Technorati Tags: abortion | anti abortion | pro-life | pro-choice | pro-abortion | Virginia Tech University | shootings | violence | gun violence ¶ 00:01 | 3 comments |
I was thinking about writing a brief comment concerning the killings at Virginia Tech, something along the lines of a recommendation that Americans be better trained in firearms safety and handling (i.e., real "gun control") and then allowed to carry weapons on their persons in nearly all places. After all, many of the places where armed criminal actions take place are currently off-limits to law-abiding gun carriers (e.g., schools and banks).
However, I got sidetracked when a link at Pro-Life Blogs led me from My Choice, His Life to a place called abortionclinicdays, wherein a self-proclaimed "abortion provider" quoted a rambling and senseless diatribe pinning a large amount of blame for current American violence upon "the anti abortion movement."
If this misguided killer of unborn babies truly wants to know how to stop the killings, perhaps s/he should examine all the blood upon the hands of American abortionists and then stare into the mirror and ask the person in the glass if maybe, just maybe the callousness of abortion rights people such as him/her hasn't desensitized the public against other hateful acts of violence beyond the slaughter of the unborn.
NB: I normally hate to link to places I find so reprehensible but thought that in this case, readers needed to view the entire text for themselves.
HT: My Choice, His Life, Pro-Life Blogs
Technorati Tags: abortion | anti abortion | pro-life | pro-choice | pro-abortion | Virginia Tech University | shootings | violence | gun violence ¶ 00:01 | 3 comments |
18 April 2007
Supremes Singing on the Babies' Side
High Court Upholds "Partial Birth" Abortion Ban
After Nebraska's ban was overturned by the Supreme Court, the U. S. Congress passed a 2003 law prohibiting this procedure. By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court today upheld the constitutionality of the nation's ban on so-called "partial birth" abortions. The court published its opinion, written by Justice Kennedy (joined by Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito), with a separate concurring opinion by Justice Thomas (joined by Justice Scalia) and a dissent by Justice Ginsberg (joined by Justices Souter, Stevens, and Breyer).
Opponents (and supporters — should any ever read this blog) of abortion would do well to read not only the majority opinion but also Thomas's brief but wider ranging concurrence and Ginsberg's lengthy diatribe against the rule of the court's majority.
Technorati Tags: abortion | partial birth abortion | pro-life | pro-choice | Supreme Court | SCOTUS | Constitution | United States Constitution ¶ 22:56 | 2 comments |
After Nebraska's ban was overturned by the Supreme Court, the U. S. Congress passed a 2003 law prohibiting this procedure. By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court today upheld the constitutionality of the nation's ban on so-called "partial birth" abortions. The court published its opinion, written by Justice Kennedy (joined by Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito), with a separate concurring opinion by Justice Thomas (joined by Justice Scalia) and a dissent by Justice Ginsberg (joined by Justices Souter, Stevens, and Breyer).Opponents (and supporters — should any ever read this blog) of abortion would do well to read not only the majority opinion but also Thomas's brief but wider ranging concurrence and Ginsberg's lengthy diatribe against the rule of the court's majority.
Technorati Tags: abortion | partial birth abortion | pro-life | pro-choice | Supreme Court | SCOTUS | Constitution | United States Constitution ¶ 22:56 | 2 comments |
17 April 2007
Freshening Up the BBOV
Spring Housecleaning and Restocking the Big Blogroll O' Vark®™©
For the first time since early March, we have an updated Big Blogroll O' Vark®™©. These probably aren't the only changes; it seems that each update brings one or more responses concerning adding, deleting, or changing a listing.
Now if you're not sure what to make of the BBOV or wonder about the benefits of being listed and of listing others' blogs, please read the first three links under Aurous Effluence in the sidebar. Those who'd like the Big Blogroll O' Vark®™© can either email me or copy the list from the Alley's source code (click View | Page Source or Control+U in Firefox or View | Source in Internet Explorer).
• OUT WITH THE OLD
The following folks no are no longer online or on the blogroll:
° The Lonely Way
° Looking Well to the Ways of the Household
° Nonpariel
° This Pastor's Wife
° Poor Miserable Sinner
° Proper Distinction
° Ruach
° Writ in Water
• REARRANGING THE FURNITURE
Here are some of the same old folks with brand new names or addresses:
° Confessing Evangelical (new URL)
° de ecclesia et liturgia (was On the Lutheran Church and Her Liturgy)
° Geek Spaces (new URL; was TheologyGeekBlog)
° Ryan's Blog: beati quorum via (new URL; was The Markel Family)
° Ten Days Faithful (was Blood and Water)
° Territorial Bloggings (new, shorter URL)
• IN WITH THE NEW
Now, please join me in granting a warm welcome to these new (or returning) members of our little troupe:
° Blonde Moment
° Cruising Down the Coast of the High Barbaree (Josh is back again!)
° Διαθηκη
° Esgetology
° Pastor Keith GeRue
° Lutheran Service Builder Development Team
° The Plucked Chicken
° Properly Speaking
° Render Unto Caesar
° The Wretch (Ruach's old owner has brand new digs)
Finally, we meet two whom I list among my "Other Blogs." While they're not children of Wittenberg, they're certainly both worthwhile reads.
° The Educational Tour Marm
° Theology Blogs
For these and all others enrolled in the BBOV, links back are certainly appreciated. And don't forget that all of those listed benefit when you use the entire blogroll. Also, if you'd like to graphically point to the Alley and the Big Blogroll O' Vark®™©, you may use the above design from St. Charles Place or one of these blog buttons:
Finally, if you own or know of a Lutheran blog demonstrating a quia confessional subscription and would like me to consider it for inclusion, please leave a comment. And again, for more information about why this stuff benefits confessional Lutheran blogging, morality, and other worthwhile endeavors, please check out the first three links under Aurous Effluence in the sidebar.
Technorati Tags: Aardvark Alley | Big Blogroll O' Vark | BBOV | blogroll | blog roll | Lutheran | confessional Lutheran ¶ 22:51 | 1 comments |
For the first time since early March, we have an updated Big Blogroll O' Vark®™©. These probably aren't the only changes; it seems that each update brings one or more responses concerning adding, deleting, or changing a listing.Now if you're not sure what to make of the BBOV or wonder about the benefits of being listed and of listing others' blogs, please read the first three links under Aurous Effluence in the sidebar. Those who'd like the Big Blogroll O' Vark®™© can either email me or copy the list from the Alley's source code (click View | Page Source or Control+U in Firefox or View | Source in Internet Explorer).
• OUT WITH THE OLD
The following folks no are no longer online or on the blogroll:
° The Lonely Way
° Looking Well to the Ways of the Household
° Nonpariel
° This Pastor's Wife
° Poor Miserable Sinner
° Proper Distinction
° Ruach
° Writ in Water
• REARRANGING THE FURNITURE
Here are some of the same old folks with brand new names or addresses:
° Confessing Evangelical (new URL)
° de ecclesia et liturgia (was On the Lutheran Church and Her Liturgy)
° Geek Spaces (new URL; was TheologyGeekBlog)
° Ryan's Blog: beati quorum via (new URL; was The Markel Family)
° Ten Days Faithful (was Blood and Water)
° Territorial Bloggings (new, shorter URL)
• IN WITH THE NEW
Now, please join me in granting a warm welcome to these new (or returning) members of our little troupe:
° Blonde Moment
° Cruising Down the Coast of the High Barbaree (Josh is back again!)
° Διαθηκη
° Esgetology
° Pastor Keith GeRue
° Lutheran Service Builder Development Team
° The Plucked Chicken
° Properly Speaking
° Render Unto Caesar
° The Wretch (Ruach's old owner has brand new digs)
Finally, we meet two whom I list among my "Other Blogs." While they're not children of Wittenberg, they're certainly both worthwhile reads.
° The Educational Tour Marm
° Theology Blogs
For these and all others enrolled in the BBOV, links back are certainly appreciated. And don't forget that all of those listed benefit when you use the entire blogroll. Also, if you'd like to graphically point to the Alley and the Big Blogroll O' Vark®™©, you may use the above design from St. Charles Place or one of these blog buttons:
Finally, if you own or know of a Lutheran blog demonstrating a quia confessional subscription and would like me to consider it for inclusion, please leave a comment. And again, for more information about why this stuff benefits confessional Lutheran blogging, morality, and other worthwhile endeavors, please check out the first three links under Aurous Effluence in the sidebar.
Technorati Tags: Aardvark Alley | Big Blogroll O' Vark | BBOV | blogroll | blog roll | Lutheran | confessional Lutheran ¶ 22:51 | 1 comments |
First, Do No Harm
The following essay is reprinted by permission from CAT 41 News.
"I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous."
So reads the ancient oath of Hippocrates, perhaps an enfleshment of what he advocated in his Epidemics, (Bk. I, Sect. XI): "As to diseases, make a habit of two things — to help, or at least to do no harm." To this end, all were made to "swear by Apollo the physician and Aesculapius, and Health, and All-heal, and all the gods and goddesses" to "keep this Oath and this stipulation."
One must wonder, "Why?" Why would such an oath be necessary when, surely, such is but common sense? Perhaps because, while it was more than two millennia later before Lord Acton would utter his famous dictum in a letter to Bishop Creighton, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," Hippocrates already understood this truth and sought to legislate against it among those who would hold such power over the human body as those would be trained in the art and science of medicine.
Luther writes in the Large Catechism that all must feel temptation, "although not all in the same manner, but some in a greater degree and more severely than others; as, the young suffer especially from the flesh, afterwards, they that attain to middle life and old age, from the world, but others who are occupied with spiritual matters, that is, strong Christians, from the devil." From this we see that those who are concerned with the health of the soul may well be more tempted — as they are more able — to do the greatest of harm by following things that 'seem right' to them without giving them (and their source) due consideration.
It is for this reason that we advocate a very reasoned approach be taken by all convention delegates ... that no issue be allowed to be a 'slam dunk', but all things be looked at thoroughly. It is unfortunate that the LCMS has remained with the antiquated system of circuit representation for its conventions (a system that was adopted because the synod grew too large to fit all the delegates into a church; with the use of convention centers, the LCMS could easily go back to the better representation of one pastor and one layman for each parish), and it is even more unfortunate that there are many things to be considered at the convention that aren't even released to the delegates until two months before the convention — and then, in a phonebook-sized volume. Slow and steady is the tone that such a convention must take, if it wishes to be faithful to God's Word and God's people.
Those who have succumbed to the demonic temptation of which Luther warns will call such a considerate process of dealing with resolutions "stalling," no doubt, or "obstructionism." When one considers the rapid decline of the LCMS in both membership and funding since the beginning of the Kieschnick presidency — a decline that is tied directly to the lack of fidelity to Holy Scripture seen in the Kieschnick administration and its approval of everything from gerrymandering to syncretism to continued violations of Romans 10 and Article XIV of the Augsburg Confession and the continued state of denial regarding that unfaithful Communion practices of an amazing number of LCMS pastors and parishes — shouldn't a faithful delegate's first obligation be to keep harm from being done by the rushing through of new error-ridden resolutions?
Since the Kieschnick administration has refused to "abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous," it is the duty of the delegates to 'put on the brakes' and enforce such abstinence for them. "The Synod" is not whatever the synodical president, the district presidents, and whomever else 'out there' or in St. Louis wants; it is the congregations and their pastors walking the same path together, the path of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions (not the demonic and worldly path of least resistance).
Technorati Tags: Martin Luther | Hippocrates | Gerald Kieschnick | Jerry Kieschnick | Lutheran | Lutheranism | The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod | LCMS | Christianity | church politics | convention | LCMS convention | Large Catechism | Augsburg Confession | church polity | theology | practical theology ¶ 15:08 | 0 comments |
The following essay is reprinted by permission from CAT 41 News.
"I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous."So reads the ancient oath of Hippocrates, perhaps an enfleshment of what he advocated in his Epidemics, (Bk. I, Sect. XI): "As to diseases, make a habit of two things — to help, or at least to do no harm." To this end, all were made to "swear by Apollo the physician and Aesculapius, and Health, and All-heal, and all the gods and goddesses" to "keep this Oath and this stipulation."
One must wonder, "Why?" Why would such an oath be necessary when, surely, such is but common sense? Perhaps because, while it was more than two millennia later before Lord Acton would utter his famous dictum in a letter to Bishop Creighton, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," Hippocrates already understood this truth and sought to legislate against it among those who would hold such power over the human body as those would be trained in the art and science of medicine.
Luther writes in the Large Catechism that all must feel temptation, "although not all in the same manner, but some in a greater degree and more severely than others; as, the young suffer especially from the flesh, afterwards, they that attain to middle life and old age, from the world, but others who are occupied with spiritual matters, that is, strong Christians, from the devil." From this we see that those who are concerned with the health of the soul may well be more tempted — as they are more able — to do the greatest of harm by following things that 'seem right' to them without giving them (and their source) due consideration.It is for this reason that we advocate a very reasoned approach be taken by all convention delegates ... that no issue be allowed to be a 'slam dunk', but all things be looked at thoroughly. It is unfortunate that the LCMS has remained with the antiquated system of circuit representation for its conventions (a system that was adopted because the synod grew too large to fit all the delegates into a church; with the use of convention centers, the LCMS could easily go back to the better representation of one pastor and one layman for each parish), and it is even more unfortunate that there are many things to be considered at the convention that aren't even released to the delegates until two months before the convention — and then, in a phonebook-sized volume. Slow and steady is the tone that such a convention must take, if it wishes to be faithful to God's Word and God's people.
Those who have succumbed to the demonic temptation of which Luther warns will call such a considerate process of dealing with resolutions "stalling," no doubt, or "obstructionism." When one considers the rapid decline of the LCMS in both membership and funding since the beginning of the Kieschnick presidency — a decline that is tied directly to the lack of fidelity to Holy Scripture seen in the Kieschnick administration and its approval of everything from gerrymandering to syncretism to continued violations of Romans 10 and Article XIV of the Augsburg Confession and the continued state of denial regarding that unfaithful Communion practices of an amazing number of LCMS pastors and parishes — shouldn't a faithful delegate's first obligation be to keep harm from being done by the rushing through of new error-ridden resolutions?Since the Kieschnick administration has refused to "abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous," it is the duty of the delegates to 'put on the brakes' and enforce such abstinence for them. "The Synod" is not whatever the synodical president, the district presidents, and whomever else 'out there' or in St. Louis wants; it is the congregations and their pastors walking the same path together, the path of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions (not the demonic and worldly path of least resistance).
Technorati Tags: Martin Luther | Hippocrates | Gerald Kieschnick | Jerry Kieschnick | Lutheran | Lutheranism | The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod | LCMS | Christianity | church politics | convention | LCMS convention | Large Catechism | Augsburg Confession | church polity | theology | practical theology ¶ 15:08 | 0 comments |
Five Blogs That Make Me Think
Yeah, I've said previously that I don't ordinarily do tags and memes. That general position still stands — but ...
You see, The Rebellious Pastor's Wife resorted to flattery by laying a new meme on me. After being granted a Thinking Blogger Award, she wrote a post tagging five more bloggers who challenge her cranial capacity. Now it's my turn to pass the honor on to five others deserving of this accolade (more deserving, I should hope, than am I).
By naming a few of my favorites, the RPW took away a tiny bit of the turmoil I feel in paring down a rather long "short list" to a mere five blogs. There are several fine candidates just on the BBOV, as well as many others I read at least occasionally. I hope that as this meme spreads, others of these will get their just desserts. Now here are my five nominations, in no particular order:
1. watersblogged! Bob Waters writes one of the first blogs I started reading regularly. Bright, well-read, and outspoken, I imagine there are very few topics about which Bob is uninformed.
2. Horn+Swoggled Music may be the food of love, but humor often rivals it as a tool for apologetics and polemics. David Brazeal's keen wit dissects many an offbeat religious story or trend, pushing ill-formed theology to its (il-) logical end.
3. Get Religion This collaborative effort manages to examine most of the breadth of American religious reporting by the mainstream media while still keeping its focus as watchdog and advocate for accurate portrayals of people and events in various religious vocations and organizations.
4. The Dawn Patrol Dawn Eden's travels from Judaism to Christianity make a splendid story. But then, Dawn's a splendid storyteller. Even if she didn't have her blog, you could profit mightily by reading her new book The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On.
5. Cranach Gene Edward Veith is one of the smartest people I know. He's so smart that he knows how to keep the rest of us from feeling dumb while educating us on any number of topics, especially vocation, religion, and associated societal issues.
UPDATE: The Heresy Hunter has also blessed me with this nomination, as has The Unknown Lutheran.
Technorati Tags: Thinking Blogger Award | Thinking Blogger Awards | blogging | awards | The Rebellious Pastor's Wife | the thinking blog | watersblogged! | Horn+Swoggled | Get Religion | The Dawn Patrol | Cranach | Aardvark Alley | meme | memes ¶ 00:05 | 0 comments |
Yeah, I've said previously that I don't ordinarily do tags and memes. That general position still stands — but ...
You see, The Rebellious Pastor's Wife resorted to flattery by laying a new meme on me. After being granted a Thinking Blogger Award, she wrote a post tagging five more bloggers who challenge her cranial capacity. Now it's my turn to pass the honor on to five others deserving of this accolade (more deserving, I should hope, than am I).By naming a few of my favorites, the RPW took away a tiny bit of the turmoil I feel in paring down a rather long "short list" to a mere five blogs. There are several fine candidates just on the BBOV, as well as many others I read at least occasionally. I hope that as this meme spreads, others of these will get their just desserts. Now here are my five nominations, in no particular order:
1. watersblogged! Bob Waters writes one of the first blogs I started reading regularly. Bright, well-read, and outspoken, I imagine there are very few topics about which Bob is uninformed.
2. Horn+Swoggled Music may be the food of love, but humor often rivals it as a tool for apologetics and polemics. David Brazeal's keen wit dissects many an offbeat religious story or trend, pushing ill-formed theology to its (il-) logical end.
3. Get Religion This collaborative effort manages to examine most of the breadth of American religious reporting by the mainstream media while still keeping its focus as watchdog and advocate for accurate portrayals of people and events in various religious vocations and organizations.
4. The Dawn Patrol Dawn Eden's travels from Judaism to Christianity make a splendid story. But then, Dawn's a splendid storyteller. Even if she didn't have her blog, you could profit mightily by reading her new book The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On.
5. Cranach Gene Edward Veith is one of the smartest people I know. He's so smart that he knows how to keep the rest of us from feeling dumb while educating us on any number of topics, especially vocation, religion, and associated societal issues.
UPDATE: The Heresy Hunter has also blessed me with this nomination, as has The Unknown Lutheran.
Technorati Tags: Thinking Blogger Award | Thinking Blogger Awards | blogging | awards | The Rebellious Pastor's Wife | the thinking blog | watersblogged! | Horn+Swoggled | Get Religion | The Dawn Patrol | Cranach | Aardvark Alley | meme | memes ¶ 00:05 | 0 comments |
16 April 2007
Lutheran Radicals Release Hostage Brits
Iowahawk Provides Exclusive Coverage
After earlier English efforts stalled, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi slipped out of Washington to negotiate with members of a radical extremist Lutheran faction. This group was holding sailors from the destroyer HMS Chamberlain hostage.
While news releases vary as to the legitimacy of the seizure, we know with a high degree of certitude that the sailors and marines had been facing a barbaric conditions during their imprisonment. Video previously released by the captors showed the plucky troops being forced to play pinball and consume pickled eggs and cold Pabst Blue Ribbon.
The report from Iowahawk includes a complete account of the hostage release. It also follows up on post-release British policy changes, pointing out how England will integrate a Midwest Studies module into its national multicultural education program.
Technorati Tags: Lutheran | midwest | British | English | England | Royal Navy | Royal Marines | humor | Nancy Pelosi ¶ 12:27 | 1 comments |
After earlier English efforts stalled, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi slipped out of Washington to negotiate with members of a radical extremist Lutheran faction. This group was holding sailors from the destroyer HMS Chamberlain hostage.While news releases vary as to the legitimacy of the seizure, we know with a high degree of certitude that the sailors and marines had been facing a barbaric conditions during their imprisonment. Video previously released by the captors showed the plucky troops being forced to play pinball and consume pickled eggs and cold Pabst Blue Ribbon.
The report from Iowahawk includes a complete account of the hostage release. It also follows up on post-release British policy changes, pointing out how England will integrate a Midwest Studies module into its national multicultural education program.
Technorati Tags: Lutheran | midwest | British | English | England | Royal Navy | Royal Marines | humor | Nancy Pelosi ¶ 12:27 | 1 comments |
08 April 2007
The Fast Ends, The Carnival Begins Anew
Welcome to the 47th Lutheran Carnival of Blogs
Dan @ Necessary Roughness broke an internal tie by suggesting that I feature "unknown" Lutheran Rosa Young. She's one of a couple people I'd been wavering among and Dan was so kind as to include an excerpt from Wallace Schulz that I reproduce here in lieu of doing any more original research with a brain still reeling from Holy Week and Paschal preparations and preaching.
Rosa Young
What our LCMS so desperately needs at the moment, both pastors and people, is a decisive dose of humility as shown by the pioneer black woman, Rosa Young. A century ago, in Alabama, Rosa Young sought help from a variety of church and secular groups to establish schools. After being repeatedly turned down, Rosa finally wrote to Booker T. Washington. Washington told Rosa to contact the Lutherans. She wrote to the LCMS mission board. They in turn sent a pastor who instructed Rosa Young in the historic, Bible-based, Christ-centered Lutheran faith.
Thereafter follows the most incredible story ever told in domestic LCMS missions. Rosa's story can be found, in her own words, in the 200-page paperback, Light in the Dark Belt, published first in 1930 and reprinted by CPH in 1950. God led Rosa Young to follow Jesus' Great Commission command to teach, and she built school after school. Through this first step via education, God used Rosa to establish church after church, all across Alabama, and even into other areas of the South. Her work was very, very hard, much harder than mission work is today. In addition to the physical hardships, she was bitterly opposed by other denominational leaders. She was always out of money. Yet, she soldiered on.
The devil might tempt us to believe that Rosa Young had greater and easier opportunity than we do today. This is not the case. Since historic LCMS's middle name is "education," anyone aware of the current desire many U.S. parents—black, white, Asian, and Hispanic—have for good schools knows our church's great potential. We don't have to look for a new missiology. Like Poe's purloined letter, it sits under our nose! Our history reveals effective missiology! We in the LCMS have a long tradition of responding to Jesus' words to go and "teach" as a way of reaching people with His Gospel.
NB: Rosa Young also merited brief mention in the Christian Cyclopedia.
And now, let us proceed with Lutheran Carnival XLVII. This edition's posts are divided into two categories. The first pertains to Lenten, Holy Week, or Easter related blogging, the second incorporates everything else.
A Week Plus of Holy Posting
In this seasonal section, we'll let the Weekend Fisher commence our carnival. Her sparkling Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength post Christ, Our Passover asks, "What's on the doorpost of your home?"
Dan takes note of the hymn Lamb of God Pure and Holy, as found in the Lutheran Service Book's Good Friday Chief Service. He compares the text to the TLH version and suggests it over "Were You There" for a Good Friday hymn.
I tried to do my part during the busy days of Holy Week. I didn't write something for each day but did do a bit on Palm Sunday and then meditated on Holy Saturday with God Rested.
Pastor Paul Siems is Not Alone. Not only is this his blog's title, it's also the knowledge that he's standing among other orthodox theologians in his three part Holy Week series consisting of The Necessity of Good Works and the Athanasian Creed, The Condemnation of the Law, and Thank God It's Friday!
Ranging from pre-Lenten flesh-fests to the Feast of the Lamb at Easter, Pastor Snyder produced a number of posts on feasting, fasting, and practicing the Faith from Ash Wednesday through the Resurrection of Our Lord. We'll note Shrove Tuesday and Jesus' Death for inclusion here but encourage you to read the entire series of articles posted this Holy Week at Ask the Pastor.
It may just be coincidence, but at The Burr in the Burgh, Pastor Stiegemeyer covers much of the same ground as he answers the question, Why Did Jesus Die on the Cross?
Confessing Evangelical John H. uses Luther's words and a high school senior's art as a reminder to Christians that The Cross Is Our Theology.
Good Friday at Cruce Tectum is a brief sermon by Pastor Krenz based on John 19 and Psalm 8:5.
Rev. Cwirla's Blogosphere brings Holy Thursday into remarkable focus, distilling the day's events down to its essentials, the very body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Euchrestos blesses us with homilies for the earlier days of Holy Week through his Sermon for Holy Monday and Sermon for Holy Tuesday.
Chris Rosebrough of Extreme Theology paid close attention to A Good Friday Sermon Preached by a Man with Downs Syndrome and took his words to heart.
Father Hollywood used a fair number of the appointed texts for the evening in Sermon: Easter Vigil and Baptism of Heather and Samantha Imbraguglio. He also does a good job of applying the "mandate" of our Lord to Christians living in the freedom of the Gospel through Sermon: Maundy Thursday.
Yes, Barabbas, You Are Free. So says Pastor Cornelius at Garden of Gethsemane.
Father Eckardt's Gottesblog is a sort of Miss Manners for the liturgy, yet it's also so much more. We see this clearly in the successive Easter posts Training for the Great Vigil and The Third Day.
Following on the heels of a Maundy Thursday discussion on the Lord's Supper at Issues, Etc., Der Bettler of Hoc Est Verum asked (and then answered) himself Who Receives the Body and Blood?
Pastor Alms of incarnatus est reveals just how alive our liturgical traditions are when we continue to practice them in Palm Sunday Is a Wonderful Day.
Pastor Brent Kuhlman offers all his preachments, including those from Palm Sunday through Easter Main Service.
Sweet Jesus! sums up the response at Madre's Missives to Cosimo Cavallaro's 200 pound chocolate sculpture of the crucified Christ that was set up in a gallery window for Holy Week.
Holy Baptism's intimate connection with The Easter Vigil anchors this post from Pastor Engebretson, the Northwoods Seelsorger.
Pastor Beisel (One Lutheran ... Ablog) wrote something that resonates with this Aardvark and probably a number of other Christians, clergy and laity alike Why I Hate Holy Week and Why I Love It.
"Preachrboy" Chryst of Preachrblog deconstructs a Typical Easter Hit Piece on Jesus from a USA Today article featuring prominent heretic Marcus Borg.
Seminarist Gillespie of the Outer Rim Territories confesses his Palm Sunday Confusion, an affliction I'm sure he shares with many others.
The Unknown Lutheran rambles long and hard, telling us More about Holy Thursday and Another Year of Good Friday Blues.
Pastor Christopher Esget, a new (and it's about time!) Lutheran blogger (Esgetology), exclaims of the Great Vigil, How Holy Is This Night!
Bob Waters' watersblogged! keeps me informed and entertained no matter the topic. Although religion is only a small part about which he writes, Bob always seems to put his best efforts into the theological topics, including Good Friday: The Most Important Day of the Church Year.
I imagine that Pastor Watt's Festival of the Resurrection sermon was even more powerful and compelling as he preached it than it is in written form at Watt's What.
Ryan Schroeder of What Did Jesus Do provided a great intro to Holy Week in his post Palm Sunday.
My good friend Pastor GeRue has taken to blogging. Among his initial posts we find this sermon, "The Gardener" John 20:10-18.
The Rest of the Best
Besides her seasonal thoughts, Weekend Fisher contributes another piece. Marius Victorinus and the Teachings of James introduces someone who was a respected figure in the early church who openly suggested that James' teachings on works might be heretical.
Deus Absconditus in Employment has Dan @ Necessary Roughness refuting Chuck Colson's argument that layoffs are non-Christian. He goes on to suggest that employment fluctuations can be the hidden God at work. He also discusses this proposition: Violence Exacerbated by "God Said So." Here, he takes to task a University of Michigan psychology study trying to prove Christians are more violent than non-Christians.
Random Intolerance ... Random Thoughts Dan shares some random stuff going through his mind, ranging from pop culture to sacramental theology and practice.
Random Dan also suggested that we include Most Hated Song from G. E. Veith's Cranach. As of the time I posted the carnival, this brief condemnation of Our God is an Awesome God had garnered 83 comments. After Dr. Veith's appetizer, I suggest that you dine on Sean Daenzer's meaty post A Response to a Friend's Class Discussion of Various Music Styles in the Church at Hot Lutheran on Lutheran Action.
Ritewinger, the Canadian owner of TheoCon, casts a jaundiced eye on Internet Rhetoric, decrying the degeneration of dialogue into religious flame wars when posters and commenters pile on the pejorative buzzwords.
She's not a Lutheran but has become a friend and fan of several Lutheran bloggers (and will be added to the BBOV's "Other Blogs" category in my next update). She's the Educational Tour Marm and she wrote the lights-out commentary on historical accuracy and revisionism The Baptism of Pocahontas: Capitol Offense Get It Right!
What do you do when your imaginary flight is pretend delayed for 4 hours? If you're the chaplain at Living Sermons, you seize the opportunity to discuss the practical application of Prayer Cards in ministry. In a much more lighthearted vein, he plugs the Lutheran Devotional Corner, discusses Flash video for sermons, and then introduces us to Mr. Soapy commercials.
How well Motivational Speaker Craig Harper sums up modern Excess: "When will we realise that we don't need 1,200 TV channels ... perhaps 600 is enough."
Pastor Klages contemplates burying the dead with a hand from everyone's favourite metaphysical poet in John Donne and Funerals at A Beggar at the Table.
If Jesus was Jewish, It Follows That ... CPA of Three Hierarchies picks up on counter-Christian revisionism and makes the case that He would definitely condemn homosexuality and other sinful sexual perversions.
We're not sure of the confession to which she belongs, but Weekend Fisher suggested and I concurred that Melinda's musings from Intellectuelle belong in the carnival. A Practical Guide to Prayer emphasizes Martin Luther's message to Peter the Barber on A Simple Way to Pray.
Some time ago, I took it upon myself to start regular commemorations of noted believers here at the Alley, paying special attention to the sanctorial calendar of the LCMS. Occasionally I step outside the boundaries of this rather exclusive list but never have I ranged farther than in my special April 1st pseudohagiography of Saint Fere Verus.
Ask the Pastor's only recent post not involving Holy Week concerns a basic question on Bible interpretation and exegetical theology. See how he responds to the query Old Testament: Mythical or Literal?
At Balaam's Ass, Timotheos discusses The Issue, Part II, an essay on the Law-Gospel polarity and the degraded and devalued use of the Law in current theological discussions.
J. Hansen decided to spend some of his time Cleaving the Darkness by commenting on Bumper Stickers.
Does God Disco? See what The Crazy Lutheran says about yet another hymn from the new ELCA hymnal.
Rick Ritchie of Daylight went to the movies and came back with the essay Spartans and Christians, inspired by the 300.
Luther at the Movies marvels in finding at least one instance of A Pro-Life House.
Christopher Heren opens Mother Hubbard's Cupboard to us On the Eve of Brother Tagge's Chrismation and examines the faults and weaknesses in Eastern Orthodoxy and Missouri Synod Lutheranism.
Old School Confessional plants his tongue in his cheek (or, perhaps, his keyboard) before going off on his rant, Sin. It's Not the Problem it Used to Be.
Pastor Petersen of CyberStones wrote a thoughtful column on Infant Communion that attracted a wide range of comments.
With Goodbye to Girlhood, Father Hollywood studies how "cable TV, the internet, absentee parenthood ... and peer pressure" force young people to "grow up" before they are truly mature.
Give Me That Ol' Time Religion may be a "sappy, simplistic" song but it provided St. James the Hoosier ample fodder for confessing the Christian faith.
As part of an ongoing discussion with people holding different confessions, Edward Reiss, the Upstate Lutheran, ponders the question, Justification, Is It Just Forensic?
Several bloggers have recently linked to or quoted Wallace Schulz's essay The LCMS Its Past and Future. However, few have added more than their own "Amen" to his words. The best brief analysis and commentary I've seen so far comes from watersblogged!, where Bob Waters writes The LCMS Past, Present, and Possibly Future in a Nutshell.
Finally, thanks again to Jay Winters for hosting the previous carnival and thanks to all who visit the Alley and go forth to read the offerings of the current carny.
Technorati Tags: Lutheran Carnival | blog carnival | Lutheran | confessional Lutheran | Aardvark Alley ¶ 23:43 | 6 comments |
Dan @ Necessary Roughness broke an internal tie by suggesting that I feature "unknown" Lutheran Rosa Young. She's one of a couple people I'd been wavering among and Dan was so kind as to include an excerpt from Wallace Schulz that I reproduce here in lieu of doing any more original research with a brain still reeling from Holy Week and Paschal preparations and preaching.
Rosa Young
What our LCMS so desperately needs at the moment, both pastors and people, is a decisive dose of humility as shown by the pioneer black woman, Rosa Young. A century ago, in Alabama, Rosa Young sought help from a variety of church and secular groups to establish schools. After being repeatedly turned down, Rosa finally wrote to Booker T. Washington. Washington told Rosa to contact the Lutherans. She wrote to the LCMS mission board. They in turn sent a pastor who instructed Rosa Young in the historic, Bible-based, Christ-centered Lutheran faith.
Thereafter follows the most incredible story ever told in domestic LCMS missions. Rosa's story can be found, in her own words, in the 200-page paperback, Light in the Dark Belt, published first in 1930 and reprinted by CPH in 1950. God led Rosa Young to follow Jesus' Great Commission command to teach, and she built school after school. Through this first step via education, God used Rosa to establish church after church, all across Alabama, and even into other areas of the South. Her work was very, very hard, much harder than mission work is today. In addition to the physical hardships, she was bitterly opposed by other denominational leaders. She was always out of money. Yet, she soldiered on.The devil might tempt us to believe that Rosa Young had greater and easier opportunity than we do today. This is not the case. Since historic LCMS's middle name is "education," anyone aware of the current desire many U.S. parents—black, white, Asian, and Hispanic—have for good schools knows our church's great potential. We don't have to look for a new missiology. Like Poe's purloined letter, it sits under our nose! Our history reveals effective missiology! We in the LCMS have a long tradition of responding to Jesus' words to go and "teach" as a way of reaching people with His Gospel.
NB: Rosa Young also merited brief mention in the Christian Cyclopedia.
And now, let us proceed with Lutheran Carnival XLVII. This edition's posts are divided into two categories. The first pertains to Lenten, Holy Week, or Easter related blogging, the second incorporates everything else.
A Week Plus of Holy Posting
In this seasonal section, we'll let the Weekend Fisher commence our carnival. Her sparkling Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength post Christ, Our Passover asks, "What's on the doorpost of your home?"Dan takes note of the hymn Lamb of God Pure and Holy, as found in the Lutheran Service Book's Good Friday Chief Service. He compares the text to the TLH version and suggests it over "Were You There" for a Good Friday hymn.
I tried to do my part during the busy days of Holy Week. I didn't write something for each day but did do a bit on Palm Sunday and then meditated on Holy Saturday with God Rested.
Pastor Paul Siems is Not Alone. Not only is this his blog's title, it's also the knowledge that he's standing among other orthodox theologians in his three part Holy Week series consisting of The Necessity of Good Works and the Athanasian Creed, The Condemnation of the Law, and Thank God It's Friday!
Ranging from pre-Lenten flesh-fests to the Feast of the Lamb at Easter, Pastor Snyder produced a number of posts on feasting, fasting, and practicing the Faith from Ash Wednesday through the Resurrection of Our Lord. We'll note Shrove Tuesday and Jesus' Death for inclusion here but encourage you to read the entire series of articles posted this Holy Week at Ask the Pastor.
It may just be coincidence, but at The Burr in the Burgh, Pastor Stiegemeyer covers much of the same ground as he answers the question, Why Did Jesus Die on the Cross?
Confessing Evangelical John H. uses Luther's words and a high school senior's art as a reminder to Christians that The Cross Is Our Theology.
Good Friday at Cruce Tectum is a brief sermon by Pastor Krenz based on John 19 and Psalm 8:5.Rev. Cwirla's Blogosphere brings Holy Thursday into remarkable focus, distilling the day's events down to its essentials, the very body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Euchrestos blesses us with homilies for the earlier days of Holy Week through his Sermon for Holy Monday and Sermon for Holy Tuesday.
Chris Rosebrough of Extreme Theology paid close attention to A Good Friday Sermon Preached by a Man with Downs Syndrome and took his words to heart.
Father Hollywood used a fair number of the appointed texts for the evening in Sermon: Easter Vigil and Baptism of Heather and Samantha Imbraguglio. He also does a good job of applying the "mandate" of our Lord to Christians living in the freedom of the Gospel through Sermon: Maundy Thursday.
Yes, Barabbas, You Are Free. So says Pastor Cornelius at Garden of Gethsemane.
Father Eckardt's Gottesblog is a sort of Miss Manners for the liturgy, yet it's also so much more. We see this clearly in the successive Easter posts Training for the Great Vigil and The Third Day.
Following on the heels of a Maundy Thursday discussion on the Lord's Supper at Issues, Etc., Der Bettler of Hoc Est Verum asked (and then answered) himself Who Receives the Body and Blood?
Pastor Alms of incarnatus est reveals just how alive our liturgical traditions are when we continue to practice them in Palm Sunday Is a Wonderful Day.
Pastor Brent Kuhlman offers all his preachments, including those from Palm Sunday through Easter Main Service.
Sweet Jesus! sums up the response at Madre's Missives to Cosimo Cavallaro's 200 pound chocolate sculpture of the crucified Christ that was set up in a gallery window for Holy Week.
Holy Baptism's intimate connection with The Easter Vigil anchors this post from Pastor Engebretson, the Northwoods Seelsorger.
Pastor Beisel (One Lutheran ... Ablog) wrote something that resonates with this Aardvark and probably a number of other Christians, clergy and laity alike Why I Hate Holy Week and Why I Love It.
"Preachrboy" Chryst of Preachrblog deconstructs a Typical Easter Hit Piece on Jesus from a USA Today article featuring prominent heretic Marcus Borg.Seminarist Gillespie of the Outer Rim Territories confesses his Palm Sunday Confusion, an affliction I'm sure he shares with many others.
The Unknown Lutheran rambles long and hard, telling us More about Holy Thursday and Another Year of Good Friday Blues.
Pastor Christopher Esget, a new (and it's about time!) Lutheran blogger (Esgetology), exclaims of the Great Vigil, How Holy Is This Night!
Bob Waters' watersblogged! keeps me informed and entertained no matter the topic. Although religion is only a small part about which he writes, Bob always seems to put his best efforts into the theological topics, including Good Friday: The Most Important Day of the Church Year.
I imagine that Pastor Watt's Festival of the Resurrection sermon was even more powerful and compelling as he preached it than it is in written form at Watt's What.
Ryan Schroeder of What Did Jesus Do provided a great intro to Holy Week in his post Palm Sunday.
My good friend Pastor GeRue has taken to blogging. Among his initial posts we find this sermon, "The Gardener" John 20:10-18.
The Rest of the Best
Besides her seasonal thoughts, Weekend Fisher contributes another piece. Marius Victorinus and the Teachings of James introduces someone who was a respected figure in the early church who openly suggested that James' teachings on works might be heretical.
Deus Absconditus in Employment has Dan @ Necessary Roughness refuting Chuck Colson's argument that layoffs are non-Christian. He goes on to suggest that employment fluctuations can be the hidden God at work. He also discusses this proposition: Violence Exacerbated by "God Said So." Here, he takes to task a University of Michigan psychology study trying to prove Christians are more violent than non-Christians.
Random Intolerance ... Random Thoughts Dan shares some random stuff going through his mind, ranging from pop culture to sacramental theology and practice.
Random Dan also suggested that we include Most Hated Song from G. E. Veith's Cranach. As of the time I posted the carnival, this brief condemnation of Our God is an Awesome God had garnered 83 comments. After Dr. Veith's appetizer, I suggest that you dine on Sean Daenzer's meaty post A Response to a Friend's Class Discussion of Various Music Styles in the Church at Hot Lutheran on Lutheran Action.
Ritewinger, the Canadian owner of TheoCon, casts a jaundiced eye on Internet Rhetoric, decrying the degeneration of dialogue into religious flame wars when posters and commenters pile on the pejorative buzzwords.
She's not a Lutheran but has become a friend and fan of several Lutheran bloggers (and will be added to the BBOV's "Other Blogs" category in my next update). She's the Educational Tour Marm and she wrote the lights-out commentary on historical accuracy and revisionism The Baptism of Pocahontas: Capitol Offense Get It Right!What do you do when your imaginary flight is pretend delayed for 4 hours? If you're the chaplain at Living Sermons, you seize the opportunity to discuss the practical application of Prayer Cards in ministry. In a much more lighthearted vein, he plugs the Lutheran Devotional Corner, discusses Flash video for sermons, and then introduces us to Mr. Soapy commercials.
How well Motivational Speaker Craig Harper sums up modern Excess: "When will we realise that we don't need 1,200 TV channels ... perhaps 600 is enough."
Pastor Klages contemplates burying the dead with a hand from everyone's favourite metaphysical poet in John Donne and Funerals at A Beggar at the Table.
If Jesus was Jewish, It Follows That ... CPA of Three Hierarchies picks up on counter-Christian revisionism and makes the case that He would definitely condemn homosexuality and other sinful sexual perversions.
We're not sure of the confession to which she belongs, but Weekend Fisher suggested and I concurred that Melinda's musings from Intellectuelle belong in the carnival. A Practical Guide to Prayer emphasizes Martin Luther's message to Peter the Barber on A Simple Way to Pray.
Some time ago, I took it upon myself to start regular commemorations of noted believers here at the Alley, paying special attention to the sanctorial calendar of the LCMS. Occasionally I step outside the boundaries of this rather exclusive list but never have I ranged farther than in my special April 1st pseudohagiography of Saint Fere Verus.
Ask the Pastor's only recent post not involving Holy Week concerns a basic question on Bible interpretation and exegetical theology. See how he responds to the query Old Testament: Mythical or Literal?At Balaam's Ass, Timotheos discusses The Issue, Part II, an essay on the Law-Gospel polarity and the degraded and devalued use of the Law in current theological discussions.
J. Hansen decided to spend some of his time Cleaving the Darkness by commenting on Bumper Stickers.
Does God Disco? See what The Crazy Lutheran says about yet another hymn from the new ELCA hymnal.
Rick Ritchie of Daylight went to the movies and came back with the essay Spartans and Christians, inspired by the 300.
Luther at the Movies marvels in finding at least one instance of A Pro-Life House.
Christopher Heren opens Mother Hubbard's Cupboard to us On the Eve of Brother Tagge's Chrismation and examines the faults and weaknesses in Eastern Orthodoxy and Missouri Synod Lutheranism.
Old School Confessional plants his tongue in his cheek (or, perhaps, his keyboard) before going off on his rant, Sin. It's Not the Problem it Used to Be.
Pastor Petersen of CyberStones wrote a thoughtful column on Infant Communion that attracted a wide range of comments.
With Goodbye to Girlhood, Father Hollywood studies how "cable TV, the internet, absentee parenthood ... and peer pressure" force young people to "grow up" before they are truly mature.Give Me That Ol' Time Religion may be a "sappy, simplistic" song but it provided St. James the Hoosier ample fodder for confessing the Christian faith.
As part of an ongoing discussion with people holding different confessions, Edward Reiss, the Upstate Lutheran, ponders the question, Justification, Is It Just Forensic?
Several bloggers have recently linked to or quoted Wallace Schulz's essay The LCMS Its Past and Future. However, few have added more than their own "Amen" to his words. The best brief analysis and commentary I've seen so far comes from watersblogged!, where Bob Waters writes The LCMS Past, Present, and Possibly Future in a Nutshell.
Finally, thanks again to Jay Winters for hosting the previous carnival and thanks to all who visit the Alley and go forth to read the offerings of the current carny.
Technorati Tags: Lutheran Carnival | blog carnival | Lutheran | confessional Lutheran | Aardvark Alley ¶ 23:43 | 6 comments |
07 April 2007
God Rested
"On the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. (Genesis 2:2 ESV)"
Ask the Pastor posted last year on Christ's Sabbath in the tomb as He moved from His state of humiliation into His eternal exaltation at the right hand of the Father. We anticipate with quiet joy the first celebration of His resurrection during tonight's Vigil and, should God allow us the morrow, the fullness of the Feast of the Resurrection in Scripture, sermon, psalms, prayers, and hymns of gladness.
The Holy Gospel
"When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
"Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, 'Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, "After three days I will rise." Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, "He has risen from the dead," and the last fraud will be worse than the first.' Pilate said to them, 'You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.' So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. (Matthew 27:57-66 ESV)"
Collect
Abide with us, Lord, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. Abide with us and with Your whole Church. Abide with us in the end of the day, in the end of our life, in the end of the world. Abide with us with Your strength and blessing. Abide with us when the night of affliction and temptation comes upon us, the night of fear and despair when death shall come. Abide with us and with all the faithful through time and eternity.
Painting of The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb by Hans Holbein the Younger at the Web Gallery of Art.
Technorati Tags: Holy Saturday | Sabbath | burial of Christ | Triduum | Holy Week | Easter | Easter Vigil | The Resurrection of Our Lord | Jesus | Jesus Christ | Christ | Church Year | liturgical calendar | lectionary | Christianity | Christian feasts| historical theology | Church history | Bible history | New Testament | Gospel | Holbein | Hans Holbein | Hans Holbein the Younger ¶ 14:02 | 0 comments |
"On the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. (Genesis 2:2 ESV)"
Ask the Pastor posted last year on Christ's Sabbath in the tomb as He moved from His state of humiliation into His eternal exaltation at the right hand of the Father. We anticipate with quiet joy the first celebration of His resurrection during tonight's Vigil and, should God allow us the morrow, the fullness of the Feast of the Resurrection in Scripture, sermon, psalms, prayers, and hymns of gladness.
The Holy Gospel
"When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
"Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, 'Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, "After three days I will rise." Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, "He has risen from the dead," and the last fraud will be worse than the first.' Pilate said to them, 'You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.' So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. (Matthew 27:57-66 ESV)"
Collect
Abide with us, Lord, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. Abide with us and with Your whole Church. Abide with us in the end of the day, in the end of our life, in the end of the world. Abide with us with Your strength and blessing. Abide with us when the night of affliction and temptation comes upon us, the night of fear and despair when death shall come. Abide with us and with all the faithful through time and eternity.
Painting of The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb by Hans Holbein the Younger at the Web Gallery of Art.
Technorati Tags: Holy Saturday | Sabbath | burial of Christ | Triduum | Holy Week | Easter | Easter Vigil | The Resurrection of Our Lord | Jesus | Jesus Christ | Christ | Church Year | liturgical calendar | lectionary | Christianity | Christian feasts| historical theology | Church history | Bible history | New Testament | Gospel | Holbein | Hans Holbein | Hans Holbein the Younger ¶ 14:02 | 0 comments |
