In the film, Luther, starring Joseph Fiennes, Martin Luther discusses the incipient Reformation with his Father Confessor, Johann von Staupitz, as they prepare for the Diet of Worms. Von Staupitz laments the chaos that seems to have been unleashed. He expresses the fear that Luther is destroying the Church, rather than reforming her. Luther responds to this that reform comes at a cost.

This scene has always made an impact on me. Although this particular film has a number of historical inaccuracies, I find parts of it edifying in the lessons they teach. The cost of reform is one of them.

This is a period in time that is crying out for reform, reform of the Church and reform of the states. Heresy and deceit abound. Rebellion against ancient custom, which once could safeguard a nation without the support of law, has made it dangerous to speak one’s thoughts aloud. History, the wellspring of conservatism, has been forgotten and – worse still – rewritten. Death stalks the lands, and the powers of darkness tighten their grip on the nations.

God knows these things. They are not too great for Him to overcome. His grace and power are breaking through and the Devil suspects that his time is short. The return of Christ approaches, and when He comes, He will pour out the wrath of God on the unrepentant.

In the meantime, reform is necessary. The Church must be prepared for the “final push”, the completion of her great commission. This reform is costly. It will mean repentance, humility, and a careful use of Scripture, in order to avoid falling for deception.

As the Church is reformed, though the world continues in a dark direction, the light of the Church will grow brighter and the Gospel will go out in power. May the Lord’s will be accomplished.

Voici une site qui contient les mots de la messe en latin. Aujourd’hui, je voudrais traduire quelques mots pour nous faire réfléchir.

P : Deus, qui humanae substantiae dignitatem mirabiliter condidisti, et mirabilius reformasti: da nobis per hujus aquae et vini mysterium, ejus divinitatis esse consortes, qui humanitatis nostrae fieri dignatus est particeps, Jesus Christus, Filius tuus, Dominus noster: Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus ; per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Priest: “O God, You who wondrously bestowed worth on human substance, and – more wondrously still – remade it anew: grant to us, through the mystery of water and wine, to be kindred to His divinity, He who deigned to partake in our humanity, Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, unto the ages of ages. Amen.”

 

The Book of Revelation, drawing upon depictions from the Old Testament and intertestamental literature, presents scenes of worship in Heaven. In Jewish and Christian theology, worship on earth is held to be linked mystically to worship in Heaven, to partake of it. Saint Paul taught that angels are present (invisibly) during Christian worship on earth.

Christian worship in churches with traditional, formal liturgies involves various elements found in these scenes and developed from the sacrificial system of the Mosaic Torah. Priests, servers, and choirs are dressed in white garments. Incense is used. Praises are offered to God. The Eucharist is a sacrifice. Some churches include pictures or statues of angels, usually in positions of adoration, in imitation of the worship offered by angels in heaven. Commonly, candles and lamps are found, an echo of the Menorah.

The majesty, formality, and transcendent nature of these rituals helps worshippers to focus on Almighty God and forget, for a space, the busy-ness and distractions of this earthly life. Not only is it right to offer God thanks and praise, but it is also beneficial for humans to find a time, however long or brief, on a weekly basis in which to recuperate.

John the Revelator beheld Jesus as the Lamb that was slain. John the Baptist referred to Him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (Agnus Dei qui tollit peccata mundi). Christ is the Passover Lamb, by whose blood mankind is redeemed, and through whose benevolence mankind is liberated from Satanic oppression and death.

In Revelation, this Lamb opens the seals. He judges the world and claims it for His own. Formal liturgy, focussing on the sacrifice of Jesus, is also a space for remembering that He is God and King. The praises sung to Him by choir and congregation are an acknowledgement of His majesty.

Glory is given to Him by offering Him the best. Humans are to strive to honour Him by righteous living, confessing our sins and doing good to others out of love and gratitude. Gold and fine cloth are used, because Christ is worthy. Objects and people are consecrated to Him, because He should be at the centre of our lives; our lives should be given over to Him.

Kneeling in the presence of the King is a means of acknowledging who He is and what He has done for us. Proclaiming the Scriptures to be the word of the Lord affirms our commitment to truth in a world of crookedness and deception. The sign of the cross is a reminder of His suffering and redeeming power.

It is good to have such thoughtful and intense focus on God. It is good to worship Him with both body and soul. It is right to receive revelation from God through His Scriptures. In this world of distractions, humans need to enter the courts of the King.

Psalm 84

How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

Verification is the process by which a proposition is shown to be true. Falsification is the process by which a proposition is shown to be false. Depending on the nature of the proposition, this process is by reason or sensory experience. Some propositions cannot be falsified, and some propositions cannot be verified.

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It is always interesting to see what the YouTube algorithms recommend. Perhaps as a consequence of watching material suggested by Scoop and Phillip Augustine, I often receive recommendations of Catholic videos. The similarities between the way Brian Holdsworthy talks and Phillip’s own own discourse is beginning to make me wonder if they are actually the same person…Joking aside, this video was on my YouTube homepage today:

I would rather not get embroiled in Eucharistic philosophy debates. However, I will say that I believe the Eucharist is more than symbolic. The Lord is present in the Eucharist – but whether the manner of the Lord’s presence can be described using Aristotelian category theory (or post-Aristotelian variants) is a question rather beyond my paygrade.

I liked seeing this procession. Whatever the precise nature of Christ’s presence in connection with the consecrated host, the symbolic elements of the procession are of value in and of themselves.

The presence of laity is a public testimony to the continuation of a living Christian community embracing people from various walks of life. Though our numbers may be small (in some contexts) the Christian Church is not confined to a set of ordained ministers performing rites in empty buildings.

Those strewing roses on the path of the procession and those holding censers were testifying to the divinity and kingship of Christ, showing the respect that is due to our Creator and Redeemer. It is right to remind the world that Christ is the King and is coming back to rule from Jerusalem in the Millennium.

The cross, going before the people, is a reminder of His suffering, of what it cost Him to redeem us. It is only through the cross that we can receive pardon and enter the community to God to accompany our King and Saviour.

The surplices (a shortened form of the alb) of the priests and attendants are a reminder of the call to purity and holiness in Christianity, and of the righteousness and justification granted to us by God through faith in Jesus Christ. Christianity is a call to new life, to the ideal God intends for us, and we shall receive perfection in full when Christ raises us and transforms our bodies at the Last Day.

Though the world does not see Christ now, yet it will when He returns. In the meantime, these public displays of faith are a reminder of who Christ is, what He has done, and what He will do.

Scoop came across this article, which is well worth reading.

To get the most out of the article, the reader should (if necessary) familiarise himself with the following points.

• Thomas Aquinas’ cosmological arguments
• Copleston’s debate with Betrand Russel over the cosmological argument
• The distinction between analytic and synthetic claims
• The distinction between a priori knowledge and a posteriori knowledge
• The distinction between presuppositional concepts used to make sense of reality and data that passes through those concepts
• The distinction between realism and idealism (both metaphysical and epistemological)
• The ongoing debate over paradigm shifts (see Kuhn’s work)
• The distinction between cognitive and non-cognitive theories of meaning in language

The core problems of epistemology remain with us, and are particularly charged in the case of religious propositions, because of the severity of the consequences involved. If Christianity is true, then God exists and Heaven and Hell exist.

Pascal’s Wager does not provide us with virtuous belief in God. If one’s only reason to believe in God is to avoid the eternal torment of Hell, then one’s belief is not honourable, not worthy of credit in the way that Abraham’s faith was creditworthy. However, the gravity of the situation, as emphasised by Pascal’s Wager, should be cause for concern. This is a legitimate basis for earnest, openminded investigation of the propositions of Christianity – the beginning of a journey, to be completed by virtuous means.

Philosophers have debated whether the proposition, “God exists”, is analytic or synthetic and whether it can be known a priori or a posteriori (if at all). Christians have offered both kinds of knowledge in answer to the question of why they believe God exists: some say that reason requires them to believe, while others say they have experienced God – or both.

Belief in the existence of God is only the beginning of religious enquiry. Learning who that God is and entering into a relationship with that God are further steps. Suppose, for the sake of argument, that the ontological argument is persuasive – in itself, it would not tell the inquirer whether God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Other arguments, evidence, and information are required to lead one to believe the propositions of Christianity.

A distinction must be made between assent to a proposition and one’s attitude towards that proposition. In the Christian narrative, the figure called “Satan” (not to be confused with the satan in the Book of Job) knows that God exists but his attitude towards that proposition, and its Subject, is hostile.

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

-Isaiah 14:12-15

Openmindedness is essential in respect of both assent and attitude. Many have rejected Christianity on the basis of a supposed conflict between who Christians proclaim God to be and the suffering of our own existence. Humans have been badly hurt: by nature, by ourselves, and – so Christians contend – by the spirits that hate us. It is easy to acknowledge the existence of evil – much harder to believe in an all-powerful God who lets it happen.

Believing in God – as opposed to believing that He exists – is not easy. In our fallen world, it is natural to doubt. Indeed, philosophical scepticism and caution are virtues. The testimony of others, while persuasive in some contexts, is grating in others.

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

-Romans 12:15

Relational matters are not like impersonal ones. Discussing geology or archeology is very different from trusting God in the midst of adversity. The deeper our feelings, the more effort is required to persevere in the face of their pressure. Some will say that refusing to give up belief in God in the face of (seemingly) contrary evidence is irrational or a blik. Indeed, Christians themselves would advise adherents of some religions to abandon their gods, because of the evil associated with those gods in the religious texts and theologies extrapolated from them.

So, what is the basis of the Christian belief in their God, the Father? How do they persevere in trusting Him amidst the negative feelings elicited by our own sinful natures and the adversity of life? How do Christians justify their faith?

To say, as St Paul does, that God works all things for good for those who love Him, is to speak of the end, to make a statement that is logically necessary given the nature of God. This is what Christians are called to do: to keep their sight on the end, called by various names (Heaven, the Restoration, the Consumation, the Blessed Hope, etc). But we must not mistake that end with the End: Christ Himself.

The way through is to stay close to Christ. We may endure scorn as a consequence, but Christ is our foundation, our “cornerstone”. Even when He seems silent, yet we may speak to Him in prayer, casting all our cares on Him.

The Tory leadership contest will now be handed over to the vote of rank-and-file members of the party. They are presented with a choice between Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson. If I were a member of the party, I know which candidate I would pick.

The Brexit process is far from over; some questions still remain. If Boris Johnson becomes Prime Minister, will he be able to get the UK out of the EU by October 31 on WTO terms? How will he achieve this? What policies would he implement after Brexit? Would he forge a free trade agreement with the USA?

At NEO’s blog the other day, I was struck by a comment about the years wasted since the EU referendum. So many obstacles were presented to a clean Brexit in those years and so many mistakes were made. There was undoubtedly skullduggery and bad faith. If we achieve a WTO Brexit, it will be by God’s miraculous grace.

I believe God has been working through this process in order to reveal evil and start reform and transformation in the Church and the nation. There is much wickedness still to expose, but what man intends for evil, God can use for good.

God can do anything. In a recent video from White Dove Ministries, we are called to remember and truly believe that. Though transformation seems impossible, God can and will bring it about. I invite the reader to consider the Elijah saga: Elijah thought he was the only one loyal to Yahweh in all Israel, but Yahweh revealed to him that He had preserved a faithful remnant. Elijah’s ministry bore fruit and God brought judgment on Ahab, Jezebel, and the priests of Baal.