Stupid TV

I quit watching TV a long time ago.  But a lot of people have told me that "The Big Bang Theory" is funny - especially in matters of religion.  So I watched some excerpts on YouTube.  What I watched was actually a sort-of prequel showing the formation of the show's character "Sheldon" as a child.

What I saw was comedically pathetic, and pathetically preachy.  It is nothing more than very bad Atheist Apologetics that depends on the ignorance of the viewer to be effective.  I watched excepts from this episode in which an 8-year old Sheldon takes on Christianity and dismantles it single-handedly, because he believes in "science."  The arguments were not just simplistic, but stereotypical and cartoonish.

The writers don't even know the basics, such as the fact that Baptists don't adorn their churches in colored paraments corresponding with the church year.  I know that there are exceptions to this rule, but so few as to be statistically insignificant - a concept that the writers should seemingly understand and embrace: math and science and all that.  Also, pastors typically do not field questions while preaching in the pulpit.  It makes one wonder if the writers have ever been to an actual church service.  There was also a scene in which the Baptist Sunday school children were reciting and praying the Lord's Prayer together.  This is also not how Baptists teach the Bible to children.  And they don't use the translation of the Lord's Prayer that uses the word "trespasses."  I mean, this stuff is so basic, that it shows that they have no consultant.  And why would they?  They clearly think they know everything.  They have this smug, cocksure attitude that corresponds to a writer insisting on not using a proofreader.  It indicates the haughty ego of the insufferable know-it-all.

After the discussion of the Lord's Prayer (which is in Matthew's Gospel), Sheldon cites "Chapter One Verse One" - while not naming the book (which is incidentally John's Gospel) to show what an idiot the pastor is, based on the translation of the word "Word" ("In the beginning was the Word").  He points out that this is actually the Greek word "Logos" - which "means knowledge."  The reality is that the word Λόγος - like many foreign words - can be translated into English in several different ways depending upon context.  The world's greatest scholars have been translating the Greek of the New Testament into the world's languages for nearly 2,000 years.  

The Latin is rendered Verbum, German: das Wort, French: la Parole, Spanish: la Parabla, Italian: il Verbo, and even Esperanto: la Vorto.  See the pattern?  

When the kid says that "Logos" means "knowledge" - it seems to befuddle the pastor.  In reality, this idea of the Logos - in all of its fullness - is part of Christian christology.  Christ is the Logos - the intelligence behind the universe, behind creation, the Word "by whom all things were made" as we have been confessing in the Nicene Creed for just shy of 1,700 years.  The word "Logos" is part of the etymology of the word "Theology" and all other "-ology" words.  This is a confession of Christian truth, not a refutation of it.  This is not a startling revelation.  

Moreover, the first day that many of us set foot in seminary, we were learning Greek.  And even if Christian pastors don't have to study the New Testament in Greek, they certainly know the main Greek words used in Christian theology.  They don't have to be told this by a smart-aleck eight-year old unbeliever.

Sheldon also uses logic (also based on the Greek word "Logos," by the way) to "refute" the apologetic claims of the pastor.  Of course, this is all "funny" and "lighthearted," but if you were to remove the laugh-track, it would come across for what it is: cheesy, hamfisted, and manipulative Apologetics wielded against a straw man.  

One example is the pastor pointing out that many of the world's greatest scientists actually believed in God - including Charles Darwin.  Sheldon retorts by saying, "So Darwin was wrong about evolution and right about God?"  "Hahaha" screams the laugh-track as the doltish pastor looks bewildered at being checkmated.  But how is this an argument?  Couldn't one equally point out that Atheists also argue that Darwin was wrong about God, but right about evolution?  

In another scene regarding creation according to Genesis, Sheldon "trumps" the pastor by pointing out that light was created on Day One while the sun wasn't created until Day Four.  My gosh, how did we miss that?  We have been reading, thinking about, and commenting upon the Genesis text for some three and a half millennia - but it took a Hollywood screenwriter to refute the whole thing to a laugh-track.  "Hahaha!" and on to the next scene.

And of course, Sheldon's Christian parents speak with a Southern accent, while he speaks like he comes from the North.  Subtle, isn't it?  I would be willing to bet that many Americans get their view of Christianity and Christian Apologetics from the likes of this sloppy and intellectually dishonest TV show and their ignorant writers.

Finally, isn't it interesting that the writers target Christianity as their representative of "irrational religion" in opposition to "science" - while adopting a hands-off view of Judaism and Islam?  

So I've seen enough.  This confirms my premise that nearly all TV is junk food for the mind and rat poison for the soul.  Television seems to retard the intelligence of the viewer, who typically laughs on cue like a drooling Pavlovian dog (but convinced that he is now the smarter for it) and moves along to the next scene without asking too many questions.  

Shoe Repair Shop Fixes Bible!

There is a local shoe repair business in Gretna that Mrs. H. and I have been frequenting for many years: Moran's, located at 301 Westbank Expressway.

It is a husband and wife business run by C.J. and Mary Moran.  They always give prompt, courteous and professional service.  They have facilitated the near-miraculous reincarnation of my loafers many times beyond their normal lifespan with sole and heel replacements - as well as repairs to the stitching.  They have also provided Mrs. H. with countless heel tips for her boots and shoes. 

I want to give C.J. and Mary a public pat on the back for going "above and beyond."  I have a pocket-sized leather-bound ESV Bible that I bought while I was still a seminarian.  It has given me years of excellent service.  There is, however, a weak link: the leather strap that holds the bible closed.  It had frayed to the point of wearing out.

The bible really needs a way to hold it closed.  I could not find a good solution.  I certainly did not want to discard the Bible.  I'm always loathe to do so as this is God's Word.  Moreover, I like it.  It is "comfortable."  It is also well-made.  Aside from the Achilles Heel of the strap, it could last for decades more.  It has already been with me my entire ministry, from my vicarage in South Carolina, to teaching and pastoral work in New Orleans, and on planes, trains, and automobiles across North America for private meditation and public lecture.  It even went with me to Russia two years ago - from Moscow to the mountainous Republic of Khakassia in Siberia just north of Mongolia.  In fact, my colleague, the Rev. Dan Johnson, made use of it in the pulpit of St. James Lutheran Church in Novokuznetsk where he preached a sermon.  This proclamation of the Word of God and the open carrying of an English Bible by an American clergyman would have been unthinkable only twenty years ago.  My little globetrotting ESV has quite a story, and it is clearly not finished yet!

Looking for a solution, I took the Bible to Moran's.  Mary looked it over, and said that she could replace the leather strap and have it for me within a week.  It would cost me the princely ransom of $8.95 plus tax.  I was thrilled!

She actually called me back about an hour later to let me know the job was done.  I picked it up right away, and it looks great!  She has breathed new life into this little Bible.  I wonder how many other shoe repair businesses would have just automatically said "no."  Mary Moran didn't!  She thought outside the box and found a way to meet her customer's needs.  That, to me, is the greatest argument for a free market: everybody wins and the standard of living improves for all involved.  And it also gives us the opportunity to serve our neighbor and glorify God by our life and work.

So way to go C.J. and Mary!  You will certainly see us the next time our loafers and heels need to be born again.  If you live in the area and are looking for prompt and quality shoe repair service, I heartily recommend Moran's!

The power of video (good, bad, and ugly)

We sang this hymn tonight...






 But what I heard in my head was this...

 

 (Note: cartoon violence, but remarkably accurate historically, see the accompanying Who's Killing Who: A Viewer's Guide).  

Girl Scouts Plant 100 Trees in Gretna

Here is an article about the October 13 event, and here are a few pictures.

The increasingly ineffectual Times-Picayune was on hand, but who knows 1) if and when there will be an article in the paper, and 2) if anyone will be able to find it on their webpage? [Note: it actually did make the paper here].

My parishioner Nina Poche was the coordinator for the event (several of my parishioners are members of the Girl Scouts as well).  Several representatives of the city of Gretna (namely mayor Ronnie Harris and councilmen Belinda Constant and Vincent Fox) were on hand and gave short speeches as a magnolia tree was planted in front of the soon-to-come Gretna Visitor's Center at Huey P. Long and 11th.

I was given the honor to open the event with a prayer, which went as follows:

The Lord be with you!

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Hear the Word of the Lord from Genesis 1:11-13:

And God said,“Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.”

Hear the Word of the Lord from Genesis 1:28-29, regarding mankind:

God blessed them.  And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.”

Let us pray:

Lord God, Heavenly Father,

We give You thanks for the gift of creation, especially on this day for the blessing of trees given to us for food and for shelter.  We give You thanks and praise that these Your creatures reproduce according to their kinds.

We confess that we brought sin into the world through misuse of a tree.  We confess that we sometimes turn the creatures of nature into a false god.  We also confess that we sometimes abuse or take for granted the created order You have provided - treating ourselves as gods instead of stewards.

We acknowledge that Your Son came into our world and died for our sins upon the wood of a slain tree.  And in His name and by His authority, we appeal to You to bless these + trees and the + girls who plant them - in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

We implore You to bless our community, that we may be good stewards of Your creation even as we seek to be humble servants of our Creator.  We offer these prayers, dear Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, for You live and reign with Him and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Faith and Hope in Siberia: Bishop Vsevolod Lytkin

The Rt. Rev. Vsevolod Lytkin, bishop of SELC

 [Note: This is from Faith and Hope Newsletter #216 from the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church and it has the remarkable story of Bishop Vsevolod Lytkin and his incredible journey to the Christian faith from childhood in the atheist Soviet Union.  The bishop is at the same time one of the most remarkable and most humble men I have ever met, a model for how pastors and presidents in the LCMS ought to live the life of churchmen among the "flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood" (Acts 20:28)  - Ed.]

Peace to you dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

   

Recently our Bishop Vsevolod celebrated 25 years of his holy baptism. 

He didn’t make it public. But we remembered it anyway and decided to ask him to tell us how it was in that distant Soviet time.

Here goes the Bishop’s story: 

"I was baptized as an adult; it was my conscientious choice. As majority of people in the Soviet Union, I was not baptized as an infant, and nobody told me about God.

  

I was born in Akademgorodok (University district of Novosibirsk); my parents were scientists, both of them holding PhDs in Mathematics. As many scientists, they were in opposition to Communism. Of course, it was a “quiet” opposition, they did not participate in the public actions of protest and did not go out to a central square, but they were critically inclined toward the regime.

Very often I heard how they sit in a kitchen with the friends and disapprove Soviet regime. While falling asleep, I heard from another room my parents listening to the “Voice of America” and the “Radio Liberty” at the small transistor radio receiver. These radio stations were silenced in USSR, but one could hear certain programs from time to time.

My parents taught me critical thinking so that I would not be gullible towards official propaganda. If the authorities said “yes,” we understood it as “no” and vice versa.

  

In a way, it was my parents who were responsible for me coming to faith. Because when I heard that God did not exist, I thought, what if He did, what if He were out there? This is how my parents taught me to think.

At that time the Bible was the forbidden book. And one could learn about religion only from the atheistic books. Thus, the atheistic books have become the main books for me. I found out much about Christianity from them. Of course, these books spoke about Christianity only to criticize it, but we were the Soviet people, we knew that if they said “no,” it meant, “yes.”  If they say there is no God, then, perhaps, there is.

I’ve read dozens of books; I carefully wrote down Biblical quotations from them, I tried to get them in order so as to understand what the Bible was talking about.  

When I finished school, I practically thought of myself as a believer. And I knew a lot about different confessions from the books, and I realized that it was the Lutheranism that was the purest Biblical teaching. Of course, there was also a terrible mess in my head at that time, as nobody was teaching me.  

(By the way, I am still sure that it is Lutheranism that confesses the purest evangelical doctrine.)

  

I knew that I had to be baptized, and finally I have decided to go to Leningrad (which is St Petersburg now) and from there to Riga (it was a capital of the Soviet Republic of Latvia at the time).  I knew there were Lutherans there, and I hoped I would be able to find an open church there (all the Lutheran churches in Siberia have been destroyed) and ask to be baptized.

  

It was supposed to be a long journey of about 2,500 miles, but it was no problem for me: inhabitants of Siberia are used to such distances. I came to a train station in Leningrad and tried to buy a ticket for a train to Riga. But there were no tickets available.  Instead there were tickets to Tallinn (capital of Soviet Republic of Estonia). So I went to Tallinn.

Later on I thought about it on a number of occasions: what if I had gone to Riga then? I would have become then a member of theLatvian Church instead of Estonian. It is interesting how life turns out sometimes.

   

I went out to look for an open church in Tallinn and found it not far from the train station. It was the Holy Spirit Church.  There was a guard there who spoke some Russian.  We talked about politics. I said that I sympathized to Estonians that their country was occupied by the Soviet Union.  The guard said: “Oh, you are a good man. But you are Russian; you must be baptized in the Orthodox Church”. I answered: “No, no, please, I came here specially.”

  

He said: “Fine, come tomorrow then, there would be wife of a parish priest here, you can talk to her.”  Next day I came and got acquainted with the wife of the priest Jaan Kiivit (the future Archbishop of the Estonian Church). She happened to be a very kind and intelligent woman.

Bishop Vsevolod with Archbishop Jaan

And still one day later I met Jaan Kiivit himself. He gave the Luther’s Catechism to me and said that I should go home and memorize it, and then he would baptize me upon my return. I said that I came a long way to be baptized and that I could not go back home unbaptized. Then he gave me three days and said that I should know Catechism by heart.

  

I did not have a place in Tallinn where to live and I had almost no money, so I spent nights at the train station. It was warm there. Various homeless and drunk people gathered there in the evenings, and I slept in their company. I memorized Catechism in three days, and Jaan Kiivit baptized me. I returned to Novosibirsk already a Christian.

  

And then step-by-step people came around who were interested in Lutheranism, and we began to gather together and read the Bible. But this is another story."

  

Please, pray with us for our Bishop Vsevolod, and pray for many people in Siberia to be able to hear the Gospel, believe and be saved.

“Faith and Hope”

Father Vsevolod's priestly ordination in Talinn

Should Counterfeiters Go to Prison?

The above is a recent speech before the European Parliament.  And Mr. Bloom is right!

Central banking (including our Federal Reserve System) is nothing other than theft by stealth under the color of legitimacy.  We are being looted by our own banking system.  Finally, people are waking up to this.  This should be seen as a moral issue (rather than being treated as arcane politics or as simple disagreements about economic policy).  If the local grocer were constantly changing the value of his scales (defining a pound as a little bit less and less each day), or if the gas stations were to jimmy up their pumps so that each successive gallon is smaller than the last gallon, we would be calling for trials!

The dollar is likewise a standard symbol of measurement.

This is why when private citizens print valueless paper and pass it off as dollars, they are convicted of counterfeiting.  It is a serious crime that undermines the entire economy.  In fact, the reason your quarters and dimes have serrated edges is because in the days when these coins actually contained silver, and the edges guarded against crooks shaving some of the silver off of the coins.  The joke is on us - there is today no reason for edging on any of our coins (with the exception of the nickel, which ironically is smooth-edged, as it is still made of real metal - at least for the time being).  The reason is because every bit of precious, or even industrial metals, has been removed (again, with the exception of the nickel. for the time being).  It's almost wrong to call them coins when they are really tokens.

So, counterfeiting is a crime, but when government (at the behest of bankers) manipulates the currency (by means of removing the metal from the coins and printing banknotes backed by nothing out of thin air - thus devaluing the dollar to their own advantage), we're all supposed to treat this as moral and legitimate.  Why?  Because the government says so.

Even the Scriptures condemn such playing around with standards of weights and measures.

Of course, a lot of people turn to Romans 13 to argue that government can do just about anything, because by definition, if they are doing it, it must be legal.  Some will distort Luther's doctrine of vocation to attempt to bully people into submission and subjugation to the state, even when the state is committing immoral acts.  Indeed, as the analogy goes, a surgeon takes off peoples' clothes and cuts them with a knife - and within his vocation, this is legal.  If someone off the street, not a doctor, were to do the same thing, it would be a crime.  Some use this analogy to make the case that if a private citizen were to print banknotes on his printer, it would be counterfeiting.  But if this private citizen were part of a super-secret elite group of bankers in bed with government - than somehow the very same act of counterfeiting is ipso facto legal.

This is a gross abuse of Luther's doctrine of vocation.

Government does not have carte blanche.  Theft is theft, and when government does it, it only compounds the sin by adding corruption to stealing.  We should hold those in government - especially judges and politicians - to extremely high standards of morality, as they essentially can, by force, take from us that which is ours - our property and even our lives.  Agents of the government have the power to put innocent people in prison or even to death.  We no longer have the right to trial or the guarantees of the fourth amendment in some cases.  A corrupt government is almost impossible to fight - especially a government that increasingly encroaches on the rights and the constitutional protection of its citizens.

And the sad part is that schools do not teach about money, banking, and the federal reserve.  Nor do colleges and universities typically even broach the subject.  Very few theologians would even see this deliberate theft as a sin.  Many, in fact, will congratulate themselves on voting for candidates who give fiery speeches about Christian morality all the while approving (or even abetting) the manipulation of the currency to the detriment of honest people who work for a living.

Also sad is how partisan people are.  No, Republicans, you can't blame Obama for this.  No Democrats, you can't blame Bush.  This is a bi-partisan syndicate that is 99 years old.  Almost no-one in the federal government will say anything bad about it or even approach it as a matter of moral principal.  But that is starting to change, both in Europe and in the U.S.  China (which is the number two holder of U.S. debt, right behind the Federal Reserve) is buying massive quantities of gold.  Gold-backed currency cannot be manipulated by bankers anywhere near the ability to do the same with a central bank with government-run printing presses.  Could it be that the Chinese Central Bank knows something our own bankers and bureaucrats don't?  Namely: ponzi schemes eventually run out.

Mr. Bloom's speech above shows that this is becoming a front-burner issue around the world, as every currency on the planet is today managed by central banks and manipulated by cartels of bankers, politicians, and bureaucrats.  Some countries (like China) may well see the writing on the wall as they try to find an exit strategy out of holding U.S. dollars (the post-WW2 world reserve currency) in savings, and instead seeking something of real value (such as gold) to store value and issue notes against.

The current system - even when it isn't ending up in riots and civil strife as in Greece - creates bubbles and booms and busts, transfers wealth from the poor to the rich, bankrolls federal boondoggles and military quagmires (in which central bankers, politicians, and their children do not shed blood), discourage thrift and savings and encourage borrowing and debt.

It also makes us (Americans) dependent on other nations to bankroll the whole ponzi scheme - and if and when they decide to get out, we will be left holding the bag.

Should someone in Weimar Germany have gone to jail when an entire nation was impoverished through outright theft of the value of the Deutschmarks in people's pockets?  This is money that people earned at a specific rate and then were forced to spend at another rate (think: some people were in a position to do just the opposite, namely bankers and those who can spend the cheap printed money before it devalues with the passage of time).  This is money under which contracts were signed at one value, and which devalued exponentially in the middle of the contract.

The same thing (hyperinflation) happened recently in Argentina and Zimbabwe.

Should those who benefit from this go to prison (like Bernie Madoff, who did not have government "cover" for his crimes)?

Actually, the founding fathers of the United States (who warned repeatedly against central banks and "paper" money) did not think such people should be incarcerated.  They had another penalty in mind.

Will there come a day when currencies are again honest and constant in value?  I'm afraid things will get a lot worse before they get better.  But on the other hand, thanks to the lessening of government control of information thanks to the Internet, this issue is now on the table.  And it is an issue that is being looked at from across the political spectrum: from conservative investment firms, mainstream conservative thinkers, and even youthful Occupy Wall Street folks on the left.

Ending the Fed is something people from all across the political spectrum ought to be able to agree on.  There are few teachings more universal than the Seventh Commandment.  The Fed has been allowing institutional theft from the people of this country for a century.  It's nice to see this being recognized in the European Parliament as well.

Thank you once again, Mr. Bloom!

Consider an investment: not of money, but of time.  The following 42 minute documentary (or read the transcript here) explains the whole thing - including why this is relevant.  The film's style is dated (it was produced in 1996) - which is actually good.  You can see how things have gone since that time.  A lot has happened in the world's economy - especially since 2008. 

Make room at the table...

As the year winds down, we are mixing things up at the family breakfast table.  In fact, we have invited a rather large and rotund guest to spend the next few days with us - whose mind is even more expansive than his physique: Mr. G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936).

As I mentioned a little over a month ago, our morning coffee and meditation ritual has grown to become a lecture series as well.  And it is one of the greatest things that we have instituted here at the Hollywood Mansion.

A few days ago, we wrapped up our breakfasts with Dr. Peter Kreeft (1937- ) and M. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) - and I am sorry to see them have to go!  Christianity for Modern Pagans (a collaboration by Pascal and Kreeft) is one of those books that needs to be read again and again.  I can't thank Rev. David Petersen enough for sending me the book as a gift, and I am grateful to Dr. Kreeft for reintroducing Pascal to modern readers.  Pascal is utterly unique, prescient, brilliant, and yet easy to read - especially with Kreeft's cut-to-the-chase explanations and elucidations.  In short "Read this book!"  Buy it now.  In just a few minutes a day, we had it done over coffee in not much more than a month of readings.  If I can put together some time, I will blog a recap/review/reflection or some such.  As I said, the book has already become an old friend.

So here is where we are right now, and where we are going for the coming year...

• We continue with the ESV One Year Bible as read by the narrator.  Mrs. H. follows along in her paperback copy and attends to the computer narration while I prepare the cappuccino during the Old Testament reading.  And by the way, our ancient Krups espresso-maker is still carrying out its matinal and quotidian duties as if yet in its prime.
• After the Old Testament reading, I bring my offering to the table just in time to join in the New Testament reading.  I skim along in Greek as the narrator reads from the ESV (I like using my my sleek leatherbound Reader's Edition - thank you to Rev. Daniel Johnson for introducing me to it).
• For the Psalm, I follow along in Latin using my Gaba bilingual Psalter.  
• For the short Proverbs reading, I just listen.
• After the Bible reading, we embark on our lecture (see below) 
• We conclude with a brief closing meditation and prayer - this past year from St. Augustine.  Beginning January 1, we will broaden these meditations to other saints (unfortunately, the latter volume, unlike the former includes prayers to the saints, which we will simply modify as prayer to God).

So, regarding the lecture portion, having said "goodbye" to our good friends Kreeft and Pascal, we decided to invite C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) to the breakfast table, but in looking at schedules, we found that it fit in better with everyone's plans to first invite Mr. Chesterton for a reading of his brilliant Orthodoxy.  I've read it twice before myself (with nearly every other sentence highlighted), but this time, we are reading it together thanks to a narrator from LibriVox.  (And thanks to Rev. Philip Miller who told me about Librivox - a source of free audio books for works in the public domain).  We both follow along with the text in our Nook readers.  As of today, we are about a third of the way through Chesterton's witty and rollicking 1908 work defending the traditional Christian faith against both heresies of atheistic materialism (on one side) and pantheistic postmodernism (on the other) - though the word "postmodernism" would not be coined for another 40 years after the publication of Orthodoxy.  If you have not read Orthodoxy, it is a must read!  It is also free in many formats being out of copyright.

Indeed, we have had to shift around the furniture to make room for Mr. Chesterton.

He is a big man, with a big brain, a big personality, and big ideas!  He also has a big heart and a big humility, and we are delighted to have him join us!  We are also greatly looking forward to a lengthy visit from Dr. Lewis when we must say goodbye to Chesterton.  Our kitchen is simply not big enough to entertain all of our friends at once.  We expect to have bigger accommodations in eternity.

Once we complete Orthodoxy, we plan on reading through the works of Lewis as contained in The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics, namely Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Problem of Pain, Miracles, A Grief Observed, and The Abolition of Man (some, and possibly all, of these are available in audio format).  When we get to Screwtape, we will have to scramble to find an extra chair for Mr. John Cleese of Monty Python, whose reading of the letters is beyond perfect.  Interestingly, a couple parishioners just gave us another collection of Lewis works for Christmas: The Beloved Works of C.S. Lewis, containing Surprised By Joy, Reflections on the Pslams, The Four Loves, and The Business of Heaven - if we can get Dr. Lewis to commit for a longer stay, maybe we can work through those as well.

Anyway, we are pleased with the depth and direction of our morning routine.  It is a good way to get the mind and soul moving in the morning along with the body.  We encourage anyone and everyone to turn the breakfast table into a monastery and university.  It is the highlight of our day.

Two new guests for breakfast

Two years ago, I reported on the Hollywood family's morning ritual of Scripture reading.  Since that time, the practice has been expanded and altered to an extent.

Back in January, we decided to add a guest lecturer to our morning ritual - St. Augustine of Hippo.  We began to read a chapter from his Confessions each morning, followed by a very brief meditation and prayer from Augustine as found in Augustine Day by Day.

A few weeks ago, we made a slight modification to the rite by having the ESV narrator read the daily offering from the One Year Bible while we follow along.  For further study, as the narrator reads, I skim the New Testament text in Greek and the Psalm readings in Latin.  The narrator moves along at a good clip, and this is not the time for parsing and memorizing vocabulary.  The timing works out pretty well as the narrator wraps up the Old Testament lesson about the time that I am serving the cappuccino.

After ten months of learning from our dear brother in Christ and doctor of the church, the sainted bishop of Hippo, we have for the past week invited a couple of other great Christian minds into our home (upon the advice of, and kindly introduction by, the Rev. David Petersen): a fellow named Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) and his modern-day commentator and interpreter Dr. Peter Kreeft.  We are still praying with St. Augustine and enjoying his short meditations through the end of the year - but it is getting a little crowded at our breakfast table.  It is fortunate for us that we don't have to feed all of these people - though they are certainly feeding us.  The Pascal-Kreeft book is entitled Christianity for Modern Pagans - and it is a running conversation between the two as the latter engages the former's famous work, the Pensées, carrying on like old friends.

Our lectio continua is truly the highlight of the day: a time of God's Word, meditation, theology, and philosophy - a few moments of monastic peace each morning, any of which can become a day transformed into a sudden maelstrom of activity, stress, tragedy, or just plain hard work.  Our morning ritual is a time to stop and listen to the still, small voice of God's Word and to bask in the glow of saints and Christian thinkers - washed down with the most un-monastic treat of a frothy cappuccino.

Father H. on Issues, Etc.

I had the great pleasure to be on the world's greatest Christian radio program, Issues, Etc. yesterday (November 10, 2011) in a pastor's roundtable with the Revs. Todd Wilken (host of the program and assistant pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Millstadt, Illinois) and Brian Holle (pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church, Lebanon, Illinois) on the topic of the upcoming Gospel text according to the historic one-year series for Trinity 21: John 4:46-54 ("Jesus Heals the Official's Son").

Here is the link where you can listen.

This is my second time on Issues, Etc.  I was interviewed on May 11 of this year on the topic of the Augsburg Confession.  You can listen here.  I really enjoyed the great discussions with fellow panelists and with callers who asked challenging and intelligent questions and who made outstanding contributions to the conversations.  That is the rule rather than the exception at Issues, Etc.!

If you're not familiar with Issues, Etc., it is an eclectic and informative talk radio program run by confessional Missouri Synod Lutherans (under the auspices of "Lutheran Public Radio") and presented from that perspective - and yet includes guests who run the gamut from every point of view.  Pastor Wilken treats his guests with respect and yet balances this with his own steadfast confession.  Issues, Etc. is especially a treat if you are a Lutheran, but you don't have to be to enjoy the "Cross-Centered Christ-Focused" format.  It is definitely a balanced presentation of both a thinking-man's Christianity and a faith rooted in Christ's love in the Gospel.

You can listen live (Monday through Friday, 3:00 - 5:00 pm) here.  And, you can peruse the archives any time here - and note the diversity of guests and topics!  These programs make for great podcasts to listen to on a long commute, while exercising, or for old-fashioned family listening time.  They provide insights not only into the timeless Scriptures but also on the ever-changing face of our culture and how the Christian faith intersects with it.  The program also serves as much-needed theological education and discussion all over the world.

You will definitely find something interesting and uplifting at Issues, Etc.!

Need a Vulgate?

Just in case any FH readers need a Vulgate (Clementine Edition) in pdf form, your wait is over! Here it is.  And here is the same text in two column format that saves a lot of pages.  And here is a link to have it professionally printed and shipped to you.

This is courtesy of Michael Tweedale and the fine folks at Vulsearch, which has links to many helpful tools (all free!) and formats to read the Holy Bible in Latin.

My Siberian Adventure - Day 13 - July 9, 2011

Visit: Novosibirsk

I slept well and woke up a little late.

Father Pavel came to his office.  He made us coffee - not instant.  He has a real coffee maker in his office.  We had a delightful conversation laden with jokes and humorous observations about life.  We discussed the American fascination with superlatives - how we are fixated on being the best, the fastest, the richest, the biggest - in everything.  We had a laugh about American "humility."

We went to Matins in the church, and headed back to the auditorium for more lectures.  Father Alexey jumped right into his lecture at 10:30 am without English translation.  I have no clue what he is saying.  But he is relaxed in his delivery, confident, fielding questions well.  He has a professorial air about him - not arrogant in the least, and yet authoritative.

The audience is not large, but they listen intently.  Many of them are women.  The seminarians are away for the summer.

The leaders of the SELC are truly pioneers of post-Communist Russian Christianity.  They are young and will likely be around for decades, guiding the church in a solidly confessional direction in the face of intense pressure to yield to outside influences.  They have a sense of Lutheran and catholic identity that is both Biblical and comfortable in their own culture.  They have resisted attempts from outsiders to impose either American or European models of church culture upon them.  They avoid both American-style polity and European-style theological liberalism.

Alexey told me yesterday that he has never conducted a funeral.  At St. Andrew's, there are more baptisms and confirmations.  There are some older members, but by far, most of the parishioners are young.

Although these summer seminars have been greatly scaled back as the economy has impacted financial support from abroad, the are still financially strapped.  They are waiting on $15,000 of pledged funds to become available - money that is paying for our expenses - such as our meals, train transportation, and hotel lodging.  Dan and I paid for our own airline tickets to and from Russia as well as our air travel within the Russian Federation.  The funds should have been here by now but have not arrived.  Although our hosts do not want us to be worried about it, we can tell they are concerned.  They are moving budget moneys here and there to cover the shortfall.  I wish I could help somehow.

Father Pavel is hoping to bring us to his mother's dacha.  She grows vegetables there.  He would like to have a little picnic and grill up some shashlik.  Father Pavel is very kind and is a gracious host.  It depends on our weather and on our schedule.  It is rainy and gloomy today - which is unusual so far for this trip.

Siberians are not "morning people" - at least in my experience.  They tend to schedule and start activities rather late by American standards.  And like Southerners - especially New Orleanians - they are not sticklers for time.  They typically get things underway a little late - which makes me feel right at home.  I am also not a "morning person" myself.

Kevin Walker is here.  We have a few mutual friends - and he is highly respected.  I do remember seeing him at seminary, although I don't think I ever met him.  He has an M.Div. degree from Fort Wayne, but didn't take a call.  He is from Milwaukee but has lived in Russia for several years now.  he is adept at languages and is working on some projects to translate German theological works into Russian.  He is very personable, though of quiet temperament.  I very much enjoy speaking with him.

Dan lectured first, and I lectured after lunch, from 2:00 - 3:00 pm.  I'm more comfortable speaking with a translator.  Fr. Alexey is in a good rhythm.  I finished my historical overview and covered articles 1 to 8 and 14 before my time ran out.  I may or may not have another hour tomorrow.  If so, I'll probably quickly cover articles 9 to 11, and maybe 15, 21, or possibly a look at 22-28.

Lunch was typical and brought to us in small plastic containers.  It consisted of a salad (cucumbers, tomatoes, and spices), a soup (okroshka), rice or potatoes, and a meat dish - a small piece of chicken or pork, mildly spiced - and of course tea.

After Pavel's afternoon lecture on the new (but not really improved) Russian Bible translation, we break for Vespers in the church.

Father Pavel had asked me earlier about Luther's reaction to the variata (which were Philip Melanchthon's unauthorized amendments to the Augsburg Confession), and I found something for him in Bente's historical introduction found in the Concordia Triglotta.  It seems that the records on this topic are scant.

During the break, Dan presented Olga (Netaeva) with her gift of peanut butter (actually, a peanut butter and jelly combo that is unavailable in Novosibirsk).  I gave Olga the little card holder with the fleur-de-lis.  She seemed to enjoy receiving our gifts.

We reconvene in the auditorium for a final opportunity for questions.  Dan updated everyone about his family (whom many in the audience had met) and I was asked questions about our parish, New Orleans, and Hurricane Katrina.

Father Daniel, Father Alexey, Olga (Suhinina) and I chat for a while.  Then Dan and I meet up with the bishop and spend some time chatting.  Dan and I then go on a walk to buy some ice cream.  The local kiosk is closed, so we head to the supermarket.

I buy batteries and a Coke.  In a rare display of unfriendliness, the clerk is surely and impatient.  She is offended when I try to hand her coins in payment - as this is not the custom.  Money is to be placed on a small plastic tray - not handed to the clerk.

We walk back to the seminary, dodging the puddles in the pocked-up sidewalk.  We have a good discussion about pastoral practice.  Back at the sem, I do some journalling and wind down for bed.

Here is a link to all of my pictures of Day Thirteen.

Lutheran Propers for St. Augustine

I published a blogpost over at Gottesdienst Online, where I serve on the editorial board.

It begins like this:

Lutheran Service Book(LSB) has given us a lot of possible commemorations, perhaps more so than any previous English language hymnal.

For example, in the Missouri Synod's sanctoral calendar on LSB page xiii, we find that "Augustine of Hippo, Pastor and Theologian" is commemorated on August 28 - which falls on a Sunday this year.  Setting aside for the time being the sectarian terminology ("Augustine of Hippo, Pastor and Theologian"), it is a good development for us to honor whom the rest of western Christendom calls "St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo and Doctor of the Church." 

However, LSB does not provide any liturgical propers for the celebration of the feast.  Fortunately, we do have some resources at our fingertips.

To read more, click here.  And please feel free to comment there as well!

Actually, that is in the Bible, CNN

Ho hum.

Yet another "Debunk the Bible" piece in CNN.

The premise is fair enough: there are a lot of sayings people think come from the Bible but actually don't, such as "God helps those who help themselves" and "This too shall pass."  But in the midst of these rather dull "revelations" comes this:

"Those details may seem minor, but scholars say one popular phantom Bible story stands above the rest: The Genesis story about the fall of humanity.

Most people know the popular version - Satan in the guise of a serpent tempts Eve to pick the forbidden apple from the Tree of Life. It’s been downhill ever since.

But the story in the book of Genesis never places Satan in the Garden of Eden.

“Genesis mentions nothing but a serpent,” says Kevin Dunn, chair of the department of religion at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

“Not only does the text not mention Satan, the very idea of Satan as a devilish tempter postdates the composition of the Garden of Eden story by at least 500 years,” Dunn says.

Getting biblical scriptures and stories wrong may not seem significant, but it can become dangerous, one scholar says."

The problem with many scholars is that they're not very scholarly.  While it's true that the tree was not the Tree of Life, nor is there any mention of the fruit being an apple, and indeed, Genesis does not identify the Serpent as Satan - contrary to the title of the article "Actually, that's not in the Bible," well, actually, the identification of the Serpent with Satan is in the Bible.  Twice. See Rev 12:9 and 20:2.

I mean, is it really too much to ask of a Bible scholar to actually read the whole book?  Sadly, the level of biblical illiteracy is what allows slipshod scholarship and reporting to go unchecked, and people actually believe such nonsense.

Josh: Jesus comes to Hollywood

Hollywood (California, that is, not me) addresses the story of our Lord Jesus Christ - not perfect, mind you, but I think quite well done (even with the attendant postmodernism) in the aptly named episode "Josh" from the 1998 Outer Limits episode.

The above-linked Wikipedia article amazingly makes no mention of Jesus - even though the parallels in the story are (as a friend of mine likes to say) so obvious that even Stevie Wonder could see it.  In fact, without the backdrop of the Gospels, the story makes no sense.  Even the name (Josh) is a clue, as Yeshua (Joshua) is the original Hebrew form of the Greek name Iesous (Jesus).

A New Friend for the New Year

We're looking forward to another trek through the Bible this coming year. 

I'm not a morning person, by any means, but in our hectic hustle-bustle existence of family and parochial life, our morning lectio caffea is a refreshing little mini-retreat of God's Word, prayer, quiet time, and recaffination for the daily "grind."

In fact, we want to expand our meditation, but only a little.  And so we have decided to invite a friend to join us in the kitchen for 2011: St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo and doctor of the Church.

So, in addition to our readings from the One Year Bible: Old Testament, New Testament, Psalm, and Proverb, as well as its corresponding little Q&A from the Companion Volume, we will be adding a reading from the Confessions of St. Augustine, and closing with a short quote from the good doctor and a little prayer.

I have a nice edition of the Confessions that will add to the pleasantness of the experience, and by reading only a chapter a day, we will, Deo volente, get through all thirteen "books" by about the end of September.  Also, to give us a brief supplement and a short prayer, we will close with Augustine Day by Day.

Although our kitchen is small, and it is already crowded with humans and felines, there is always room for one more.  We are gratified that Augustine will be joining us for our little retreats and daily dalliance with monastic meditation.  We expect to have much to learn from him.

St. Augustine of Hippo is simply a huge figure in not only the theology, but also the spirituality, of the Western Catholic tradition - including (and especially) among us Lutherans, given Augustine's status as the Doctor of Grace who argued against the works righteousness of the Pelagian heresy.  Augustine stands as a foremost apologist of the faith whose writings came once again to the forefront during the Reformation.

And now, he will be spending a year with us at coffee.  How exciting!

.

It's that time of year again...

The calendar year is winding down, and the time of preparation for Christmas is at hand.  In fact, the new church year begins this coming Sunday.  And, if you do belong to a church body that keeps the Advent season, it is a penitential time, that is, a season of the year in which we have the opportunity to take heed of our spiritual life, to examine ourselves, and employ the means of grace that not only give us full and free salvation, but also the means to grow in our Christian life and faith.

It is also the time of year of New Year's resolutions.

I think most such resolutions are a waste of time.  But there is one commitment for the new year that you will not regret, that will provide you with being immersed in the Word of God, a commitment that can become a treasured part of your daily routine for the rest of your life: the One Year Bible.

The OYB is a systematic read through the Holy Scriptures in which the Bible is already divided into 365 readings, one from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament, one from the Psalms, and one from the Proverbs.  In this plan, the Psalms are actually read twice over the course of the year.

While the readings technically begin on January 1, I would strongly urge anyone who wants to begin this journey for the first time not to wait until New Year's day.  In fact, I would recommend starting in early December if not before.  I don't remember where I read it (ironically, because it has to do with memory), but I have read somewhere that it takes doing something 21 times before it becomes a habit.  You can get a running start in December, reading the minor prophets and Revelation, and be ready for Genesis and Matthew on New Year's Day - after the habit and routine has been established.

And for Christians who believe the Scriptures are the very Word of God, that they are a means of grace, that they are the constant companion of the believer, and that it is our responsibility (and our privilege) to make Bible reading and reflecting a routine part of our family life - per God's own exhortation.  The OYB is an outstanding way to go.

I'm not suggesting that this replace devotional uses of Scripture, such as the Treasury of Daily Prayer.  To the contrary!  I find that a systematic read through the Bible makes praying the Bible all the more meaningful.  It allows the opportunity to look up difficult passages, to become familiar with chronologies and historical details and cultural matters, and to get the Big Picture of the sweep of God's Word from eternity to eternity, from Genesis to Revelation. 

The One Year Bible provides a way for couples and for families to spend 20 minutes or so together each day drinking in God's Word, providing an opportunity for reading aloud, for questions, for reflection, and for meditation.  There is also a small companion book with a short page of Q&A on each day's readings.  I would recommend this book in a qualified way - as the questions and answers reflect a Protestant bias that most of the time is okay, but for Lutherans, some of them are contrary to our confession (such as whenever sacraments are discussed).  So just be careful if you use that resource.

If you want to do the readings online (including many different translations and languages), you can do that here. There is also a helpful blog with resources and encouragement.

If you are interested in including the Apocrypha, you do have an option.  There is a so-called Catholic edition of the OYB that adds a supplemental reading from the Apocryphal books of the Old Testament.  The bad news is 1) it seems to be out of print, and 2) it is a paraphrase translation (NLT).  So, you could find a copy of this Catholic edition, record the readings for each day, and read the Apocrypha in the version of your choice - including the LCMS quasi-official version, the ESV.  (Note: the ESV's apocrypha translation is not without its own faults.)  This tends to make the whole process more cumbersome, which is one of the advantages of the OYB.  The point is this:  If you really want to read the Apocrypha, you can do it.  But at very least, the OYB provides you with daily readings from the 66 books considered canonical by all Christian churches.

The One Year Bible is also available in several different translations.

One way or the other, at the end of 2011 you will be another year older.  Time passes either way.  You could have read the entire Bible cover to cover, or not.  The commitment is (like I said) about 20 minutes or so each day.

It's worth it, and I guarantee it will be a blessing to you!

Obla Diah Obla Daiah?

Does this ever happen to you while putting tabs in your Septuagint? When I got to Obadiah, I got this little tune stuck in my head. Hey, well, at least it isn't Bad Romance. Life goes on...

A Bible Recommendation

One would think that the last thing we would need is another Bible - especially given 2008's being nicknamed The Year of the Study Bible. The LCMS was only slightly late to the party with CPH's well-received The Lutheran Study Bible (TLSB) being released in 2009.

But the Apostolic Bible, 2006 edition, edited by Charles Van Der Pool, is not a new translation nor a "study Bible," but rather a reference tool that I have found very helpful. It weds the Greek New Testament to the Greek Old Testament of the Septuagint.

To read more, click here.

St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr

Today, much of the Western Church (including the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod) commemorates St. Polycarp of Smyrna, bishop and martyr.

St. Polycarp was perhaps the last living link to the last of the living apostles, being a disciple of St. John the beloved apostle. St. Polycarp (whose name means "much fruit") was martyred about 155 or 156 AD, in the ninth decade of his life on this side of the grave, for his refusal to worship Caesar. While waiting for the flames that would blaze around him at the stake, Father Polycarp was promised his freedom if he would only renounce Christ and just burn a pinch of incense in acknowledgment of the emperor's divinity.

The grizzled warrior of the cross replied: "Eighty and six years I have served him, how then can I blaspheme my King and Savior? Bring forth what you will." Instead of offering a pagan sacrifice to the imperial false deity, he defied the emperor by offering his life as a thank offering to the True God.

St. Polycarp's heroic witness for the Gospel was a powerful testimony of Christ and His Church, serving to fortify the thousands of Christians who were persecuted and martyred by the Roman government. Even today, St. Polycarp continues to give courage to our brothers and sisters around the world who are still being put to the sword for the sake of our Blessed Lord and as a consequence of their good confession.

Below is St. Polycarp's letter to the Philippians (c. 110-140 AD). It is the only surviving written work of Bishop Polycarp, and it is chock full of quotations from Holy Scripture - showing the reverence and submission the apostolic fathers had for the Word of God. St. Polycarp was the teacher and pastor of St. Irenaeus, one of the greatest theologians and defenders of orthodoxy against the attacks of the numerous heretics and heresies of his day - whose heirs continue to this very day to do Satan's work in attacking the two natures of our Blessed Lord Christ and the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity.

We give thanks to God for the testimony of the apostolic fathers, those who learned at the beautiful feet of the holy apostles of Jesus; men who served humbly and faithfully in perilous times and places, even unto death: doctors and presbyters of the Church whose preaching was backed by their works - even the work of following Jesus by taking up the cross of suffering and martyrdom. In this, they bore "much fruit" and offered their lives as a fragrant offering to the Lord, the "Savior of our souls, the Governor of our bodies, and the Shepherd of the catholic church throughout the world" (Martyrdom of Polycarp 1:43).

May we be graced with their courage, faith, devotion to pure doctrine, and most of all, love.

THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP TO THE PHILIPPIANS

Polycarp, and the presbyters with him, to the Church of God sojourning at Philippi: Mercy to you, and peace from God Almighty, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, be multiplied.

CHAPTER I.--PRAISE OF THE PHILIPPIANS.

I have greatly rejoiced with you in our Lord Jesus Christ, because ye have followed the example of true love [as displayed by God], and have accompanied, as became you, those who were bound in chains, the fitting ornaments of saints, and which are indeed the diadems of the true elect of God and our Lord; and because the strong root of your faith, spoken of in days long gone by, endureth even until now, and bringeth forth fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ, who for our sins suffered even unto death, [but] "whom God raised froth the dead, having loosed the bands of the grave." "In whom, though now ye see Him not, ye believe, and believing, rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; " into which joy many desire to enter, knowing that "by grace ye are saved, not of works," but by the will of God through Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER II.--AN EXHORTATION TO VIRTUE.

"Wherefore, girding up your loins," "serve the Lord in fear" and truth, as those who have forsaken the vain, empty talk and error of the multitude, and "believed in Him who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and gave Him glory," and a throne at His right hand. To Him all things" in heaven and on earth are subject. Him every spirit serves. He comes as the Judge of the living and the dead. His blood will God require of those who do not believe in Him. But He who raised Him up from the dead will raise up us also, if we do His will, and walk in His commandments, and love what He loved, keeping ourselves from all unrighteousness, covetousness, love of money, evil speaking, falsewitness; "not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing," or blow for blow, or cursing for cursing, but being mindful of what the Lord said in His teaching: "Judge not, that ye be not judged; forgive, and it shall be forgiven unto you; be merciful, that ye may obtain mercy; with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again; and once more, "Blessed are the poor, and those that are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God."

CHAPTER III.--EXPRESSIONS OR PERSONAL UNWORTHINESS.

These things, brethren, I write to you concerning righteousness, not because I take anything upon myself, but because ye have invited me to do so. For neither I, nor any other such one, can come up to the wisdom" of the blessed and glorified Paul. He, when among you, accurately and stedfastly taught the word of truth in the presence of those who were then alive. And when absent from you, he wrote you a letter, which, if you carefully study, you will find to be the means of building you up in that faith which has been given you, and which, being followed by hope, and preceded by love towards God, and Christ, and our neighbour, "is the mother of us all." For if any one be inwardly possessed of these graces, he hath fulfilled the command of righteousness, since he that hath love is far from all sin.

CHAPTER IV.--VARIOUS EXHORTATIONS.

"But the love of money is the root of all evils." Knowing, therefore, that "as we brought nothing into the world, so we can carry nothing out," let us arm ourselves with the armour of righteousness; and let us teach, first of all, ourselves to walk in the commandments of the Lord. Next, [teach] your wives [to walk] in the faith given to them, and in love and purity tenderly loving their own husbands in all truth, and loving all [others] equally in all chastity; and to train up their children in the knowledge and fear of God. Teach the widows to be discreet as respects the faith of the Lord, praying continually for all, being far from all slandering, evil-speaking, false-witnessing, love of money, and every kind of evil; knowing that they are the altar s of God, that He clearly perceives all things, and that nothing is hid from Him, neither reasonings, nor reflections, nor any one of the secret things of the heart.

CHAPTER V.--THE DUTIES OF DEACONS, YOUTHS, AND VIRGINS.

Knowing, then, that "God is not mocked," we ought to walk worthy of His commandment and glory. In like manner should the deacons be blameless before the face of His righteousness, as being the servants of God and Christ, and not of men. They must not be slanderers, double-tongued, or lovers of money, but temperate in all things, compassionate, industrious, walking according to the truth of the Lord, who was the servant of all. If we please Him in this present world, we shall receive also the future world, according as He has promised to us that He will raise us again from the dead, and that if we live worthily of Him, "we shall also reign together with Him," provided only we believe. In like manner, let the young men also be blameless in all things, being especially careful to preserve purity, and keeping themselves in, as with a bridle, from every kind of evil. For it is well that they should be cut off from the lusts that are in the world, since "every lust warreth against the spirit; " and "neither fornicators, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, shall inherit the kingdom of God," nor those who do things inconsistent and unbecoming. Wherefore, it is needful to abstain from all these things, being subject to the presbyters and deacons, as unto God and Christ. The virgins also must walk in a blameless and pure conscience.

CHAPTER VI.--THE DUTIES OF PRESBYTERS AND OTHERS.

And let the presbyters be compassionate and merciful to all, bringing back those that wander, visiting all the sick, and not neglecting the widow, the orphan, or the poor, but always "providing for that which is becoming in the sight of God and man ; " abstaining from all wrath, respect of persons, and unjust judgment; keeping far off from . all covetousness, not quickly crediting [an evil re port] against any one, not severe in judgment, as knowing that we are all under a debt of sin. If then we entreat the Lord to forgive us, we ought also ourselves to forgive; for we are before the eyes of our Lord and God, and "we must all appear at the judgment-seat of Christ, and must every one give an account of himself." Let us then serve Him in fear, and with all reverence, even as He Himself has commanded us, and as the apostles who preached the Gospel unto us, and the prophets who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Lord [have alike taught us]. Let us be zealous in the pursuit of that which is good, keeping ourselves from causes of offence, from false brethren, and from those who in hypocrisy bear the name of the Lord, and draw away vain men into error.

CHAPTER VII.--AVOID THE DOCETAE, AND PERSEVERE IN FASTING AND PRAYER.

"For whosoever does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is antichrist;" and whosoever does not confess the testimony of the cross, is of the devil; and whosoever perverts the oracles of the Lord to his own lusts, and says that there is neither a resurrection nor a judgment, he is the first-born of Satan. Wherefore, forsaking the vanity of many, and their false doctrines, let us return to the word which has been handed down to us from the beginning; "watching unto prayer," and persevering in fasting; beseeching in our supplications the all-seeing God "not to lead us into temptation," as the Lord has said: "The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak."

CHAPTER VIII.--PERSEVERE IN HOPE AND PATIENCE.

Let us then continually persevere in our hope, and the earnest of our righteousness, which is Jesus Christ, "who bore our sins in His own body on the tree," "who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth," but endured all things for us, that we might live in Him. Let us then be imitators of His patience; and if we suffer for His name's sake, let us glorify Him. For He has set us this example s in Himself, and we have believed that such is the case.

CHAPTER IX.--PATIENCE INCULCATED.

I exhort you all, therefore, to yield obedience to the word of righteousness, and to exercise all patience, such as ye have seen [set] before your eyes, not only in the case of the blessed Ignatius, and Zosimus, and Rufus, but also in others among yourselves, and in Paul himself, and the rest of the apostles. [This do] in the assurance that all these have not run in vain, but in faith and righteousness, and that they are [now] in their due place in the presence of the Lord, with whom also they suffered. For they loved not this present world, but Him who died for us, and for our sakes was raised again by God from the dead.

CHAPTER X.--EXHORTATION TO THE PRACTICE OF VIRTUE.

Stand fast, therefore, in these things, and follow the example of the Lord, being firm and unchangeable in the faith, loving the brotherhood, and being attached to one another, joined together in the truth, exhibiting the meekness of the Lord in your intercourse with one another, and despising no one. When you can do good, defer it not, because "alms delivers from death."" Be all of you subject one to another? having your conduct blameless among the Gentiles," that ye may both receive praise for your good works, and the Lord may not be blasphemed through you. But woe to him by whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed! Teach, therefore, sobriety to all, and manifest it also in your own conduct.

CHAPTER XI.--EXPRESSION OF GRIEF ON ACCOUNT OF VALENS.

I am greatly grieved for Valens, who was once a presbyter among you, because he so little understands the place that was given him [in the Church]. I exhort you, therefore, that ye abstain from covetousness, and that ye be chaste and truthful. "Abstain from every form of evil." For if a man cannot govern himself in such matters, how shall he enjoin them on others ? If a man does not keep himself from covetousness, he shall be defiled by idolatry, and shall be judged as one of the heathen. But who of us are ignorant of the judgment of the Lord ? "Do we not know that the saints shall judge the world ?" as Paul teaches. But I have neither seen nor heard of any such thing among you, in the midst of whom the blessed Paul laboured, and who are commended in the beginning of his Epistle. For he boasts of you in all those Churches which alone then knew the Lord; but we [of Smyrna] had not yet known Him. I am deeply grieved, therefore, brethren, for him (Valens) and his wife; to whom may the Lord grant true repentance! And be ye then moderate in regard to this matter, and "do not count such as enemies," but call them back as suffering and straying members, that ye may save your whole body. For by so acting ye shall edify yourselves.

CHAPTER XII.--EXHORTATION TO VARIOUS GRACES.

For I trust that ye are well versed in the Sacred Scriptures, and that nothing is hid from you; but to me this privilege is not yet granted. It is declared then in these Scriptures, "Be ye angry, and sin not," and, "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath." Happy is he who remembers this, which I believe to be the case with you. But may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ Himself, who is the Son of God, and our everlasting High Priest, build you up in faith and truth, and in all meekness, gentleness, patience, long-suffering, forbearance, and purity; and may He bestow on you a lot and portion among His saints, and on us with you, and on all that are under heaven, who shall believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, and in His Father, who "raised Him from the dead. Pray for all the saints. Pray also for kings, and potentates, and princes, and for those that persecute and hate you, and for the enemies of the cross, that your fruit may be manifest to all, and that ye may be perfect in Him.

CHAPTER XIII.--CONCERNING THE TRANSMISSION OF EPISTLES.

Both you and Ignatius wrote to me, that if any one went [from this] into Syria, he should carry your letter with him; which request I will attend to if I find a fitting opportunity, either personally, or through some other acting for me, that your desire may be fulfilled. The Epistles of Ignatius written by him to us, and all the rest [of his Epistles] which we have by us, we have sent to you, as you requested. They are subjoined to this Epistle, and by them ye may be greatly profited; for they treat of faith and patience, and all things that tend to edification in our Lord. Any more certain information you may have obtained respecting both Ignatius himself, and those that were with him, have the goodness to make known to us.

CHAPTER XIV.--CONCLUSION.

These things I have written to you by Crescens, whom up to the present time I have recommended unto you, and do now recommend. For he has acted blamelessly among us, and I believe also among you. Moreover, ye will hold his sister in esteem when she comes to you. Be ye safe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with you all. Amen.