CIVIL RELIGIOUS DISCUSSION: All things Eastern Orthodox Christianity

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It is now agreed that the Letter of Barnabas could not be any later than 150 and might be as early as 70 or 71. It is older than the present form of the Didache, which contains more New Testament quotations or allusions

Chapter 19

The way of Light, then, is this: If anyone wish to follow the path to the appointed goal, let him be zealous in what he does. This, then, is the Knowledge given to us to walk in this path: Thou shalt love thy Creator, thou shalt fear thy Maker, thou shalt glorify Him who redeemed thee from death. Thou shalt be simple in heart and generous in spirit. Thou shalt not join those who walk in the way of death. Thou shalt hate everything which is not pleasing to God. Thou shalt not abandon the command of the Lord. You shall not exalt yourself, but shall be humble-minded in all things; you shall not take glory to yourself. You shall not take evil counsel against your neighbor; you shall not allow arrogance into your soul. You shall not commit fornication, you shall not commit adultery; you shall not corrupt boys. The word of God shall not be spoken by you among the impure. You shall not respect persons in rebuking any for transgression. You shall be meek, you shall be quiet, ‘you shall fear the words’ which you have heard. You shall not bear malice against your brother. You shall not doubt whether a thing shall be or not. ‘Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.’ You shall love your neighbor more than your own soul. You shall not murder a child by abortion, nor again kill it after birth. You shall not remove your hand from your son or from your daughter, but shall teach them the fear of God from their youth. You shall not be found coveting your neighbor’s goods, nor showing avarice. You shall not be associated in soul with the haughty, but shall associate with humble and righteous men. You shall receive the trials that befall you as benefits, knowing that nothing happens without God’s permission. You shall not be double-minded nor gossipping. You shall obey your masters as a type of God in modesty and fear; you shall not with bitterness command your servant or maid who hope in the same God, lest perhaps they cease to fear the God who is above you both. For He came not to call men with respect of persons, but those whom the Spirit prepared. 8 You shall not be quick to speak, for the mouth is a snare of death. So far as you can, you shall be pure for your soul’s sake. Be not one who holds out his hands to receive, but shuts them for giving. You shall love as the apple of your eye every man who speaks to you the word of the Lord. Remember the day of judgment day and night, and seek each day the company of the saints, either laboring by speech, and going out to exhort, and striving to save souls by the word, or working with your hands for the ransom of your sins. Do not hesitate to give and, when you give, do not grumble; but you shall know who is the good paymaster of your reward. Keep the teachings which you have received, adding nothing and subtracting nothing. Hate the Evil One thoroughly. Pass righteous judgment. Do not cause quarrels, but bring together and reconcile those who quarrel. Confess your sins. Do not go to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of Light.

Glimm, F. X. (1947). The Letter of Barnabas. In F. X. Glimm, J. M.-F. Marique, & G. G. Walsh (Trans.), The Apostolic Fathers (Vol. 1, pp. 219–221). Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press.

 

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Celebrating Circumcision????

Who, in their right mind, would do such a thing?

It makes most men cringe.

In today's world, the practice is increasingly frowned upon and its medical efficacy is debated.

But for the Christian, especially the careful reader of Scripture, TODAY is the Eighth day after the Birth of Jesus the Christ. As a Jewish male, TODAY He is circumcised.

Do we, in the modern world, care?

We should for Christians in ancient times did. For them it was easier to believe in formless, faceless gods. Circumcision drives home half of the credal statement that Jesus was fully God and fully MAN.

In reading John 10:1-9 we see the Godly role of Jesus.
In reading Colossians 2:8-12, esp.

For in him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fulness of life in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ; and you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

We see St Paul clearly equate physical circumcision with a spiritual circumcision followed immediately with a connection between spiritual circumcision with Baptism, which itself is linked with death and resurrection.

Finally in Luke 2:20-21, we see the significance of the eighth day for both circumcision and naming. Just as after physical circumcision, the ancient tradition was to name the child, also too, after the spiritual circumcision of baptism, the child of God is Given a new name.

Further down in 40-52, we see that Jesus subjected himself to his parents and we see Mary, his mother, ponder this things.

What was the Jewish interpretation of Circumcision?
How was this incorporated into early Christianity?
How does this event inform us about Christ? in his humanity? In his divinity?
If no words of scripture are meaningless? What does it mean that Mary pondered in her heart? What does that mean for us today?

 

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