Deus Misereatur

I have started re-reading St. Athanasius' little treatise, "The Incarnation of the Word of God'. Athanasius wrote this short piece possibly around 318 a.d., to show the positive aspects of the Christian Faith to a non-Christian audience, and to challenge their pesky resistance to Jesus Christ. At the end of section one, he sums up the reason for Jesus, the eternally divine Son of God, becoming human: He has been manifested in a human body for this reason only, out of the love and goodness of His Father, for the salvation of us men. We will begin, then, with the creation of the world and with God its Maker, for the first fact that you must grasp is this: the renewal of creation has been wrought by the Self-same Word Who made it in the beginning. There is thus no inconsistency between creation and salvation; for the One Father has employed the same Agent for both works, effecting the salvation of the world through the same Word Who made it in the beginning (p. 26). I fin...

This morning, as I was reflecting on Scripture and praying, I went back through my ordination vows. I do that periodically as a way of remembering what I vowed before God and His people on 11 February 2001. I was struck again with the simplicity & the sagacity of these vows. 1. Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as originally given, to be the inerrant Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice? Here is the simple notion that I have declared that Holy Scripture is God’s Word, God’s declarative self-revealing to me and all His people. But also that it is His defining, definitive rule to guide, lead, direct, shape and mold me and all His people. I affirmed that, and hold to it even now. What struck me is the placing of this vow. The preacher (me!) has nothing very worthwhile to say, whatsoever, if it is not flowing from God’s own Word. Brooding over this vow drives me to read the Scripture, repeatedly, daily, prayerfully. If I have said I ...