I will move on, then, beyond this power of my nature, rising by degrees to him who made me. And I come to the fields and spacious palaces of my memory, where the treasures of innumerable images are stored, brought there from all sorts of things perceived by the senses. Further, there is stored up in memory whatever thoughts we think, either by enlarging or diminishing, or changing in any other way those things which the senses have brought in; and whatever else has been committed and stored up, which forgetfulness has not yet swallowed up and buried.
When I enter there, I ask what I want brought forth, and some things appear instantly; others must be sought after longer, and are brought, as it were, out of some inner storage place. Still others rush out in crowds, and while only one thing is desired and asked for, they leap into view as if to say, "Do you perhaps want me?" I drive this away from the face of my remembrance with the hand of my heart until what I wanted is unveiled and appears in sight out of its secret place. Other things come up readily, in unbroken order, as they are called for - those in front giving way to those that follow; and as they make way, they are hidden from sight, ready to come back at my will. All of this takes place when I repeat something by heart.
And all these things are preserved distinctly and under general heads, each having entered my memory by its own particular avenue: light and colors and forms of bodies, by the eyes; all sorts of sounds by the ears; all smells by the avenue of the nostrils; all tastes by the mouth; and by the sensation of the whole body, what is hard or soft, hot or cold, smooth or rugged, heavy or light - either external or internal to the body. All these things the great recesses, the hidden and unknown caverns of memory receive and store, to be retrieved and brought forth when needed, each entering by its own gate. Yet the things themselves do not enter, but only the images of things perceived are there, ready to be recalled in thought.
But how these images are formed, who can tell? It is plain, however, which sense brought each one in and stored it up. For even while I dwell in darkness and silence, I can produce colors in my memory if I choose, and I can discern between black and white. Sounds do not break in and alter the image brought in by my eyes which I am reviewing, though they also are there, lying dormant and stored, as it were, separately. I can call for these, too, and they immediately appear. And though my voice is still and my throat silent, I can sing as much as I will. Those images of colors do not intrude, even though they are there, when another memory is called for which came in by way of the ears. So it is with other things brought in and stored up by the other senses - I can recall them at my pleasure. Yes, I can tell the fragrance of lilies from violets, though I smell nothing; I prefer honey to sweet wine, smooth surfaces to rough ones - at the time neither tasting nor handling, but only remembering.
These things I do inside myself, in that vast hall of my memory. For present there with me are heaven, earth, sea, and whatever I could think on them, in addition to what I have forgotten. There also I meet with myself, and recall myself - what, when and where I did a thing, and what my feelings were when I did it. All that I remember is there, either personal experiences or what I was told by others. Out of the same store I continually combine with the past, fresh images of things experienced, or what I have believed from what I have experienced. From these I can project future actions, events and hopes, and I can reflect on all these again in the present. I say to myself, in that great storehouse of my mind, filled with the images of so many and such great things, "I will do this or that, and this or that will follow." "Oh, would that this or that might be!" "May God prevent this or that!" This is the way I talk to myself, and when I speak, the images of all I speak about are present, out of the same treasury of memory. I could not say anything at all about them if their images were not there.
Great is this power of memory, exceedingly great, O my God: a large and boundless chamber! Who has ever sounded the depths of it? Yet this is a power of mine, and belongs to my nature. But I do not myself comprehend all that i am. Therefore, the mind is too narrow to contain itself. But where can that part be which it does not itself contain? Is it outside it and not inside? How then does it not comprehend itself? A great wonder arises in me; I am stunned with amazement at this. And men go outside themselves to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the width of the ocean and the circuits of the stars, passing by themselves.
They do not wonder at the fact that when I spoke of all these things, I did not see them with my eyes, yet I could not have spoken of them unless I the inwardly saw with my memory the mountains, waves, rivers and stars which I have seen, and that ocean which I believe to exist, and with the same vast spaces between them as if I saw them outside myself. Yet I did not actually draw them into myself by seeing them, when I beheld them with my eyes, but only their images. And I know which sense of the body impressed each of them on me.
Yet these are not all that the immeasurable capacity of my memory retains. Here also is all that I have learned of the liberal sciences and have not yet forgotten - removed as it were to some inner place, which is yet no place. In this case it is not the images which are retained, but rather, the things themselves. For whatever literature, whatever art of debating, however many kind of questions I know, they exist in my memory as they are - I have not taken in their image and left out the thing itself. It is not as though it had sounded and passed away like a voice retained in the ear, which can be recalled as if it still sounded when it no longer sounded.
Nor is it like an odour that evaporates into the air as it passed, affecting the sense of smell, and from it carries an image of itself into the memory which we renew when we recall it. Nor is it like food, which verily has no taste in the belly, but yet is still tasted in some way in the memory; nor as anything which the body feels by touch and which the memory still conceives when removed from us. For those things themselves are not transmitted into the memory, but their images are caught up and stored, with an admirable swiftness, as it were, in wonderful cabinets, and from there wonderfully brought forth by the act of remembering.
But now when I hear that there are three kinds of questions - whether a thing is, what it is, - I do indeed hold the images of the sounds which make up those words, and I know that those sounds passed through the air with a noise and then ceased to be. But the questions themselves which are conveyed by these sounds, I never reached with any sense of my body, nor do I ever see them at all except by my mind. Yet I have not laid up their images in my memory, but these very questions themselves. How they entered into me, let them say if they can; for I have gone over all the avenues of my flesh, and cannot find how they entered. For the eyes say, "If those images were colored, we reported about them." The ears say, "If they made a sound, we gave you knowledge of them." The nostrils say, "If they have any smell, they passed by us." The taste say, "Unless they have a flavour, do not ask me." The touch says, "If it has size, I did not handle it, and if I did not handle it, I have no account of it."
Whence and how did these things enter my memory? I do not know. For when I learned them, I gave no credit to another man's mind, but recognized them in mine; and approving them as true, I commended them to my mind, laying them up as it were, where I could get at them again whenever I wished. There they were then [in my mind] before I stored them in my memory. Where then, or why, when they were spoken, did I acknowledge them and say, "So it is! It is true," unless they were already in the memory, but so thrown back and buried as it were in deeper recesses, that if the suggestion of another had not drawn them forth, I may have been unable to conceive of them? (Augustine here is very near the Platonic teaching, that learning is remembering. In his Retractions (1, 8:2) he gave up this opinion, saying rather the mind has a natural affinity for the things of the intelligible world.)
Thus, we find that to learn those things whose images do not come to us by the way of the senses, but which we know by themselves as they are, without images, is nothing more than taking the things the memory already has - scattered and unarranged. By marking and careful attention we gather them, as it were in that same memory where they lay unknown before scattered and ignored, so that they can readily occur to the mind now familiarized with them. And how many things of this kinds does my memory hold which have already been discovered and, as I said, placed as it were handily, which we are said to have learned and come to know? And if I for some short space should cease to call them back to mind, they would again be so buried, and glide back, as it were, into the deeper recesses, that they would have to be drawn out again as if new from the same place.
For there is nowhere else for them to go, but they must be drawn together again that they may be known. That is to say, they must be collected together from their scattering. From this word to cogitate comes. For cogo [I collect] and cogito [I recollect] have the same relation to each other as ago [I do] and agito [I do frequently facio [I make] and facito [I make frequently] But the mind has appropriated to itself this word, cogito, so that, not what is collected anywhere, but only what is recollected, that is, brought together in the mind, is properly said to be cogitated or thought upon.
The memory also contains innumerable principles and laws of numbers and dimensions, none of which have been impressed upon it by any bodily sense, since they have neither colors, sound, taste, smell nor touch. I have heard the sound of the words by which they are signified, but the sounds are other than the things themselves. Fir the sounds are different in Greek than in Latin, but the things are neither Greek nor Latin, nor any other language. I have seen the lines of architects, the very finest, like a spider's thread; but the truths they express are not the images of those lines. which my physical eye saw. The architect knows them without any use whatsoever of a body, by recognizing them within himself. I have perceived, also, with all the senses of my body the number of the things which we count, but those numbers themselves by which we count are different. They are not the images of the things we count, and therefore, they simply are. Let him who does not see these truth laugh at me for saying them. While he derides me, I will pity him.
I hold all these things in my memory, and I remember how I learned them. I remembered, too, having heard many things erroneously offered against the truth of them, and though they are false, yet it is not false to have remembered them. I perceive that it is one thing to distinguish them when I thought upon them. I remember both that I have often understood these things in the past, and I am storing up in my memory what I now discern and understand. Therefore, I remember that I have remembered, so that if later on I should call to mind that I was once able to remember these things, it will be by the power of memory that I shall recall it.
The same memory contains the feelings of my mind - not in the same way that my mind contains them when it feels them, but in quite a different way, according to a power peculiar to memory. For without rejoicing, I remember that I have rejoiced. Without sorrow, I recollect my past sorrow. And what I once feared, I review without fear; without desire, I call to mind past desire. Sometimes, on the other hand, I remember my past sorrow with joy, and my past joy with sorrow.This is not to be wondered at as regards the body, for the mind is one thing, the body another. If I therefore remember some past pain of the body with joy, it is not so strange. But this very memory itself is mind - for when we want something remembered, we say, "See that you keep this is mind." And when we forget, we say, "It did not come to my mind." or "It slipped my mind." calling the memory itself the mind.
Since this is so, how is it, that when I remember my past sorrow with joy, the mind has joy while the memory has sorrow? The mind rejoices over the joyfulness which is in it, while the memory is not sad while retaining the sadness in it. Does the memory perchance not belong to the mind? Who will say so? The memory then is, as it were, the belly of the mind, and joy and sadness are like sweet and bitter food. When these are committed to the memory, they are, as it were, passed into the belly, where they may be stowed but not tasted. It is ridiculous to consider this comparison, but yet they are not totally unalike.
But, consider this. It is out of my memory that I say there are four basic emotions of the mind - desire, joy, fear and sorrow. Whatever I may discuss about them, by dividing each into its own particular kind, and by defining what it is, it is from my memory that I find what to say and bring it out from there. Yet I am not disturbed by these emotions when I call them to mind and remember them. Yes, and before I recalled and brought them back, they were there, and so could be brought forth by recollection. Perhaps, as meat is brought up out of the stomach by chewing the cud, these things are brought out of the memory by recollection.
Why, then, does the man who is thinking of them not taste in his mouth the sweetness of joy or the bitterness of sorrow? Does the comparison fail in this because it is not alike in all respects? For who would ever willingly speak of it, if every time we named grief or fear we should be compelled to feel sad or fearful? And yet we could not speak of them if we did not find in our memory, not only the sounds of their names according to images impressed on it by our bodily senses, but also the notions of the things themselves, which we never received by any avenue of the flesh. But the mind itself recognized them through the experience of its own passions, committed them to the memory; or else the memory itself retained them without having them actually assigned to it. [by the conscious mind]
Page 2
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By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Saint Augustine of Hippo stands as one of the greatest and most influential of Christian theologians. "It may be safely predicted, that while the mind of human being yearns for knowledge, and his/her heart seeks rest, the book, "The Confessions of Saint Augustine." will retain that foremost place in the world's literature which it has secured by its sublime outpourings of devotion and profound philosophical spirit."
- THE EXAMINED LIFE - [ The Confessions changes focus at this point and becomes more philosophical and theological. Here we begin to hear the self-examination of the Bishop of Hippo and his interpretation of the nature of knowledge and of creation itself. ]
Let me know you, Lord, who know me; let me know you even as I am known. O Strength of my soul, enter it and make it fit for you, that you may enjoy it without spot or wrinkle. This is my hope; therefore I speak, and in this hope I rejoice when I rightly rejoice. The less other things of this life deserve our sorrow, the more we weep for them; and the more they ought to be sorrowed for, less people weep for them. For behold, you love truth and he who knows the truth comes to the light. This I would do in my heart before you in this confession and in my writing before many witnesses.
What is there in me that could be hidden from you, O Lord, to whose eyes the depths of man's conscience is bare, even though I did not confess it? I might hide you from myself, but not myself from you. But now my groaning bear witness that I am displeased with myself and that you shine brightly and are pleasing, beloved and desired. I am ashamed of myself and renounce myself, and choose you, for I can neither please you nor myself except in you.
Therefore I am open to you, Lord, with all that I am and whatever benefit may come from my confession to you, I have spoken. I do not confess merely with words and freshly sounds, but with the words of my soul and the cry of my thoughts which your ears knows. For when I am wicked, confession to you is nothing more than to be displeased with myself. But when I am truly devout, it is to ascribe glory to you; because you, Lord, bless the godly, but first you justify him who is ungodly? [ From Romans 4:5 Augustine understands justifico in the sense of making actually just (righteous) he recognizes the possibility of interpreting the word in the sense of being reckoned just, but uniformly adopts the former interpretation. ]
My confession then, O my God, is made both silently and yet not silently, for in sound it is silent, but in affection, it cries aloud. For I neither utter any right thing to others which you have not already heard from me, nor do you hear any such things from me which you have not first said to me.
But what do I have to do with peoples that they should hear my confessions, as if they could heal all my infirmities? They are a race, curious to know the lives of others, slow to amend their own. Why do they seek to hear from me what I am, who will not hear from you what they themselves are? And how do they know, when from me they hear of myself, whether I speak the truth, since no man knows what is in man, but the spirit of man which is in him? But if they heard from you about themselves, they cannot say, "The Lord lies." For what is it to hear from you of themselves, but to know themselves? But because charity believes all things - at least among those whom it knits together with itself as one - I, too, Lord, will confess to you in such a way that peoples may hear, though I cannot prove to them that my confession is true; yet those whose ears are opened to me by charity will believe me.
But, O my inmost Physician, make plain to me what benefit I may gain by doing it. You have forgiven and covered my past sins that you might make me happy in you, changing my soul by faith and your sacrament. When my confessions of them are read and heard, they stir up the heart. No longer does it sleep in despair and say "I cannot" but awakes in the love of your mercy and the sweetness of your grace, by which whoever is weak is made strong, when he becomes conscious of his own weakness by it. And the good delight to hear of the past evils of those who are now freed from them - not because they are evils, but because they were no longer are.
What does it profit me, O Lord my God, what does this book gain me, to confess to peoples in your presence what I now am? My conscience confesses daily to you, trusting more in the hope of your mercy than in its own innocence. For I have seen and spoken of the fruit of knowing what I have been, but what I now am, at the very time of making these confessions, various people want to know, both those who have known me and those who have not, who have heard from me or of me. But their ear is not at my heart, where I am whatever I am. They wish to hear me confess what I am within, where neither their eye, nor ear, nor understanding can read. They wish it, ready to believe it - but will they know? For charity which makes them good tells them that I do not lie in my confessions, and charity in them believes me.
But for what good purpose do they wish to hear this? Do they want to rejoice with me when they hear how near by your grace I approach to you? Do they wish to pray for me when they hear how much I am held back by my own weight? To such I will disclosed myself? [ This book has been called one of the most honest soul inventories extant from the ancient world ] For it is no little gain. O Lord my God, that thanks should be given to you on our behalf, and that you should be entreated for us. Let the brotherly soul love in me what you teach is to be loved, and lament in me what you teach is to be lamented. Let it be brotherly, not an alien soul - not one of those strange children, whose mouth speaks vanity, and whose right hand is the hand of falsehood. But let it be the soul of my brethren who, when they approve, rejoice for me, and when they disapprove, are sorry for me; because whether they approve or disapprove, they love me.
To such I will disclose myself; they will breathe freely at my good deeds, sigh for my ill. My good deeds are your appointments and your gifts. My evil ones are my offences and your judgements. Let them breathe freely at the one and sigh at the other. Let hymns and weeping go up into your sight from the hearts of my brethren, your censers. [ The praying Christian is pictured as a thurible, a vessel for burning incense in the Temple or in the Church. Cf. Psalm 141:2 - "Let my prayer be counted as incense before thee." ] And be pleased, O Lord, with the incense of your holy temple; have mercy on me according to your great mercy for your own name's sake. And do not on my account leave what you have begun in me, but perfect my imperfections.
This is the fruit, the profit of my confession of what I am, not of what I have been: to confess this, not only before you, in a secret exultation with trembling, and a secret sorrow with hope, but in the ears of the believing sons of men, sharers of my joy, partners in my mortality, my fellow citizens and fellow pilgrims, who have gone before me, and are to follow on - companions of my way. These are your servants, my brethren, who are your sons by your will. They are my masters, whom you command me to serve if I would live with you and in you. But this, your Word, would mean little to me if it only commanded by speaking, without going before in action. This then I do in deed and word. This I do under your wings, for it would be too great a peril if my soul were not subjected to you under your wings and my infirmities known to you. I am but a little one, but my Father ever lives, and my Guardian is sufficient for me. For he is the same who gave me life and defends me, and you yourself are all my good. You, Almighty One are with me, yes, even before I am with you. To those then whom you command me to serve I will show, not what I have been, but what I now am, and what I continue to be. But I do not judge myself. Thus, therefore would I be heard.
You, Lord, are my judge, because, although no man knows the things of a man but the spirit of a man which is in him, yet there is something of man which the spirit of man that is in him, itself, does not know. But you, Lord know him completely, for you made him. And although I despise myself in your sight and account myself dust and ashes, I know something of you which I do not know of myself. Truly, now we see through a glass darkly, not face to face as yet. As long, then, as I am absent from you, I am more present with myself than with you. And I know that you cannot be violated, but I do not know which temptations I can resist and which I cannot. There is hope, because you are faithful, who will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, so that we may be able to bear it. I will confess then what I know of myself, I will confess also what I do not know of myself. What I know of myself I know by your light shinning upon me; and what I do not know of myself, I continue not to know until my darkness becomes as the noonday in the light of your countenance.
I love you, Lord, without any doubt, but with assured certainty. You have stricken my heart with your Word, and I love you. Yes, also, heaven and earth and all that is in them on every side bid me to love you. They will not cease to say so to everyone, so that they are without excuse. But more profoundly, you will have mercy on whom you will have mercy, and compassion on whom you will have compassion. Otherwise, the heaven and the earth speak your praises to deaf ears.
But what do I love when I love you? Not the beauty of bodies, nor the fair harmony of time, nor the brightness of the light, so gladsome to our eyes; not the sweet melodies of various songs, nor the fragrant smell of flowers and ointments and spices; not manna and honey; not the limbs that physical love likes to embrace. It is none of these that I love my God. Yet I love a kind of light, a kind of melody, a kind of fragrance, a kind of food, and a kind of embrace when I love my God: the light, the melody, the fragrance, the food, and the embrace of the inner man, where there shines into my soul what space cannot contain, and there sounds, what time cannot carry away. I breathe a fragrance which no breeze scatters, and I taste there what is not consumed by eating; and there I lie in the embrace that no satiety can ever separate. This is what I love when I love my God.
And what is it? I asked the earth, and it answered me, "I am not he." And whatever is in the earth confessed the same. I asked the sea and its deeps, and the living, creeping things, and they answered, "We are not your God; seek him above us." I asked the moving air; and the whole air with its inhabitants answered, "Anaximenes was deceived; I am not God." [ From Cicero: "After Anaximander came Anaximenes, who taught that the air is God." On the Nature of the Gods. ] I asked the heavens, sun, moon, stars. "No," say they, "we are not the God whom you seek." And I replied to all the things that throng about the senses of my flesh, "you have told me of my God, that you are not he. Tell me something of him." And they cried, "he made us."
My questioning of them was my thoughts about them, and their form of beauty gave the answer. And I turned myself to myself and said to myself, "What are you?" And I answer, "A man." And behold, in me there appear both soul and body, one outside and the other within. By which of these should I seek my God? I had sought him in the body from earth to heaven, as far as I could send my eyesight as messengers. But the better part is the inner, for to it, as to a ruler and judge, all the bodily messengers reported the answers of heaven and earth and all things in them, who said, "We are not God, but he made us. "These things my inner man knew by means of the outer. I, the inner man, knew them. I, the mind, knew them through the senses of my body. I asked the whole frame of the world about my God; and it answered me, "I am not he, but he made me."
Is not this outward appearance visible to all who have use of their senses? Why then does it not say the same thing to all? Animals small and great see it, but they cannot ask it anything, because their senses are not endowed with reason, so they cannot judge what they see. But men can ask, so that the invisible things of God may be clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. But in loving them, they are brought into subjection to them, and subjects cannot judge. [ Plotinus said that to admire, to take as an object of pursuit anything different from one's own nature, is to acknowledge one's inferiority to it. ] Nor do these things answer unless the questioners can judge.
The creatures do not change their voice, they do not appear one way to this man, another to that; but appearing the same way to both, they are dumb to one and speak to the other. Rather, they speak to all, but only those understand who compare the voice received externally with the internal truth. For truth says to me, "Neither heaven nor earth nor any other body is your God." This, their very nature says to him who sees them, "they are a mass; a mass is less in part than in the whole." Now I speak to you, O my soul, you are my better part, for you quicken the whole mass of my body, giving it life. Nobody can give life to a body. But your God is the Life of your life.
What do I do, then, when I love my God? Who is he who is so high above my soul? By my very soul I will ascend to him. I will soar beyond that power by which I am united to my body, filling its whole frame with life. But I do not find God by that power, for then, so could horse and mule that have no understanding find him for it is the same power by which their bodies live. [ The Latin word is anima - physical life. Augustine sees animals as possessing the interior sensus which correlates the data of sense perception, but lacks ratio - the reasons, which forms judgments. ] But there is another power, not only that by which I am made alive, but that, too, by which I imbue my flesh with sense, which the Lord has made for me, commanding the eye not to hear and the ear not to see; but commanding the eye that I should see through it, and the ear that I should hear through it, and the several other senses, what is to each their own proper places and functions. Through these different senses, I, as a single mind, act. I will go beyond this power of mine, too, for the horse and mule also have this power, for they also perceive through their bodily senses.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
- THE EXAMINED LIFE - [ The Confessions changes focus at this point and becomes more philosophical and theological. Here we begin to hear the self-examination of the Bishop of Hippo and his interpretation of the nature of knowledge and of creation itself. ]
Let me know you, Lord, who know me; let me know you even as I am known. O Strength of my soul, enter it and make it fit for you, that you may enjoy it without spot or wrinkle. This is my hope; therefore I speak, and in this hope I rejoice when I rightly rejoice. The less other things of this life deserve our sorrow, the more we weep for them; and the more they ought to be sorrowed for, less people weep for them. For behold, you love truth and he who knows the truth comes to the light. This I would do in my heart before you in this confession and in my writing before many witnesses.
What is there in me that could be hidden from you, O Lord, to whose eyes the depths of man's conscience is bare, even though I did not confess it? I might hide you from myself, but not myself from you. But now my groaning bear witness that I am displeased with myself and that you shine brightly and are pleasing, beloved and desired. I am ashamed of myself and renounce myself, and choose you, for I can neither please you nor myself except in you.
Therefore I am open to you, Lord, with all that I am and whatever benefit may come from my confession to you, I have spoken. I do not confess merely with words and freshly sounds, but with the words of my soul and the cry of my thoughts which your ears knows. For when I am wicked, confession to you is nothing more than to be displeased with myself. But when I am truly devout, it is to ascribe glory to you; because you, Lord, bless the godly, but first you justify him who is ungodly? [ From Romans 4:5 Augustine understands justifico in the sense of making actually just (righteous) he recognizes the possibility of interpreting the word in the sense of being reckoned just, but uniformly adopts the former interpretation. ]
My confession then, O my God, is made both silently and yet not silently, for in sound it is silent, but in affection, it cries aloud. For I neither utter any right thing to others which you have not already heard from me, nor do you hear any such things from me which you have not first said to me.
But what do I have to do with peoples that they should hear my confessions, as if they could heal all my infirmities? They are a race, curious to know the lives of others, slow to amend their own. Why do they seek to hear from me what I am, who will not hear from you what they themselves are? And how do they know, when from me they hear of myself, whether I speak the truth, since no man knows what is in man, but the spirit of man which is in him? But if they heard from you about themselves, they cannot say, "The Lord lies." For what is it to hear from you of themselves, but to know themselves? But because charity believes all things - at least among those whom it knits together with itself as one - I, too, Lord, will confess to you in such a way that peoples may hear, though I cannot prove to them that my confession is true; yet those whose ears are opened to me by charity will believe me.
But, O my inmost Physician, make plain to me what benefit I may gain by doing it. You have forgiven and covered my past sins that you might make me happy in you, changing my soul by faith and your sacrament. When my confessions of them are read and heard, they stir up the heart. No longer does it sleep in despair and say "I cannot" but awakes in the love of your mercy and the sweetness of your grace, by which whoever is weak is made strong, when he becomes conscious of his own weakness by it. And the good delight to hear of the past evils of those who are now freed from them - not because they are evils, but because they were no longer are.
What does it profit me, O Lord my God, what does this book gain me, to confess to peoples in your presence what I now am? My conscience confesses daily to you, trusting more in the hope of your mercy than in its own innocence. For I have seen and spoken of the fruit of knowing what I have been, but what I now am, at the very time of making these confessions, various people want to know, both those who have known me and those who have not, who have heard from me or of me. But their ear is not at my heart, where I am whatever I am. They wish to hear me confess what I am within, where neither their eye, nor ear, nor understanding can read. They wish it, ready to believe it - but will they know? For charity which makes them good tells them that I do not lie in my confessions, and charity in them believes me.
But for what good purpose do they wish to hear this? Do they want to rejoice with me when they hear how near by your grace I approach to you? Do they wish to pray for me when they hear how much I am held back by my own weight? To such I will disclosed myself? [ This book has been called one of the most honest soul inventories extant from the ancient world ] For it is no little gain. O Lord my God, that thanks should be given to you on our behalf, and that you should be entreated for us. Let the brotherly soul love in me what you teach is to be loved, and lament in me what you teach is to be lamented. Let it be brotherly, not an alien soul - not one of those strange children, whose mouth speaks vanity, and whose right hand is the hand of falsehood. But let it be the soul of my brethren who, when they approve, rejoice for me, and when they disapprove, are sorry for me; because whether they approve or disapprove, they love me.
To such I will disclose myself; they will breathe freely at my good deeds, sigh for my ill. My good deeds are your appointments and your gifts. My evil ones are my offences and your judgements. Let them breathe freely at the one and sigh at the other. Let hymns and weeping go up into your sight from the hearts of my brethren, your censers. [ The praying Christian is pictured as a thurible, a vessel for burning incense in the Temple or in the Church. Cf. Psalm 141:2 - "Let my prayer be counted as incense before thee." ] And be pleased, O Lord, with the incense of your holy temple; have mercy on me according to your great mercy for your own name's sake. And do not on my account leave what you have begun in me, but perfect my imperfections.
This is the fruit, the profit of my confession of what I am, not of what I have been: to confess this, not only before you, in a secret exultation with trembling, and a secret sorrow with hope, but in the ears of the believing sons of men, sharers of my joy, partners in my mortality, my fellow citizens and fellow pilgrims, who have gone before me, and are to follow on - companions of my way. These are your servants, my brethren, who are your sons by your will. They are my masters, whom you command me to serve if I would live with you and in you. But this, your Word, would mean little to me if it only commanded by speaking, without going before in action. This then I do in deed and word. This I do under your wings, for it would be too great a peril if my soul were not subjected to you under your wings and my infirmities known to you. I am but a little one, but my Father ever lives, and my Guardian is sufficient for me. For he is the same who gave me life and defends me, and you yourself are all my good. You, Almighty One are with me, yes, even before I am with you. To those then whom you command me to serve I will show, not what I have been, but what I now am, and what I continue to be. But I do not judge myself. Thus, therefore would I be heard.
You, Lord, are my judge, because, although no man knows the things of a man but the spirit of a man which is in him, yet there is something of man which the spirit of man that is in him, itself, does not know. But you, Lord know him completely, for you made him. And although I despise myself in your sight and account myself dust and ashes, I know something of you which I do not know of myself. Truly, now we see through a glass darkly, not face to face as yet. As long, then, as I am absent from you, I am more present with myself than with you. And I know that you cannot be violated, but I do not know which temptations I can resist and which I cannot. There is hope, because you are faithful, who will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, so that we may be able to bear it. I will confess then what I know of myself, I will confess also what I do not know of myself. What I know of myself I know by your light shinning upon me; and what I do not know of myself, I continue not to know until my darkness becomes as the noonday in the light of your countenance.
I love you, Lord, without any doubt, but with assured certainty. You have stricken my heart with your Word, and I love you. Yes, also, heaven and earth and all that is in them on every side bid me to love you. They will not cease to say so to everyone, so that they are without excuse. But more profoundly, you will have mercy on whom you will have mercy, and compassion on whom you will have compassion. Otherwise, the heaven and the earth speak your praises to deaf ears.
But what do I love when I love you? Not the beauty of bodies, nor the fair harmony of time, nor the brightness of the light, so gladsome to our eyes; not the sweet melodies of various songs, nor the fragrant smell of flowers and ointments and spices; not manna and honey; not the limbs that physical love likes to embrace. It is none of these that I love my God. Yet I love a kind of light, a kind of melody, a kind of fragrance, a kind of food, and a kind of embrace when I love my God: the light, the melody, the fragrance, the food, and the embrace of the inner man, where there shines into my soul what space cannot contain, and there sounds, what time cannot carry away. I breathe a fragrance which no breeze scatters, and I taste there what is not consumed by eating; and there I lie in the embrace that no satiety can ever separate. This is what I love when I love my God.
And what is it? I asked the earth, and it answered me, "I am not he." And whatever is in the earth confessed the same. I asked the sea and its deeps, and the living, creeping things, and they answered, "We are not your God; seek him above us." I asked the moving air; and the whole air with its inhabitants answered, "Anaximenes was deceived; I am not God." [ From Cicero: "After Anaximander came Anaximenes, who taught that the air is God." On the Nature of the Gods. ] I asked the heavens, sun, moon, stars. "No," say they, "we are not the God whom you seek." And I replied to all the things that throng about the senses of my flesh, "you have told me of my God, that you are not he. Tell me something of him." And they cried, "he made us."
My questioning of them was my thoughts about them, and their form of beauty gave the answer. And I turned myself to myself and said to myself, "What are you?" And I answer, "A man." And behold, in me there appear both soul and body, one outside and the other within. By which of these should I seek my God? I had sought him in the body from earth to heaven, as far as I could send my eyesight as messengers. But the better part is the inner, for to it, as to a ruler and judge, all the bodily messengers reported the answers of heaven and earth and all things in them, who said, "We are not God, but he made us. "These things my inner man knew by means of the outer. I, the inner man, knew them. I, the mind, knew them through the senses of my body. I asked the whole frame of the world about my God; and it answered me, "I am not he, but he made me."
Is not this outward appearance visible to all who have use of their senses? Why then does it not say the same thing to all? Animals small and great see it, but they cannot ask it anything, because their senses are not endowed with reason, so they cannot judge what they see. But men can ask, so that the invisible things of God may be clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. But in loving them, they are brought into subjection to them, and subjects cannot judge. [ Plotinus said that to admire, to take as an object of pursuit anything different from one's own nature, is to acknowledge one's inferiority to it. ] Nor do these things answer unless the questioners can judge.
The creatures do not change their voice, they do not appear one way to this man, another to that; but appearing the same way to both, they are dumb to one and speak to the other. Rather, they speak to all, but only those understand who compare the voice received externally with the internal truth. For truth says to me, "Neither heaven nor earth nor any other body is your God." This, their very nature says to him who sees them, "they are a mass; a mass is less in part than in the whole." Now I speak to you, O my soul, you are my better part, for you quicken the whole mass of my body, giving it life. Nobody can give life to a body. But your God is the Life of your life.
What do I do, then, when I love my God? Who is he who is so high above my soul? By my very soul I will ascend to him. I will soar beyond that power by which I am united to my body, filling its whole frame with life. But I do not find God by that power, for then, so could horse and mule that have no understanding find him for it is the same power by which their bodies live. [ The Latin word is anima - physical life. Augustine sees animals as possessing the interior sensus which correlates the data of sense perception, but lacks ratio - the reasons, which forms judgments. ] But there is another power, not only that by which I am made alive, but that, too, by which I imbue my flesh with sense, which the Lord has made for me, commanding the eye not to hear and the ear not to see; but commanding the eye that I should see through it, and the ear that I should hear through it, and the several other senses, what is to each their own proper places and functions. Through these different senses, I, as a single mind, act. I will go beyond this power of mine, too, for the horse and mule also have this power, for they also perceive through their bodily senses.
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Monday, March 10, 2014
Tuesday of the week in which Jesus died. Our Lord Jesus Christ told one of His last parables which tied up the prophecies of the Old Testament and pointed to what would happen to Him within seventy-two hours. The temple rulers had just been questioning Our Lord Jesus Christ concerning His authority. The position that they took was that they were representatives and guardians of the people; therefore, they must prevent the people from being misled. Our Lord Jesus Christ answered them in a parable showing them the kind of guardians and guides they were.
A man planted a vineyard and put a wall round it, hewed out a wine-press, and built a watch tower. - Mark 12:1 -
The One Who planted the vineyard was God Himself, as His listeners already knew from the first few verses of the fifth chapter of Isaiah. The wall that He put around it was that separated them from the idolatrous nations of the Gentiles and allowed God to tend His fruitful vine, Israel, with special care. The wine-press, which was hollowed out of rock, had some reference to the temple services and sacrifice. The tower whose purpose was the watching and the guiding of the vineyard symbolized the special vigilance God exercised over His people.
Then he let it out to vine growers and went abroad. - Mark 12:1 -
This meant the commitment of responsibility to His own people who were so guarded from pagan infection. This commitment began with Abraham when he was called out of the land of Ur, and with Moses, who gave his people commandments and the laws of worshiping the true God. As God had said through prophet Jeremiah:
I sent my servants the prophets especially. - Jer. 35:15 -
From that moment on, the vineyard of Israel should have given to God the fruits of fidelity and love proportionate to the blessings they had received. But when the owner of the vineyard sent three of his servants successively to gather fruits, they were maltreated by the vine-dressers. What these divine messengers or prophets, suffered is described in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. Saint Stephen, the first martyr, later on would describe the infidelity of the people to the prophets.
Was there ever a prophet whom your fathers did not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One; and now you have betrayed him and murdered him. - Acts 7:52 -
But God's love was not wearied out with the cruelty of the vine-dressers. There were fresh calls to repentance after each new act of violence.
Again, he sent other servants, this time a larger number; and they did the same to them. - Matt. 21:36 -
According to Mark, some were beaten over the head and used outrageously, and others killed, which signified the climax of iniquity. These statements are general, but they could nevertheless refer to the beating which was given to prophet Jeremiah and the killing of prophet Isaiah.
Then the owner of the vineyard said, What am I to do? I will send my own dear son; perhaps they will respect him. - Luke 20:13 -
God is represented as soliloquizing with Himself as if to throw His love in clearer light. What more could He do for His vineyard than He had done? The "perhaps" was not only a doubt that the Divine Son would be accepted, but also an expectation that He would not. The history of God's relation with a people was told in a few minutes.
Those who listened to Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ fully understood the many references He had made to the way of the prophets who had been set upon by the people and their message repudiated. They had also heard Him declare Himself to be the Son of God. Under the thin veil of the parable, He was answering the question, namely, by what authority He did certain things. Our Lord Jesus Christ here not only reaffirmed the personal relationship of Himself to His Heavenly Father, but also His infinite superiority over the prophets and servants.
Then revealing to His listeners the death that He would undergo at their hands, He continues:
But when they saw the son his tenants said to one another. This is the heir; come on, let us kill him, and get his inheritance. And they took him, flung him out of the vineyard, and kill him. - Matt. 21:38-40 -
The vine-dressers are here represented as knowing the Son and the heir of the vineyard. With unmistakable clarity, the Lord revealed the dreadful doom He would suffer at their hands, that He would be cast "out of the vineyard" to the hill of Calvary which was outside Jerusalem and that He was the father's last appeal to a sinful world. There were no illusions about the reverence that He would meet from mankind. rebuffs and injuries would be the greeting extended to the Son of the Heavenly Father.
Within three days of the telling of the story, it came true. The accredited keepers of the vineyard, such as Annas and Caiphas, cast Him out from the city on to a hill that was dump and put Him to death. As Saint Augustine said: "They slew Him, that they might possess, and because they slew, they lost."
After Our Lord Jesus Christ said that those who killed the Son would lose the inheritance, He then sent the minds of His hearers back to Sacred Scripture.
He looked straight at them and said, Then what does this text of Scripture mean: The stone which the builders rejected has become the main cornerstone? - Luke 20:17 -
This was a quotation from their very familiar one hundred and seventeenth Psalm: The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
The Old Testament contained many prophecies concerning Our Lord Jesus as a stone. Five times Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ had availed Himself of the parable of the vine. Now after using the figure to indicate the cruelty to God's only begotten Son, sent from Heaven to secure His Father's rights, He dropped the figure altogether and took up the figure of the cornerstone. The Son of God would be the despised and rejected stone. But He foretold that He would be the stone Who would unite and bind all together.
Never is there a mention of the tragedy without the glory; so too here the evil treatment the Son received is compensated for by the ultimate victory, in which as the cornerstone He unites Jew and Gentile in one holy house. Thus, the builders of His death were overruled by the Great Architect. Even their own unconscious rejection of Him made them unconscious, voluntary instruments of His purpose. Whom they refused, God would raise up as King. Under the figure of the vineyard He foretold His death; under the figure of the cornerstone, His Resurrection. He told His own fate and destiny as if it were already done and accomplished, and pointed out the futility of any opposition to Him even though they killed Him. Remarkable words they were, from a man Who said that in three days He would be crucified. And yet they revealed in clear words what they dimly knew in their own hearts. With dramatic suddenness which caught them unaware, He anticipated the judgment he said He would exercised over all men and nations on the last day. For the moment he ceased to be the Lamb and began to be the Lion of Juda. His last days are now at an end; the rulers must decide now whether they will receive Him or reject Him. He warned them that for taking His life, His Kingdom would pass to the Gentiles:
Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and given to a nation that yields the proper fruit. - Matt. 21:43 -
Continuing the analogy, taken from prophet Daniel, of the stone which grinds to powder the kingdoms of the earth, He thundered:
Any man who falls on this stone will be dashed to pieces; and if it falls on a man he will be crushed by it. Matt. 21:44 -
There are two figures: one is of a man dashing himself against the stone that is laid passively on earth. Our Lord Jesus Christ here meant rejecting Him during this time of His humiliation. The other figure is of the stone actively considered as when it falls, for example, from a cliff. By this He meant Himself as glorified and crushing all earthly opposition. The first would refer to Israel in the present moment when it rejected Him, and for which Jerusalem, he said, would be desolate. The other would refer to those who rejected Him after His glorious resurrection, Ascension, and the progress of His Kingdom on earth.
Every man, He claimed, had some contact with Him. He is free to reject His influence, but the rejection is the stone which crushes him. No one can remain indifferent once he has met Him. He remains the perpetual element in the character of every hearer. No teacher in the world ever claimed that rejecting Him would harden one's heart and make a man worse. But here is One Who, within three days of going to His death, said that the very rejection of Him would decay the heart.
Whether one believes or disbelieves Him, one is never the same afterward. Christ said that He was either the rock on which men would build the foundation of life, or the rock which would crush them. Never did men just simply pass Him by; He is the abiding Presence. Some may think that they allow Him to pass by without receiving Him, but this He called fatal neglect. A fatal crushing would follow not only neglect or indifference, but also when there was formal opposition. No teacher who ever lived told those who heard him that the rejection of his words would mean their damnation.
Even those who believe that Christ was only a teacher would scruple at this judgment about receiving His message. But being primarily a Savior, the alternative was understandable. To reject the Savior was to reject Salvation, as Our Lord Jesus Christ called Himself in the house of Zacchaeus. the questioners of His authority had no doubt of the spiritual significance of the parable and the reference to themselves. Their motives were discovered, which only exasperated more those whose designs were evil. When evil is revealed in the light, it does not always repent; sometimes it becomes more evil.
The lawyers and chief priests wanted to lay hands on him there and then, for they saw that this parable was aimed at them. - Luke 20:19 -
The good repent on knowing their sin; the evil become angry when discovered. Ignorance is not the cause of evil, as Plato held; neither is education the answer to the removal of evil. These men had an intellect as well as a will; knowledge as well as intention. Truth can be known and hated; Goodness can be known and crucified. The Hour was approaching, and for the moment the fear of the people deterred the Pharisees. Violence could not be triggered against Him until he would say, "This is your Hour."
BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN ( 1895 to 1979 )
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
A man planted a vineyard and put a wall round it, hewed out a wine-press, and built a watch tower. - Mark 12:1 -
The One Who planted the vineyard was God Himself, as His listeners already knew from the first few verses of the fifth chapter of Isaiah. The wall that He put around it was that separated them from the idolatrous nations of the Gentiles and allowed God to tend His fruitful vine, Israel, with special care. The wine-press, which was hollowed out of rock, had some reference to the temple services and sacrifice. The tower whose purpose was the watching and the guiding of the vineyard symbolized the special vigilance God exercised over His people.
Then he let it out to vine growers and went abroad. - Mark 12:1 -
This meant the commitment of responsibility to His own people who were so guarded from pagan infection. This commitment began with Abraham when he was called out of the land of Ur, and with Moses, who gave his people commandments and the laws of worshiping the true God. As God had said through prophet Jeremiah:
I sent my servants the prophets especially. - Jer. 35:15 -
From that moment on, the vineyard of Israel should have given to God the fruits of fidelity and love proportionate to the blessings they had received. But when the owner of the vineyard sent three of his servants successively to gather fruits, they were maltreated by the vine-dressers. What these divine messengers or prophets, suffered is described in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. Saint Stephen, the first martyr, later on would describe the infidelity of the people to the prophets.
Was there ever a prophet whom your fathers did not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One; and now you have betrayed him and murdered him. - Acts 7:52 -
But God's love was not wearied out with the cruelty of the vine-dressers. There were fresh calls to repentance after each new act of violence.
Again, he sent other servants, this time a larger number; and they did the same to them. - Matt. 21:36 -
According to Mark, some were beaten over the head and used outrageously, and others killed, which signified the climax of iniquity. These statements are general, but they could nevertheless refer to the beating which was given to prophet Jeremiah and the killing of prophet Isaiah.
Then the owner of the vineyard said, What am I to do? I will send my own dear son; perhaps they will respect him. - Luke 20:13 -
God is represented as soliloquizing with Himself as if to throw His love in clearer light. What more could He do for His vineyard than He had done? The "perhaps" was not only a doubt that the Divine Son would be accepted, but also an expectation that He would not. The history of God's relation with a people was told in a few minutes.
Those who listened to Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ fully understood the many references He had made to the way of the prophets who had been set upon by the people and their message repudiated. They had also heard Him declare Himself to be the Son of God. Under the thin veil of the parable, He was answering the question, namely, by what authority He did certain things. Our Lord Jesus Christ here not only reaffirmed the personal relationship of Himself to His Heavenly Father, but also His infinite superiority over the prophets and servants.
Then revealing to His listeners the death that He would undergo at their hands, He continues:
But when they saw the son his tenants said to one another. This is the heir; come on, let us kill him, and get his inheritance. And they took him, flung him out of the vineyard, and kill him. - Matt. 21:38-40 -
The vine-dressers are here represented as knowing the Son and the heir of the vineyard. With unmistakable clarity, the Lord revealed the dreadful doom He would suffer at their hands, that He would be cast "out of the vineyard" to the hill of Calvary which was outside Jerusalem and that He was the father's last appeal to a sinful world. There were no illusions about the reverence that He would meet from mankind. rebuffs and injuries would be the greeting extended to the Son of the Heavenly Father.
Within three days of the telling of the story, it came true. The accredited keepers of the vineyard, such as Annas and Caiphas, cast Him out from the city on to a hill that was dump and put Him to death. As Saint Augustine said: "They slew Him, that they might possess, and because they slew, they lost."
After Our Lord Jesus Christ said that those who killed the Son would lose the inheritance, He then sent the minds of His hearers back to Sacred Scripture.
He looked straight at them and said, Then what does this text of Scripture mean: The stone which the builders rejected has become the main cornerstone? - Luke 20:17 -
This was a quotation from their very familiar one hundred and seventeenth Psalm: The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
The Old Testament contained many prophecies concerning Our Lord Jesus as a stone. Five times Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ had availed Himself of the parable of the vine. Now after using the figure to indicate the cruelty to God's only begotten Son, sent from Heaven to secure His Father's rights, He dropped the figure altogether and took up the figure of the cornerstone. The Son of God would be the despised and rejected stone. But He foretold that He would be the stone Who would unite and bind all together.
Never is there a mention of the tragedy without the glory; so too here the evil treatment the Son received is compensated for by the ultimate victory, in which as the cornerstone He unites Jew and Gentile in one holy house. Thus, the builders of His death were overruled by the Great Architect. Even their own unconscious rejection of Him made them unconscious, voluntary instruments of His purpose. Whom they refused, God would raise up as King. Under the figure of the vineyard He foretold His death; under the figure of the cornerstone, His Resurrection. He told His own fate and destiny as if it were already done and accomplished, and pointed out the futility of any opposition to Him even though they killed Him. Remarkable words they were, from a man Who said that in three days He would be crucified. And yet they revealed in clear words what they dimly knew in their own hearts. With dramatic suddenness which caught them unaware, He anticipated the judgment he said He would exercised over all men and nations on the last day. For the moment he ceased to be the Lamb and began to be the Lion of Juda. His last days are now at an end; the rulers must decide now whether they will receive Him or reject Him. He warned them that for taking His life, His Kingdom would pass to the Gentiles:
Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and given to a nation that yields the proper fruit. - Matt. 21:43 -
Continuing the analogy, taken from prophet Daniel, of the stone which grinds to powder the kingdoms of the earth, He thundered:
Any man who falls on this stone will be dashed to pieces; and if it falls on a man he will be crushed by it. Matt. 21:44 -
There are two figures: one is of a man dashing himself against the stone that is laid passively on earth. Our Lord Jesus Christ here meant rejecting Him during this time of His humiliation. The other figure is of the stone actively considered as when it falls, for example, from a cliff. By this He meant Himself as glorified and crushing all earthly opposition. The first would refer to Israel in the present moment when it rejected Him, and for which Jerusalem, he said, would be desolate. The other would refer to those who rejected Him after His glorious resurrection, Ascension, and the progress of His Kingdom on earth.
Every man, He claimed, had some contact with Him. He is free to reject His influence, but the rejection is the stone which crushes him. No one can remain indifferent once he has met Him. He remains the perpetual element in the character of every hearer. No teacher in the world ever claimed that rejecting Him would harden one's heart and make a man worse. But here is One Who, within three days of going to His death, said that the very rejection of Him would decay the heart.
Whether one believes or disbelieves Him, one is never the same afterward. Christ said that He was either the rock on which men would build the foundation of life, or the rock which would crush them. Never did men just simply pass Him by; He is the abiding Presence. Some may think that they allow Him to pass by without receiving Him, but this He called fatal neglect. A fatal crushing would follow not only neglect or indifference, but also when there was formal opposition. No teacher who ever lived told those who heard him that the rejection of his words would mean their damnation.
Even those who believe that Christ was only a teacher would scruple at this judgment about receiving His message. But being primarily a Savior, the alternative was understandable. To reject the Savior was to reject Salvation, as Our Lord Jesus Christ called Himself in the house of Zacchaeus. the questioners of His authority had no doubt of the spiritual significance of the parable and the reference to themselves. Their motives were discovered, which only exasperated more those whose designs were evil. When evil is revealed in the light, it does not always repent; sometimes it becomes more evil.
The lawyers and chief priests wanted to lay hands on him there and then, for they saw that this parable was aimed at them. - Luke 20:19 -
The good repent on knowing their sin; the evil become angry when discovered. Ignorance is not the cause of evil, as Plato held; neither is education the answer to the removal of evil. These men had an intellect as well as a will; knowledge as well as intention. Truth can be known and hated; Goodness can be known and crucified. The Hour was approaching, and for the moment the fear of the people deterred the Pharisees. Violence could not be triggered against Him until he would say, "This is your Hour."
BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN ( 1895 to 1979 )
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Scriptural/Biblical Theology as it is understood from the perspective of the scriptural/biblical writers themselves. This category of theology must be carefully distinguished from systematic theology which systematizes and re-expresses the teachings of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible through the use of modern concepts and categories. Scriptural/Biblical theology is scriptural/biblical because it states the theology of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible by limiting to the language, categories, and perspectives of the scriptural/biblical writers. It attempts to arrive at this understanding without modern theological biases or assumptions.
Scriptural/Biblical Theology is historical in its orientation. It attempts to get into the minds of the authors of Scripture in order to arrive at the meanings they intended for their original readers. This means that scriptural/biblical theology is dependent upon careful interpretation of the scriptural/biblical texts in their original languages. But scriptural/biblical theology is much more complex than merely compiling Scripture/Bible verses on various themes or subjects in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, followed by a summary of this materials. This approach would not be sensitive to the various historical contexts and specific emphases of the scriptural/biblical writers.
Scriptural/Biblical theology does not attempt to systematize but only to the extent that this can be done without imposing an artificial structure upon the scriptural/biblical writers. The scriptural/biblical theologian will go no further than these writers went in systematizing their material. His concern is to represent their perspectives as clearly and as faithfully as possible.
Scriptural/Biblical theology is divided into Old Testament theology and New Testament theology, although the relation between the two also concerns scriptural/biblical theologians. Further specialization also occurs within both Old Testament and New Testament theologies.
Scriptural/Biblical theologians often speak of the theologies of Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Matthew, and Paul. This is in keeping with the emphasis of scriptural/biblical theology upon the distinctive of the individual scriptural/biblical writers. But a big part of the task of scriptural/biblical theology is to pull together the common emphases of the scriptural/biblical writers and to seek the unity of their writings. Although these inspired writers have different contributions to make to the subject of God and His revelation, their writings are compatible with each other. Therefore, scriptural/biblical theology focuses on the diversity that exists within the larger unity of Scripture, and tries to set forth that which unifies, without ignoring the diversity.
As long as the interpreter gives sufficient attention to the distinctive of the various writers, scriptural/biblical theology can organize its work topically, according to main subjects. But because scriptural/biblical theology is interested in historical understanding, it is better to proceed chronologically. Therefore, the scriptural/biblical theologian works his way progressively through the Scared Scripture/Holy Bible, tracing the progress of revelation and the development of theological thought, from the earliest writers to the latest. The focus is not only on the religious experience of the people, but more on the revelation of God and His people's understanding His acts or deeds.
Scriptural Biblical theologians seek to find the best organizing principle or idea that serves as the center of a scriptural/biblical theology. Old Testament theologians have suggested such ideas as the covenant, the Lordship of God, the presence of God, and the people of God. New Testament theologians have mentioned the kingdom of God, grace, salvation, resurrection, and kerygma (a summary of the main points in the preaching of the earliest Christians in the Book of Acts).
Any of these concepts can be used as an organizing principle, for all the central concepts of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible are related. But certainly one of the most helpful suggestions to come from scriptural/biblical theologians is the idea of "salvation history." This refers to the saving acts of God in history. It is an ideal organizing principle for both Old and New Testaments. In fact, many scriptural/biblical theologians believe the most effective way to look at the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible is in terms of God's special acts of salvation on behalf of His people Israel and His Church. But they see these various individual events as a unity, moving from promise to completion. Therefore, "salvation history" is a single great plan of salvation that finds its ultimate fulfillment in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Following is a broad overview of the events in this salvation history.
Two basic theological truths of the Old Testament are God as Creator and God as Redeemer. The created order is God's not only because He created it, but because He is in the process of redeeming it from its rebellion and sin. The Sacred Scripture is the story of God setting right what went wrong with His creation because of the 'Fall of Adam.' - Gen. 3:1-24 -
The history of salvation begins with the call of Abraham and the covenant between Abraham and God. - Gen. 12:1-3 - This story reaches its conclusion in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The election of the nation of Israel as God's special people is not for their sake alone, but for the sake of all the peoples of the world. This blessing is ultimately encountered and experienced by the Church through faith, hope, love in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
Yahweh said to Abram (Abraham) Leave your country, your family and your father's house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you:
I will curse those who slight you.
All the tribes of the earth
shall bless themselves by you. - Gen. 12:1-3 -
The great redemptive act of the Old Testament is the "Exodus" the deliverance of God's people from bondage in Egypt. This is the Old Testament counterpart to the deliverance brought about by the Lord Jesus Christ through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. His death on the Cross. Through the Exodus, God revealed not only His sovereign power, but also His faithfulness and the depth of His covenant love for Israel. This was followed immediately by the covenant between God and His people renewed at Mount Sinai and the giving of the Law. God had already entered into covenant relationship with His people and had miraculously delivered them. This means that obedience to the Law cannot be understood as a requirement for becoming the people of God and enjoying His favor. The Law was given in the context of God's grace.
From the perspective of the New Testament, the Law may be interpreted as having several purposes. It was given to instruct the people about the absolute holiness of God and the sinfulness of humanity. The Law also set Israel apart from the surrounding nations in order that the Hebrews might be the pure channel by which the Messiah could come and accomplish His saving work for all humanity.
Through the prophets of the Old Testament the work of the Lord Jesus Christ was anticipated most clearly. They cautioned the people against presuming upon their relationship with God, as though being a member of the Jewish race were a virtue in itself. And they tried to lift the people's eyes from their national and political concerns to God's love for all nations. God 's intent was to transform the entire fallen creation; He was not concerned only with the political sovereignty of the nation of Israel.
All along God was up to something far greater than Israel realized. "Whoever asks to be blessed on earth will ask to be blessed by the God of truth, and whoever takes oath on earth will take oath by the God of truth, for past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes. For now I create new heavens and a new earth, and the past will not be remembered, and will come no more to men minds." - Is. 65:16-17, 42:10 - The prophet Jeremiah expressed this truth by referring to a "new covenant" which God would establish in the future. - Jer. 31:31-34 - The old covenant, particularly the Law, could not accomplish the goal which God had for His people and His creation. In the new covenant His Law would be written on the hearts of His people, and they would enjoy the lasting forgiveness of their sins.
God preserved His people through the experiences of the division of the kingdom, the destruction of the nations of Israel and Judah, the "Captivity" and the resettlement of His people in Jerusalem. He continued to reveal Himself and His purposes through the prophets, who increasingly spoke of what God would do in the near future. In this spirit of anticipation His people entered the New Testament era with its great announcement of fulfillment and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The New Testament as Fulfillment: the Church. The New Testament announced the ministry of Jesus Christ as the turning point of the ages, the beginning of the great fulfillment proclaimed by the prophets. It is impossible to exaggerate the centrality of this theme of fulfillment in the New Testament. The constant use of quotations from the Old Testament clearly demonstrates this point. According to the first three Gospels, the message of Jesus Christ was that the kingdom of God had arrived. The kingdom was expressed in both the words and deeds of Jesus.
The presence of the kingdom depends directly on the presence of the Messianic King. With Jesus arrival, the fulfillment of the end time has already begun, although it is clear that the final realization of God's purpose remains yet in the future.
The death of Jesus was important as the basis of the kingdom. The rule of God cannot be experienced in any age, present or future, without the atoning sacrifice that reconciles sinners with a holy God. Therefore, the death of Jesus became central for the theology of the New Testament. But the resurrection was equally important. In this event, the new order of the new creation broke directly into the present age. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was assurance of the truths which He had proclaimed, as well as the resurrection of the dead at the end of time.
The pouring out of the Holy Spirit at "Pentecost" depended on the finished work of Jesus Christ in His passion, death and resurrection. This was a certain sign of the new age brought by Christ and the mark of the new people of God, the Church. The ministry of the Holy Spirit guarantees that the results of Christ's work are experienced in the believer's life until the Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth.
In the first sermons preached by the first Christians [ in the first half of the Book of Acts ] we see the main points of the faith of the early Church. In fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus was born of the line of David, was crucified, died, and was buried. But Jesus arose from the dead and will return some day as Judge. The possibility of repentance and salvation is thus founded directly on these saving acts of God in His Son, Jesus Christ.
The letters or epistles of the New Testament contain interpretation and application of these events. The letters or epistles, are divided into two main sections - doctrine and ethics. In the doctrinal sections of these letters, the meaning of Christ's work is described. The ethical sections always build on the doctrinal foundations, instructing Christians on how to live the Christian life.
In both the doctrinal and the ethical sections of the epistles, the excitement of the fulfillment experienced through Jesus Christ is always foremost. The work of Christ, particularly in the Cross and the Resurrection, is considered the saving act of God. These are compared to the saving acts of God in the Old Testament. Therefore, in scriptural/biblical theology, the promises of God in the Old Testament are fulfilled in God's great act of redemption through His Son, Jesus, in the New.
Page 9
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Scriptural/Biblical Theology is historical in its orientation. It attempts to get into the minds of the authors of Scripture in order to arrive at the meanings they intended for their original readers. This means that scriptural/biblical theology is dependent upon careful interpretation of the scriptural/biblical texts in their original languages. But scriptural/biblical theology is much more complex than merely compiling Scripture/Bible verses on various themes or subjects in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, followed by a summary of this materials. This approach would not be sensitive to the various historical contexts and specific emphases of the scriptural/biblical writers.
Scriptural/Biblical theology does not attempt to systematize but only to the extent that this can be done without imposing an artificial structure upon the scriptural/biblical writers. The scriptural/biblical theologian will go no further than these writers went in systematizing their material. His concern is to represent their perspectives as clearly and as faithfully as possible.
Scriptural/Biblical theology is divided into Old Testament theology and New Testament theology, although the relation between the two also concerns scriptural/biblical theologians. Further specialization also occurs within both Old Testament and New Testament theologies.
Scriptural/Biblical theologians often speak of the theologies of Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Matthew, and Paul. This is in keeping with the emphasis of scriptural/biblical theology upon the distinctive of the individual scriptural/biblical writers. But a big part of the task of scriptural/biblical theology is to pull together the common emphases of the scriptural/biblical writers and to seek the unity of their writings. Although these inspired writers have different contributions to make to the subject of God and His revelation, their writings are compatible with each other. Therefore, scriptural/biblical theology focuses on the diversity that exists within the larger unity of Scripture, and tries to set forth that which unifies, without ignoring the diversity.
As long as the interpreter gives sufficient attention to the distinctive of the various writers, scriptural/biblical theology can organize its work topically, according to main subjects. But because scriptural/biblical theology is interested in historical understanding, it is better to proceed chronologically. Therefore, the scriptural/biblical theologian works his way progressively through the Scared Scripture/Holy Bible, tracing the progress of revelation and the development of theological thought, from the earliest writers to the latest. The focus is not only on the religious experience of the people, but more on the revelation of God and His people's understanding His acts or deeds.
Scriptural Biblical theologians seek to find the best organizing principle or idea that serves as the center of a scriptural/biblical theology. Old Testament theologians have suggested such ideas as the covenant, the Lordship of God, the presence of God, and the people of God. New Testament theologians have mentioned the kingdom of God, grace, salvation, resurrection, and kerygma (a summary of the main points in the preaching of the earliest Christians in the Book of Acts).
Any of these concepts can be used as an organizing principle, for all the central concepts of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible are related. But certainly one of the most helpful suggestions to come from scriptural/biblical theologians is the idea of "salvation history." This refers to the saving acts of God in history. It is an ideal organizing principle for both Old and New Testaments. In fact, many scriptural/biblical theologians believe the most effective way to look at the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible is in terms of God's special acts of salvation on behalf of His people Israel and His Church. But they see these various individual events as a unity, moving from promise to completion. Therefore, "salvation history" is a single great plan of salvation that finds its ultimate fulfillment in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Following is a broad overview of the events in this salvation history.
Two basic theological truths of the Old Testament are God as Creator and God as Redeemer. The created order is God's not only because He created it, but because He is in the process of redeeming it from its rebellion and sin. The Sacred Scripture is the story of God setting right what went wrong with His creation because of the 'Fall of Adam.' - Gen. 3:1-24 -
The history of salvation begins with the call of Abraham and the covenant between Abraham and God. - Gen. 12:1-3 - This story reaches its conclusion in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The election of the nation of Israel as God's special people is not for their sake alone, but for the sake of all the peoples of the world. This blessing is ultimately encountered and experienced by the Church through faith, hope, love in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
Yahweh said to Abram (Abraham) Leave your country, your family and your father's house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you:
I will curse those who slight you.
All the tribes of the earth
shall bless themselves by you. - Gen. 12:1-3 -
The great redemptive act of the Old Testament is the "Exodus" the deliverance of God's people from bondage in Egypt. This is the Old Testament counterpart to the deliverance brought about by the Lord Jesus Christ through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. His death on the Cross. Through the Exodus, God revealed not only His sovereign power, but also His faithfulness and the depth of His covenant love for Israel. This was followed immediately by the covenant between God and His people renewed at Mount Sinai and the giving of the Law. God had already entered into covenant relationship with His people and had miraculously delivered them. This means that obedience to the Law cannot be understood as a requirement for becoming the people of God and enjoying His favor. The Law was given in the context of God's grace.
From the perspective of the New Testament, the Law may be interpreted as having several purposes. It was given to instruct the people about the absolute holiness of God and the sinfulness of humanity. The Law also set Israel apart from the surrounding nations in order that the Hebrews might be the pure channel by which the Messiah could come and accomplish His saving work for all humanity.
Through the prophets of the Old Testament the work of the Lord Jesus Christ was anticipated most clearly. They cautioned the people against presuming upon their relationship with God, as though being a member of the Jewish race were a virtue in itself. And they tried to lift the people's eyes from their national and political concerns to God's love for all nations. God 's intent was to transform the entire fallen creation; He was not concerned only with the political sovereignty of the nation of Israel.
All along God was up to something far greater than Israel realized. "Whoever asks to be blessed on earth will ask to be blessed by the God of truth, and whoever takes oath on earth will take oath by the God of truth, for past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes. For now I create new heavens and a new earth, and the past will not be remembered, and will come no more to men minds." - Is. 65:16-17, 42:10 - The prophet Jeremiah expressed this truth by referring to a "new covenant" which God would establish in the future. - Jer. 31:31-34 - The old covenant, particularly the Law, could not accomplish the goal which God had for His people and His creation. In the new covenant His Law would be written on the hearts of His people, and they would enjoy the lasting forgiveness of their sins.
God preserved His people through the experiences of the division of the kingdom, the destruction of the nations of Israel and Judah, the "Captivity" and the resettlement of His people in Jerusalem. He continued to reveal Himself and His purposes through the prophets, who increasingly spoke of what God would do in the near future. In this spirit of anticipation His people entered the New Testament era with its great announcement of fulfillment and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The New Testament as Fulfillment: the Church. The New Testament announced the ministry of Jesus Christ as the turning point of the ages, the beginning of the great fulfillment proclaimed by the prophets. It is impossible to exaggerate the centrality of this theme of fulfillment in the New Testament. The constant use of quotations from the Old Testament clearly demonstrates this point. According to the first three Gospels, the message of Jesus Christ was that the kingdom of God had arrived. The kingdom was expressed in both the words and deeds of Jesus.
The presence of the kingdom depends directly on the presence of the Messianic King. With Jesus arrival, the fulfillment of the end time has already begun, although it is clear that the final realization of God's purpose remains yet in the future.
The death of Jesus was important as the basis of the kingdom. The rule of God cannot be experienced in any age, present or future, without the atoning sacrifice that reconciles sinners with a holy God. Therefore, the death of Jesus became central for the theology of the New Testament. But the resurrection was equally important. In this event, the new order of the new creation broke directly into the present age. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was assurance of the truths which He had proclaimed, as well as the resurrection of the dead at the end of time.
The pouring out of the Holy Spirit at "Pentecost" depended on the finished work of Jesus Christ in His passion, death and resurrection. This was a certain sign of the new age brought by Christ and the mark of the new people of God, the Church. The ministry of the Holy Spirit guarantees that the results of Christ's work are experienced in the believer's life until the Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth.
In the first sermons preached by the first Christians [ in the first half of the Book of Acts ] we see the main points of the faith of the early Church. In fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus was born of the line of David, was crucified, died, and was buried. But Jesus arose from the dead and will return some day as Judge. The possibility of repentance and salvation is thus founded directly on these saving acts of God in His Son, Jesus Christ.
The letters or epistles of the New Testament contain interpretation and application of these events. The letters or epistles, are divided into two main sections - doctrine and ethics. In the doctrinal sections of these letters, the meaning of Christ's work is described. The ethical sections always build on the doctrinal foundations, instructing Christians on how to live the Christian life.
In both the doctrinal and the ethical sections of the epistles, the excitement of the fulfillment experienced through Jesus Christ is always foremost. The work of Christ, particularly in the Cross and the Resurrection, is considered the saving act of God. These are compared to the saving acts of God in the Old Testament. Therefore, in scriptural/biblical theology, the promises of God in the Old Testament are fulfilled in God's great act of redemption through His Son, Jesus, in the New.
Page 9
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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