The True Source of Authority

How is it that many modern denominations, which claim to have restored first-century Christianity, can insist that the Bible is their only source of authority, when the Bible as we know it today did not even exist until hundreds of years later? For decades the Church thrived and multiplied without the New Testament writings. Yes, toward the end of the first century there were some written records of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ as well as some letters written by a few of the apostles circulating around, but there were also some spurious writings in circulation. It took the Early Church nearly 400 years to decide which of these writings were genuine and which were not, finally agreeing on the Canon of Scripture in A.D. 397.

How then could Christianity have survived all those years without the Bible? And even after the Canon of Scripture was established at the end of the fourth century, bound books were just then being invented, and had to be copied by hand because the printing press wasn't invented until over 1,000 years later! In some churches today you can see paintings of the Apostles holding a bound black book - the Bible - but this is clearly an "anachronism," projecting into the past an artifact or idea from a later time in history.

Thus the notion of the Bible being the only authority is also an anachronism: it would be unthinkable before the invention of the printing press in the 15th century A.D. because hand-copied Bibles were extremely rare, time-consuming and expensive to produce. Imagine copying by hand, letter by letter, word by word, 1,500 pages of ancient text! Then what was the source of authority for Christians during those 1,500 years, and even up to today?

The Bible has the answer, but the answer isn't the Bible itself: the Apostle John wrote - "Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book; but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:30-31). Also - "There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they would all be written, I suppose that even the world itself wouldn't have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25).

In his letters, John wrote - "Having many things to write to you, I don't want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you, and to speak face to face, that our joy may be made full" (2 John 12) and "I had many things to write to you, but I am unwilling to write to you with ink and pen; but I hope to see you soon, and we will speak face to face" (3 John 13-14). Here we see evidence that the Early Church relied on the oral teaching of the Apostles as well as on their writings. Toward the end of the first century when St. John wrote his Gospel and letters, persecution of Christians had flared up and it was dangerous to write things down. It was safer to pass on teachings orally.

In Acts 20 we read how the Apostle Paul gathered together the elders of the Church in Ephesus, saying - "I didn't shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God" (v. 27) and "for a period of three years I didn't cease to admonish everyone" (v. 31). What was the content of "the whole counsel of God" that St. Paul "didn't cease to admonish everyone" over "a period of three years"? It would surely be an enormous amount of preaching and teaching, but it's not recorded in the Bible, just like the "many other signs... that are not written in this book" that the Apostle John mentioned.

John did write, however, that he would pass on these teachings orally. And St. Paul did the same. Oral tradition was part and parcel of everyday teaching in the first several centuries of the Christian era, because relatively few people knew how to read and write, it was very time-consuming to write a long text by hand, and also parchment or papyrus was very expensive. Therefore people in those times developed tremendous memories to hear, remember and pass on oral tradition.

The Word of God in the first century was mainly spoken and heard, not written and read. In 2 Thes. 2:15 St. Paul wrote - "So then, brothers, stand firm, and hold the traditions which you were taught by us, whether by word, or by letter." The word "tradition" is "paradosis" in Greek - "that which is passed on." And how was this tradition passed on? Both by word (orally) and by letter, as St. Paul states here.

St. Paul wrote - "For I delivered [passed on] to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Here is another example of "traditioning" orally the Gospel of Christ. In 1 Thes. 2:13, St. Paul also wrote - "For this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when you received from us the word of the message of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also works in you who believe." What was the word, the message of God, that Paul preached to the Thessalonian believers? It wasn't that epistle (it came later), but rather his spoken words!

What was the repository of this oral tradition? The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Tim. 3:15 - "that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." The Church is "the pillar and ground of the truth" according to St. Paul. That's where you find the truth, and the correct interpretation of Scripture. That's where the oral teachings and the writings of the Apostles, which later became the Bible, were preserved for hundreds of years before the printed Bible became widely available in the 15th century.

Let us now return to our original question: What is the True Source of Authority? Is it the Bible? Christ Himself said - "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about Me" (John 5:39). If we search the Bible to prove our pet doctrines of the pre-tribulation rapture, or predestination, or free will, or free market economy, etc., etc. - we miss the point of Scripture entirely: it's all about Jesus Christ!

Jesus Christ Himself is the True Source of Authority: He said - "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe [obey] all things which I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Mat. 28:18-20).

He didn't tell his disciples to go and split hairs about predestination or free will, but to preach the Good News and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and commanding all nations to OBEY the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let's quit fighting over real estate. Let's not just talk about the Gospel: Let's DO it!

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 23 May 2015.)

Kingdom of Israel / Kingdom of God

Jesus told His disciples - "It is not for you to know the times or seasons...." When Russians hear this, it comes across much stronger in their language: "It's none of your business to know the times or seasons.... But you must be my witnesses!" Sometimes we try to peer into a crystal ball to figure out exactly how things will turn out in the end times, but that's the wrong thing to do. The three-month-long protests all over Ukraine for "democracy, transparency and an end to corruption" illustrate the ongoing dilemma of exactly how we Christians should enable the Kingdom of God to come on this earth, as the Lord Jesus taught us to pray - "Our Father in heaven, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Mat. 5:10).

In ancient Israel the kingdom was a theocracy, led jointly by its king and its high priest. In fact, the Levites - the "priestly" tribe of Israel - performed many of the functions of government. The Law of God was synonymous with the laws of the nation of Israel: in Lev. 20:1-27 we read that the death penalty was to be applied for idolatry, adultery, homosexual acts, etc. And in Lev. 24:10-23 we see that the death penalty also applied for blasphemy. These laws applied not only to Israelites, but also to the foreigners who resided in Israel (Num. 15:15-16). The nation of Israel, however, continually failed to live up to the laws of God: in Christ's time on earth, adultery was given a pass and Jews kept swine!

This pattern of theocracy, the merging of temporal and spiritual realms, was interrupted in Early Christianity: Christ drew a distinction between Israel - the ruling Jews, and Himself - His Kingdom - in the parable of the Master of the vineyard (Mark 12:1-12), where He explains that the Master (God the Father) built a vineyard and entrusted it to a farmer (Israel), who stoned the Master's servants and finally killed His Son. "What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers, and will give the vineyard to others" (v. 9). The parable concludes - "they perceived that he spoke the parable against them" (v. 12) - and they were right!

Then in the Gospel of John, Christ told the Jewish leaders - "You are from below, I am from above. You are of this world, but I am not of this world" (John 8:23). Similarly, when Christ was on trial before Pontius Pilate, He said - "My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn't be delivered to the Jews. But now my Kingdom is not from here" (John 18:36).

The Apostle Paul later penned these words - "I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners; yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters; for then you would have to leave the world. But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. Don't even eat with such a person. For what have I to do with also judging those who are outside? Don't you judge those who are within?" (1 Cor. 5:9-11). So the Old Covenant law of capital punishment for such sins is changed in the New Covenant to excommunication (rebuke, exclusion from communion and possible expulsion), but the Church should leave to God those sinners who are outside the Church.

In the next chapter Paul stated - "Don't be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6:9b-10). And in 2 Cor. 10:3-4 Paul writes - "For though we walk in the flesh, we don't wage war according to the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds." The Gospel is a message of grace + spiritual conversion, not law + physical compulsion.

Until the conversion of Emperor Constantine, the Church - the inheritor of spiritual Israel - was separated from the state and often persecuted by the Roman Empire. But with Constantine's conversion, the Church and the Empire began to converge. The ideal in Eastern Orthodoxy was and is to achieve a "symphony" of Church and state, a mutually harmonious relationship. That ideal, however, was rarely realized in fact.

In the Western half of the Roman Empire, as the state began to disintegrate under the attacks of the pagan Germanic tribes, the Church took over the functions of government and became the "Holy Roman Empire." This continued for 1000 or more years, through the Medieval period and into the Renaissance. Vestiges of this remained up until World War One in the form of the Austro-Hungarian Empire - to me still very real because we lived for two years in Vienna, the capital of that former Empire. After the end of WWI, democratic governments were set up in Western Europe, separating church and state... for better or worse.

The situation was more complicated in Eastern Christianity because of the rise of Islam in the sixth century, conquering most of the territory of original Christianity in the Middle East and North Africa, and finally capturing the capital Constantinople in the 13th century. Eastern Christianity moved nortward into the Slavic lands of Central Europe called "Ruthenia" and ancient Rus, centered in Kiev/Kyiv. The Muslim Ottoman Turkish Empire invaded from the south, and the Muslim "Golden Horde" of Genghis Khan invaded from the east, eventually capturing Moscow and subjugating the Russian Tsar and the Russian Orthodox Church. Then the Polish-Lithuanian and the Austro-Hungarian Empires took over much of Central Europe, even extending into the Ukraine.

But after Tsar Ivan the Terrible "cast off the Mongol yoke" in the 16th century, the Russian state and the Russian Orthodox Church - now headed by its own Patriarch (after holding the Patriarch of Constantinople hostage until he elevated the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan to a Patriarch) - again jointly took over the reins of government up until the 1917 Communist Revolution. But communism was and is a "humanist" ideology, a distorted form of humanized, "decapitated Christianity" - Christianity without Christ-God as its Head - that merged a socialist do-gooder, pseudo-Christian ideology with the state. Both Lenin and Stalin were formerly Russian Orthodox seminarians turned atheists! And with the fall of the Soviet Empire in 1989-1991, which we also witnessed first-hand, the Russian state and the Russian Orthodox Church once again jointly took over the reins of government.

So we can see that the notions of democracy and separating church (ideology) from state have deeper roots in the West than in the East. But is it necessarily a good thing that the will of the people, the majority should override the revealed will of God? Or should a humanized, "decapitated Christianity" ideology that proclaims sexual immorality to be normal and homosexual marriage to be acceptable be also the norm for the Church? Not at all! Christians must observe the moral and ethical standards for the Church, while letting the state pass whatever laws it will. But we also must not allow the state to co-opt the functions of the Church and squeeze Her out of the social sphere. Although we should vote and take part in society, we as followers of Christ are bound by a higher law than that of the state: Christ's kingdom is not of this world.

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 16 Feb. 2014.)

Kingdom of Israel / Kingdom of God - Part 2

As we can abundantly see from the tensions and possible military conflict building up between Ukraine and Russia at present, it is sometimes exceedingly difficult to draw a clear line between civil and religious authority, between the kingdoms of this world and the Kingdom of God. One Easter season many years ago, I was eating my brown-bag lunch in the Wisconsin State capitol building located just across the street from where I worked as a budding new programmer: a choir was singing one of the last choruses from "The Messiah" by Georg Friedrich Haendel, and the words - "the kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever. Amen!" - sent shivers of joy and anticipation up and down my spine.

But the intervening years have witnessed a secularizing, desacralizing of Western society. The United States is no longer a Christian country (if it ever truly was); it is definitely now post-Christian, and in many ways even anti-Christian. The Apostle John's and Haendel's vision of the Kingdom of God being present on earth here and now appears to be a very remote possibility. A church choir would not be allowed to sing such words today in a government building in the U.S.

And yet, that fuzzy, unclear line between the secular and and the spiritual has always existed. Any modern nation-state exists only because it has some sort of connection between the dominant religious or ideological worldview and that nation's government. So-called modern civil society supposedly has social institutions that are independent of government control, but in fact the two spheres interact considerably.

As witnessed by several recent court cases in the U.S. and elsewhere in the West, the desacralizing forces of secular humanism are forcing Christians to surrender their values in order to function in society. Christian organizations, sometimes even including churches, are no longer independent of government, they are threatened with fines or loss of tax-exempt status if they "meddle" in politics or do not conform to certain government-mandated hiring and insurance rules that contradict their faith. Christians are being forced to abandon practicing their faith if it conflicts with the "rights" of homosexuals and others to practice their un-faith.

This is the same sort of pressure that Orthodox Christians were subjected to under the Muslim Turkish Empire, in many Muslim countries even today, and under the Mongol yoke of Genghis Khan in ancient Russia. Then, after Ivan the Terrible threw off the Mongol yoke, he subjected the head of the Orthodox Church to himself. Under Emperor Peter the Great and later Empress Katherine the Great, the Church became a department of the Russian government, led by state appointees, not clergy.

Christians living under a Muslim government were and are considered "dhimmi" - second class citizens without the right to openly practice and propagate their faith, subject to special taxes, often persecuted and forced to convert to Islam. It is the same sort of pressure and persecution that Christians of various confessions were and are subjected to in the former Soviet Union, as well as in today's Communist China, Vietnam and North Korea. Christians are forbidden to perform any sort of social outreach or ministry to the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind. That has become the function of the state. Does this sound familiar?

What is it that the religion of Islam, communism and secular humanism all have in common? Why do all three attempt to subjugate Christians and suppress the open practice of their faith? It is this: all three deny Christ's full deity and the incarnation. And where does this originate from? In early Christian history there arose the Arian heresy: Arius was a wolf in sheep's clothing, a false believer who became a deacon and preached the notion that Jesus was not pre-eternal God come in the flesh. This false teaching spread over much of the Greco-Roman Empire, but Arius and his followers were finally condemned and driven out of the Empire into the deserts of Arabia.

A related heresy then sprang up, that of iconoclasm - the denial of the proper veneration of images in Christian worship. Icons can be venerated precisely because Christ became incarnate, Christ "is the radiance of his [God's] glory, the very image ["eikon" in the original Greek] of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification for our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3). Man and woman are also created in the "image" (icon) of God. And God became visible and touchable: "That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life, and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us" (1 John 1:1-2).

After a century-long struggle between iconoclasts and iconodules - those who venerate icons, the iconoclasts were also condemned and driven out of the Empire into the deserts of Arabia. Shortly after this, a certain charismatic Arab leader merged together the two pseudo-Christian heresies of Arianism and iconoclasm, forming a "new" religion. That Arab was named Mohammed, and his religion is called Islam, which means "subjection." It teaches that Jesus was a prophet, but denies that He is God incarnate. Their god Allah is distant, unseen and unknowable. They also deny the use of any images in their religious practices. This results in the denial of humanity being in the image (icon) of God, and leads to the subjection of others, especially of women, such as the practices of female genital mutilation, forced marriages of pre-teen girls including kidnapped Christian girls, and polygamy.

Both communism and secular humanism also deny the divinity and incarnation of Jesus Christ, if they even acknowledge that Jesus ever existed. They might concede that Jesus was a good man, great leader and/or moral teacher, even a prophet, but not the Christ, the Messiah and Son of God. Then they exalt humanism and human reasoning above the faith-knowledge of experiencing God. And what is the evil spirit behind all this? "Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son, the same doesn't have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also" (1 John 2:22-23). And "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist" (3 John 1:7).

But will the the kingdoms of this world ever become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ? "Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin [the Antichrist] is revealed, the son of destruction, he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God. Don't you remember that, when I was still with you, I told you these things? Now you know what is restraining him, to the end that he [the Antichrist] may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only there is one who restrains now, until he is taken out of the way. Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nothing by the brightness of his coming" (2 Thess. 2:3-8).

Yes! The Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ is coming! When the Antichrist fully reveals himself, then the Lord Jesus Christ will kill him with the breath of his mouth - the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit. Meanwhile, however, now we wrestle and strive "against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12b). Keep up the fight, refuse to be subjugated to the state, reclaim our right and duty to minister to the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind. "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand" (v. 13)!

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 02 Mar. 2014.)

Spiritual But Not Religious

Many people nowadays say, "I'm spiritual but not religious," often an excuse for not belonging to or attending any church. If by "religious" they have in mind a religious establishment that isn't relevant to their lives, they may be correct to a degree. They also say, "I'm against organized religion." By this, they mean they're opposed to a religious hierarchy that seems to be more concerned with itself, repeating mumbo-jumbo incomprehensible rituals, its ties to political power, and holding on to property, than with "the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind" ...the very people who Jesus aimed His ministry toward. It is refreshing, however, to see that various Christian confessions are coming together in Ukraine to serve the needs of the people.

So the phrase "spiritual but not religious" might actually be a positive sign, indicating that people have a longing for something they aren't finding in what is being offered by much of the current religious establishment. And if they're "against organized religion," maybe they should try the Orthodox Church - it's rather dis-organized! One part may be squabbling with another part, it doesn't have a centralized authority to dictate terms to these squabbling parts ...and yet somehow, amazingly, it has held firm to one set of doctrines for two thousand years: it has kept its focus on Christ as the pre-eternal Son of God, begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit who proceeds from God the Father, and the rest of the teachings handed down by one generation of godly men to the next, from the first century to the present.

Together with these theological doctrines is its emphasis on humility, personal morality and social concern. The Great Fast during Lent reminds us continually to put aside earthly cares for our own gratification, and care for those around us who are in need: "Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world" (James 1:27), and "Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you are also in the body" (Heb. 13:3). For all its warts, perhaps the ancient Church has something to offer, after all!

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 16 Mar. 2014.)

Doing What's Right In One's Own Eyes

Recently I finished reading the book of Judges in the Old Testament, and was again struck by the phrase, "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." It appears three times, in 17:6; 18:1; and in 21:25. What's wrong with doing what we think is right in our own eyes? These days we're bombarded with such expressions as - "If it feels good, do it!" or "Follow your inner light!" or "You can be whatever you want to be, and do whatever you want to do!" The problem lies in the first part of that sentence: "In those days there was no king in Israel." The Israelites had the Law of Moses and the Levitical priesthood - a source of spiritual authority; but with no binding physical authority - a king: each man became an authority unto himself.

The result is what was right in their own eyes was evil in the eyes of the Lord, as we see in Judges 2:11-12 - "The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served the Baals; and they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples who were round about them, and bowed themselves down to them: and they provoked Yahweh to anger." "The Baals" were the various pagan false gods of greed, lust for power, drunkenness, sexual lust, human sacrifice and violence.

Inevitably mankind repeats the cycle of falling into the various depravities and perversions of idolatry; then suffering the consequences and trying to straighten out. The book of Judges illustrates several turns of this wheel: falling into pagan idol worship, then being conquered by surrounding enemies, which caused the Israelites to call out to God for His mercy, so He sent them a judge who brings them back to God. But then the cycle repeats itself, again and again.

God, however, had a greater plan than simply yanking the Israelites out of the pit every time they fell in, over and over. His secret plan, hidden from the Israelites in the Old Testament but revealed "when the fullness of time had come," was to send His Son to redeem all mankind, not just the Jewish nation. We see a foreshadowing of God turning evil into good in the stories of Jacob's son Judah who lusted for a prostitute and ended up begetting a child with his Canaanite daughter-in-law Tamar, then the spies who visited the prostitute Rahab in Jericho and saved her and her family, and again with Orphah and Ruth... but this story has a special twist! Orphah ["Ophrah" is a misspelling] turned back to live with the pagans in Moab, but in Ruth 1:16 we read - "Do not entreat me to leave you, and to return from following after you, for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God [shall be] my God." - Ruth turned to the Lord God!

In all three of these stories, as well as the whole book of Judges, we see the principles of self-gratification versus self-denial: "If it feels good, do it!" versus following God's Law and His ordained authority, the prophets and priests. Yet, God oversaw the result - in Matthew 1:3-5 we read that Tamar, Rahab and Ruth - all pagan women - became some of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah! Why? Because they all three foresook their false worship of the surrounding cultures and joined wholeheartedly into God's chosen people: "your God [shall be] my God."

The cycle of God's people falling into sin and calling out for help, however, continued into the New Testament era: many of the scribes, pharisees and sadducees in the time of Christ were corrupt, and led the people into sin. Finally, though, after Jesus the Messiah had risen from the dead and Peter was preaching on the Day of Pentecost, when the people called out, "Brothers, what shall we do?", Peter replied: "Save yourselves from this perverted generation!" (Acts 2:37 & 40). [Yes, the word is "perverted" in the Russian Bible.] God delivered 3,000 souls on that day, when the Church was born!

So today we have the Word of God, the full Bible, just as the Israelites had the Law of Moses that came from the mouth of God on Mount Sinai. Do we, however, "do what we think is right in our own eyes"? Do we think that every person who believes in Jesus has the right to choose for him- or herself what the Bible really means, and live accordingly? Many people, especially in the "enlightened" West, think they should follow their inner light, their own autonomous rationality and intellect. Western civilization for the past 500 years is the repeated story of revolutions against established authority, both of Church and state.

The result is what we see today: a return to the various depravities and perversions of pagan idolatry. Western Christianity has splintered into approximately 40,000 denominations and uncounted non-denominational "independent" churches, many of which deny basic Christian truth such as the pre-existing divinity and Virgin birth of Christ, His real and physical crucifixion and resurrection from the dead, His real and physical Second Coming and other doctrines and moral teachings of the Early Church.

What must we do? Repent, turn from those evil ways, and join the real and visible Church! Hint: it's not the centralized authority of one supposedly "infallible" man, nor each person being the only authority in his/her own eyes, but rather the authority of national and universal councils led by godly men in direct descent from Christ and the Apostles.

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 30 Mar. 2014.)

The Ticking Time Bomb

Big Problems Ahead! Our fifth news article in this issue of the Hosken-News e-newsletter, UNDERSTANDING A MORE RELIGIOUS AND ASSERTIVE RUSSIA, mentions "Russia's new law against proselyting homosexual orientation to minors and its new anti-abortion law. Both laws also respond to Russia's demographic struggle with plunging birth rates and monstrously high abortion rates that date to Soviet rule." The former law is frequently referred to as Russia's anti-homosexual law, but that's not quite correct: Russia has an active homosexual community, and they are legally allowed to practice their lifestyle. What the new law takes aim at is the rising efforts by homosexual activists in Russia and worldwide to proselytize and propagandize especially among young people in an effort to recruit the youth. Both church and state in Russia have realized what a dangerous mistake it is to promote homosexuality and abortion under the guise of "personal choice" and "individual freedom."

Human sexuality is not merely a private, individual issue: it affects society as a whole. In fact, it is foundational for society's existence. Pro-LGBT advocates speak of "society" as if it were a fixed object that will magically continue to exist even if not enough people reproduce. But when the birth rate drops below 2.1 babies for each adult woman, a society cannot maintain its population level. And when the birth rate drops below 1.8 babies for each adult woman for an extended period, that society is almost certainly headed for self-destruction. So that means there is a fairly narrow range of 0.3 births per woman that defines the difference between population stability and societal suicide. Russia's birth rate has been well below 1.8 for the past 30 years or so, resulting in not enough young men to serve in the military, not enough young workers to support the retirees, and not enough taxpayers to support the state.

This is "The Ticking Time Bomb" - the demographic bomb that is set to go off in Eastern and Western Europe, as well as in the United States and China (recall China's "one child" policy?). The demographic curve is moving up on the right side of the graph, and is much lower on the left side. This is the way the world ends, not with an explosion, but with a whimper. When the post-war baby boomers all retire, those people from families of five or six children, those same baby boomers' one- or two-child families will have an extremely difficult time taking care of them. And when you add to this homosexuals and lesbians not producing any babies and the ghastly practice of aborting hundreds of millions of unborn babies, you have a lethal combination for any society.

The countries of the former Soviet Union - Russia, Belarus Ukraine, Moldova, the Baltics - all understand this demographic "Ticking Time Bomb" and are undertaking measures to disallow the proselyting of homosexual orientation to minors and to significantly reduce the number of abortions. They learned a bitter lesson from the disaster of communism, and are experiencing a spiritual reawakening and a return to the values of original Christianity. Russia just might be able to pull itself back from the brink of demographic extinction. The question is: will the West return to its Christian heritage and recognize the foolishness of promoting homosexuality and abortion, in time to avoid falling over the brink?

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 13 Apr. 2014.)

Christianity or Moralistic Therapeutic Theism?

In this series of cartoons you can read what a large number of Americans who call themselves Christians actually believe. What are the implicit ideas behind Moralistic Therapeutic Theism? ("Theism" is a better term in this context, because "Deism" is a somewhat different, earlier religious philosophy that many of America's Founding Fathers held.) In his article On "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism" as U.S. Teenagers' Actual, Tacit, De Facto Religious Faith, Christian Smith summarizes it thusly:

1. A god exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.
2. This god wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about oneself.
4. This god is not particularly involved in one's life except when he is needed to resolve a problem.
5. All good people go to heaven when they die.

A recent article entitled "Losing our Religion: On "Retaining' Young People in the Orthodox Church" in the Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy blog explored the various reasons why young people are leaving all churches, not only the Orthodox Church. Second- and third-generation Americans using an archaic version of a foreign language in worship that they don't really comprehend and clinging onto ethnic customs of the old country explains just a small portion of this falling away. To be sure, when the young generation becomes fully "Americanized", they often see little point in holding onto incomprehensible language or customs, but there is more to cultural assimilation than merely the process of osmosis.

That article makes some very important points: first, "Jesus did not tell the apostles to extend Christianity's outreach to all the nations, but to make disciples of all nations. The distinction is critical. The Church attracts and retains people only when she disciples them." Also, "Sociological studies of the ancient world... are very clear why the early Church grew: Christians took care of widows, orphans, and the sick and impoverished." This is precisely what we have been preaching and teaching for decades: the Gospel isn't just "pie in the sky by and by" or a free ticket to heaven, it is the Good News of salvation and healing to "the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind, to widows and orphans." The article goes on to quote Kenda Dean's book, Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church -

One of the major findings of the National Study of Youth and Religion, a point which Kenda Dean brings out very clearly and in entertaining fashion, is that American teenagers are actually very good at practicing the faith that their parents teach them: not what parents say they believe, but what they actually believe as evidenced by actions. 

The result is that most American teenagers and emerging adults, including Christians of all traditions, believe in and practice "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism" [or "Theism"], not Christianity. Considering this reality, it is hardly surprising that, over time, many emerging adults drift away from their family's Christian roots, choosing to marry outside their church or even Christian faith itself. Yet their doing so is not actually a departure from or a change in their religious convictions: it is merely an alignment of certain external practices (e.g., what they do on Sundays or Easter) with the actual religious beliefs they have held since their teenage years.

So this is what teenagers have learned from their parents: god is a nice old guy up in the sky who wants us to be nice, happy and feel good; he doesn't get involved in other people's lives, so neither should we. And "all dogs go to heaven" ...people too. Where does this come from? From the mistaken notion that "tolerance" means that all religious beliefs are pretty much the same, after all, "everything is relative, don't you know?" (Except for the rule "everything is relative" - that's absolute!) This watered-down, vague religiosity is only pseudo-Christian.

From early childhood onward, children learn from what their parents do, not merely what they say. If the parents show little interest in other people who are hurting, the children learn to do the same. If the parents neglect church services except for special occasions like Christmas and Easter, the children will imitate this. In James 1:22-27 we read:

But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a mirror; for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of freedom, and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the word, this man will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man's religion is worthless. Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

The Psalmist David wrote, "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3). David wasn't just wringing his hands and saying, "Chicken Little, the sky is falling! Goodness gracious! Whatever shall we do?" No, he was a military commander and king, so he knew precisely what to do: rebuild the foundations! We need to practice what we preach and teach our children: by far the best way to ensure that the next generation will be faithful Christians and stay in the Church is to minister to "the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind, to widows and orphans."

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 27 Apr. 2014.)

Jerusalem, Jerusalem!

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you would not!" - Mat. 23:37. How many times in the preceding verses did Christ say, "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees!" The common people had recently welcomed Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, Who was to come. What could have been if the crowds had their way? Could the Kingdom of God have been directly ushered in? We simply don't know, and can't know.

Could we now be saying the same for Ukraine? - "Crimea! Crimea!" ...and "Donetsk! Donetsk!" ...and "Mariopol! Mariopol! The opportunity for your peace and healing was so close!" What if, as I suggested four weeks ago, the Roman Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew would meet in Kyiv, bring together those two Churches under their respective jurisdictions, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), and direct them to begin working together for peace and healing in that country which has been torn apart for centuries by rulers misusing religion as an excuse to grab territory? But instead, religious leaders are among those stirring up the mobs to violence and fratricidal war.

Yes, instead, people continue killing each other in order to grab the other's chunk of real estate! Then they construct memorials to the dead... very much like what Christ said - "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn't have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are sons of those who killed the prophets" (Mat. 23:29-31).

It was the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees - ironically those who believed in resurrection of the dead - who stirred up the masses to have Christ crucified. But He rose from the dead! And by His resurrection, He destroyed mankind's bondage to sin and death. From Christ's resurrection onward, humanity is now free to choose sin and its deadly wages, or life and becoming partakers of His Divine nature - transformation into the likeness of Christ.

We are still free to choose peace and healing, if we speak up and demand from our political and religious leaders that they stop this madness! Or we can passively sit back on our couches, watching the world slide toward WWIII, wringing our hands and saying - "Chicken Little! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" In our last issue I reminded you of what the Psalmist David wrote, "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3). David was a military commander and king, so he knew precisely what to do: rebuild the foundations!

We need to return to the foundations of Christianity: ministering to "the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind, to widows and orphans," not fighting over real estate. Roman Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants must all receive one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, realizing that we are not on opposing teams, but members of the Body, one team, each with our own strengths and weaknesses, working together for the Kingdom of God.

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 11 May 2014.)

Moscow: the Third Rome?

Several news articles in this issue, as well as the article this photo comes from, point to the question of authority among Orthodox Churches. In contrast to the Roman Catholic Church that is led by its Pope, the various national Orthodox Churches are each led by its own Patriarch or Metropolitan. When in the fourth century Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion, he built Constantinople, the new eastern capital city of the Roman Empire, as the center of his mighty realm. It was full of Christian cathedrals, and was called the "New Rome." But shortly after the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople in 1453, some Eastern Orthodox people began calling Muscovy the "Third Rome."

This idea came to the fore when Ivan III of Russia married Sophia Paleologue, a niece of Constantine XI, the last Byzantine emperor. Ivan III claimed that he and his descendants were heirs of the erstwhile Byzantine empire. The idea of Muscovy as heir to Rome crystallized with a panegyric letter composed by the Russian monk Philotheus (Filofey) of Pskov in 1510 to their son Grand Duke Vasili III, which proclaimed, "Two Romes have fallen. The third stands. And there will be no fourth. No one shall replace your Christian Tsardom!" (Wikipedia) Ever since then, the Russian political and religious leaders have made much of this idea that Moscow is the Third Rome.

But Moscow is not alone in making that claim: The Ottoman ruler Mehmet II also declared himself to be Kayser-i Rum, literally "Caesar of Rome," the first Rome being pagan, the second Rome being Christian, and the third Rome being Muslim. And in 800, Pope Leo III granted the title of Holy Roman Emperor to Charlemagne, after which the Habsburg dynasty of Austria for centuries kept that title. Later the German Empire laid claim to that title, naming its leader Kaiser - German for Caesar. Lastly, in the 20th century a certain struggling young artist in Vienna dreamed up the notion of a Third Roman Empire based in Austria and Germany - the Third Reich.

So we see that the mythology of a "Third Rome" has been floating around various political empires for centuries, using this idea as an ideological justification for political power. Constantinople is no longer the capital of a mighty empire; instead, it is now called Istanbul, and the head of its Orthodox Church, Patriarch Bartholomew, rules over only a few acres of land that the Turkish government permits him to live in. Yet the power struggle for claiming the seat of Eastern Christianity goes on, the Moscow Patriarchate at present being the largest contender for that title. But if all the Eastern Christian churches in Ukraine were to unite, it would form the largest Eastern Christian Church in the world. This is what Moscow is worried about.

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 25 May 2014.)

May Your Kingdom Come, May Your Will Be Done

In the opening words of the Lord's Prayer as recorded in Matthew 6:9-13, we read - "Our Father in Heaven: may Your name be kept holy, may Your Kingdom come, may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This is often prayed out loud as five separate, disconnected phrases:

Our Father who art in Heaven (pause);
Hallowed be Thy name (pause);
Thy Kingdom come (pause);
Thy will be done (pause);
On earth, as it is in heaven.

But these archaic words and pauses cause us to lose the meaning: at the time the King James Bible was translated, "Thou," "Thee" and "Thy" weren't words expressing distance and awe, they were (and still are) second-person singular pronouns expressing love, trust and intimacy. And we're expressing our desire and assent that God's name - His person - would be kept set apart and holy, that His Kingdom would come and His will would be done on earth just as it is in heaven. What does it mean to keep God's name set apart and holy? In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was called and set apart to be holy, just as the Lord is holy: "You shall be holy to me: for I, the Lord, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples" (Leviticus 20:26).

We often say that Judaism and Christianity are "monotheistic" religions, but that is not quite accurate: they are "henotheistic", which means "one true God among many so-called gods." in Ezra 7:11-26 in the Old Testament, Artaxerxes, king of Persia, decreed that the temple of "your God" - the God of the Israelites - should be rebuilt at Artaxerxes' expense. Perhaps King Artaxerxes was simply covering all bases, hoping to appease as many gods as he could. But Ezra makes it clear that the Lord is "the God of heaven" (v. 11), He is the one true God, set apart from and far greater all the other so-called gods of the pagans.

When St. Paul was in Athens, he visited Mars Hill where statues stood to the various Greek gods, and like Artaxerxes, perhaps in order to cover all their bases they had a statue labeled "To An Unknown God" - just in case they missed one. St. Paul said to these Athenians: "You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I announce to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, He, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn't dwell in temples made with hands..." (Acts 17:22b-24a).

When we don't set apart God's name and His person as absolutely holy, we begin to "use God" as a means for our own ends. The pagans often used their gods to attain victory in battle, or to assign legitimacy to their rule. This is exactly the opposite of what Jesus Christ taught us in the Lord's Prayer: in order that God's name, His person, would be kept set apart and holy, we must desire and assent that His Kingdom would come and His will would be done on earth just as it is in heaven. To "use God" for any other purpose, as a means to make a decent living, or to gain respect among our peers, or for a government to gain and maintain power over its people or other peoples, is nothing short of blasphemy. Our highest desire should be that God's Kingdom would come and His will would be done on earth just as it is in heaven.

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 08 Jun. 2014.)

May Your Kingdom Come, May Your Will Be Done - Part 2

In Part 1 we considered the fact that our God is the One Who made the world and all things in it (including you and me), and He is Lord of heaven and earth (Acts 17:24). When you see "LORD" in most English translations of the Bible, it refers to "Yahweh" - the I AM, the Uncaused Cause of all things. Yahweh is not dependent on anything, He is the only totally free and independent Being. This means we are dependent on Him. Our freedom and independence are finite, limited. When we truly understand this, it becomes clear to us that we are only semi-autonomous beings under His Lordship. The I AM is Lord Emperor of the whole universe, King of all. We Christians are called to be saints, kings and priests under Him Who delegates some of His authority to us, to build up His Kingdom, not our petty little principalities. This is what "May Your Kingdom Come, May Your Will Be Done" means for us.

So how do we realize this task, how to we accomplish it in "the real world" where the rubber meets the road? To most of us "the real world" is limited to just the material, physical elements that we can see, hear, smell, taste and touch. Scientific instruments can magnify our ability to perceive the material universe, but such instruments are simply extensions of our five senses. The REAL real world, however, is where God's Kingdom intersects with the material world. This is when God's Kingdom comes and His will is done on earth, just as it is in heaven. At the start of each Liturgy, the priest proclaims - "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!" - indicating that the heavenly sphere intersects with the earthly sphere at this point in time and space.

But is it only at this point in the Liturgy that the Kingdom of God comes into this earthly sphere? What did Christ and the Apostles say and do in the Gospels? How did they realize the Kingdom of God on earth just as it is in heaven? Let's take a look:

"Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people" (Mat. 4:23).

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven... Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Mat. 5:3 and 10).

"But seek first God's Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well" (Mat. 6:33).

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Mat. 7:21).

"I tell you that many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven, but the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Mat. 8:11-12).

"Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people" (Mat. 9:35).

"Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, '...As you go, preach, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!" Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. Freely you received, so freely give'" (Mat. 10:5, 7 and 8)

"From the days of John the Baptizer until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force" (Mat. 11:12).

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field....
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field....
The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened....
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity....
Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father....
Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field....
Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls....
Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet, that was cast into the sea....
Therefore, every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder...." (Mat. 13:24, 31, 34, 41, 43, 44, 45, 47 and 52).

"In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, 'Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?'
Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven....
Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven....
Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to reconcile accounts with his servants." (Mat. 18:1, 3, 4 and 23).

"...there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake....
Allow the little children, and don't forbid them to come to me; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to ones like these....
Most certainly I say to you, a rich man will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with difficulty....
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God." (Mat. 19:12, 14, 23 and 24).

"For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers.... (Mat. 20:1).

"Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you..." [the chief priests and the elders]
"Therefore I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation bringing forth its fruit"
(Mat. 21:31 and 43).

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son..." (Mat. 22:3).

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don't enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter" (Mat. 23:14).

"This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come" (Mat. 24:14).

"Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom....
Then the King will tell those on his right hand, 'Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in, I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me"
(Mat. 25:1 and 34-36).

"But I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's Kingdom" (Mat. 26:29).

You can find much the same yourself in the other Gospels. What do we notice here? Only one of the references to the Kingdom, the very last one mentioned in Matthew, refers to the Eucharist. All the rest of them point to more down-to-earth, day-to-day actions, things we should or should not do, in order to participate in the Kingdom of Heaven: do God's will, be poor in spirit, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons - all without pay, preach that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, be humble like a little child, don't cause stumbling or do iniquity, give up everything for the Kingdom, bring forth fruit, feed the hungry, give the thirsty something to drink, clothe the naked. All these things are what let us participate here-and-now in the Kingdom of Heaven!

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 22 Jun. 2014.)

Bringing the Kingdom Down to Earth

The late-night TV show host Stephen Colbert, a Christian, made a very penetrating remark, as shown in this photo: "If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we've got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and help the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." (You can click on the thumbnail photo to see it full-size, save it to your computer, then make it your desktop wallpaper or print it out and put it on your wall to remind you on a daily basis.)

The Lord Jesus Christ said to Pontius Pilate, "My Kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). This doesn't mean that the Kingdom of God is just something other-worldly, pie-in-the-sky by-and-by. Too many Christians have "kicked God upstairs," relegating Him and His Kingdom to somewhere up in outer space and sometime after we die, or they keep Him quarantined within the four walls of their churches. But in the Lord's Prayer, Christ taught us to pray - "May your Kingdom come, may Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." What it does mean is that our worldview - our whole approach to life - ought to be completely reshaped by the Good News of the Kingdom: "Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:2). And in 2 Cor. 10:3-6 we read:

For though we walk in the flesh, we don't wage war according to the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience will be made full.

An excellent article, "Orthodoxy Versus Christian Materialism" states it very succinctly:

Today the classical Christian view of the world is a distinct minority understanding living within the dominant modern culture. Its language and grammar live on within the liturgical life of Orthodox Christianity, as well as its larger devotional and theological life. Classical Christianity lives beside a dominant culture where the majority of Christians subscribe to the worldview that I've here described as "materialist" Christianity. I see no intention on the part of materialist Christians to be particularly materialist. Most would probably be offended to hear themselves described as such. However, I cannot find a more accurate word. (emphasis mine)

So then, what exactly is this Christian worldview? What did Jesus Christ do and tell us to do, right along with the many times in the Gospels that He mentioned the Kingdom of God? During Jesus' 40-day temptation in the wilderness, the devil "showed Him all the kingdoms of the world" (Mat. 4:8). Satan offered Him all the riches and power this world could offer. That is the dominant materialist worldview: money and power. But in contrast, Christ refused it and began to preach - "Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Mat. 4:17). The word "repent" means to turn 180 degrees around from the way we used to think and act.

Then He started "preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them" (Mat. 4: 23-24). So we see that from the very outset, the Good News of the Kingdom of God is associated with healing all sorts of diseases and maladies.

In Luke's Gospel, right after His temptation in the wilderness, He entered the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath and began preaching:

The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, Because He has anointed Me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on Him. He began to tell them, "Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:17-21).

Not only is the Kingdom associated with healing the sick, but also with caring for the poor and oppressed. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ taught: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.... Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Mat. 5:3 and 10). We must repent and turn 180 degrees away from the pursuit of riches and power, and identify with those who are poor and oppressed.

In Luke's version of the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus said: "Don't seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious. For the people of this world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the Kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. Don't be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy" (Luke 12:29-33). The "people of this world" - the commonly accepted, dominant worldview of pursuing riches and power - is diametrically opposed to the Kingdom of God: healing the sick and caring for the poor.

In all three synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, we learn that when Christ sent out the Twelve, "He called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness.... Jesus sent these twelve out, and charged them... 'As you go, preach, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!" Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons. Freely you received, so freely give. Don't take any gold, nor silver, nor brass in your money belts'" (Mat. 10:1, 5, 7-9; see also Mark 3:13-14; Luke 9:1-3).

And then Luke recounts the Seventy being sent out: "Now after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place, where he was about to come. Then he said to them, 'The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that He may send out laborers into His harvest. Go your ways. Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, nor wallet, nor sandals'.... Heal the sick who are therein, and tell them, 'The Kingdom of God has come near to you.'" (Luke 10:1-4 and 9). Here we see that Christ's commission to preach the Kingdom of God and heal the sick was not just for the Twelve or the Seventy way back twenty centuries ago, but we should pray that the Lord "may send out laborers into His harvest" - which might just include you and me!

Later, when the Lord Jesus was having a meal with a leading Pharisee, He said: "When you make a dinner or a supper, don't call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back. But when you make a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind; and you will be blessed, because they don't have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous" (Luke 14:12-14).

When one of the guests questioned Jesus about the practicality of giving things to people who can't repay, He said: "Blessed is he who will feast in the Kingdom of God!" (v. 15), and went on to teach the parable of the wedding feast: after a certain man invited the rich and powerful to the feast, they all made excuses why they couldn't come, so the master of the feast said - "'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.' The servant said, 'Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.' The lord said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you that none of those men who were invited [the rich and powerful] will taste of my supper'" (vv. 21-24).

Finally, after His crucifixion and resurrection from the dead, Christ gave the Great Commission to His Apostles: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. [Christ is the ultimate source of authority, not the Bible, or the Pope, or the Church.] Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe [not be mere spectators, but to fulfill or carry out] all things which I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Mat. 28:18-20). What were the Apostles commanded to teach their disciples to do? - "all things which I commanded you" [to do], not just preach or listen to nice moralistic sermons, sing nice hymns, read the Scriptures and pray - keeping all this inside the four walls of the church - but to "heal the sick, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons" and to invite "the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind" into the Kingdom of God.

Mark's account of the Great Commission is slightly different: "Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." (Mark 16:15-18). Can there be any doubt now about what the Lord Jesus did, what He taught His disciples to do, and what they were to teach their disciples to do?

As Stephen Colbert said, "either we've got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and help the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it."

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 06 Jul. 2014.)

Bringing the Kingdom Down to Earth - Part 2

Keeping in mind the teaching and examples of Christ and His Apostles in the New Testament, as we reviewed in our last issue of Hosken-News, let's now consider the Early Church's implementation in the first several centuries. In Lesson 003 - "Historical and Christian Perspectives of Disability" of our course "Ministry to Handicapped and Poor" it states:

In the third and fourth centuries A.D., there were certain holy men (St. Anthony, Jerome, Ambrose - a bishop in Milan) who were credited with miracles of healing of disabilities. Their bones, tombs, or clothing were thought to bring healing. From these practices, pilgrims and disabled tried to get these objects in order to be healed. This practice was even sanctioned by Ambrose and he brought the sacred objects into the cathedral beneath the altar. It was also in the third and fourth centuries that women were ordained in the Early Church by the laying on of hands. They were commissioned to anoint the ill and visit the sick. They also shared the message of good news to those women who were confined to the home because of debilitating illnesses.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the institution of clergy-physicians was begun. The fathers of the church frequently studied medicine along with their general and spiritual education. These priest-physicians served the court and wrote textbooks on medicine. As a result of this type of education, hospitals were established. The most famous of these early hospitals was Basilias established by St. Basil in Caesarea of Cappadocia. St. John Chrysostom established several of them in Constantinople. Usually, the hospitals contained a house for the elderly, for disabled, for contagious disease, acute disease, and travelers. Oftentimes, a church or cathedral was part of the group of buildings where people came for healing and rest.

By the time of Justinian, physicians were part of the imperial order to serve in hospitals (527-565 A.D.). By the end of the 7th century, the hospitals were forced into a lesser role by the invasions of the barbarian tribes. As a result of the decreased influence of hospitals, people returned to the church and the healing powers of the relics of the saints. Acceptance of physicians by the Church decreased, but the medical and spiritual healers often complimented one another. Sometimes the medical treatment center and the shrines of healing saints were located together. It was also at this time, 416 A.D., that oil was consecrated for use in healing. The type of healing described above was in effect until the end of the twelfth century.

Constantinople was destroyed in the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Existing hospitals after this time became secular - having no connection with the church. They became schools of medicine for the training of physicians. The shrines of healing continued, and the ill and disabled came to them for free medical healing. By 1410, Symeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica wrote the liturgical service for healing and for use in the Orthodox Church. Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The Turks decided that the religious leaders among the various peoples of the empire were also the ethnic leaders. The Orthodox Church patriarch was the leader in all things pertaining to the subjected Orthodox believers. This arrangement was not a happy one for all Orthodox, but all these peoples survived 400 years of Turkish rule under the protection of the Orthodox patriarch.

Under the Turkish system, new, but fewer and smaller hospitals were founded. The most important was the Baloulke Hospital, which remains to this day. The church also established medical institutions for the care of the mentally ill and leprosy.

What actually happened under Turkish Muslim rule was that Christians were considered "dhimmis" - that is, second-class members of society with little or no rights to practice their faith openly in public. They were allowed to conduct worship services within the four walls of churches, but only rarely were they allowed to care for "the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind" as Christ and His Apostles taught and did. This psychological "box" of confinement carried over even after the collapse of the Turkish Ottoman Empire at the end of World War One. In the Eastern Church, religious practice under Communism was stifled in a remarkably similar way to that under Islam.

Even in the West with the rise of humanism and secularism, we see the same phenomenon of confining Christian religious practice to the four walls of churches. Why is this? I believe it is because Islam, communism and secular humanism all deny the Incarnation. This denial of God becoming a human being has resulted in "spiritualizing" Christianity, "kicking God upstairs," removing religious practice from everyday human life, and turning the social functions of the Church over to the domain of the state. During our 20 years of foreign missionary work in Central Europe and Russia, we often ran into the attitude: "let the government do it," instead of realizing that caring for the poor and disabled is the proper domain of the Church, not the state. There are only a few remnants of Orthodox social work being revived from the pre-communist era in Russia. And the same attitude is becoming more and more prevalent in the West: the persecution in the East mutates into discrimination in the West. T.S. Eliot once wrote:

Christians are still persecuted, but nowadays not usually overtly on the ground that they are Christians. They are persecuted because they do not hold the approved political views; or one church is recognized and controlled, and those Christians are persecuted who belong to the wrong church; or being Christians, they are denounced for having collaborated with the Germans during the war, or perhaps with the British or the Americans after it. In the West these things do not yet happen. But persecution is only the extreme limit of discrimination. People prefer to associate with the like-minded to themselves; those who rise to power tend to favor and to promote those who resemble themselves; and when a man who is not a Christian has an appointment to make, or a favor to bestow, he may genuinely believe that the candidate who is of his own kidney is more worthy than another candidate who is a Christian.

Thus the profession of Christianity might become, if not exactly dangerous, at least disadvantageous; and it is sometimes harder to endure disadvantage than to face danger, harder to live meanly than to die as a martyr. Already, we say, we are a minority. We cannot impose our standards upon that majority when it explicitly rejects them; too often, mingling with that majority, we fail to observe them ourselves. Like every minority, we compound with necessity, learning to speak the language of the dominant culture because those whose language it is will not speak ours; and in speaking their language, we are always in danger of thinking their thoughts and behaving according to their code. In this perpetual compromise, we are seldom in a position to pass judgment on other Christians, in their peculiar individual temptations: it is hard enough, reviewing our own behavior, to be sure when we have done the right or the wrong thing. But we can and should be severe in our judgment of ourselves.

It is high time for Christians in both East and West to break out of this psychological "box" that confines our practice of our faith to the four walls of our churches. You can enroll for our four-week course "Ministry to Handicapped and Poor" by clicking on Practical Ministries. It starts on 18 August - that's just four weeks away! Don't hesitate - enroll today! And invite your friends in your church to enroll along with you!

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 20 Jul. 2014.)

Called to be Saints

St. Paul writes, "to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 1:7 - emphasis mine throughout). In some of his letters, St. Paul writes "to the saints in..." but here and in 1 Corinthians he clarifies it by writing "to those in ______, called to be saints" - notice the clarification "called to be" because the Christians in Rome and Corinth had great problems: they weren't yet fully saints, but they were called to become holy, sanctified, consecrated to God. Just as Christ called His disciples and taught them to care for "the poor, the lame, the maimed and the blind," we are called to do the same. We are called to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Christ - that is, to become like Him. Why do I say the Christians in Rome and Corinth weren't yet fully saints? Because of what St. Paul goes on to write, in verses 20-23:

"For the invisible things of Him [God] since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even His everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse. Because, knowing God, they didn't glorify Him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things."

The Christians in Rome and Corinth were new converts from paganism, and had carried over some of their old habits. It is said that we become like what we worship. If, instead of worshipping God as our Creator and realizing that we are created in His image (a powerful goal to live up to!), we think we are wiser than God, then we will become like an image of corrupt man, animals, birds and reptiles. (Doesn't that sound like Darwinian evolution?) And what is the result?

"Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error" (verses 24-27).

Here St. Paul rather graphically identifies lesbianism and homosexuality as specific sins. It's easy for some Christians today to point out those two sins of "unclean lusts" and "vile passions," and quite often they receive "in their bodies the due penalty of their error" - venereal diseases that can lead to infertility and even death. But St. Paul doesn't stop there:

"Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness: sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers, backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them" (verses 28-32).

So it isn't just the first two items in the list that St. Paul identifies as sins. The reason why it's easy for Christians to point out lesbians and homosexuals as terrible sinners is because of what psychologists call "guilt projection" - if I can point to something really bad and harmful in other people, it projects onto them the guilt I secretly know to be true about myself... things such as sexual immorality (including looking lustfully at a person of the opposite sex), thinking other wicked thoughts and often carrying them out, pride, boasting, rebellion against parents, doing stupid things ("without understanding"), breaking my word, being unloving and unforgiving even to my own family, not showing mercy to people in need... and the list could go on and on. All these sins basically come from a self-centered lifestyle.

Society has decided through legislative and judicial processes that certain behaviors such as smoking, overeating (gluttony), gossip (slander), pride, sexual union outside marriage (adultery/fornication), accumulating wealth for its own sake (greed) and wanting what the wealthy have (envy), although potentially harmful to the individual and/or others, are not illegal. Now society is deciding that those practicing lesbianism and homosexuality are not illegal and therefore should be allowed to marry.

This obviously redefines the word "marriage," but because traditional Christians are now in a minority, there is little we can do to reverse this process. We can, however, adopt the policy that our churches are available only for the weddings of members in good standing (communicants). We can and should call this ceremony a "Christian wedding" and the new status "Christian marriage" to differentiate it from civil weddings and civil marriage. Pastors and priests should void and return their license to perform civil weddings, and henceforth perform only Christian weddings. Traditional Christian churches in most European countries already do this.

This is not to excuse lesbianism and homosexuality, any more than it excuses all the other sins mentioned above. No, because as St. Paul writes: "Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself" (Rom. 2:1). When I point a finger at someone else, three of my fingers are pointing back at me. So we must all pray, "Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy!" and "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner! - not because God isn't by nature merciful - He is! - but because we all are sinners and really need God's mercy! He has created us in His image, to share in His glory, we are called to be saints - to be holy and pure. But "all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). The Greek word for sin is "hamartia" - "missing the mark" - not attaining the goal for which we were created: the glory we were meant to have with God.

"Called to be saints" means that we must live by a higher standard than what the surrounding culture lives by, not conforming to its base and sinful standards. We must dedicate and consecrate ourselves - body, soul and spirit - to God, as St. Paul writes in Rom. 12:1-2 - "Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God." This transformation is literally "metamorphosis" - the same Greek word for Christ's transfiguration on Mt. Tabor, when the glory of His divine nature shone forth to His three leading disciples.

You may recall the story of the woman who was caught in the act of adultery: the Pharisees, the super-religious people, brought her to Jesus and asked Him what He would do with her:

"Teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act. Now in our law, Moses commanded us to stone such. What then do you say about her?" They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of. But Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her." Again he stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle. Jesus, standing up, saw her and said, "Woman, where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?" She said, "No one, Lord." Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more." (John 8:4-11)

Notice that Jesus didn't condemn her, but neither did He say, "Go your way and sin some more!" No, He said, "sin no more." We mustn't judge people in our post-Christian (or even anti-Christian!) surrounding culture for living like pre-Christian Greco-Roman pagans: "I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners; yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters; for then you would have to leave the world. But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. Don't even eat with such a person" (1 Cor. 5:9-11).

We shouldn't judge those who are outside the Church for their sexual sin... or idolatry, greed, extortion, slander or drunkenness; we should, however, hold Christians to a higher moral standard. And this also implies that we as Christians should not yield to secular social and political pressure to support lesbianism and homosexuality in the Church. That's just the way neo-pagans behave: it's their "chosen lifestyle."

Rather than condemning people of this world, we should invite them to the Kingdom of God! In the very next chapter St. Paul writes:

"Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of God. Such were some of you, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God" (ch. 6:9-11).

Yes, that's what we were - we were just like other people in our post-Christian surrounding culture, so we shouldn't judge them for doing what pagans do, any more than we should judge a pig for wallowing in the mud, because that's what pigs do. If you wash up a pig to show it at the county fair, it'll return to the mud as soon as it can. As St. Peter wrote: "The dog turns to his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire" (2 Pet. 2:22). No, what the pig needs is transformation, so that its pig-nature is changed. That's what we were: our moral nature was like that of a dog or a pig that thinks only of satisfying its physical desires. "But you were sanctified," St. Paul wrote, called to be saints, not conformed to the post-Christian or even anti-Christian worldview of the surrounding culture.

St. Peter also wrote that God "has granted to us His precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust" (2 Pet. 1:4). This calls for a lifestyle of self-denial, the ascetic discipline of discipleship. So I call on you to not care just about yourself or your "holy huddle" of church friends, but to learn how to deny yourself and care for "the poor, the lame, the maimed and the blind." Check out our 4-week introductory online course, "Ministry to Handicapped and Poor" - do it now! And invite your like-minded friends at church to enroll with you: form a diakonia-ministry team!

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 03 Aug. 2014.)