Tag: glory

Self of Nothing

Judges 4:1–24; 2 Samuel 6:12–22; Psalm 18:20–29

Many have often condemned Barak as a coward who hides behind a woman’s skirt (so to speak). What if there is something else at play?

If you read the Book of Joshua and 1 & 2 Samuel, the Ark of the Covenant was part of the army’s formation. It went out into battle with the people. It was a symbol for the people of Israel that God was with them.

However, in the time of the Book of Judges, a lot was lost (and so very quickly, too). Perhaps, as a matter of morale and tactics, Barak wanted Deborah there as the symbol. Barak could have been doubtful of his military success, so wanted backup (God).

Regardless, it is Barak’s lack of a response to Deborah’s “penalty” that is our focus. Basically, Deborah told Barak that he would not get the glory of dealing with Sisera (the enemy leader) and that it would be given to a woman (a dig in a patriarchal society).

Whether it was acceptance or tolerance, Barak’s lack of response shows a greater concern for the success of the battle, rather than the resulting glory. Some call it cowardice. Some call it degrading. Some call it humility.

Humility does not just take one form. Whether you believe the Barak was weak, scared, or lacking faith, how many people hide those exact things behind a façade of bravado? Not hiding it, is often a sign of humility.

Sometimes humility is what you are willing to do and be in public. David’s dancing in public to display joy in front of the people must have been something to watch. Was it because of how he was dressed? Was it because he didn’t act refined?

His goal wasn’t the eyes of humanity, it was the eyes and heart of God. Yet, his first wife either tried to shame him or was ashamed of him.

David would not accept that. He understood that whatever her issues were, they were nothing in comparison to bringing glory to God.

It is interesting to realize that David didn’t say, “that wasn’t embarrassing!” He said that his personal honor and pride are not important when compared to the glory of God.

Two different men, with two different forms of humility. These are not the only forms of humility. It can play out in many ways in our lives. One person’s humility may seem like nothing to another. This is why true humility is between a person and God.

Humility is something we should all seek. As the person we call Lord and Savior was humble enough to touch the outcast, broken, dirty, and then die for all, humility is a characteristic of a disciple of Jesus.

※Prayer※

Holy Spirit, guide our hearts and souls to greater depths of humility, even while knowing that the humility of Jesus is deeper still. Amen.

※Questions※

1) Who is the humblest person you know? What makes them humble?

2) Name the ways Barak and David were humble. What are other means of humility?

3) Why is humility so important to growing the Kingdom of God?

2020-07-30
Red or White?

Genesis 18:16–33; Jeremiah 5:1–9; Romans 3:5–24

God hates me. God would/could never love me. God doesn’t care about me. No one can measure up to that standard.

Any of those sound familiar?

When we read stories such as Sodom and Gomorrah it is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer immensity of destruction. Yet, there in the story there something important to read.

Abraham’s questions about the 50, 45,40, 30, 20, 10 and the response to the question gives us some insight. From all appearances, there was one righteous man…Lot. Even Lot’s “righteousness” might have more to do with Abraham’s and not Lot’s (see Genesis 19:29).

From our human perspective, what happened seems out of proportion. The ways of Sodom and Gomorrah were obviously long wrong. God did not do this on a whim. Yet, in the middle of all the wrong, 10 righteous people would have prevented disaster.

As the end of the glory of Judah approached, there, too, was an opportunity to change everything. All it would have taken is one righteous person. As the Scriptures show, however, that was not to be.

What does this say about us? Paul tells us that it is the very unrighteousness of humanity that displays the righteousness of God. Even in that, there is grace.

There is a long list that is part of Paul’s words. It is a list (Romans 3:10–18) condemning humanity for its response to God. Why would God want such creatures?

If you had someone who constantly said bad things to you, tossed your gifts at your feet (or the garbage), and gave credit everyone but you about the good things you’d done for them, what your response be?

God’s answer was through the cross. Truth? We aren’t worthy by any measure of that sacrifice. Truth? God did it out of love.

※Prayer※

Jesus, thank you for the cross. Father God, thank you for your mercy on us. Holy Spirit, thank you for drawing us to you. Amen.

※Questions※

1) When you read Paul’s list, how does it feel? To you feel condemned or judged? Or, do you feel something else?

2) How does grace and redemption feel in the face of that list?

3) What do you think your ongoing response should be as a result?

2020-07-18
Fruit Basket

Daniel 3:8–30; Matthew 7:15–20; Revelation 20:11–15

Thinking about fire is often not comfortable. Homes burn. Forests burn.

On the other hand, metal is purified through fire. Through that fire, many beautiful and amazing things are made.

Just like in our own lives, fire serves different purposes in the Scriptures. The number of times it is mentioned is numerous.

Most of us are familiar with the story of the three companions of Daniel tossed into the fiery “pit”. Nebuchadnezzar (though really those around him) used it to kill the three. Instead, God used it to show God’s power and might, and the protection of those loyal.

This is not to say that we should all jump into fiery pits. On the other hand, the world is full of many other kinds of fiery pits.

There is a thin line between a fire of refinement, and a fire of destruction. Without God’s saving hand Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have died. That is often the case with us.

Yet, Jesus drew a different picture. Jesus’ picture was that of fruitless lives. For those who view themselves harshly, these words of Jesus are hard. They can even be faith-destroying.

What is good fruit? Is it only the fruits of the Spirit? Is it only disciples? Is it only baptisms? Is it only giving water to the thirsty? Is it only loving the unloved?

The hard question for too many Christians is not what good fruit is, but what is enough good fruit. If a parent has five children, and only 2 follow the Lord, is that enough good fruit?

If one is joy-filled and generous of heart but doesn’t “see” a single person come to Christ through them, are they still producing good fruit?

If you are one of the blessed that doesn’t view life through the how much is good enough lens, be grateful that you aren’t, and be grace-filled toward those who are.

In a performance-based culture, such as in the United States, how much fruit is not a small question. For many, this may indeed be why they shy away from faith and faith questions. If you will be judge by how much fruit, why walk into a judgmental situation?

The flip side of this is also bad. Not counting the fruit has other issues, such as not equipping, discipling, and holding one another accountable. This flip side has also become an issue in the church. In not counting the fruit, it’s hard to evaluate (including, but not only, self-evaluation) one’s spiritual life.

The fact of fruit (or lack thereof), the quality of fruit, and the quantity of fruit are all valid questions that Christians should ask of themselves and others. Truth must be balanced in love and grace; that way we are all willing to hear and confront the truth.

※Prayer※

Lord Jesus, if our hearts our weighed by the thought of fruit, lighten our load. Holy Spirit, guide and prune us that we produce fruit for God’s glory. Father God, we put our very being into your hands, trusting you with your creation. Amen.

※Questions※

1)Do you ever count your fruit? Why or why not?

2) Evaluate your fruit right now. After “evaluating” your fruit, what is your conclusion?

3) How does the fire of refinement and destruction apply to producing fruit?

2020-07-17
An Abomination

2 Kings 25:8–21; Matthew 24:1–22

The fall of the First Temple had far-reaching consequences. It was the end of the glory of Jerusalem. Granted, the Temple had long been stripped of its gold, yet the Temple was still central to Jerusalem

With the burning of the Temple, the cultural center was gone. The religious center was gone. Even though they were unfaithful the Temple was still the religious center; it was just used to honor other gods.

While the King’s palace was administratively important, and the homes were individually important, the loss of the temple was a loss of identity, even if they did not faithfully follow God. This is a conqueror mentality. Break down their identity, and build them a new one (military basic or boot camp has the same principle).

As the Jews came back, they established a God-honoring life. No, it didn’t last long. It did, for a time, re-form them around God in a good way. However, over time human power and authority threw their earthly weight around, and there were a lot of overthrowing and wars.

Eventually, the drama surrounding the Maccabean “revolt” and recovery of “right” worship in the Temple occurred. However, all the interplay amongst various Jewish actors and other parties (i.e., Romans, Syrians, etc.) eventually led to Roman rule.

Finally, Jesus predicts another fall, with the implication of it being more permanent (though that could easily be being read into it). When Jesus talks about the abomination of the desolation, there was one before the Maccabean “revolt”, and there was one after the death of Jesus.

Some Christians and Jews believe that the “true” desolation was when the Dome of the Rock (as Muslim mosque) was built on the site. It could be a third or fourth desolation or none at all.

Regardless, after each desolation a significant change occurred. Historians and theologians may argue whether these changes were good or bad or just were.

The “hidden” reality is that the desolations were merely signs of a preexisting problem…an ineffective or nonexistent relationship with God. This might seem overreach, especially to modern ears and hearts. Yet, both the Old Testament and Jesus (at least for the two desolations of which they speak) tie that in.

If any subsequent “desolations” were that, we don’t have a revelation about that, but it seems to fit.

Perhaps we should also draw parallels between this temple history and the church. The church—especially in the US, yet also in early 20th Century Europe—has been comfortable for too long.

Familiarity, as the saying goes, breeds contempt. Contempt toward and in the church is running rampant. It’s not new. The tipping point is coming, it seems.

Yet familiarity can also breed safety, security, and love. These are not something the church and Christians are stereotyped as. Right or wrong, this is the reality of the church.

The abomination of the desolation is not (yet) the buildings. It is that the world does not know the church by its love.

※Prayer※

Lord, you have called us to be known by our love. Lord, help us love as you love. Amen.

※Questions※

1) Besides the snow one, what do you think of regarding “abominable”? How about “desolation”?

2) How else might an “abomination of the desolation” look today? Would it be country, state, church?

3) How do familiarity and comfort play out in our lives: family, professionally, community, church? What are the positive and negative results of familiarity?

2020-07-08
The Way of…

Romans 8:1–17; Ephesians 2:11–22

No condemnation. Those are powerful words. We just don’t live them out well. We condemn ourselves for our faults. We condemn others for theirs.

What does it mean to be set free? This is not a small question. We often immediately say, free from sin. While that is correct, it is also utterly weak, thin, and a completely insufficient understanding.

Sin is “merely” an aspect of who we are. It is a big one. It is still only an aspect.

When we read Paul’s flesh versus spirit, we stick to these 2 concepts as if they are what Paul is talking about. We take Classical (or “Greek”) thought of spirit (good) and flesh (evil), setting aside that God created the flesh. Is it corrupt? Yes. Is it evil? No.

Flesh, in and of itself, is not evil. In fact, were we to take that perspective, the rest of Paul’s writings would be pointless. When Paul speaks of flesh, he speaks of the “way of the flesh”. The “way of the flesh” and flesh (our bodies) are not inherently the same. Confusing these two continue to be an issue in the church.

The opposite of the “way of the flesh” is the “way of the Spirit”. That’s readily apparent from Paul’s words, yet still, the concept of the flesh being tied to our body rather than the sinful ways of the world creates its own issues.

There are many body image issues out there. Some of them are weight. Some of them are premature balding. There a myriad of issues. Now we have the rise of gender dysphoria. It would be easy to condemn this as the “way of the flesh”, while it is in truth a cry of the soul.

There was a time where people damaged their bodies (sometimes call flagellants) for the “mortification” of the flesh. This is not a healthy view of the body. Some have taken it (tongue-in-cheek) to the point of saying, “the body is evil; kill it with alcohol.” Even the “world of the flesh” took this view to some degree.

The true danger of this view is that it actually lessens the apparent danger of the “way of the flesh”. If it is “just” our bodies, then our new “spirit” bodies will be fine, the ones we get after we die. This still puts Paul’s words into a place he didn’t intend. What happens after is more a matter of faith and speculation. Paul is referring to the now.

The “way of the flesh” is summed up in not submitting to God’s law. The “way of the spirit” is to submit. This also was the danger of circumcision. This was a different mortification of the flesh, yet it provided the same illusion.

The reality is, as implied in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the way of the spirit is a journey, not a destination. The way of the spirit goes the opposite direction of the way of the flesh. One goes toward God (and submission to God). The other goes away from God (and leads to rebellion to God).

※Prayer※

Jesus, you took on the flesh of Creation and into a new stage of relationship with us. Help us honor your gift, and live lives that bring you honor and glory. Amen.

※Questions※

1) What do you think of when you hear the word “flesh”? What is the difference when you hear “the way of the flesh”?

2) Why might confusing “flesh” and “way of the flesh” an issue? How might it affect our Christian walk?

2020-07-03
Do It Good

Psalm 34; Amos 5:4–24; 1 Thessalonians 5:1–22

Turn away from evil and do what is good;
seek peace and pursue it.
—Psalm 34:14

Pursue good and not evil
so that you may live,
and the LORD,
the God of Armies,
will be with you
as you have claimed.
—Amos 5:14

See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.
—1 Thessalonians 5:15

Especially in the middle of the Psalm and the otherwise disturbing passage of Amos are very similar words. Paul urges the Thessalonians to do the same. Yet, pursuing or doing good can seem so vague.

On one hand, handing a panhandler money on the corner is probably not, ultimately, good for the panhandler. However, giving that same panhandler a meal in a safe and warm environment is. On the surface, both seem good. They might be also done for the right motive (love versus guilt). One is easy. One is harder (with others, can still be easy).

The Psalmist is focused more on God giving encouragement to those that love him to do the right thing. In the context of the Psalm, it is like a parent encouraging and guiding. This is what it means, the Psalmist implies, to love God and love others.

Amos’ words are those received when people do not love God and love others. Yet, as part of Amos’ admonishment to Israel is their claim that God is with them. They are right, as God is omnipresent. However, that doesn’t mean that they are with God, a nuance they missed.

Paul was a bit more explicit about doing good. When he wrote about doing good, it was to be for the benefit of others. This is self-less good. There is plenty of good, but self-less good is a step beyond. Other-than-self love is what grows the Kingdom of God.

However, doing good and seeking the good of others seems to be in short supply these days. One could say that Amos’ words apply to today, too. The rich and powerful, but not just them, are one-upping each other, and others pay the price.

Doing good for others isn’t just wearing masks in public (they certainly are annoying). It isn’t just yielding one more time to someone who thought that one more car length was worth diving into your line before they hit the cement barrier. It is one of many tiny, small, medium, and sometimes (just sometimes) it’s those really big things.

Doing good for others is supposed to be integral to walking with Jesus.

※Prayer※

Jesus, give us your strength to do good to and for others, even when they don’t recognize it. Help us to live in such a way that we do good without thinking about it, so as to give you glory. Amen.

※Questions※

1) Why do we often relegate good deeds to those that “deserve” them?

2) Think of someone you don’t like (or might even “hate”). What good deeds have they done? (Be honest with yourself)

3) When is a good deed authentic? Can you tell when you or someone else is authentic with their good deeds?

2020-07-02
La, La, La, I Can’t Hear You

Jeremiah 26:1–15; Romans 5:1–10 (read online ⧉)

The news is filled with doom. Doom, doom, doom. Many of our movies and entertainment are filled with doom. In the middle of doom, hope is a breath of fresh air.

On the other hand, some times a message of doom in a time of despair isn’t doom upon doom, but a message of God. Granted, the message of God may not seem all that positive. If one is set in their ways, even a message of hope can seem like a message of doom.

That’s exactly what happens, too. The priests, the (false) prophets, and the people heard the words of Jeremiah. They were very unhappy. “We’re fine.” “The [false] prophets say we’re good.” “The [false] prophets say that God will only bless us.” “God wouldn’t really do that to us. We’re the People of God.”

Who knows what else they said? We might have a pretty good idea if we were to examine ourselves and the wider Christian community, however. This isn’t about LGBT+. This isn’t about politics. This isn’t even about racial issues. Yes, each of these is a part. None are the whole.

Perhaps God is allowing COVID-19 to show what is truly important…a deep and meaningful relationship with God. That same relationship in turn would create deep and meaningful relationships with others.

Yet, there are those who still call this God’s curse as a result of sinful behaviors, though as this is global, it is unlikely (based on Biblical examples). Others look at this as a huge cultural shift that will transform human behaviors and relations for some time to come. They are probably correct. Others are looking at this as a troubling time, but insist on trying to return to pre-COVID-19 ways either too early, or without weighing all the consequences.

COVID-19 does show a very human tendency. “Hurry up!” God’s timing is not our timing. Yet, in the COVID-19 season, humanity cannot stop being short-sighted. This echoes the people of Israel spoken to by Jeremiah.

On the other side of COVID-19 (if there is an “other” side), we might look at Paul’s words to the Romans and give God the glory that God has given us afflictions. Then we might see that we can, did, and will endure to the future. Producing [Godly] character in this time might be the biggest gift we receive (though there is misery in the training) at this time.

All of this should be producing an outpouring of hope, according to Paul. Christians are called to be the voice of hope in all things, though especially in hard and uncertain times.

※Prayer※

Hope giving God, fill us with hope. With this hope, may we fill the world in turn with the hope it so desperately needs. May we set aside our desires and wants to be the hope. Amen.

※Questions※

1) How’s your hope? Is your hope (or lack thereof) contagious?

2) What is the primary tone of the conversation that you are seeing in your social media (e.g., Facebook)? What are you doing to bring hope into that?

3) What place does hope hold in your life? What purpose does hope hold in your life?

2020-06-23
Who Makes You

Romans 9:14–33 (read online ⧉)

A vignette from a family life…

“It’s your fault,” said the child.

“How so,” asked the parent.

“You knew, and you didn’t stop me,” responded the child.

“Except I warned you before,” the parent replied.

“So, what,” retorted the child. “What’s that got to do with stopping me?”

Or, a different vignette…

“It’s your fault.”
“You were warned.”
“You made me so mad, though, that I wasn’t thinking, and I did it. So, it’s your fault.”

Paul’s use of Old/First Testament imagery causes many modern people to struggle with these verses. In the Wesley/Arminian tradition, these words are a particular struggle, as they appear to not to be free will, a core belief in the tradition.

However, what we miss is the rhetorical questioning that is going on in the Greek. A rhetorically adequate translation would be more along the lines of, “Yes, while God can make you, that does not make it God’s fault that you still chose your path.” One theologian argues, with some decent reasoning, that even when God hardens hearts (sometimes called judicial hardening), it’s not that the hearts weren’t already hardened. It is that God firms their already stubborn and ungodly hearts so that their immediate action will result in the display of God’s glory.

In other words, God helps them be more firmly where they have already decided to be. Their decision was made first.

Now, unlike some other Christian traditions, this is not a one-way road. God is in the redemption business! Even when God hardens the heart for one action, there is often a redemptive action waiting in the wings. It is here that a person will choose to continue to harden their own heart or not.

The potter and the clay? An analogy, not a description. This passage, too, is often confused as that Israel (and thus the rest of us) are lifeless clay. Paul asks, what if? Paul is not concluding that God made some people for wrath and some are not.

God did not make us that way. Just as the passage of the Potter’s House, Paul is not saying that God did it so that people are separated from God. God made is so people choose to be separated from God.

This, too, is hard. For those of us who know God, and have a saving relationship with God, it is beyond our comprehension that people would choose anything other than God. Be grateful that you have chosen.

Paul’s ultimate conclusion is that God set out works for the people of Israel to do. They believe that is was the works (the tasks) they did to fulfill the Law that made them righteous. This was all while the lesson of Abraham was right there in the Scriptures…following and choosing God through faith.

※Prayer※

Gracious God, we thank you that we have been gifted the freedom to choose you in love. May you shape our hearts and guide our lives that we can help others also choose you. Amen.

※Questions※

1) Do you think you have ever experienced a time when God “hardened” your heart? Why or why not?

2) Why do you think people believe that God designs people and plans for people to be inflicted by God’s wrath?

3) What is the hardest thing to realize and feel about knowing that you have to daily choose God?

2020-06-22
Where You Go

Numbers 17:1—11; 1 Corinthians 12:24–28 (read online ⧉)

Follow the Leader is not just a game for children. It is the life of adults. Each of us has at least one leader in our lives, and usually more. Leaders can take on many roles and places. For example, a pastor may be your spiritual leader. You might have another person that also provides you spiritual leadership.

In your home, there is usually a leader. Sometimes it seems to be the pet and not a person. In our work lives, there is usually a leader. Then politically we have leaders, and there are community leaders, too.

Each leader has a place and a purpose. The leaders that overreach or the people who push their leaders to overreach can often sow discord and confusion.

In Numbers, we read what is really the conclusion to a long struggle for who really is the leader of the people. Along “the road”, people regularly challenged Moses’ leadership (including his siblings, Aaron and Miriam). The family leaders tried to say they were the leaders of the entire community. They weren’t satisfied leading their tribe. They wanted all of Israel.

When it came to Aaron’s priestly assignment, some leaders tried to do their own worship and suffered the consequences. They could not accept that one person “got the glory”.

This not to say that Moses and Aaron were perfect, not by a long shot. They made mistakes. It is quite possible that part of the constant struggle wasn’t just the pride of the other family leaders, but Moses’ and Aaron’s failures, too.

In the specific case of Moses and Aaron, however, there was a unique circumstance. God had appointed them their roles directly. How the family leaders gained their authority is by accident of birth. God called Moses and Aaron directly.

Each leader has a sphere of responsibility, authority, and influence. We often confuse the 3, however, which can lead to failures. Over time each of those can change, too.

Paul lists outs apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle-workers, healers, helpers, leaders, tongues. It’s an interesting mix of roles. Oddly enough, one would think (especially the way the world thinks) that apostles, prophets, and teachers would be (by definition) leaders. Yet, Paul separates leaders. What this tells us that certain roles that we believe are automatically leaders aren’t necessarily so. This doesn’t fit into our mental boxes.

We understand that someone can be a “thought” leader, but the idea that someone in supposed authority is not a leader can be hard to grasp. Yet, if you think about it, if you were a carpenter, you wouldn’t necessarily follow the horseman as he built a house.

※Prayer※

Lord, help us to have as lord in our lives. Grace us with wisdom to see the small quiet leaders in our lives, that we might follow you better. Grant us the eyes to see those you have called us to lead, that we fulfill your calling on our lives in regards to the lives of others. Amen.

※Questions※

1) For you, what are the top 3 characteristics of a leader? What are 2 of the worst characteristics you’ve seen in a leader?

2) Why does leadership matter to God?

3) Where are you a leader in your life?

2020-06-10
3 is 1 and 1 is 3

Deuteronomy 6:4–5; Matthew 3:13–17; Matthew 28:16–20; 1 Peter 1:1–2 (read online ⧉)

This is one of those odd “Liturgical” Sundays in the Christian year. It set aside to specifically observe the creedal declaration of and faith in the Trinity. We have Sundays set aside for Advent, Lent, Christmas, Easter, Pentecost. These are event-based. It’s not that they don’t have doctrinal pieces in them; their beginning is based upon an event.

There is an additional oddity, especially for people who call the Bible the Word of God…Trinity appears nowhere, at least not as an explicit term. That’s also what makes this Sunday interesting. A foundational theological basis for orthodox Christianity is not found explicitly in the Bible, yet is one of the key doctrines upon which orthodoxy is defined (i.e., Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses being non-Trinitarian believers).

One of the biggest things that the Trinity teaches us by its very example is that not everything can be explained by science or even a sound rationalization of the faith. The Trinity can only be believed (ultimately) by faith. The concept that God (the Father) is God, Jesus is God, the Holy Spirit is God, while, God (the Father) is neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit, Jesus is neither the Holy Spirit nor God (the Father), and the Holy Spirit is not God (the Father) nor Jesus (An aside: even writing that sentence, which is a simplified excerpt of the Athanasian Creed, hurt my head a bit).

The beauty of the Trinity is that by the above (for example), we are automatically brought into the realm of knowing that we can not fully understand God. Which is good. When we think we fully understand God, we are in deep danger of having made our own god who is not God.

While the Trinity does not expressly as a word in the Scriptures, that does not mean it is not present. We need to start with the beginning, though. God is one. One of the biggest dangers with the Trinity is that the confusion that we are talking about 3 gods, rather than 1 God.

In the Gospels, Matthew has the 2 best almost explicit statements regarding the Trinity. With Jesus’ baptism, Jesus is baptized, “laid upon” by the Holy Spirit, and blessed (and proclaimed) by God (the Father). All 3 persons of the Trinity are present and noted as being present (rather than in other places where they can be assumed to be present).

In many respects, however, it is Jesus’ Commission of the Disciples (now Apostles) to baptize in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that there is an expression of the doctrine and persons of the Trinity (yet, still no word “Trinity”).

While this is so, there is something critically important in Peter’s letter. Peter all but declares the Trinity in his opening. There are several reasons this is important. First, it’s Peter. His place as one of Jesus’ core disciples, and his place as commissioned leader of the church (by Jesus) makes his words critically important to our understanding of the church.

Before the “doctrine” was declared, before the Athanasian Creed was written, before the understood writing of the Gospels, Peter brought the Trinity to the church.

In lieu of prayer or questions, and in honor of the tradition in more “liturgical” churches to speak it on Trinity Sunday, below is the Athanasian Creed.
※Athanasian Creed※

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic[1] Faith. Which Faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic Faith is this, That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance.

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.

But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is all one, the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.

The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.

The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.

And yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal.

As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible.

So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Spirit Almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord.

And yet not three Lords, but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity, to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord; so are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion, to say, There be three Gods, or three Lords.

The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten.

The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten. Likewise also the Holy Spirit is of the Father, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons, one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other, none is greater, or less than another; But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together, and co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, must thus think of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation, that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds, and Man, of the Substance of his Mother, born in the world; perfect God, and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting; equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead, and inferior to the Father, as touching his Manhood.

Who although He be God and Man, yet He is not two, but one Christ; one; not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the Manhood into God; one altogether; not by confusion of Substance, but by unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ; Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven; He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.

2020-06-07