Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

Erasmus, the Great Tradition and the Eastern Fathers by Ron Dart

  The name of Erasmus will never perish
John Colet (1516)

Erasmus has published volumes more full of wisdom
than any which Europe has seen for ages.
Thomas More

The chief aim of Erasmus in his life’s work as a humanist scholar was to restore theology. In his times this meant to replace the theology then being taught and practiced as a professional science by a more adequate study of Holy Scripture and the Fathers of the early Church.

John Olin

 Those who have dipped into the life and prolific writings of Erasmus (1466-1536) might be aware of the importance and significance of the Praise of Folly. Others know Erasmus well because of his Adages and Colloquies. The voluminous correspondence of Erasmus holds the attention of others. The clash between Luther and Erasmus is part of Reformation lore and legend.

The fact that Erasmus was put on the Index makes him an activist and writer of some interest. The peace theology of Erasmus makes him an anomaly of sorts in the war stricken 16th century. Many 1st generation Anabaptists cut their peace tradition teeth by sitting at the feet of Erasmus in Basel. Erasmus was front and centre in heralding and doing new translations of the Bible. But, Erasmus was deeply committed as a Christian humanist and renaissance scholar in bringing to the fore the Fathers of the Church.

A Kingdom Stance -- by Ward Draper

I have been thinking alot about the Cross lately and the excessive and immeasurable lessons it holds. That such a violent device could hold so much knowledge, wisdom, life, and more importantly love, it is astounding. 

As I have been thinking about this grotesque and beautiful gift five characteristics stand out in my mind. Five attributes which transfer well into a Kingdom life. In the Cross I see immovability, its drastic nature, its gruesomeness, its stark raw disposition, and its eternal embrace. It is these five keys, if you will, which may assist us to secure our life as disciples. To offer some assistance in our journey to the Heavenly Kingdom.

2:1 [the Cross] by Al Sergel

*artwork by: Barna da Siena, 1330-1350

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” - The words of Jesus

“What Jesus calls us to in the Kingdom of God is not a religiously modified version of the self-preservation and self-promotion value systems which govern the empires of men.”  - The words of Brian Zahnd

Brian Zahnd sealed the deal for me in one minute of his fourth sermon on the subject of forgiveness.  It was one of those moments when you stop whatever you are doing – in this case, running on the treadmill - and try to find the closest item to either write with or record with.  Time will tell, but Zahnd’s words were like the brush stroke that only the artist would know is necessary to bring depth and dimension to a working canvas.

It's the Gospel Truth! The atonement remixed by Ron Roper

IT’S THE GOSPEL TRUTH!
—the atonement remixed—

April 20 (Passover/Orthodox Palm Sunday)—April 27 (Pascha/Easter), 2008.
Meditation on the Columbine (‘dovelike’) bloodshed of innocents.
In remembrance of Cassie René Bernall and Rachel Joy Scott.

 

The proclamation of God’s Kingdom is communicated in the historical narratives about Jesus of Nazareth—his conception, birth, baptism, temptation, teaching, deeds, trial, death, resurrection, ascension, sending of Holy Spirit, and promised return to earth in judgment—in accord with a host of ancient prophecies, fulfilled as noted by his disciples in the written testimonies of the New Testament, and further validated by the ensuing course of performance recorded without collusion by a host of leaders and varied witnesses from the early churches scattered across the far-flung Roman Empire for the next few centuries. 
 

Joshua 1: I will be with you by Adria V. Holub

Introduction

In Joshua 1, Moses has just passed away and Joshua is commissioned to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. Joshua hears God promise to be with him personally, and to grant him success.[1] Throughout Scripture God is said to be with certain people at specific times. Indeed, God's presence is reported in a variety of ways in the biblical witness. The question is, "what does it mean to say God is with someone?" One's answer depends on one's paradigm for who God is and how God will choose to act. Joshua believed in and testified to a God who was so righteous that his presence would cause the death of unrighteous people, be they the inhabitants of Canaan who worshiped idols and practiced destructive rituals, or members of Israel who disregarded the perceived commands of YHWH. This understanding of what it means for God to be present "with" his people is not universally held in the Old Testament witness, though it is the dominant theology, and is explicitly contradicted in the life and teaching of Jesus.

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[1] The pronoun "you" is in the singular, not plural. Robert G. Boling and Wright, G. Ernest, Joshua: A New Translation with Notes and Commentary. Vol. 6, The Anchor Bible (Garden City: Doubleday, 1982), 115.

"The Time of Abel" - excerpt from RAISING ABEL by James Alison

James Alison, Raising Abel: The Recovery of the Eschatalogical Imagination.

Let us imagine Cain, sentenced to wander forever over the face of the earth, unable to find a lasting home, always with fear of some vengeance for his brother's murder, and only half-protected by the laws which God gave after that incident, laws whose purpose was to contain the violence of reciprocal vengeance. Cain is getting on now and feels that death draws close. Wherever he goes he hears rumors that something terrible will happen, some fearful end will befall him, with a judgment in which he will be declared guilty.

Understanding Orthodoxy: How we think and talk about God by Archbishop Lazar

THINKING THEOLOGICALLY
    INTENT

    We are not going to re-examine the already familiar list of conflicting beliefs that separate the Western creeds from the Orthodox Christian Church, but rather speak of the way so many people think and talk about God — the way they "theologize" about Him. Roman Catholicism and Protestantism have essentially the same mind — the same culture and history — and, in the final analysis, the same religion; hence, it is not difficult to delineate both together as "Western" in their theological approach and trace this fact to the idea and method of law or what we would call the "juridical concept" of religion, begun in the universities of the Latin Middle Ages.
    The theology, or rather the approach to theologizing, in the Orthodox Christian Church, is sharply different from the Western approach. Her theologizing is different because her Christianity is different — and it is this, more than any other factor, which accounts for the so-called "separation of the Churches" — or, more precisely, the schism of the old Roman patriarchate from the Eastern patriarchates of the Christian Church, and ultimately the creation of the Roman Catholic Church by Charlemagne.

Theology, Culture and M.E. by Brian Schmidt

Theology, Culture & M.E. Brian Schmidt, BGS, M.Ed. [& M.E.]

The following is an excerpt from my All Saints’ Day, 2007 reflections on living with M.E. after having the illness for 17 years, and a month after a dear person who had M.E. took her life after living with it for 28 years—mostly on her own, without much help, and not believed most of the time.

M.E. is a poorly understood chronic illness affecting thousands of people worldwide. It’s closely related to Fibromyalgia [FM], a disease that also involves neurocognitive symptoms, pain and chronic fatigue.

On the Nature of Sin by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo

Preface:

    Faith is an orientation of the soul, not an accord with a collection of facts .  Faith is not only the fact that we believe, but what we believe.  God calls us to the former, and has given us the latter. Not all faith is good, not all religion is good. The truth in anything comes by the actions of the Word, Jesus Christ.  He "enlightens every man that comes into the world." Mere faith is not true and living faith.  Mere faith does not "orient" us to God, because mere faith has not the true God and His Revelation as its raison d'etre. Mere faith is not "an orientation of the soul."

St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily 60

If a man readily and joyfully accepts a loss for the sake of God, he is inwardly pure. And if he does not look down upon any man because of his defects, in very truth he is free. If a man is not pleased with someone who honors him, nor displeased with someone who dishonors him, he is dead to the world and to this life. The watchfulness of discernment is superior to every discipline of men accomplished in any way to any degree.

Do not hate the sinner. For we are all laden with guilt. If for the sake of God you are moved to oppose him, weep over him. Why do you hate him? Hate his sins and pray for him, that you may imitate Christ Who was not wroth with sinners, but interceded for them. Do you not see how He wept over Jerusalem? We are mocked by the devil in many instances, so why should we hate the man who is mocked by him who mocks us also? Why, O man, do you hate the sinner? Could it be because he is not so righteous as you? But where is your righteousness when you have no love? Why do you not shed tears over him? But you persecute him. In ignorance some are moved with anger, presuming themselves to be discerners of the works of sinners.