The New Ark...

It's Christmas time and I don't know about you, but I know I'm way behind on my Christmas shopping. You would think I would be used to it by now, considering I'm behind every year. I love this time of year though...the lights, the salvation army bells, the celebration, the time with family (which I cherish more and more as I grow older), the food, the looks on the faces of young and old while opening the gifts we've given, but most importantly the Christmas story and the preparation we go through in this advent season...the new beginning we're starting. The new beginning that Christ brought to us.

This celebration of the birth of our Savior, and the means by which he became our savior, stems from some very exciting events which hold deep meaning. The birth of Christ was the beginning of our salvation, but this savior had been prophesied about for many years prior and I've recently found some great info about this covenant God was making with man and a few ways the Holy Spirit connects prophesy and fulfillment. In some of my past blogs, we've seen the typology between the Old and the New...this one will be no different. When we read in Luke's gospel about Gabriel's visitation to Mary and about Mary's visitation to her cousin Elizabeth, we get a good understanding of the start of our salvation and the savior to be born, but there is sooooo much more to it. Luke's gospel has a few underlying aspects that I'd never really known about...things of which a knowledgeable Jew who knew the Jewish scriptures would have understood at the time. Typology is throughout scripture and we see many great saints use it throughout the New Testament. These studies and findings don't distract from Christ, but rather give us the full pool of the Holy Spirit and God...not just the shallow end. The fulfillment of prophesy and parallels in scripture connect us with our creator even more and helps us to understand the earliest of Christians even more!

Typology:
We all understand that the Old Testament is filled with history...stories of people and events. A Type is a person, a thing, or an action, having its own independent and absolute existence, but at the same time intended by God to prefigure a future person, thing, or action. You could say that God was teaching the people of the Old about ingredients and then teaching the people of the New how to make a meal using those ingredients...our meal, Jesus Christ.

The early Christians understood that the Old Testament contained types, types that were fulfilled in the New. St. Augustine said (5th century), "the Old Testament is the New concealed, but the New Testament is the Old revealed". St. Irenaeus said (2nd century) that the Old is "...a prophesy of things to come". In Romans 5:14 - "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come"

A few other examples. Look at the Israelites enslaved under the Pharaoh in Egypt. Egypt=type of the world, Pharaoh=type of the devil, and slavery =type of sin, & Moses =type of Christ, raised up from the midst of his own people to rescue them. We know that God became man, like us in all things except sin and Christ rescues us from sin and death,  just as Moses brought his people out of slavery. (Deut. 18:15, 18; John 1:11, 17). We dig deeper...Look in John 3:14-15, "And Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting".

In John 3:5, Jesus tells us that we must be born again of water & Spirit (be baptized) and that if we are not we will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. In Luke 3:21 we learn that the spirit, in the form of a dove, came down upon Jesus when he was being baptized...by "water and Spirit". It's funny how the Israelites were saved from Egypt, saved from slavery, and Pharaoh then formed into a new nation...they went down into the water of the Red Sea, the Spirit hovered over their heads in the form of a cloud.

Spirit over the waters....hmm. Look in Genesis 1:1...the world was empty and void and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters...from the waters rose land, and the dust from which we were made. Through "water and Spirit" God creates anew. In 1 Peter 3:20, Peter tells us that Noah and his family were saved by water, which we know washed away the filth of the earth, but he then tells us that the water that saves us doesn't wash away filth of the body, but purges the conscience from sin. Don't forget about the dove that hovered over Noah and confirmed God's promise...
Paul of course knows that Moses and the exodus from Egypt are true history and he wanted his brethren to be knowledgeable of that, but the exodus is also a type...a type of Christian baptism and salvation.

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul tells us that the people in the desert drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, Christ. In verse 6 he starts to tell us to heed the examples of sin set before us and to stay away from these evils that were a figure to us as well.
We see Peter comparing God's saving of Noah to teach about baptism, In Colossians 2:11 Paul speaks of circumcision foreshadowing baptism, and in the first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 5:7 we see that Christ is our Passover Lamb. There are many more examples of biblical typology throughout scripture, but that's not my intention for writing this blog, but it is important to understand typology when reading the Bible and is important when reading about the birth of Jesus Christ to a Virgin.

The Ark of the Old Covenant:
As children we all learned about the Ark of the Old Covenant. It was held in the Tabernacle, in the wilderness of Sinai. God expressed that he would dwell in the midst of His people. He chose to do this in a very special way. In Exodus 25 we see God giving specific and detailed instructions as to the proper way to construct the Ark. To be placed in the Ark was a golden jar holding the manna sent from Heaven, Aaron's rod which budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant (Deut. & Hebrews). On the top of the Ark was to be the mercy seat and two golden cherubim who dwell in heaven. Moses  finished making the Ark, the tabernacle, and then the glory cloud of the Lord (the Shekinah Glory) covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35; Num. 9:18, 22).


Stephen Ray gives a great explanation of this covering: "The verb "to cover" or "overshadow" and the metaphor "cloud" are used in a special way in the Bible. They represent the presence and glory of God. The spirit of God covered or "overshadowed" the Ark and the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
 The Greek word for "overshadow" (ἐπισκιάζω or episkiazein) in Exodus 40 is rarely used in the Greek Old Testament. The Holy Spirit chooses his words carefully. Here it is used of the presence of God overshadowing the Ark. The same Shekinah glory cloud also filled the Temple of Solomon (2 Chron 7:1-3)."

What does all of that mean for the New Testament and what does that have to do with the birth of Christ?
The same Greek word for "overshadow" is used by Gabriel when he tells Mary that the Holy Spirit will overshadow her and she will bear Christ. The result of this overshadowing is the presence of God in the womb of Mary, like the presence of God dwelling in the Ark in the tabernacle. Do you think the Holy Spirit chose to use the rarely used Greek word ἐπισκιάζω in both places without a reason?

When reading Luke's gospel, like most of the New Testament, we must think like a Jew or have an understanding of the Old Testament, its types and symbols. Luke is giving us a parallel between the Old Testament Ark, as the dwelling place of God, and Mary as the new dwelling place of God...the Word made flesh. Just as God chose a perfect dwelling for Himself in the Old, wouldn't He prepare such a place for His only Son to dwell before birth? I mean, after all, the items in the Ark were objects...very important objects, but objects just the same. This new covenant was Himself made flesh, in a human form to save the world, while fulfilling every little prophesy. Imagine how concerned God would be to prepare a perfect and flawless Ark that would carry the Word of God made flesh…the Second Person of the Trinity.
Luke gives us more, yet again. Carefully woven into the story of Mary are other typologies of great importance. We'll see how awesome the Holy Spirit is and how the Holy Spirit challenges us to exercise our brains and our hearts when reading scripture.

We know that Joshua led the people into the Promised Land after Moses' death. Joshua established the Ark in Shiloh, it remained for over two hundred years. During the time of war with the Philistines, 4,000 Israelites were killed which led them to act in fear, disobeying God. They removed the Ark from the temple and carried it to the front lines of the battle. Their disobedience led to the death of 30,000 men and the Ark was taken by the Philistines. Later on in chapter 5& 6 we see problems that led the Philistines to send the Ark back to Israel.

This is where it gets really interesting...The Ark arrived into the hill country of Judea. In 2 Samuel 6, David goes to retrieve the Ark from Cariathiarium and took 30,000 men with him. In verse 5 we see all of Israel playing music of praise to God, but one man decided to touch the Ark, Oza, son of Abinadab and was struck dead. This brought forth fear in David..."And David was afraid of the Lord that day, saying: How shall the ark of the Lord come to me?" 2 Samuel 6:9 David then left the Ark in the hill country for three months. After hearing of the blessings of God, because of the ark, we see that David went to get the ark...dressed as a priest he danced, praised, & leapt before the ark and all of Israel shouted for joy! David then took the ark to Jerusalem.

Now lets jump into the New Testament, back to Luke's gospel. It's believed by many historians and theologians that Luke must have sat and talked with Mary in order for him to be able to record key parts of her story...another word from Stephen Ray,  "Maybe it was even Mary that helped instruct the gentile Luke to understand the Old Testament and may have even helped him understand these types and parallels."

In Luke 1:30 we see the angel telling Mary to “Fear Not”, be cause he knew the fear that she had. Also In Luke 1:39 we see that Mary went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judea. She goes to visit Elizabeth and at the moment Mary's voice reached the ears of Elizabeth, the infant in her womb leaped for joy and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Look at what Elizabeth says after being filled with the Holy Spirit, "And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the mother of my lord should come to me? For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy." Luke 1:42-44

This is a great paragraph, filled with Old Testament references. Mary goes to the hill country of Judea. A bit of geographical info, Elizabeth lived in Ein Kerem  and Abu Ghosh is where the Ark was carried...they are not too far away from each other. Point being is that Mary and the Ark were likely on a journey to the same hill country of Judea.
Look at David's word's, "Who am I that the Ark of the Lord should come to me?" Elizabeth says almost the exact same words about Mary, "Who am I that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" Does the Holy Spirit do these things by chance or is the Holy Spirit using Luke to draw us back to the Old Testament...such as Paul & Peter showing us a parallel in the scriptures.

Look also how David approached the Ark, he shouted out and danced and leapt in front of the Ark. David was also wearing an ephod, a priest's clothing. When Mary, approaches Elizabeth John the Baptist, who was from the priestly line of Aaron, leapt. Both instances are way too similar...Elizabeth being filled with the Holy Spirit shouted out with a loud voice asking what allowed her the honor of being visited by the mother of our Lord and savior, and the infant of a priestly blood line leapt at the sound of Her voice. David, filled with the Spirit shouted out and danced in the presence of the Ark , singing praises to God...which is exactly what Mary did after Elizabeth's words, she gave all glory to God (Luke 1:46).

Also look at the time frame that the Ark of the Old Covenant remained in the house of Obed-edom...three months. In the New Testament we see that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. Is this by chance?  I would have to agree with the many saints and theologians, over the past 2,000 years, that have said there are too many parallels to credit chance. Look at the fact that the place that housed the Ark for three months was blessed and we see in Luke that Elizabeth uses the word "blessed" three times and one would believe that their home was certainly blessed by the presence of Mary and the Lord within her womb. The greetings are paralleled as well...when the Ark was returned back to Israel, they greeted her with shouts of joy and when Elizabeth, being filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke of and honored Mary, and she did so by crying out in a loud voice. Another interesting fact is that the word for the cry of Elizabeth's greeting is another rare Greek word. Old Testament liturgical ceremonies that were focused on the ark used the same word. In the Old, this ark was a great thing given by God and treated as such. Anyway, Luke again uses an uncommon word borrowed from the Old Testament...a word any practicing Jew would understand. Was the Holy Spirit using Luke to grab the attention of jewish listeners? I believe so...

So, the Ark has made it back to its home and is taken to Jerusalem where God's presence and glory is revealed in the temple (2 Sam 6:12; 1 Ki 8:9-11). We see in Luke 1:56 Mary returns home and eventually ends up in Jerusalem where she presents Jesus to God in the Temple in Luke 2:22, then she and Joseph receive a revelation or prophesy from Simeon of Christ's greatness and those that He would lift up in Israel....Luke  2:29.


Another interesting side note we can find is that the "Magnificat", or Mary's prayer in Luke 1:46-55, is based upon the prayer of Hannah found in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Obviously Mary was knowledgeable of Jewish Scripture.
 To see the things that the saints and many biblical scholars have found over the past 2,000 years, they had to acknowledge the depth of Scripture, the Jewish nature of the Bible, and the use of biblical typology. This example set before me has opened my eyes and lifted confusion about many events and scriptures.

Sorry, I drift...so, we know that God instructed His people of Israel to listen to Him and to follow Him. We know how important of a role this ark of the Covenant played in the relationship between God and His people. God's spiritual presence was in and around the ark. This ark wasn't to be taken lightly. Using typology and seeing how the writers of scripture used it and how the early Church also understood it, we find out that there is so much that God gives to us. These things give us a better understanding of God and His Son to increase a better relationship with Him. We were created for three things and three things alone; to Love Him, To serve Him, and to know Him.  Mary, acting as the Ark of the New Covenant, allows God's perfect will to be on earth as it was in heaven, and gives us God's presense not only spiritually, but physically as well.

Look at the items placed into the ark:
In Deuteronomy 10:3-5 we see God telling Moses to place the tablets of the Ten Commandments, given directly to Moses from the Hand of God, inside. Theses commandments should always be at the heart of their worship. In Hebrews 9:4 we see that two more  things were a part of the contents of the Ark...a golden jar holding the manna from heaven and Aaron's rod which budded. I think we can again, all agree that each of these things had a great significance and should remain with the people of Israel and in the presence of God which was in the ark. So, in the ark we have the law written in stone - in Mary's womb we have the word made flesh, given to her directly from God by the power of the Holy Spirit; also in the ark, the urn of manna come down from heaven, while eating it still only gave temporary life - in Mary's womb is the Bread of Life come down from heaven, while eating it gives us everlasting life; last, there is the rod of Aaron, proof of the true priesthood - Mary's womb, the true high priest.  

 Jesus, the High Priest, is our brother and He gave His mother to John while on the cross and gave John to His mother (John 19:26-27). If you study Hebrew kingship, look how important a king’s mother is and her role concerning the kingdom. She always has a throne at the king’s right side (1 Kings 2:19-20), she was there to support the king and the king's mother had his ear. She is called Gebirah or Queen Mother...you can read about their roles in the books of Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, & 2 Chronicles. Combine the system of historical Hebrew kingships with the kingship of Christ (which was in succession in the house of David) and the New Testament Scriptures concerning Mary. How important would Jesus, the king of kings who sits on the throne of David forever, view His mother? How should His followers view her? Her crowning by God gives her a royal seat and her bearing our savior in her womb, being named “O’ favored one” or “Full of Grace” (Luke 1:28) shows the grace of God being poured into every aspect of her life. She is blessed and every nation shall call her that henceforth (Luke 1:48).
 
The early Church:

Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296 – 373) was the main defender of the deity of Christ against the 2nd century heretics. He wrote: "… To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all O (Ark of the) Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which Divinity resides." Homily of the Papyrus of Turin.
 
St. Gregory the Wonderworker (c. 213 – c. 270) an early Christian teacher wrote: "Let us chant the melody which has been taught us by the inspired harp of David, and say, "Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest; Thou, and the Ark of Thy sanctuary." For the holy Virgin is in truth an Ark, wrought with gold both within and without, that has received the whole treasury of the sanctuary.
 
St. Proclus (died 446 or 447)
“Let the woman haste hither, for the woman shows not the tree of death, but brings forth the tree of life:  the virgins...the mothers also, for the Virgin Mother has amended the tree of disobedience by the tree of life.  The female sex is no longer in execration, for it has obtained whereby it shall surpass even the angels in glory.  Eve has been healed...and Mary is venerated (adored), because she has become mother and handmaid, cloud and chamber, and ark of the Lord....For this cause let us say to her:  Blessed art thou amongst women, who alone hast healed the grief of Eve; who alone hast borne the world’s price” (Orat.iv.and v. In Natal. Dom. P.G. Tom. 65, p.710) (Blessed Virgin, p. 58).

St. Ephrem (c. 306-373)
“With the rib that was drawn out of Adam, the wicked one drew out the heart of Adam.  There arose from the rib [i.e., Mary], a hidden power which cut off Satan as Dagon. For in that ark, a book was hidden that cried and proclaimed the Conqueror.  There was then a mystery revealed, in that Dagon was brought low in his own place of refuge.  The accomplishment came after the type, in that the wicked one was brought low wherein he trusted....Fulfilled was the mystery.  Blessed is He who by the true Lamb redeemed us, and destroyed our destroyer as He did Dagon” (S. Ephrem, Rhythm iii, On the Nativity, Morris, p.20) (Blessed Virgin, p. 66).
 
St. Hippolytus (c. 170-c. 236)
“At that time, the Savior coming from the Virgin, the Ark, brought forth His own Body into the world from that Ark, which was gilded with pure gold within by the Word, and without by the Holy Ghost; so that the truth was shown forth, and the Ark was manifested....And the Savior came into the world bearing the incorruptible Ark, that is to say His own body” (S. Hippolytus, In Dan.vi., Patr. Gr., Tom. 10, p. 648) (Blessed Virgin, p. 77).
 
 
St. Ambrose (c. 339-397)
“The prophet David danced before the Ark.  Now what else should we say the Ark was but holy Mary?  The Ark bore within it the tables of the Testament, but Mary bore the Heir of the same Testament itself.  The former contained in it the Law, the latter the Gospel.  The one had the voice of God, the other His Word.  The Ark, indeed, was radiant within and without with the glitter of gold, but holy Mary shone within and without with the splendor of virginity.  The one was adorned with earthly gold, the other with heavenly” (Serm. xlii. 6, Int. Opp., S. Ambrosii) (Blessed Virgin, p. 77).
 
 
St. Cyril (315-387?)
“The Ark would be the type and image of Christ : for if we look back to the way of the Incarnation of the Only-begotten, we shall see that it is in the temple of the Virgin, as in an ark that the Word of God took up His abode. For in Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, as the Scripture saith. But the testimonies in the ark were the word of God, and the wood of it was imperishable, and with pure and choicest gold was it beautified within and without” (St. Cyril, De ador. In Spir. Et Verit, p. 293, St. Maximus of Turin and other Fathers apply the Ark of the Covenant to the Blessed Virgin Mary) (Blessed Virgin, p. 76).
 
St. Athanasius (c. 296-373)
“Be mindful of us, most holy virgin, who after childbirth didst remain virgin; and grant to us for these small words great gifts from the riches of they graces, O thou full of grace. Accept them as though they were true and adequate praises in they honor; and if there is in them any virtue and any praise, we offer them as a hymn from ourselves and from all creatures to thee, full of grace, Lady, Queen, Mistress, Mother of God, and Ark of sanctification” (Orat. In Deip. Annuntiat, nn. 13, 14. Int. Opp. S. Athanasii) (Blessed Virgin, p. 80).

St Dionysius (died 264)  
“Not in a servant did He dwell, but in His holy tabernacle not made with hands, which is Mary the Mother of God” (Ib. ad Quoest. vii.)  In calling Mary σκηνλχειροποιη ο, Saint Dionysius implies that she was of an election and origin altogether singular and exceptional.  The word occurs three times in the New Testament (Mark xiv. 58, 2 Cor. v. 1, Col. Ii. 11), and in each case denotes what is of singular and divine origin.  See also Heb. ix. 11, 24) (Blessed Virgin, p. 81).

Stephen Ray really sparked this study and I used a lot of his writings, you can get his books on Barnes & Noble’s website. He is a fascinating author and really knows how to word the  teachings that have been handed down for 2,000 years! What he writes about has been taught and understood as the Church began and then flourished.
 
Note:
If you wonder why words are expressed with their greek root or translation, all the while seeing the importance of reading the scriptures like a jew; it’s important to know that 250 BC the Jews translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek. It was called the Septuagint and it was the primary Bible used by the Apostles and the early Church.

 
Thanks for reading and I hope you got as much from this as I did…We celebrate Christ our savior and His birth at this time of year and I just wanted to write what a great role Mary was/is in being Christ's (and our) Queen Mother, who prays for us to our God and was filled with God's grace and accepted Christ before anyone else on Earth...without ever seeing His face.

I pray that  all who read this will have a great Christmas and that we may always stay mindful of why we celebrate this season. In the name of the Father, Jesus His Son, & the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Who needs a Pope?

One of the first problems I had with the Catholic Faith was the idea of one man being the authority of Christianity on earth. What gives him the right?  Where does his authority come from and why is it justified? Why does over 1/2 of Christianity and 1/6 of the earth's population adhere to this authority on earth?

I first needed to find out who Catholics believe the first pope to be...Peter the Apostle. Over the past 5 or 6 years I've really learned how faith and reason do go together and one shouldn't go without the other. I used to read scripture kind of one sided...not really taking the time out to study geographical and cultural customs of the time. When scripture was written, it was written under Holy Inspiration, but another factor does play into it...it was written through the hands of men who were of certain customs and traditions. This plays a huge part in the scriptures and what the writer may have chosen to elaborate on or not elaborate on...and in the meanings of phrases or words. And we know that typology is used throughout scripture as well.

One of the first scriptures I looked at was Matthew 16:16-19 - "Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth. it shall be loosed also in heaven."

I read it and can understand that something is going on, but what exactly? This is where reason comes into play. As always I'm now asking more why and what questions...Why did Christ change Peter's name and what does his new name mean? What does it mean to be given keys to a kingdom? How does this kingdom go along with other mentions of a kingdom in the New Testament? 

In scripture the changing of a name by God seems to have a pretty significant meaning. In Genesis 17 God changes Abram's name to Abraham in creating a covenant with him and giving to him and his ancestries nations and kingdoms. The name Peter (Kepha), in the aramaic language that Jesus spoke, has one meaning: Rock. This translates in to the Greek Petra (feminine) and then into Petros (masculine) and then into the english form Peter. Peter is Rock. And upon this rock Christ will build his church...In 1 Cor 3 Paul is telling the people of Corinth that the foundation of our Faith is Christ and we are the building. In Ephesians 2:19 Paul tells the people of Ephesus that they are the body or building that is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ as the Corner-Stone. So, the foundation of our faith chose a Rock to build His church on and Paul taught that we, the church, are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ as the chief cornerstone. So what makes Peter different than any o the other apostles?

Given the keys...What prophet talked about keys? One in particular comes to mind. I look in Isaiah 22:20 (about 250 years after the covenant with David) and see that Eliacim will have the steward's key of the house of David upon his shoulder and this gives to him great power..."and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open."  Later on in the same chapter we see that this possession of power is temporary, but we read in Luke 1 that Jesus is given, by God, the throne of David His father and that this kingdom will last forever. The steward's keys represented exclusive dominion and the office of royal stewardship was successive in Israel. So, Christ was named the King of Israel and His kingdom would last forever...fulfilling the Davidic covenant that The throne of David will last forever. This is a problem because Christ wouldn't be on the earth forever. So how can this be?

Christ gives Peter and Peter alone keys to the kingdom...the same keys that God gave to Jesus. Then Jesus tells him that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church and that Peter now had the power to bind and loose and that authority would be honored in heaven. Now, reason comes in again...Jesus and His apostles followed Jewish customs and traditions. The stewardship or holding of keys is successive. So, Jews would certainly know their history and would know that the office would last forever by succession. We also see in scripture that Christ is called Rabbai. M. Vincent (a protestant scholar) explains, "No other terms were in more constant use in Rabbinic canon-law than those of binding and loosing. They represented the legislative and judicial powers of the Rabbinic office." Aramaic scholar George Lamsa writes, "'He has the key', means he can declare certain things to be lawful and others unlawful; that is to bind or to loose, or to prohibit or to permit, or to forgive." 

Let's go even deeper with the Aramaic translation (again the language that Jesus was speaking) in Luke 22:31-32, "And the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you (plural), that he might sift you (plural) like wheat, but I have prayed for thee (singular), that thy faith  fail not: and thou (singular) being once converted, confirm thy brethren." Yet again Christ is separating Peter from the others and is praying that the Rock will be able to support and guide his fellow brethren. This perfectly exemplifies the way the Catholic Pope's primacy and authority relates with his collegiality with the other Bishops...because we must first remember that in Catholicism the Pope is a Bishop, the Bishop of Rome, who is head of the all the other Catholic Bishops on earth. 

Let's go even farther... In John 21:15-17: Here Christ tells Peter to Tend and to feed His sheep 3 times (kinda interesting that Peter denied Christ 3 times)...the same flock that Christ is the Shepherd of. Reason, yet again, needs to be used here because it's important to know that the Jews would understand, according to contemporary usage, that the words "feed" and "tend" meant to teach, govern, and rule...as a shepherd governs a flock of lambs. (See Ezekiel 34:23 where God talks of raising up David to feed his flock.)

These scriptures show us Christ's preparing Peter before His death and His command to Peter after His resurrection. Scripture is filled with other "little" details as to Peter's seniority...We see in John 20 that when John and Peter ran to the tomb, we are specifically told that John arrived first but did not go in and waited for Peter who went in first. 

Of the 12 apostles, Peter is mentioned by name most often in scripture, 195 times. John being next at 29 times. When the 12 are listed by name (Matt. 10:2-5, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-17, Acts 1:13), Peter's name is always first and Judas Iscariot is always last. In Acts 1:13-26 Peter leads the other apostles in choosing Matthias as successor to Judas and in Acts 2:14 he leads the apostles in preaching on the day of Pentecost. Peter performs the first Pentecost miracle in Acts 3 and in chapter 4 he speaks in the name of all the apostles and the Church before the Sanhedrin for trial. Peter is the one in chapter 10 that recieved the revelation of God concerning Gentiles being accepted into the Church and in chapter 11 he's the first to welcome them. At the council of Jerusalem, it's Peter's authority and dogmatic pronouncement that is accepted and causes all disputes to cease in chapter 15. After Paul's conversion he visits Peter to have his teachings confirmed in Galations 1:18. Back in Acts chapter 5, it's Peter who handles the case of Ananias and Saphira and he tells them that by lying to him they have lied to the Holy Spirit.

Through all of this we see that the keys of the kingdom were something to behold and gave a great responsibility to the key holder. We see that Peter's authority abounds in scripture and we see that the apostles saw the need to have successors like Matthias...similar to Paul finding Timothy and then telling him to go and find other's that could be trusted to teach. Telling him to hold true to the traditions that had been handed down, not only through written letter , but also by word of mouth. Succession is needed to maintain the kingdom. Because of this need for succession, there has been someone in that seat that Peter held for over 2000 years to date. 

So the answers to my questions had been found...Christ gave Peter the right, the Pope's authority comes from Jesus Himself by the power of the Holy Spirit through apostolic succession, it's justified throughout scripture and throughout hundreds of writings from the Church Fathers for the past 2000 years, & so many follow this authority because it was the only Christian authority on earth, after Christ's death & resurrection, until the 16th century when men like Luther and Calvin decided that they had a better plan than God did for over 1500 years. Now there are around 33,000 different Christian denominations other than Catholicism out there who all argue on what Christians should believe and they all believe that they have the correct doctrine. There are more Baptist sub-denominations than I have teeth in my head. Where's the unity that Christ expressed He wished us to have...to be one, as He and the Father are one. 

Thanks to Dr Scott Hahn & to many Church Fathers for defending the faith for thousands of years. Thanks to Stephen Ray for writing a great book titled "Upon this Rock" which also helped point me along in finding these answers that have been around for thousands of years. 

Vincent's quote: M. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Teastament, (grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1887, 1990), 1:96

Lamsa's Quote: George M. Lamsa, Old Testament Light (New York, NY: Harper)

Before The Bible

What is the bible? We, as Christians, read it and quote it and it's easy to just say that it's the Word of God, but we all know that it didn't appear to us as a gift from God in the same manner that the tablets were given to Moses. It's a gift alright, but with much more "meat" to it. 

Wikipedia says: "The bible refers to respective collections of religious writings of Judaism & of Christianity." 

Webster says: a) the sacred scriptures of Christians comprising the Old Testament and the New Testament. b) the sacred scriptures of some other religion (as Judaism).

The definitions make it seem so simple...but early Christianity shows us that it took a great deal of discussion, understanding, knowledge, prayer, and an open heart to the Holy Spirit to compile the book we have in our homes. It also didn't happen over night, hundreds of years of apostolic teaching and tradition went into it.

Bible: The name is derived from the Greek expression biblia (the books). In the Latin of the Middle Ages, the neuter plural for biblia gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun. The singular form of the word passed to western languages..."The Book". In the time of Christ, the Jews had sacred books, which were different from one another in subject, style, & origin. They regarded all of these writings with a character that separated them from all other writings, they have a Divine Authority from God. Their belief was confirmed by Christ and by His apostles. We see this in their teaching and as they used them as a foundation of their doctrine. The books were handed down to the Christian Church as the written record of Divine revelation before the coming of Christ...to give us the Old Testament. These were written mostly in Hebrew, gradually within the nine centuries which preceded the Christian era.

The truths of Christian revelation were given to the apostles either by Jesus Himself or by the Holy Spirit. They constitute what is called the Deposit of Faith. Some of the truths were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and were handed down to us in what is called the New Testament...written originally to individual Churches or people, completed around 100AD. We say some of the truths because we can't limit the understanding of the works and truths of Christ to the pages of a book (John 21:25). St. Augustine says, "We are not to believe that in respect of space the world could not contain them...but that by the capacity of the readers they could not be comprehended."

When? Back to the topic of time of this compilation. The scriptures of the Hebrews were being used by the apostles and being referenced by Christ as we see in the New Testament, but there was no New Testament...it was being written. The Pauline epistles were circulating in collected form by the end of the first century AD. St. Justin Martyr (130-165AD) mentions the "memoirs of the apostles". A four gospel canon was stated by St. Irenaeus (160AD) and there have been writings found, dating to the early 200's, that list "New Testament" books. There was however, some debate over what books were accepted as Divinely written, but most of the major writings were accepted by almost all Christians by the middle of the 2nd century. St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria (328-373AD), gave a list of exactly the same books that would become the New Testament canon...he actually used the word "canonized" (kanonizomena) in speaking of them. Pope Damasus I proclaimed an important New Testament canon in the Roman synod of 374 and he commissioned the Latin Vulgate in 383AD. Needless to say that the New Testament was official by the 4th century. 

Why? "Why" seems to face me alot when it comes to my faith...it always has. As the Church grew, it faced many groups of heretics who tried to use scripture for their own gratification...some out of sheer ignorance and some for greed and power. Either way, the Church had it's hands full with people trying to teach something different than that of Christ and His apostles. What's so important about these early saints who defended our faith? It was these saints that were used by the Holy Spirit in preserving our faith that is alive today. They used the apostolic tradition that had been handed down to them from Peter and the apostles to "etch in stone" the doctrines of our faith. The synods of Bishops and the councils that have taken place throughout history have not created what we believe, but displayed it for those who may try to doubt it. Hence the reason for things like the Nicene Creed...this creed was written in the 4th century not to create a belief, but to confirm it and finalize it. For this reason we still profess this in unity each and every week from the time it was written to now:

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of Being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit He was born of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father. With the Father and the Son He is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Most Christians believe in the Trinity; God the Father, Jesus His Son, & The Holy Spirit and would also state that they are equal in divinity, yet in three persons right? I ask you to find that doctrine in scripture. The doctrine that defines the Trinity as 1 God divided into three persons, yet remaining to be 1 God, with equal divinity. I'll save you some time and trouble...you can't because it's not found in scripture. The Trinity is certainly named in scripture, but the doctrine that we as Christians believe in is not found in the bible. It was given to the apostles through the Holy Spirit by Divine revelation and from the teachings of Jesus...handed down, tested by non-believers, then defined to end argument on what the true Church teaches and taught.

The creed from the late 300's doesn't create the doctrine of our belief in the Holy Trinity, it states it once and for all. It was believed from the time of Christ. We must remember that we are the Church of God with Jesus at the head, and by the power of the Holy Spirit produced scripture that was written through the early Church...not a Church produced from the bible. Paul tells Timothy and the Thessalonians to hold true to the traditions handed down, not only by written letter, but by word of mouth as well and then to find and entrust faithful men to carry on these traditions. (2 Thess. 2:15, 2 Tim. 2:2)

So, history shows that we didn't have a "bible" until 300 or 400 years after Christ's death and resurrection...so what did the early Church do for that time? We see that they wrote letters and gave sermons. We can see from Acts and many other scriptures that they saw the need for structure and maintaining a structure (Acts 1:23), having authority on earth (Matt. 16:19) and exercising it (Acts 5:4). We also see, from Paul, that not everything was written down. 

Who? So who did they teach? Did those faithful men write anything? As I asked this question, I found more answers than I ever thought I would find. If you look throughout Christian history, you'll find writings that teach us so much about the Church after Acts, after the Gospels and how people understood the traditions that were handed to them by written letter and by word of mouth. Read some of the greats like St. Augustine (4th century), St. Ambrose (4th century), St. Athanasius (4th century), St. Ignatius (1st/2nd century)(appointed to Antioch by Peter), St. Polycarp (1st/2nd century)(Apostle of John), St. Irenaeus (2nd century), St. Clement of Rome (4th Pope, some writings indicate he was ordained by Peter), St. Justin Martyr (2nd century), and the list goes on and on. These men wrote against heresy and defended the faith until they died...most were martyred. 

What can we learn from these men? I've found so much information about how they worshipped and you start to see how going to a Catholic Mass is extremely the same, which makes sense, it was designed that way. Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom, told him that what he bound on earth would be bound in heaven and what he loosed on earth would be loosed in heaven. He also told Peter to tend His sheep, Peter did that and then entrusted that responsibility to a faithful man and told him to do the same. Jesus appeared to the disciples, breathed on them the Holy Spirit, and gave them the authority to forgive or retain the sins of the flock (John 20:23). This authority, only made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, was handed down and entrusted to the faithful for the past 2000 years in the Catholic Church. The Church will never contradict scripture and scripture will not contradict the Church. The true word of God is alive in the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that inspired the scriptures, & the same Holy Spirit that inspires the Church. 

You find that the great theologians expound on the things they were taught and give a deeper explanation of our faith. These men were the continuation of the Church that Jesus started, these men were the early Church that gave us what we call a bible, these men were the Church and remember what Paul tells us, "The Church is the Pillar and foundation of truth." 1 Tim. 3:15 

Hail Mary?

 The rosary is uplifting on so many plateaus, but what does it mean to say the rosary and why is it important? I've heard many times, "Yea, that's cool and all, but I can pray on my own thanks.". I myself have not given enough time to pray this wonderful devotion, but I'm seeing that I need to change that. For those of you who might be reading that don't know what the rosary consists of, it's easy to understand and you can go to this site for a detailed outline of the mysteries, etc.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. amen.

Hail Mary:

Where does this well known term come from...I know, you may be thinking that it came from the great Roger Staubach; the Dallas Cowboy's hall of fame quarterback who actually coined the phrase as a type of passing play, but as great as he was he didn't author the term...it stems from something much greater. The angel of God, Gabriel greeted Mary in this way saying, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women." (Luke 1:28) There is so much we can learn from this and Dr. Scott Hahn probably does one of the best jobs of walking us through.  The following contains some writing from Dr. Hahn and what many early Church fathers before him have taught.

 The angel uses a word - variously translated hail or rejoice - that the prophets used to foretell the joy of the people at the Messiah's coming (Joel 2:23-24; Zechariah 9:9). In fact, the angel's announcement seems to be drawn almost word for word from a prophesy of Zephaniah (3:14-18). I'll place the words drawn from Luke in parenthesis and the words that are not are from Zephaniah:

"Shout for joy (Hail), O daughter Zion (favored one)! The King of Israel, the Lord (The Lord) is in your midst (is with you)...Fear not, O Zion (Do not be afraid, Mary)...Your God is in your midst (You will conceive in your womb), a mighty saviour (...Son of the Most High).

The angel tells Mary that her Son will be "Son Of the Most High" and will be given "the throne of David His Father." In fact, the angel's words we hear echoes of God's covenant with David (2 Samuel 7:12-16; Psalm 89:4-5; 27-30). God swore that David's son would be "a son to Me." God also swore that David's son would rule on his throne forever. The angel promises that Mary's Son will be seated on "the throne of David his father...forever." 

It gets deeper, Mary asked how she, as a virgin, will conceive the child promised by the angel. The angel replies: "For nothing will be impossible for God" (Luke 1:37). An angel spoke almost these same words to Abraham's wife, Sarah, when she laughed at the notion that in her old age she would bear the son that God had promised to Abraham (Gen. 18:14). Luke shows us that Mary, too, is being called to bear the son of God's covenant promise. Mary's response to the angel takes up the story of still another barren woman who found favor with God - Hannah the mother of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:11, 19-20). In presenting herself as "the handmaid of the Lord", she recalls the oath of Hannah - who pleaded with God for a son, vowing to consecrate him to the Lord. Three times Hannah described herself as the Lord's "handmaid" (1 Samuel 1:11, 16, 18). 

The historical events, and the manner in which these events are written about, communicate far more than factual info. They reveal the existence of a plan of salvation that God is working out in human history. The reason for the careful use of quotes and allusions to Israel's past is to reveal that unity between the Old and New Testaments - to show what happens to Mary is a continuation and culmination of what has gone before. This is how Jesus taught his apostles to read the Old Testament. He referred to Jonah (Matt 12:39-41), Solomon (Matt 12:42), the temple (John 2:19), and the brazen serpent (John 3:14) as types or signs that prefigured Him. On the first Easter night He said that, "Everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled." (Luke 24:44-45).

In the writings of the prophets and psalmists, often we find typological readings of earlier events, deployed to prepare Israel for it's coming savior. Isaiah spoke of a new creation (Isaiah 65:17) and a new exodus (11:10, 15-16; 43:16-22; 51:9-11). He and others, Ezekiel and Jeremiah, spoke of the coming of a new Davidic sheperd-king and the restoration of the kingdom (Isaiah 9:1-7; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Ezekiel 16:59-63; 34:24-30; 37:23-28). Jesus was the new Adam, the first born of a new creation (Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 45-49). His Cross and Resurrection mark a new exodus (Luke 9:31; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4). His Church is the new Jerusalem and the new kingdom of David (Galatians 4:26; Acts 1:6-9; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6).

The second part of this prayer, "...and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." is taken from Luke's gospel as well. (Luke 1:42). This entire situation is interesting to me because of how Mary's own family reacts to her visit. "And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy." 

This was a cousin of Mary's...I don't know if I've ever been greeted at any family member's house in this way. As if it were an honor for me to grace them with my visit. The great part about it is the fact that this is not Elizabeth's feeling, this is the Holy Spirit at work here. It was the sound of Mary's voice that caused the infant to leap for joy...and notice the separation that is spoken, "Blessed art thou among women AND blessed is the fruit of thy womb (Jesus)..."

So to speak the words that Mary is Blessed is to speak as the Holy Spirit spoke through Elizabeth in scripture but, the cool thing is how Mary responded to Elizabeth's words, immediately directing us to how great God is. (Similar to how she directed the people at the wedding in Cana, to follow the instructions that her son gives them.) Mary, in Luke, tells us that from that moment forward all nations will call her blessed. Jesus gives His mother to John at the foot of the cross and gives "the one whom he loved" to His mother. John was to honor her as if she were his mother and she was to treat John as if he were her son. 

There are also many early Church fathers who write with a great honor of Mary...which only makes sense. If we are to look at Christ as our brother (John 20:17), look to his disciples for teaching (2 Thess. 2:15, 2 Tim. 2:2), treat the scriptures as the Word of God, and use the Church as the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim. 3:15) then shouldn't we have a great honor for Jesus' mother just as it shows in all of the above. 

To say "Hail Mary" has much more meaning and roots than ever imagined by me.

Seeking...

Today I've been really drawn to reflect on the rosary...what do these prayers repeated actually do or achieve for us? Why the repetition? Why the beads? I've found that in order to answer questions concerning our faith, it is never just a quick answer that satisfies my spirit. As I start to answer one question, it leads me to many more. Since my conversion to the Catholic Faith I've found so much deep rooted history about our Christian faith...it's mind boggling really, some great history and some bad, but boggling still the same.

As a child I often wondered about the gap of space between the "end" of the Bible and life as we know it today. As I grew older I, like most young teens, stopped concerning myself with my faith and started to concern myself with "my life". The cool thing about God is that He is always there and when you get enough humility to listen to Him, good things happen. My good thing happened...I started to seek truth, truth on God's terms and not my own.

That's the problem with us, we want God to come to us and change for us and make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside 100% of the time. God doesn't change for us, we are to change for God and come to Him on His terms and that's what I did. I learned that my terms only led me to confusion and no confidence in what I was supposed to believe in. I guess a good comparison would be to go with the old saying that, an apple is still an apple no matter how you slice it...truth is truth. Paul says in his first letter to Timothy that the pillar and foundation of truth is the Church. (1 Timothy 3:15)

I found truth and I continue to pursue it in the deep rooted history that has been laid out before us. using both holy scripture and apostolic tradition, through which the Holy Spirit works through today.

This blog is me seeking truth and taking the truth that I find and writing it down...or typing it down. In my next post, I'm going to type out the answers to some questions I've had today and some interesting things I find along the way.