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Lent Day 22: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 11-20

...at, since Jesus had already said that “the kingdom of heaven is within you” (Luke 17:21), so we “have no need to depart from home for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, nor to cross the sea for the sake of virtue”. His encouragement here, I think, is that no matter where we are, and whatever capacity we have (or don’t have), we have no excuse nor reason to not do the work of the Kingdom which Jesus has assigned us all to do in the Great Commission. Reading this now reminds me of my favourite Scripture, which I’ll end today’s post with: Acts 20:24 But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry...

Lent Day 23: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 21-30

...ipture to Jesus in the desert, and the demoniacs declared Jesus to be the Son of God), pay no heed since they do not do this to aid our discipline of righteousness, but rather to tire us out and lead us to abandon the principles of the faith out of despair and from feeling burdened. For the demons do all things --they prate, they confuse, they dissemble, they confound--to deceive the simple. They din, laugh madly, and whistle; but if no heed is paid to them forthwith they weep and lament as though vanquished. Though they may attack us with temptations and evil, ungodly thoughts, like fiery darts flung at our minds, we must remember that “the one who is i...

Lent Day 24: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 31-40

...Just as Jesus rebuked the devil (Matt 4:10), so we can also though the power of the Spirit within us. But in doing so, we must remember to not lift up those who cast out demons, or those who heal, as worthy of anything more than those who do not do these things. This should not be a point of pride for us which could make us stumble, “for the working of signs is not ours but the Saviour's work”; so we should keep in mind what Jesus said to his disciples on this matter: Luke 10:20Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Those who boasted in their works rather than in Chri...

Lent Day 26: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 51-60

...s of when Jesus healed the woman who had been bleeding for many years, they took her to the monk seeking prayer for healing too. On arriving at the place where the monks were staying, some of Anthony’s companions went to find him and tell him about the girl, but on coming to him, he already knew about her and her condition. He told them to go back to the girl and they will find her healed, since “the accomplishment of this is not mine, that she should come to me, wretched man that I am, but her healing is the work of the Saviour”. Anthony always made sure to place the glory where it belonged and never to take any credit for himself in these things. At ano...

Francis Chan turns towards a more historical and ancient view of Communion

...nderstood Jesus’ words and the interpretation of Scripture in a fairly singular and unified way for nearly two millennia, then who was I to come along and say my understanding exceeds the wisdom of everyone before me? It was actually one of the earliest texts, from a second century bishop called Ignatius, that really tipped me over the edge from a “memorialist” view (that the bread and wine are purely symbolic, nothing more), to a sacramental view (that the bread and wine are a means of grace that God uses). Ignatius was writing against a heretical group who were teaching a false doctrine about Jesus not really coming in the flesh, and uses communion as a...

Did a Roman Catholic priest perform 'invalid' baptisms for years?

...I” of Jesus Christ, working through the priest. I agree with the principle on a theological level, and in some ways, seeing ordination as a sort-of “human sacrament” to the community etc., but I don’t believe that Jesus is not going to impart the Holy Spirit and his grace to the one being baptised just because the priest said the wrong words. This is not magic that needs the correct spell to be cast in order to make it effective. The faith and intent of all involved should suffice as far as this part is concerned. A few caveats though, as I don’t want my words to be misconstrued. There are correct words that need to be said for baptism to be valid o...