"From this it is that countless evils have arisen - from ignorance of the Scriptures; from this it is that the plague of heresies has broken out; from this it is that there are negligent lives; from this there are labors without advantage. For as men deprived of this daylight would not walk aright, so they that look not to the gleaming of the Holy Scriptures must be frequently and constantly sinning, in that they are walking in the worst darkness." (Intro. Hom. On Romans) - St. John Chrysostom
Truly said- O Golden Mouth~
ReplyDeletePsalm 119:105 -
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
We Christians live in the darkness of the world, yet so often stumble through it all like a blind man with a spotlight in his possession.
Why won't more folks OPEN God's Word??? Even better- attempt to "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them that... we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord." (?!)
Without truly making full use of one of the greatest material gifts that God has left to guide us- namely Holy Scriptures printed in our own tongue; too many wander in the dimness of "pop - Christianity" - feel good books promoted by profit seeking publishing houses.
So hear God's Word... Eph. 5 :14ff
"Therefore He says:
"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light." See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil."
What better time can be spent on earth- than basking in the light of God's Word and Sacrament?
Pax~
One of many brilliant insights in Chesterton's Everlasting Man (which I finished last night) is that the Church's anathemas are important in several ways:
ReplyDelete1. They identify what the Church is not.
2. They say, "No, the Scriptures do not say that."
3. They keep define what the Church is (not Arian, not Gnostic, etc.).
4. They maintain the church's vitality over and against the rather boring nature of the heresies that are condemned. On this point, Chesterton says that though many heretics try to argue that "God is Love," they ultimately are condemned because they don't actually believe it. Gnostics, Arians, and Mohammedans all simplify God into a monad that does not have love in its nature.
He didn't talk much about Scripture. If he would have, it would have unified his argument nicely.