Tuesday Bible Study (3/31/20)

The Question of Islam

Scriptural Bearings

Matthew 5:44 - But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. 

2 Peter 2:1-3 - But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.  And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.  And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

1 Peter 4:12-14 - Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 

>>Summary: Jesus Himself tells his disciples that hard times will come to them, but that they must love, forgive, and even pray for their enemies. Remember that since Abel, the son of the first man, the righteous have suffered and died. In the centuries and centuries of Islamic rule, many Christians in the Orthodox, Oriental, and Syriac Christian groups would suffer discrimination, persecution, and martyrdom. It's important to note at this point, that by the 7th century, different Christian churches (and traditions) had emerged in the world. In the West, there is the more monolithic Latin or Roman Catholic Church. In the East there is Orthodoxy, the state religion of the Byzantine Empire, which holds to all of the ecumenical councils. There are then two groups that split off from Orthodoxy beginning in the early 5th century: the Oriental Orthodox and the Nestorian, also called the 'Church of the East.' The Oriental Orthodox church was formed after the fall-out from disagreement and political wrangling after the Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.). These Christians, primarily in areas like Armenia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Ethiopia, were (and are, there are around 70 million in the world today) miaphysites, that is, adherents to a kind of Cyrillian understanding of the one, unified nature of Jesus that is simultaneously fully divine and fully human. The Church of the East, which spread from Persia all the way to Mongolia, China, and India, were primarily Nestorian, rejecting the Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.) and accepting as dogma the belief that Christ's two natures were distinct and separate. This is an oversimplification, as modern-day views in the Church of the East (which has about 1.5 million members worldwide) hold Christological views which don't necessarily accept Nestorius and all of his teachings. Note that in what follows, I heavily rely on Derek Cooper's book Twenty Questions that Shaped World Christian History (Fortress). 

Overview 

Around the year 570 a person was born who would change the world forever. This man was Muhammad, who would soon take political control of Arabia. Immediately after his death his followers launched a conquest of vast swaths of the Middle East, Africa, and India - areas with large Christian populations and deeply-rooted Christian culture. 

The Church of the East - a branch of Christianity with a geographical reach from Syria to China - lost leaders, churches, and monasteries to the new Muslim powers which quickly overran the Byzantine and Persian Empires. The speed of it all was stunning. As scholar Judith Herrin puts it, "In a single decade, the Arabs had occupied Syria, Palestine, and the richest province of Egypt, including the Christian Holy Places of Jerusalem and Bethlehem." 

Arabs under Umar, the leader of the Rashidun Caliphate, captured Jerusalem in 634 and built a wooden mosque atop the temple mount. This later was replaced by the very famous Dome of the Rock, modeled after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and directly opposing the Christian dogma of the Trinity and the Sonship of Christ by its gilded writing on the exterior which reads, "There is no god but Allah alone. [He] did not beget." 

Muslim armies quickly and easily captured the major Christian center of Antioch, and in 640 they captured the most important city in Syriac Christendom: Edessa (modern-day Homs, Iraq). Two years later the central city in Armenian Christianity was captured, and in 645, the important Eastern Christian city of Ctesiphon fell. During this time, Christians had to pay a special tax called a jizyah. Often those who did not want to pay it were imprisoned and persecuted, or, they were convinced that conversion to Islam was the right course of action. 

As the new way of life unfolded, Christian monks, priests, and leaders felt the need to write sermons and books that made sense of such an unthinkable situation. 

Some writers, such as Anastios of Sinai and John of Damascus, read the Koran and knew personally many Muslim scholars and leaders. John gave a well-researched and organized response to Islam in several books. Others were misinformed about Islamic beliefs and wrote or spoke off-hand, condemnatory remarks that have survived history. Muslims were often called "Ishmaelites," as the Arabians were believed to be descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abram through Hagar, the servant girl. Every major Christian writer and leader considered Muhammad to be a false prophet and Muslims to be heretics, not members of a different "religion."  

Timeline

622 A.D. - Muhammad and his followers travel to Medina and establish an Islamic State

630 A.D. - Muhammad enters Mecca and its citizens accept Islam

633 A.D. - Muhammad dies - his friend Abu Bakr, becomes the first caliph. Others (Shia Muslims) believed Muhammad's cousin, Ali ibn Abi Talib, was the first rightful caliph.

634 A.D. - Caliphs invade Syria and Palestine, conquering much of the Levant

639-642 A.D. - Muslim armies conquer Egypt

645 A.D. - Seleucia-Ctesiphon - one of the most important cities for the Church of the East (picture below) - falls to invaders

647 - 742 A.D. - Muslim conquest of the Maghreb - North Africa

711-714 - Under Muhammad bin Qasim, Muslim conquest of Indian subontinent begins

711 - 721 - Invasion of Hispania (Spain) and Gaul (France) by Ummayad Caliphate

1864 photograph of Taq Kasra in Ctesiphon

Key Personages

Muhammad (c. 570 - 632 A.D.): Arab religious leader and founder of Islam (meaning "submission"), a monotheistic religion. At age 40 he claimed to have been visited by the archangel Gabriel in a cave where he was living in seclusion. Rapidly gathering followers, Muhammad claimed also to have been given the Quran by the angel.  By the time of his death, almost the entire Arabian peninsula had converted to Islam. 

Sophronius of Jerusalem (c. 560 - 638): The head bishop of Jerusalem from 634 until his death. An Orthodox Chalcedonian, Sophronius opposed Monoergism during his lifetime - the teaching that Christ had one energy (in Greek, ἐνέργειᾰ - enérgeia), that is, one active principle or operation. Sophronius was in Jerusalem as it was besieged by Arab forces under Abu Ubaidah. After four months, the Byzantines surrendered. Sophronius signed the the Umariyya Covenant which surrendered the city and gave civil and religious liberty to Christians in exchange for tribute money. 

Hnanisho I (died 698 A.D.): The catholicos (head patriarch) of the Church of the East between 686 and 698. In response to a question from the fifth Caliph Abd al-Malik, the bishop famously said, "[Islam] is a kingdom founded by the sword; and not, like the Christian faith and the old faith of Moses, a faith that is confirmed by divine miracles." The caliph ordered his tongue cut out, but some friends interceded for him. Deposed by an illegitimate usurper, Hnanisho was later thrown off a cliff to die, but he survived. After being nursed back to health he reclaimed his patriarchate. 

Pseudo-Methodius (late 7th c. A.D.): a Syriac Christian writer posing as St Methodius (died 311) who wrote an apocalyptic document (known as the "Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius") which influenced eschatological thinking in the following centuries.  In it, Muslims are called "Sons of Ishmael," and the writer notes, "It was not because God loves them that he allowed them to enter the kingdom of the Christians, but because of the wickedness and sin which is performed at the hands of the Christians, the like of which has not been performed in any of the former generations." 

John of Damascus (c. 675 - 749 A.D.): Priest and monk honored as saint and "Doctor of the Church," also regarded as the "last of the Church Fathers." Growing up in Damascus, John lived his adult life in a monastery in Palestine, writing theological and liturgical works. In his important work The Found of Knowledge, John gives a severe critique of Islam. About Muhammad he writes, "There are many other extraordinary and quite ridiculous things in this book which he boasts was sent down to him from God. But when we ask: ‘And who is there to testify that God gave him the book? And which of the prophets foretold that such a prophet would rise up?’—they are at a loss."

Icon of St John of Damascus. Often considered the "last of the Church Fathers,"
John is an important bridge between ancient and medieval thought, as well as
an interesting, early interpreter of Islam.

Quotes

Jacob: "What can you tell me about the prophet?  Jewish Teacher: "He is false, for the prophets do not come armed with a sword." - The Teaching of Jacob

"The godless Saracens entered the holy city of Christ our Lord, Jerusalem, with the permission of God and in punishment for our negligence." - John Moschus, monk and writer

"But the present circumstances are forcing me to think differently about our way of life, for why are wars being fought among us? Why do barbarian raids abound? Why are the troops of the Saracens attacking us?  ... Why are the birds of the sky devouring human bodies? Why have churches been pulled down? Why is the cross mocked? Why is Christ, who is the dispenser of all good things and the provider of this joyousness of ours, blasphemed by pagan mouths so that he justly cries out to us: 'Because of you my name is blasphemed among the pagans.' ... That is why the vengeful and God-hating Saracens, the abomination of desolation clearly foretold to us by the prophets, overrun the places which are not allowed to them, plunder cities, devastate fields, burn down villages, set on fire the holy churches, and overturn the sacred monasteries. ... Moreover, they are raised up more and more against us and increase their blasphemy of Christ and the church, and utter wicked blasphemies against God.  These God-fighters boast of prevailing over all, assiduously and unrestrainably imitating their leaders, who is the devil, and emulating his vanity because of which he has been expelled from heaven and been assigned to the gloomy shades." - Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem

"Civilization is now itself being ravaged by wild and untamed beasts whose form alone is human." - Maximus the Confessor

> Other Christian leaders, especially those in the far Eastern churches who had experienced horrible persecution under Persian rule beginning in 226 A.D. with the Sassanians coming to power, experienced Muslims as more benevolent rulers. 

"As for the Arabs, to whom God has at this time given rule over the world, you know well how they act towards us. Not only do they not oppose Christianity but they praise our faith, honour the priests and saints of our Lord, and give aid to the churches and monasteries." - Ishoyahb III

The Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia, seat of the catholicos of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. 

Result

To this very day there is tension, confusion, and misinformation among Christians regarding Muslims, and among Muslims regarding Christians. Though Muslims are no longer considered to be "heretics," but rather, members of an entirely new religion founded by Muhammad, many Christians today consider Islam to be an off-shoot of Eastern forms of Christianity, even showing similarities in theological, social, and sexual views. 

When we get to the First Crusade in 1095, and subsequent wars and conflicts with peoples and nations following Muhammad and the Koran, we run into more trouble and confusion, with atrocities committed by men in the name of the Church and Christ and men in the name of Allah and Muhammad.  The fall of Constantinople to Muslim forces in 1453 was a huge blow to Eastern Christendom and marked the final end of Byzantium. 

There are still today pesky questions today about the relation of the West (which is arguably formed by Christian culture but is no longer "Christian") to the Islamic world. Are we still living in the shadow of the Crusades? Is terrorism such as that practiced by Al-Qaeda and ISIS espoused in the original Islamic documents? Who is Allah in relation to the triune God that Christians proclaim? 

There are doubtlessly many other questions, but this study is to be an introduction to the early challenges Christians in the East faced when Muslims began their wars of conquest. As we can see today, the last 1400 years have seen the steady destruction of Orthodox churches, monasteries, and monuments in places like Iraq, Iran, and N. Africa. Early forms of Christianity in China virtually disappeared in the Middle Ages due to persecution. Early Nestorian Christianity in China is a misunderstood thing today, with lots that scholars simply don't know. As Christian populations in those places have steadily declined, many have emigrated to American cities and planted new congregations. 

This important stele (stone slab) from 781 describes
the mission of Nestorian Christians in China.

A   HOME   BIBLE   STUDY  ~  PSALM 30

 A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David.

● This is usually classified as an individual psalm of praise or thanksgiving for deliverance. 
● It was used at the rededication of the temple in 164 B.C. after Judas Maccabeus defeated Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who had profaned the temple... but was written by David long before that.

1 I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
2 O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.
3 O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit. 

● “exalt” =  means to raise or lift up...to praise 
● “lifted me” = means to draw up or lift up, and was used, among other things, for drawing water from a well 
● Here we have the psalmist responding to being lifted up from a bad situation by lifting up the Lord’s name in praise.
● As well, he rejoices in the fact that he did not have to suffer the humiliation of taunting and mockery from his enemies.
● “healed” = means to heal or to restore to health ... here it could mean a restoration to his proper place after the defeat of his enemies.
● “grave” = Sheol ... the place of the dead
● “pit” = a well or cistern ... here a parallel to “grave” in the first half of the verse
● Here the psalmist expresses thanks and praise that the LORD kept him alive so that he might not be abandoned to the pit––the place of death––the dreadful end.

● Can you think of specific examples in your life where you called out to the LORD...and He delivered you?
● How has God spared us from having to have a “dreadful end”?

4 Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

● “saints” = means kind, merciful, or pious...so here those whose lives display their faith in the LORD and whose actions are shaped by the LORD’s laws... “holy ones”
● “holy” = means sacred––something consecrated for a Godly purpose
● “name” = means remember or remembrance, so this verse would be best translated, “his holy remembrance”––but most translations say “his holy name.” When people remember the things that God has done, they remember His name.
● “anger” = means nostril (like our idea of “flaring nostrils”) ... God’s righteous indignation at sin
● But the psalmist says that God’s anger is but for a moment...but His love and delight are forever.
● weeping or sorrow or fear might trouble us by night, but they evaporate with the rising of the sun
● God might permit us to suffer for a time, but will also bring us relief.

● How did you become one of God’s saints... His holy ones?
● How do you praise/remember God’s name in your day-to-day life?
● Is God’s anger justified? Why or why not?
● Is God’s favor justified? Why or why not?
● Over what things do you find yourself weeping? How can God work rejoicing in them?

6 When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken."
7 O LORD, when you favored me,  you made my mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. 

● In the next several verses, we see the progression in the psalmist’s life ... when he was successful, when he faced adversity, his despair over his situation and his cries for mercy.
● “never be shaken” - things were good...really good and the psalmist thought it would never end.
● The psalmist is remembering a time of prosperity when he thought the good times would never end... totally unprepared for what was to come.
● The psalmist finds himself realizing that all his success and security was a gift from God.
● “hid your face” = means that God distanced himself from the psalmist.  God’s help was nowhere to be found.  The psalmist found himself standing alone.
● “dismayed” = means terrified...the kind of terror that we experience when the ground is suddenly cut out from beneath you.

● How do we often find ourselves living with a false sense of security?
● Who do we often credit for our success?
● Who do we often blame in our times of adversity?
● What security in your life can you give thanks to God for?
● Where did God ultimately hide His face so that you would not need to be “dismayed”?

8 To you, O LORD, I called; to the LORD I cried for mercy:
9 "What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit?
Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help." 

● “mercy” = means to be gracious
● The psalmist is pleading with God to be gracious or to show him mercy––to lift him from the depths to which he has fallen and to restore him to the prosperous place that he once enjoyed.
● In desperation, the psalmist asks God what good could possibly come from his death. Can his decayed body (dust) give Him praise or declare the good things that God has done?
● The psalmist stops trying to persuade God that He has something to gain by helping the psalmist.  Instead, he throws himself on the mercy of the court.

● Have there been times when it seems that your prayers to God for deliverance have gone unanswered?
● What kind of bargains have you tried with God to get what you want?
● Does God need YOUR praise?
● Why, ultimately, must we recognize that God must deal with us purely and simply by his mercy?
● How does God show us His mercy?

11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. 

● Good news! God heard the psalmist and delivered him by the mercy for which he pleaded!
● “sackcloth” = a rough material made from the hair of goats or camels.  It is the kind of cloth that a person would use for heavy-duty sacks (hence its name) or tents, but its coarse texture is uncomfortable when worn against the skin, making it unsuitable for clothing. 
● People would wear it as a sign of grief or repentance.
● But those rough clothes have been replaced with festival garments for rejoicing!!
● In verse 9, the psalmist implied that if he were allowed to live he would praise God and declare His truth.  Now that Yahweh has saved him, the psalmist intends to sing God’s praises and thank Him––forever.

● What was a time when God did a major reversal in your life – turning your sorrow into joy?
● What kind of response did you have at your good fortune?
● How do you think the disciples would have viewed verse 11 on Easter Sunday?
● How do you find yourself being unable to be silent about God’s goodness to you?
● In what ways can we give thanks to God for all that He has done for us?

In this difficult and challenging time, it can seem that God has changed our privileged and stable lives into ones of pure chaos and uncertainty.  What will our response be? Can we claim that we are undeserving of any of the calamity in which we find ourselves? Can we demand God give us something better? Maybe we can try and bribe Him with our promises of faithfulness and service if He will deliver us. The only thing we can do is repent and cry out for His undeserved mercy.

Thankfully, God has already heard our pleas for mercy...and He has acted. In Jesus Christ, He has delivered us from the consequences of our sins and disobedience and He has taken our punishment upon Himself. In return, He dresses us in the blessings of forgiveness, life and salvation won by our Savior on the cross.  In Word and Sacrament, He freely gives us these gifts and promises us that nothing can ever separate us from His unending love.  May we always thank and praise, serve and obey Him for all He has done for us!

(Thanks to SermonWriter.com for help with the notes on these verses.)

Midweek Lent 5 - Sermon on Isaiah 53:1-3

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Tonight, I’d like to introduce you to someone. He was a writer and preacher from the 16th century, and he left an amazing legacy to the Church: no, he’s not Martin Luther, he’s Ignatius of Loyola.

Ignatius was a dashing Spanish soldier with a brilliant career ahead of him, but then he fought in a momentous battle in 1521. During the battle, a cannonball ricocheted off a wall and shattered his leg.  Ignatius was almost killed and he was left with very little hope of survival.

Left convalescing in his father’s castle, he figured that all of his dreams of fame and fortune were forever gone.

Desiring for some way to pass the time, Ignatius figured he would read about the exploits of brave knights and dashing cavaliers - anything that would be cathartic and pleasurable. But all that was available to read was a book on the life of Jesus and a book on the lives of the saints.

As Ignatius read these books, he slowly noticed changes in his heart and mind.  His imagination was “baptized” as he entered into the stories. He imagined he was in Galilee, walking next to Jesus. He imagined he was at the foot of the Cross, holding hands with the Lord’s mother. Day after day Ignatius read the life of Jesus and the lives of the saints. And day after day in his heart and mind he was fasting, praying, proclaiming, and worshiping with his own Lord and these men and women from the past.

It was here, in a kind of hospital room, lying in his bed, that Ignatius converted. As soon as he was well enough to manage a limp, he left his father’s castle to live a new life to the new Leader of his life.

And his life was far from being bleak or boring; Ignatius soon sojourned to part of Spain to live as a cave-dwelling hermit for a time, he made a barefoot pilgrimage to the Holy Land and lived there for a month, and he marched into the pope’s presence in Rome to establish a new religious order called the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, which exists to this day.

Ignatius wrote a lot on the Christian life, but probably his greatest insight for the worldwide Church was that the thoughts and images that flood the heart every day fall into two categories: desolation and consolation. In desolation, Satan and our sinful flesh tempt us, depress us, and mislead us. In consolation, the Holy Spirit and our sanctified conscience works through Word and Image to save, guide, and comfort.  In all of his writings, there is this recurring invitation to believers to pay attention to their thoughts, imaginations, and feelings - to pay attention, because either the Devil or the Spirit is stirring our heart.

You can learn more about this in an important manual Ignatius wrote called “Spiritual Exercises.” These are exactly what they sound like, a Christian training program to deepen one’s spiritual life and to draw one closer to God.

A central part of the spiritual exercises is the practice Ignatius calls “contemplation,” it’s a slow, attentive way to receive into heart, mind, and imagination the stories, people, and images of Holy Scripture.  It is essentially a way to recognize and welcome the consolations that the Spirit brings to us through Word and story.

Always the ambitious one, Ignatius planned an entire regimen of biblical contemplation, beginning with Adam and Eve, and proceeding through the Ascension of our Lord. When he gets to the Gospels’ narrative on the suffering and death of Jesus, he asks his readers to linger for a long time. In his book on spiritual exercises he outlines what you can do each day to become fully immersed in God’s story.

Tonight, I want you to take some guidance from Ignatius and linger in the stories and images of Jesus. Contemplate them. Receive them with a heart that longs to know God better and love him more deeply.

Tonight before you is the gift of the prophet Isaiah - his fourth Servant Song.

"Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 

He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. 

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. 

Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem."

Tonight I don’t have a pep talk. I don’t have Lutheran talking points. I don’t have a heart warming story.  I don’t have a solution to the Coronavirus. During this pandemic which is getting crazier by the day, I can’t give you an answer to your WHY questions.  I can’t give you anything to change the past.  I can’t give you any fix.

I can only give to you the pure, holy, limitless Word of God - the Word which never returns empty, which never fails, which never misleads, and which always transforms us.

So tonight, I invite you to contemplate this Man - the Suffering Servant. Welcome the feelings that come to you. Feelings of pity and love, of worship and thanksgiving. 
Encourage your heart to pay attention to the details of his story, and ask yourself, “What is God bringing to me tonight?  Where in my life does God seek transformation?  How else is He guiding me?”

Ask yourself these questions and any others as we follow our Suffering Servant through the Scriptures.

The Psalmist - “All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 'He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.’”

And again, “Malicious witnesses rise up; They ask me of things that I do not know.”

Isaiah - “I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.”

Zechariah - “[W]hen they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”

Matthew - “They spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, ‘Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?’”

Mark -  “Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, "Prophesy!" And the guards took him and beat him.”

Luke -  “Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him.”

To John -  “When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, ‘Crucify him, crucify him!”

Paul - “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Peter - “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

This is quite a picture of the King of Kings, isn’t it? How mysterious God is, that He should save us through this sufferer - this broken, crucified God-Man - this Messiah who comes to us as someone with no beauty or majesty, but only deformity.

His deformity and death gives to us beauty and life.

Saint Augustine meditates on this paradox and writes, “It is Christ’s deformity that gives form to you. For if he had been unwilling to be deformed, you would never have gotten back the form you lost.  So he hung on the cross deformed; but his deformity is our beauty. Therefore in this life let us hold fast to the deformed Christ. What do I mean by the deformed Christ? Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. That is the deformity of Christ. Have I ever spoken to you about anything except that way? This is the way to believe in the crucifix. We carry the sign of this deformity on the forehead.”

God stooped this low to restore us, to recover His Image in each of us. God took on our human flesh - divinity was joined to humanity - in order to repair our humanity and raise us up to God.  The Word became flesh and the Word died on the cross. One of the Trinity suffered for us. This is something so unthinkable and so ugly, but it has become for us something so beautiful. Carry the cross not only on your foreheads, but in your hearts, and lives, and homes. Carry it especially now, in these uncertain days.  Amen.

A contemporary watercolor of Ignatius of Loyola, from
www.ignatianspirituality.com

Tuesday Bible Study (3/24/20)

The Question of Christ's Hypostasis (Person)

God's peace. 

Because of the Coronavirus situation, we are continuing our Immanuel Tuesday morning Bible study via the internet. This post will be the most substantial portion of our study on the Second Council of Constantinople, and a video on our YouTube channel (Immanuel Fairmont), will supplement it. If you can, follow this blog post like our class handout as I teach in the video.  Or, watch the video first, and then read through the handout as review. 

Last week we were introduced to St Benedict of Nursia and his influence on Western Christianity and culture. Today, we're picking up with the fifth ecumenical council - the Second Council of Constantinople (553 A.D.). In this I am heavily indebted to the study by Leo Donald Davis (1983). 

"Second Ecumenical Council" painted by Russian realist Vasily Surikov (1848-1916)

Scriptural Starting Places

Matthew 16:16 - "Simon Peter replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'"

John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 17:5 - "And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed."

Hebrews 1:3 - "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high"

Hebrews 2:14 - "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil"

>>> Comments: The New Testament writers were not waging the same battles that theologians and emperors would fight in later centuries. The Gospels are clear that the Word (Logos) became flesh. Precisely how the Word and flesh simultaneously co-existed within the God-Man was not a debate during the first century. We might say, that for these writers, the focus was instead on the why of the Incarnation. Most of the key theologians of the 6th century were in agreement on topics such as the sacraments, tradition, and Holy Scripture. Widespread, schismatic debates on these wouldn't occur until Reformation times.  Where these theologians differed was the issue of how Christ's humanity and divinity related to each other, and how human Jesus was - that is, whether he experienced ignorance and corruptibility. There were many ways to answer the question of Christ's nature(s) and the major figures during these times were not always willing to compromise or even meet face to face. This gave rise to schism and heresy, excommunication and banishment. 

Definitions

- φύσις (physis): “nature, property, form”

- persona (Latin): “mask, character”

- πρόσωπον (prósōpon): “face, visage, mask, appearance, person”


- ὑπόστασις (hupóstasis): “sediment, foundation, existence, essence”

From Wiktionary: Hypostasis = "The essential person, specifically the single person of Christ (as distinguished from his two ‘natures’, human and divine), or of the three ‘persons’ of the Trinity (sharing a single ‘essence’)


-  Θεοτόκος (Theotokos) = “God bearer”

>>> Comments: Definitions are important. It is common for Christians today to talk of "the three Persons of the Trinity" without knowing at all where that vocabulary comes from. It comes from these Christological debates raging in the 5th and 6th centuries. The confusion is how these terms were being used. Cyril of Alexandria used the word nature (physis) when he was actually referring to the person (hypostasis) of Christ Jesus. Monophysites latched onto this and noted that Christ can't have two natures because that would make two Christs - two separate beings. It would take more arguing and theological work to fine-tune the language. Others were so vigilant in denouncing Nestorius that they fell into Eutychianism, while others settled for the language of "enfleshment" to describe how the Word became flesh and can be said to have been "born, suffered, and died" despite being perfect, impassable God. 


The Issue

Since the Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.) new Christological positions have popped up and new heresies uncovered. It will be remembered that at Chalcedon the bishops rejected the position of Eutyches, an aged abbot operating near Constantinople. He had been teaching that out of Christ's two natures, a new nature emerged.  He adopted this view to be radically opposed to Nestorius, and to emphasize that Christ was not two separate beings (or natures), but one.  In this, Eutyches fell into error himself and argued for something that had not previously existed in the writings of the fathers. 

Eutyches essentially proposed a kind of mingling or confusion of the human and divine in Jesus, where Nestorius proposed two separate natures. Eutyches emphasized the mingling where Nestorius emphasized the separation. Neither was the Orthodox position. 

In the century after this Fourth Ecumenical Council, battles raged across the East on the matter of Christ's nature(s). Monophysites, often close to the thought of Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376 - 444), argued that Chalcedon's definition of two natures in one hypostasis came too close to Nestorius and seemed to create two separate beings. 

To confuse the matter, in 484 Felix of Rome excommunicated Acacius of Constantinople and Acacius excommunicated Felix. The problem was due to Acacius' installation of questionable bishops and his imprisonment of papal legates in Constantinople.  This "schism" lasted until 518; it was yet another marker of bad things to come between Latin West and Orthodox East. 

The events between Chalcedon in 451 and Constantinople II in 553 are extremely complicated. Essentially the problems brewing at this time revolve around ecclesiastical authority and Christology. Constantinople as the "New Rome" was seeking to exert its political and ecclesiastical influence through the emperor and patriarch, and the various groups and sects in the East were arguing over the nature(s) of Christ. 

During this time the "Theopaschite Formula" was a mark of Chalcedonian orthodoxy: "One of the Trinity suffered and died for us." 

Heretics

"The Three Chapters:" a collection of letters and writings from three deceased theologians: Theodore of Mopsuestia (c. 350 - 428), Theodoret of Cyrus (c. 393 - 458), and Ibas of Edessa (d. 457). These writings were extremely controversial and contained the kernels of Nestorian (or perceived Nestorian) teachings. Justinian I anathematized Theodore and the writings of Theodoret and Ibas. Anathematizing the Three Chapters became a mark of pro-Chalcedonian orthodoxy during this time. The problem is that Chalcedon had restored Theodoret and Ibas into communion with the Church, and Theodore died in communion with the Church, being considered orthodox at the time.

Monophysites (μόνος monos, "single" and φύσις physis, "nature"): the large group of bishops, writers, pastors, and laypeople that emerged after the 451 Council of Chalcedon. Rejecting Leo's Tome, they affirmed that Christ had a single, divine nature which had become human. 

Aphthartodocetists (aka "Phantasiasts," aka "Julianists") (original name in Greek, Ἀφθαρτοδοκῆται, from ἄφθαρτος, aphthartos, "incorruptible" and δοκεῖν, dokein, "to seem"): stemming from Bishop Julian of Halicarnassus, this group believed that Christ was impassable, His flesh incorruptible. His body was not susceptible to natural laws, but in His love, He willed his own death for the sake of mankind. The Julianists were especially active in Lower Egypt. They clashed with the Severians (Monophysites who believed Christ's flesh was corruptible). 

Agnoetes: a group of Severus's followers who strongly opposed the Julianists and concluded that Christ was as ignorant as other men. 

Halacephalites: people who believed that by hanging head down for a number of hours for twenty days, one could become impassable and purified of evil.

Origenists: a very broad label for Christians during this time who were in some way influenced by or committed to Origen of Alexandria's (c. 184 - 253) Neoplatonic teachings. Origenism was condemned sometime before, during, or after the council. Essentially, the tenets that were deemed heretical involved the preexistence of souls and the possibility of demons regaining perfection. It is questionable how much of the real Origen is actually behind these 6th century Neoplatonic ideas. 

Mosaic of Justinian I at San Vitale, Ravenna. Justinian brutally
suppressed Monophysite groups during his reign. 

Personages 

Philoxenus of Mabbug (d. 523): Syriac writer who was one of the principal theologians for Monophysitism. His view was this: "There is no nature without person, just as there is no person without nature. If there are two natures, there must be two persons and two sons." 

Severus of Antioch (c. 459 - 538): the chief theologian of the Monophysite position. As bishop of Antioch, he exerted considerable influence on the monks and leaders in a large area around his see. Severus's books were banned by Justinian I and exiled. For Severus, Christ was one unique, compound being sharing in the essence of God and of man. His basic idea was that Christ is "out of two natures and in one nature." 

Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527 - 565): immensely influential as a statesman, lawmaker, theologian, and builder, Justinian was emperor of the East and took a keen interest in Church matters during his reign. Interestingly, his works on the natures of Christ were considerably influential. Along with the pro-Chalcedonian bishops of his time, his writings also contribute to the official Christological position of the Orthodox Church today. Justinian brutally opposed heretical groups and initiated strong missionary movements on the frontiers of his kingdom. 

Empress Theodora (reigned 527 - 548): wife of Justinian, Theodora was a Monophysite and secretly aided numerous Monophysite leaders. Behind Justinian's back, she was partially responsible for the flourishing of Monophysitism in areas like Syria, Palestine, and Egypt.

Pope Vigilius (served 537 - 555): a supporter of Chalcedon, Vigilius refused to sign the anathema against the Three Chapters. He was summoned to Constantinople by Justinian and appeared in person. Basically imprisoned in Constantinople for eight years, Vigilius eventually condemned the Three Chapters. He died on his return voyage to Rome. 

Mosaic from the Hagia Sophia, Constantinople, depicting the Theotokos with Christ in the centre,
Constantine on her left, and Justinian on her right

The Council

Convened on May 5, 553 at the patriarchal palace of Constantinople, about 160 bishops attended, with no bishops present from Gaul (France) or Italy. Much of the beginning of the council revolved around Pope Vigilius and his refusal to denounce the Three Chapters, which he eventually did. 

The council fathers affirmed the previous four ecumenical councils, noting that they correspond to the four Gospels. In the anathemas, Nestorianism,  Eutychianism, Appolinarianism, and Monophysitism are all cursed. The fathers stressed that Christ's two natures are united unconfusedly with no separation, thus steering between Eutyches and Nestorius. 

The council produced no creed, but affirmed the previous councils and issued anathemas. It also condemned Neoplatonic Origenism. 

The third anathema is important: "If anyone says that the Word of God who did wonders was one and Christ who suffered was another, or says that God the Word was together with Christ who came of woman, or was in him as one in another, but not one and the same our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God incarnate and made man, and that the wonders and the sufferings, which he voluntarily endured in the flesh, were of the same, let him be anathema." 

The eighth anathema is also worth quoting: "For when saying that the unique Word was united by hypostasis, we do not mean that there was any mixture of the natures with each other, but rather we think of the Word as united with flesh, each remaining what it is. Therefore Christ is one, God and man, the same consubstantial with the father in Godhead, and the same consubstantial with us in manhood. Equally therefore does the Church of God reject and anathematize those who divide into parts or cut up, and those who confuse the mystery of the divine dispensation of Christ." 

A key position at the council was formulated by Leontius of Jerusalem: "The Word is said to have suffered according to the hypostasis, for within this hypostasis he assumed a passable essence beside his own impassible essence, and what can be asserted of the passible essence can be asserted of the hypostasis." 

Another key position was formulated by Leontius of Byzantium who noted the example of a torch to explain the natures of Christ. A torch is not a stick nor is it a flame, however, it is a stick aflame. The wood partakes of fire and fire partakes of wood. He writes, "It remains, then, that from this examination of the character of substantial union, we should grasp the unmixed identity of deity and humanity, according to the previous examples, gathering a fain image from all these of the truth which is above all things, which shows that one entity is produced out of these, of which I do not care whether you call it Person or hypostasis or indivisible being or substratum, or anything else you may prefer. For the argument has now beaten and put to flight those who separate them in their relationship speaking of dignity or authority or some other relation of divided things, showing that they divide the natures into separate hypostases, and such natures can have no real fellowship or share in an exchange of qualities."

The Hagia Sophia church in modern day Istanbul (built 6th century by Justinian,
minarets added by Muslims after 1453)

The Aftereffect 

Even to this day, Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy are split over the matter of Christ's nature(s). The Oriental Orthodox Church is most active in Egypt and Syria, though it is rapidly shrinking. Constantinople II did not expunge Monophysitism, but gave its cause many martyrs. The orthodox imperial church leaders in the Middle East began to be called "Melkites" during this time. The name exists to this day. It is from the Semitic verbal root M-L-K which means "royal, kingly." The Melkites accepted Chalcedon and therefore Constantinople II.

It took several centuries for the Latin West to accept Constantinople II, but it did at the Lateran Synod of 649. 

It would be worthwhile to look at the situation in 6th century Christendom and seek to understand why these battles were raging. What was at stake?  

It's interesting that today our theological battles are raging over the body, sexuality, hell, politics, and environmentalism. What is at stake today? How did we get to this point? 

A Pastor's Thoughts on COVID-19

The Coronavirus

Introduction

God's peace to all who read this.

In the past several days the pastors of Immanuel have talked with pastors from all over the United States. We've had video conferences with pastors from the Fairmont Ministerial Alliance. We've communicated via email and Facebook with all of the LCMS pastors in our circuit. We've read and watched messages from our district president and our synodical president. We've read article after article.  And, most importantly, we have prayed. 

The Coronavirus pandemic is very serious and it's affecting everyone. There are many difficult and complicated questions that have arisen. The could boil down to one basic and over-arching one: as Christians how are we to navigate through all of this? 

In what follows, I hope to outline a brief theological position on how Christians are to act during this pandemic and other crises in general. I'll look to Scripture, the Fathers, and Martin Luther for guidance. After meditating on all of this, we'll see that Christians during any pandemic are called to act out of love for God and neighbor, and that compassion and generosity must be practiced openly and courageously. 

Scripture

There are several passages that come to mind during this crisis. I'll first cite ones that seem to urge believers to gather no matter the circumstances - even if governments tell urge them to stop proclaiming the Word. 

First of all, there are the New Testament exhortations to gather as the Body of Christ, in person, in order to pray and celebrate the Eucharist.


Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. - Hebrews 10:25 (BSB)

Some are asking the question, "Perhaps by our quarantines and our neglect of public meetings we are acting in an ungodly way?" The governor of Minnesota and the president of our nation urge all churches to close and all gatherings of more than 10 people to cease. Yet, we must ask if this is God-pleasing. Many argue that Christians should disobey. Even the Apostles disobeyed officials. 

"But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men.' - Acts 5:29 (ESV)

There is a real struggle here: how can the Body of Christ continue to live and act as the Body, when her members are scattered at their homes in isolation and not celebrating the Lord's Supper together? Is it possible to remain the Church in such a situation? Finally, is the Church called to resist the government's commands to cease all meetings? 

There are many other worries I could add. Churches' ministries might not be sustained over the course of weeks or months without regular offerings. Funerals might have to be postponed because of the danger of infection at wakes and funerals. Neighbors and family members may be sick and quarantined without safe ways for their friends and loved ones to visit them and help them. Parishioners, accustomed to no church gatherings for a long period of time, might conclude that church in the future is no longer necessary. In addition, we must be concerned with our members' incomes. We also have to consider how small businesses will be badly hurt. 

All of these questions are necessary to ask, but there is a primary reality we must first accept.  Right now the Church now has an opportunity to be the voice of hope, comfort, and reason during a complicated and shocking crisis. All the other questions will be answered in time, but firstly we must believe and behave as those who have hope. 

Because of the threat of infection, especially among the "least of these," in-person gatherings of Christians must cease. The Coronavirus is most dangerous for the elderly and those we pre-existing medical conditions. It is also more easily transmitted than other viruses, and it can lie almost dormant in an infected person who will not display obvious symptoms until later. It's a sneaky, dangerous, devilish thing. Heeding our government's directives right now is the correct course of action because we have been given the commandment to love our neighbors.  

The Church must be thinking about others right now and strive to limit the transmission of the virus. This most certainly does involve cancelling events and gatherings. This also involves listening to the experts' advice on the danger of this thing.  We've got to think of the interests of others.  The Apostle Paul writes, 

"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." - Philippians 2:4

The interests of others, in the Spring of 2020, involves national health and wellness. It involves at-risk people in our neighborhoods. It involves quarantines and many other precautions that may seem unnecessary or silly.  Our love of God is demonstrated through our love of neighbor, and a significant part of that love right now is doing all we can, especially the simple things, to protect the elderly and the weak. 

John also has much to say about Christian love and care of brothers and neighbors. This verse from his first letter brings me to my next point, as well, about generosity and hospitality during this crisis: 


"But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth." - 1 John 3:17-18


The Coronavirus outbreak must now be an opportunity for us to deepen our love and care of one another.  It is, in effect, an occasion to put others first before ourselves. Months ago most of us would not think of calling up an elderly parishioner simply to chat. Months ago none of us would consider that our next-door neighbor might need some bottled water. Months ago almost nobody was concerned that our churches might "run out of money" and not be able to support church workers and clergy.  

But now? 

Now generosity must be one of our chief focuses during the pandemic. Generous in love, in attention, in gifts, in help. Our Lord teaches, 

"Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” - Luke 6:38

The Apostle Peter writes, 

"Show hospitality to one another without grumbling." - 1 Peter 4:9

We can continue to "meet" over the phone and internet while still loving our neighbor and protecting her or him. We can be available during this emergency to provide relief and assistance.  We must strive to practice generosity and hospitality right now. We also must give more to our churches than we normally do during non-crises! This virus is displaying the very real danger of death, but Christ has overcome death. This is the Church's message and it must be louder, not quieter, right now. 

In addition, this must also be a time for a renewed reading of the saints, a re-commitment to devotional time with family, and a restful time for scriptural meditation. Above all else, Christians must be praying continually. 

I haven't gone into concrete specifics about how congregations can help their neighborhoods, but that will be different for each town or community.  The exact ways that congregations can help in their respective communities has got to come from the people and their flexibility and creativity in the face of need and circumstance. Simple measures that come to mind include the distribution of food and water, or even of books now that libraries are closed. This and much more could be a part of Christian help during the viral winter that has come to America with COVID-19. 


The Church Fathers

As the Church grew and spread over the ancient Roman world, many different writers and thinkers supported the Christian view of neighborly love, care, and generosity. We also must remember that these writers were operating in a very dangerous world. Plague,  war, and persecution were commonplace. 

Clement of Rome (? - 99 A.D.) was an early Christian leader who wrote one (or possibly two) letters that survived history.  His first is an important one to the Church gathered in Corinth. He was a disciples of the Apostles and is only one generation removed from the New Testament eyewitnesses. He may be the "Clement" of Philippians 4:3. 

In his letter, Clement outlines how Christians must act in the world: "So let our whole body be preserved in Christ Jesus, and let each put himself at the service of his neighbor as his particular spiritual gift dictates. Let the strong care for the weak, and let the weak respect the strong. Let the rich provide for the poor, and let the poor give thanks to God because he has given him one through whom his needs are met.  Let the wise man show his wisdom not in words but in good deeds. Let the humble not draw attention to himself, but leave it to others to speak well of him." 

Basil (330 - 379 A.D.) wrote a very interesting work called Ethics in which he states succinct, ethical commands to the Christian reader, and then cites the Scriptures in support. In this work there is much that is helpful, especially if we remember that, when Basil wrote in the 4th century, there were countless wars and epidemics.  At 48.6 he writes, "[It] is necessary to set one's mind upon and be anxious about the needs of the brethren, according to the will of God."  At 70.16 he writes, "[It] is necessary to care not only for those present but also for those absent and to do everything required by the need for edification." 

Elsewhere he writes about the need for Christians to provide food and clothing as well as edification and forgiveness to all the brethren (i.e. other Christians) and to all neighbors. 

John Chrysostom (c. 347 - 407 A.D.) was an archbishop of Constantinople and a mellifluous preacher and prose writer. He points out that Christians' good works are evidence of their salvation, and that they have the opportunity to show unbelievers how great and praiseworthy the Christian life is. He writes, "Let us show forth then a new kind of life. Let us make earth, heaven; let us hereby show the pagans of how great blessings they are deprived. For when they behold in us good conversation, they will look up on the very face of the kingdom of Heaven. Yea, when they see us as gentle, pure from wrath, from evil desire, from envy, from covetousness, rightly fulfilling all our other duties, they will say, 'If the Christians are become angels here, what will they be after their departure hence?" 

There are many other Church Fathers and Mothers I could cite, but the above three will sufficiently demonstrate that Christians have always valued the service of neighbor above themselves especially during tough times. This love and attention, then, is a way to demonstrate to others how Christ truly transforms us. 

A good recent podcast covering the Fathers' position on caring for the weak and poor can be found here: https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/

Martin Luther

By now the reader has possibly seen the references to Martin Luther's letter "Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague" (1527). It's included in volume 43 of the 'American Edition' of Luther's works. Many LCMS blogs and websites have shared it this past week. It's a rather long piece, but I'll try to share some of the good Doctor's main points. 

Luther commends the fearless person who remains in his city during a plague and accepts it as God's judgment. This of course is written before germ theory existed; Luther's point is not that it is good to spread plague to other people, including children and the elderly. Rather, it is that a fearlessness in the face of death is always praiseworthy. Likewise, public leaders should remain in their areas because God has entrusted certain people and places to them, and it would be sinful to abandon them during times of trouble. Yet, Luther also allows that it may be godly to flee a city during plague, provided that this is done in good faith and with a view to one's neighbor. 

One focus throughout this letter is vocation. Certain people are called to serve, protect, and care for others, and to flee because of the plague would be to reject one's vocation.  God calls all people into relationships, and it is a duty given by God to bless and love others. A recurring phrase in the letter is "our love and duty toward our neighbor." This determines how Christians must act during challenging times. 

Luther's position is well summarized in his words, "If someone is sufficiently bold and strong in his faith, let him stay in God's name; that is certainly no sin. If someone is weak and fearful, let him flee in God's name as long as he does not neglect his duty toward his neighbor but has made adequate provision for others to provide nursing care." 

He reiterates his point after citing numerous biblical examples of people remaining to assist the sick and helpless and others fleeing to save their lives. Either is acceptable if - and only if - that course of action is done in service to one's neighbor. 

Lest anyone thinks that it is acceptable to ignore medical experts and governmental directives on public health, Luther writes, "If one makes no use of intelligence or medicine when he could do so without detriment to his neighbor, such a person injures his body and must beware lest he become a suicide in God's eyes." We should look at the willful rejection of quarantines or other CDC guidelines as a rejection of intelligence and medicine. A rejection that Luther obviously condemns. Again, this is a matter of vocation; our course of action must be in direct service to our neighbor and our society's good. 

Throughout the letter Luther asks his reader to use human reason as well as trust in God's Word. I'll conclude this section with another good quote: "Moreover, he who has contracted the disease and recovered should keep away from others and not admit them into his presence unless it be necessary. Though one should aid him in his time of need, as previously pointed out, he in turn should, after his recovery, so act toward others that no one becomes unnecessarily endangered on his account and so cause another's death." 

Dr Luther offers well-reasoned advice here that is centered on vocation and thus, the two great commandments (Mark 12:28-31).  A link to the letter is included on this page: https://blogs.lcms.org/2020

Conclusion

I certainly haven't covered all the questions Christians will be asking during this Coronavirus pandemic. There are many more difficulties that need to be addressed. However, I have demonstrated that quarantines and other necessary measures can be seen as God-pleasing because they are defending our neighbors and slowing the spread of COVID-19.  

We can look to Scripture, to the Fathers, and to Dr Luther to see the wisdom in helping others, in being generous, and in being safe. We can see how vocation is central to all of this. Christians are called to be faithful neighbors, friends, and citizens. We may have to put off certain things right now - even sacraments like the Lord's Supper - but this is not because we malign their importance or distrust their power. It is because we have our neighbors to care for. 

We've got to be generous right now, and carry on the Ministry of the Word in creative ways. 

- Rev. Adam Carnehl

A picture of Luther caring for Wittenberg citizens during the plague