Jesus and the church

8:2 Wherever the bishop appear, there let the multitude be; even as wherever Christ Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful either to baptize, or to hold a love-feast without the consent of the bishop; but whatsoever he shall approve of, that also is well pleasing unto God, to the end that whatever is done may be safe and sure.

The Epistle of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans

I was thinking about the above quote, especially the presence of Jesus and the Church – I am assuming that “Catholic” means universal and not the institution.

Can the statement be turned: Where the church (self-described) is, there is Jesus? Or, where people gather to do something religious, there is Jesus?

The institution is not Christ because the presence of Jesus is the establishing fact. The parish register is not the Book of Life.

at home in the world

Skepticism arises from our desire to know without the self being transformed. … Ironically skepticism is but the result of our anxious desire to secure certainty by being “at home in the world.”

Harvey, Michael G.. Skepticism, Relativism, and Religious Knowledge: A Kierkegaardian Perspective Informed by Wittgenstein’s Philosophy.

nihilism

nihilism is the view that certain things people often assume are “real” or “given”—like objective meaning, objective values, or a purpose built into the universe—may not exist. …

The key practical point is this: a claim about what exists in the universe is not the same as a recommendation about how to live. “There is no objective meaning” is descriptive. “Therefore I should act cruelly” is prescriptive.

J. Colle, Ardenne. Nihilism Explained: A Short Philosophy Book for Beginners on Existential and Moral Nihilism and the Meaning of Life, 13 & 21

bcp

What are your favorite brands and why?

Is Jesus a brand?

The closest brand that I am associated with is Anglicanism. I cannot technically be an Anglican – that is, I cannot be on an electoral roll (very long story for another day).

My association with the brand is via the Book of Common Prayer. Not the newer versions. The 1662 version that is still the benchmark. I use it for my daily prayer and sometimes for the occasional offices.

Why? It has been part of my life for so long. And I am too old to change.

I am also an iSheep!

living in silence

The whole monastic state consists of three specific kinds of establishment: either the retirement and solitude of a spiritual athlete, or living in silence with one or two others, or settling patiently in a community. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left, but follow the King’s highway. Of the three ways of life stated above, the second is suitable for many people, for it is said: ‘Woe unto him who is
alone when he falleth’ into despondency or lethargy or laziness or despair, ‘and hath not another among men to lift him up’. ‘For where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them,’ said the Lord.

    Ladder of Divine Ascent, 1:26

    not in essence but in intensity

    Monasticism is the most authentic form of Christian discipleship. As Basil sees it, if we would let the Lord’s grace have its way with us, if we would follow our baptism to its end and keep all the commandments, we would end up in the monastic life. Indeed, Basil’s word (eisagomenoi) for candidates seeking to enter the monastic community is also the word for catechumens, indicating a “link between the ascetic life and baptism.” Basil’s “monks”—as they would later be called and as we call them—“were simply,” Robert Taft writes, “Christians taking the whole business seriously.” The monastic life, then, differs from the life of ordinary discipleship not in essence but in intensity. But what does this most intense Christian life look like in Basil’s thought and practice?

    One of the most fascinating features of the fourth-century church is that we get to observe monasticism in its various stages of development, from devoted and pious family to highly organized monastery, from informal household virginity to ritually consecrated virginity.

    Stephen Hildebrand, Basil of Caesarea, 125