I really love your gear, Michael — great stuff! My own gear makes me feel so much closer to Jesus and reveals Him to me so clearly.

Blessings,
Susanne

Thanks for the post. And in the future, I will respect the policy you cited and make sure I read it and conform to other blog rules.

Regards and Christ’s peace

Thank you for your excellent comment. Two things.

1) It’s the commenting policy here that we don’t in any way encourage folks to leave their communions and join ours. We can brag or critique or own and we can talk about interactions between them, but I actively discourage any posts that say “you are coming to us” or “When you get X worked out you’ll become one of us.” You didn’t get to that, but I could see it around the corner.

2) I’m aware of historical gnostics and don’t know many. I know a lot of functional gnostics, and that was my intent in using the phrase about some fundamentalists.

peace

ms

Love it!

I really like that Pantocrator icon…

First time here and a Catholic and I want to say this a very good blog Imonk, without the polemics being directed among Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants.

Not trying to be the “theological police” but Gnostcism, in its historic forms dating back to the 2nd century was inherently dualistic and anti-Matter, and among the first major heresies proposed by it was a rejection that Christ became flesh (a rejection of the incarnation.

Catholic Doctrine, and I would say Eastern Orthodox as well [Fr. Ernesto can correct me on the Eastern interpretation] all of it, connects the Doctrine of Incarnation with the Doctrine of the Cross, which of course are pointing to the resurrection. Sacraments are tied to both Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery (Passion, Death, Resurrection, etc). Pope Benedict’s great quote from his book Jesus of Nazareth where the Pope links Incarnation and Cross Together make this point.

Pope Benedict in “Jesus of Nazareth (p.269)” states “In this Chapter the theology of Incarnation and the Theology of the Cross come together; the two cannot be separated. There are thus no grounds for setting up and opposition between Easter theology of the Synoptics and St. Paul, on one hand, and St. John’s supposedly purely incarnational theology, on the other. For the goal of the Word’s becoming-flesh spoken of by the prologue is precisely the offering of his body on the Cross, which the sacrament makes accessible to us.”

Thus, Incarnational theology and the theology of the Cross are linked and both point to the resurrection where are bodies will take on a new reality similar to Christ’s glorified body (seen in the Transfiguration, cf. Mt 17:2) and Christ body after the resurrection.

So, in rejection of the Gnostic doctrine, “Matter” does “matter”. Catholic worship (Liturgy) as Pope Benedict writes in “Spirit of the Liturgy (p.220) is a Liturgy of the Word made Flesh-made flesh for the sake of the resurrection. Pope Benedict continues stating that and even more important way matter comes into Liturgy [differentiating it from icons/sacramentals such as candles, bells, altar cloths, holy fire of Easter night, etc] is through the sacraments, the sacred actions that go back to Christ himself. The Psalmist writes “you give us wine gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen his heart (c.f. Psalm 104:15).

These elements [matter] become, by God’s power, the signs used in the sacraments in which God gives us grace. In the sacraments, Christ releates to our entire person [body and soul] and we have communion with God.

Icons then are related to the doctrine of the Incarnation and the rejection of them [Inconoclasticism] was rejected as a heresy at the 7th Council of Nicea (787AD).

In closing, those of you evangelicals embracing Icons are returning to a more orthodox expression of Christianity. Once you embrace Icons, I think all of your will start to rethink your views of sacraments and Liturgy. In the end, I think many of you will start moving towards a more Liturgical and Creedal expression of Christianity. Perhaps it will be towards a Confessional Protestant Tradition (Traditional Anglican, Lutheran or Reformed/Presbyterian]that has a higher view of Liturgy and Sacraments than say evangelicals, pentecostals, and other modern developments within Protestantism. Or, perhaps it will be towards the Catholic Church or Eastern Orthodox Church.

Sorry about the long post and have a great Holy Week

Pax et bonum

“The Dwelling of Light” – on icons of Christ
and
“Ponder These Things” – on icons of Mary

Contrary to some conservatives, the Archbishop is robustly orthodox,and his Trinitarian theology is incredibly moving, steeped as it is in his deep understanding of Eastern Orthodoxy.