Marc X. Gajeton
@marcxgajeton
#Lutheran Father. Son. Husband. Worker. M.A. Student in Biblical Studies. Man of Christian Culture. Christianus sum. Christiani nihil a me alienum puto.
I love that this is coming out more and more now. The Fathers are not an authority. Jerome’s thoughts on the canon were just his “private opinion.” Augustine’s interpretation of Mt. 5:26 was just his private interpretation. Though I don’t really expect any consistency in this.
St. Jerome wasn't an authority to say yay or nay. The books of the Bible were always disputed...... Until the Church spoke in 397 AD. Jerome himself obeyed the authority of the Church and accepted Wisdom and Maccabees in the same way he accepted Revelation.
“So, what exactly is it that you want me to believe that the Holy Spirit did not inspire the prophets or apostles to write?”—Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller THIS is the question to put to the Roman / Eastern Apologists. “Where is this written?” is a question Lutherans do NOT fear.
Does the interpretation of Scripture ultimately matter for the establishment of dogma, or is tradition what ultimately matters?
That’s an irrelevant example. If you want to follow St. Augustine on Mt 5:26 why don’t you follow him on purgatory? Anyway, yes, and I’m not even talking about verse interpretations but rather doctrines.
St. Thomas Aquinas on Matthew 5:26: “Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.”
All, what would you do if someone asked you to do something retarded so that he would refrain from purposely misconstruing your words?
For the sake of discussion, are you willing to concede that Saint Augustine would say you are falling into a Pelagian error by denying the existence of purgatory, which he would say is a dogma that is found in the scriptures? If so, I will completely back off and say my bad.
Cultural messages communicate a vision of the meaning of life. Cultural texts communicate their meaning as much by their form or packaging as by their actual content. -Kevin Vanhoozer
If my kids ever attended the youth gathering they’d likely have no idea what is going on, and that’s a good thing. One time I played Jovan Mackenzy in the car (the only Christian rapper whose music I’ve ever cared for) and my daughter’s response was, “This music sounds crazy.”
Also Jerome: "Wisdom, therefore, which generally bears the name of Solomon, and the book of Jesus, the Son of Sirach, and Judith, and Tobias, and the Shepherd are not in the canon" (Prefaces to the Books of the Vulgate Version of the Old Testament). Again, "As, then, the Church…
St. Jerome, a Bible scholar fluent in Greek and Hebrew, was commissioned by Pope Damasus to make the first ever Christian Bible. St. Jerome then went to Jerusalem and Bethlehem to work on this task. After 30 years, he completed the Bible in Latin, the common language of the Roman…
All one has to do to realize the Fathers were not always of one accord on many things is to read the Lombard's Sentences. This is why the Lutheran approach to them as enunciated by Chemnitz is best. We don't have to twist them to try to make them agree or dust them under the rug.
I wonder how many of these pastors who are gung ho about embracing other forms of religious music are equally or more encouraging of the singing of hymns and psalms outside of church. And not just by paying lip service but actually giving practical instruction for how to do so.
“When modes of music change, the fundamental laws of the State always change with them.” -Plato
Yes. Parents should teach their children the meaning of liturgy like they teach them other family/cultural traditions, rites, symbols, manners, etc. Why follow the old liturgy in the first place? It’s our Family’s tradition.
As much as I agree with this, I want to add… I grew up in a church that had robust liturgy, but it was all performance. There was a lot of “participation,” and no belief that it was true or transformative Liturgics mean nothing without correct, faithful teaching informing them