One with Jesus—so one with him that the branch is not more one with the vine than we are a part of the Lord, our Saviour, and our Redeemer! While we rejoice in this, let us remember that those who are made partakers of the divine nature will manifest their high and holy relationship in their intercourse with others, and make it evident by their daily walk and conversation that they have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. O for more divine holiness of life!
September 2008
Monthly Archive
September 16, 2008
September 12, 2008
Wedgeworth on the Scottish Episcopate
Posted by Joseph under Catholicity, Worth QuotingLeave a Comment
The earliest Scottish Reformed churches had an episcopal polity. Under the influence of Andrew Melville this was briefly dropped, but shortly thereafter it was reinstated. King James was convinced that divine right Presbyterians could secure neither ecclesiastical nor civil peace, and frankly hindsight shows that he was absolutely correct. Thus he returned the Scottish church to the polity of the first Book of Discipline written by Knox.
As part of the reinstating of the bishops (or “supervisors”), James had them ordained by standing English bishops. This was as much an effort to unite the kingdoms of Scotland and England as anything, but as W. B. Patterson notes, it also served to “restore to the Scottish episcopate the historic or apostolic succession that had been lost in Scotland but maintained in the Church of England” (King James VI and I and the Reunion of Christendom pg. 12).
Now of course, a truly Reformed Christian places no faith in manual apostolic succession. He knows that the fullness of the catholic church is present wherever the Word is, but some weaker brothers, presbyter and papist alike, desire apostolic succession. So I suppose they can have it.
Fascinating. I have thought a long time, not so much about apostolic succession, but about what had happened in Edinburgh; that is, that the “superintendents” or “supervisors” (what we call the moderator) of the presbyteries were indeed bishops, but as Steven notes on the other site (follow the above link) that the Scottish episcopate was a pastor among pastors, a presbytery among presbyterys and indeed a bishop among bishops, but that the role of the bishop was invested by the presbytery, as he represented them and functioned as their figure head (does that make the moderator of the General Assembly an “archbishop”??). Anyhoo . . .
September 8, 2008
Bishop Cyril on Scripture
Posted by Joseph under Catholicity, Creeds & Confessions, Worth Quoting | Tags: Cyril, Scripture, tradition |Leave a Comment
This post is by my friend Rev. Toby Sumpter–very good insight:
Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem writes in his Catechetical Lectures: “For concerning the divine and holy mysteries of the Faith, not even a casual statement must be delivered without the Holy Scriptures; nor must we be drawn aside by mere plausibility and artifices of speech. Even to me, who tell thee these things, give not absolute creedence, unless thou receive the proof of the things which I announce from the Divine Scriptures. For this salvation which we believe depends not on ingenious reasoning, but on demonstration of the Holy Scriptures.” IV:17
Notice that Cyril does not appeal to his authority as a bishop but rather insists that all Christians must search the Divine Scriptures for themselves. They cannot take his word for it unless they have demonstration from the Holy Scriptures. Salvation and those things necessary for it do not depend upon “ingenious reasoning.” The Scriptures are clear and sufficient to serve as the ultimate, infallible authority for matters of faith and piety.
September 3, 2008
This was posted on Doug Wilson’s site regarding the righteous rule of women, e.g. Sarah Palin–very good insight. It reflects this pastor’s struggle with the calling and function of women in ministry, particularly as this expresses itself in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
One quick niggling contextualizing comment off to the side. John Knox’s famous missive, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, has been mentioned a couple times in the comments of this discussion about Sarah Palin.
John Knox wrote the booklet, aiming it at Bloody Mary, a vicious persecutor of the saints who held to the Reformed faith in England. But as the booklet was released, in a striking comedy of bad timing, Mary died, and Elizabeth took her place. In short, Knox was aiming at Mary and hit Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was a protector of the Protestants, just as Mary had been an assailant of them. Because of Elizabeth’s attitude toward the Reformation, Knox was more than willing to accept Elizabeth as a godly Deborah, and wrote to Elizabeth, telling her so. But Elizabeth could have her prickly moments, and took personally what Knox had intended for someone else entirely.
So, although he addresses the Deborah argument in his booklet, his rejection of it is in the context of Mary, an ungodly Deborah. He was quite happy to accept the Deborah exception when the rule being exercised was righteous. In short, Knox cannot be enlisted in the ranks of those who exclude women in civil office across the board.
September 1, 2008
I found this on Wilson’s site–sheer beauty
