______________Isaiah 2: 2,7_
In
days
to
come…
they
shall
beat
their
swords
into plowshares and their
spears into pruning hooks.
* Clement of
Alexandria,
ca. 210
Priest, theologian philosopher, he was
an educated man
familiar with classical Greek philosoph
& literature and a convert to the Faith.
“There
is
one
river
of
truth
which receives
tributaries from every side”
Pray today for theologians, particularly those who are forging links between Christ-ianity and contemporary culture (From The New Lutheran Book...) While God does not change, our depth of knowledge and focus does and we always need to reinterpret the ageless truths of Christ to new generations. This seems especially critical for the Church today. When we moved to San Deigo and started attending St David’s, with Richard Lief as rector, the collect for today began
“O Lord, you led your servant Clement of Alexandria from the errors of ancient philosophy that he might learn and teach the saving Gospel of Christ: Turn your Church from the conceits of worldly wisdom and, by the Spirit of truth, guide us into all truth…” It has morphed into “O God of unsearchable mystery, you led Cement of Alexandria to find in ancient philosophy a path to knowledge of your Word: Grant that your Church may recognize true wisdom, wherever it is found, knowing that it comes form you and leads to you.” What a difference! We’ve moved here from “O Lord” to “O God of unsearchable mystery.” We’ve moved from “your Servant Clement” to “Clement.” Which is more in line with Jesus’ words “I no longer call your servants, but friends.” (And our earthen vessel of Church is surely called today to move on further here.) We’ve moved from tightness to openness, a rejection of all that its not explicitly “Christian” to an receptivity to the other, and a greater trust that God really IS in charge and willl lead us where He wants us to go/ We've moved from from fear to hospitality. It made me think of the motto of Richard Lief’s seminary, VTS: “Seek the truth whence it comes, cost what it will.” the motto of Virginia theological
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