Constantine's Church

To take a complete view of the European Church, we must begin to look at ancient Greece and Rome, the two major centers of European Christianity in the beginning of the Christian Era.

Up until the middle of the First Century B.C. spiritual and secular leadership was kept separate in the Roman Empire. Of course, there was a senate to lead the nation politically and a small group of priests called pontiffs who lead the nation in their spiritual life. At the head of the group of pontiffs was a supreme pontiff, called the Pontiffus Maximus. When Julius Ceasar took the reins of the Roman state and turned it into an empire he also assumed the title of Pontiffus Maximus and was the officiator of sacrifices in the Temple of Jupiter. After he died Ceasar Augustus became the Pontiffus Maximus, and the state religion never again separated from politics of the state. The story of the conversion of Constantine is well known and frequently looked at with skepticism, but I maintain it is true. Under the sign of the cross (and the blessings of the Lord), he defeated his rival in battle and became the sole emperor of Rome.

Constantine was also the Pontiffus Maximus. He was the head priest of all state religions, including Christianity. Up until this point the undisputed head of the Church was the bishop in Rome. Constantine legalized the practice of the Christian faith after converting to Christ, but he did not completely shake off all vestiges of Paganism. With over three hundred years of religious tradition telling Constantine he was the head of the Church, it was not an easy idea to get rid of and he refused to submit to the Roman Bishop. Constantine always considered himself the head of the Church, and equal to the Apostles.

During his reign, Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium, a small city on the banks of the Bosphorus, but he took this idea with him that he was the proper head of the Christian Church.

Toeing The Party Line

One of the things I have been thinking a lot about lately is my journey from a cradle Baptist to a dyed-in-the-wool Roman Catholic. As the years go on and my knowledge of history, the Church and the Bible grows, so does my support of the Party Line. Something I find very interesting is that my beliefs never changed at all, but my faith has undergone a tremendous transformation. I can still remember the night I got baptized. I remember preparing for it in the upstairs room, where I put on white robes, then walked down to the pool at the appointed time, along with the others who were to be baptized. There was (what appeared to me) an old woman receiving baptism with me. I thought it was odd that she shared that experience with me because I thought everyone experienced it at my own age (five years old). The preacher asked me if I want baptism and I did and then he baptised me in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. When we got home (my parents, my siblings and myself) my brother and sister went up to bed and I had a conversation with my parents about the faith I was just baptised into. That evening I had a full and complete understanding of what Jesus did on the cross. Over the next few years I continued to learn about the Old Testament, and the Gospel. As a teenager I developed a deeper understanding of the Gospels, the New Testament and applying the Christian teachings to my life. In my early twenties I learned the value of abandoning the Christian way of life for gross hedonism.

When I was twenty-four I converted to Roman Catholicism and again began a devoted practice of my religion. I worked with a devoted Catholic who sponsored me in conformation and encouraged me to learn about the faith. Encouragement coupled with my father's love for history which I gratefully inherited, I started a long research project, which I plan to continue for the remainder of my life. The point of it all is that I have had a firm understanding of the Christian faith for as long as I can remember (literally) and as my knowledge grows, my understanding of that faith does not change, but my deeper conversion to Roman Catholicism only continues and I can only echo what our beloved pope recently stated: the Roman Catholic Church possess the fullness of the faith deposited by the Apostles and passed on to us by their successors.

Into Small Silence

I just had a weekend that made me want to run off and join a monastery. Friday after work I went up to a Catholic retreat house and participated in a silent retreat under which the rule of silence was observed until Tuesday morning, just before lunch time. Of course, I thought of one of my favorite saints - Mother Teresa of Calcutta. One of her quotes were "The fruit of silence is prayer. The fruit of prayer is faith. The fruit of faith is love. The fruit of love is service, and the fruit of service is peace." This seems to be a continuing theme in my life. There is one stickler though. I know my ministry involves heavy interaction with the faithful.

One of the things I thought about this weekend was my deep love for Christmas. I love it slightly less than Easter (which is my very favorite holiday of all times). My love is different though. I have not been able to vocalize the difference, even though I thought about it quite extensively. This past weekend I was finally able to draw the distinction. The Easter joy is much different than the joy of Christmas. Easter joy is introverted and Christmas joy is extroverted. What I mean is that Easter stimulates the soul while Christmas stimulates the senses. My joy at the resurrection of our Lord is rather inexpressible, usually. While I am no less excited, expectant, or happy, it is usually less visible than Christmas. As we celebrate the birth of our Lord it is largely sensational. I say that with hesitance, because it makes it sound more superficial, but it's not. Memories of walking around Kris Kringle Market in Nürnberg, listening to Christmas music, seeing the fabulous decorations, smelling nutmeg and the taste of Lebkuchen are all permanently associated with Christmas for me. These are far from being the only associations, and much less the most important associations with Christmas for me, but I bring them up to help draw the distinction between the Easter and Christmas joy.

Blessed Be God Forever!

Imagine the sound of this coming down from the alter on Sunday morning! "Blessed are You Allah, Lord of all creation. Through Your goodness we have this bread to offer, gift of the ground and work of human hands. It will become for us the Bread of Life." "Blessed be Allah forever!"

Recently a Dutch bishop in the Roman Catholic Church (Muskins) instructed the Faithful to call God Allah to improve relations between Muslims and Christians. An article on it can be found here. Bishop Muskins makes the erroneous assumption that Allah is the same entity as the All Mighty God of Judaism and Christianity. The evidence to the contrary is overwhelming and I will give just a few examples.

The Koran is the Islamic holy scripture, alleged to be dictated to Mohamed by the angel Gabril, who is supposed to be the same Gabriel who announced the coming of our Savior Jesus to Mary. Let's take a brief look at Heaven through the eyes of a Muslim as compared to a Christian as the first test of the validity of Bishop Muskins' claim that God and Allah are one and the same being (surely if they are the same then they will proclaim the same inheritance to observers of the Faith He deposited on Earth). Christians proclaim an afterlife basking in the presence of the Creator as heirs who share in the eternal inheritance of Christ, where there is no distinction between man and woman, Jew and Gentile, servant and free man. Muslims proclaim a river that flows with wine, the joys of the inheritance of seventy virgins, licence for unbounded gluttony. Okay, the questions of the afterlife must be taken on faith so if that is the only difference, it might be overlooked, but what about the commands of the Lord regarding prayer? Let me draw this distinction with a couple stories straight out of scripture. In the Christian Tradition, Jesus was speaking to His disciples and told them, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Heavenly Father, for He makes His sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust..." In the Islamic Tradition, Mohamed prayed for a man who spoke out against his newly discovered religious tradition, and was subsequently ordered to stop doing such nonsensical behavior by an angel in the service of Allah, on the grounds that enemies of Islam are cut off and undeserving of the mercy of God. Strike two. Again in the Christian Tradition, Jesus said, "It was said to your ancestors, 'Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.' But I say to you, do not swear at all...let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes' and your 'No' mean 'No." Mohamed instructed Muslims that it is profitable to lie to nonbelievers and that Allah approves of such behavior because they have spurned the truth and are not worthy of honorable treatment.

This is far from being an exhaustive list of the differences between Islam and Christianity, but even this little bit is enough to prove that God and Allah are not one and the same. It is much more than simply calling the same entity different names. They are different entities all together. They differ in the view of the afterlife, the instructions on what to pray for and the instructions on personal conduct in the world. How many categories must the two religions differ in before we acknowledge that God and Allah are two different beings? The problem with affirming the fact of the matter is then we will be left with the question, "If Allah is not God, as the Muslim claim, then who is he?" It is a sad day when we favor popularity over truth.

Satan's Chess Match

I am an avid Internet chess player. The site I play chess on allows players to sign on, make a move and then sign off and wait for the opposition to make a move, which could take anywhere from a few seconds to thirty days (even longer with a special dispensation from Stan). So on my way home from work I was evaluating a game I am currently involved in, in which my opponent allowed me to capture his queen without the loss of my own. I know what what happened in this game - my opponent simply made a costly oversight. I know this because we are not playing our first game against each other and I know he is a thoughtful player. When I evaluate a game I am in the middle of I try to objectively evaluate the strength of my position, the strength of my opponent's position, the strength of our pieces in play, what I have to do to quickly checkmate my opponent or what I have to do to avoid being checkmated.

In this evaluation I look at many, many things, on of which is my own ability to prosecute a prejudicial campaign against my opponent. This is critical in a chess match. I used to extend Christian mercy towards my opponents during a chess game. That is a path towards destruction, because let me assure you, no one else is doing such nonsense. In the many hundreds of chess games I have played I have only been extended that mercy one time (by someone other than my mother!). Eventually, as all things do, it lead me towards thinking about Christianity , the Church and the world. So it made me think about Satan's campaign against the Church, and that he is prosecuting it with extreme prejudice, and that there are seemingly neutral parties which Satan is able to utilize against the Church. He has even used Christian institutions against Christ! That is the importance of the Magisterium and submission to the authority of the Church.

Second Coming of Christ

To all who read the Et In Terra Pax Hominibus; I am searching for a Catholic Order, Discipline, or Association devoted to the study of the Second Coming of Christ. My own search has resulted in the failure to find such a group.

I am not sure that one actually exists. The absence of such a group or groups would, in itself, be indicative of a “poor spirit” within the Church as we invoke the Second Coming at least five times during the Mass.

I have grown tired of talking to various “Protestants” about this subject because much of their theology, IMHO, is debased into “dispensationalism”. They also have a fondness for labeling the Catholic Church “The Whore of Babylon”.

The return of Christ is a major theme of much of the Apostolic writings of the New Testament and is mentioned in the Didache. We Catholics seem to have an abundance of groups that are dedicated to a particular spiritual subject. Perhaps you could recommend an Order, Discipline, or Association to me that has an interest in the Second Coming.

I thank you for your loving kindness.
Lowtec

Did He Beat Me To It?

I recently read an article on World Net Daily about a physicist who claims to have proven the existence of God through the application of physics. He performed an experiment in which photons of light were released when sound waves were passed through water.

The only thing I read so far is his introduction, but I do plan on reading his outline and his eminent book. At the very least it sounds interesting and, if you are optimistic, it could be very exciting! Visit his website to read the claim.