Early Influences, Early Church Liturgy We know the church of Acts practices communion. “1 Cor. expresses that tradition in a more primitive form [than Mark], roughly at the stage when S Paul first learned it – within ten years at the most of the last supper itself, perhaps within five.”[1] chaburah, agape, and table fellowship meals Paul’s form of communion would be recognized by the Jewish Christians as a new meaning to a chaburah meal. Earle Cairns explains the typical... Read more
Early Influences There are up to seven actions of the Eucharist in Scripture. However Dom Gregory Dix contends that a four-action shape emerges across the church. He believes it is from the primitive church. “(1) The offertory; bread and wine are ‘taken’ and placed on the table together. (2) The prayer; the president gives thanks to God over bread and wine together. (3) The fraction; the bread is broken. (4) The communion; the bread and wine are distributed together.”[1] Dix... Read more
Introduction and Key Themes This research flows from an exploratory problem I pursued in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Sacraments in History, Asbury Theological Seminary. The syllabus states the problem as: “The doctrine of the ‘epiklesis’ in the Eastern Rite provides a more adequate place for the work of the Holy Spirit in worship than was found in the Western Rite.” I took the position in favor of this. There are factors that make this line of research difficult. ... Read more
Sanctification | Falling for Julian “For if we never fell, we should not know how feeble and how wretched we are of our self, and also we should not fully know that marvellous love of our maker.” Julian of Norwich, Showings, chapter LXI Friends of Julian of Norwich JulianOfNorwich.org My first reaction to this quote is I’m not sure falling is the best way to get to know the love of God. In a way, it seems like we’re putting God... Read more
With Each Passing Year… Sometimes it’s good to have a little conversation. At this point in my journey, it doesn’t take much to set me on the right course if I veer off a little. With each passing year… …my hopes of future research seem to be a stretch. I’ve had publishers review my work. They have made comments about some of my previous studies, particularly on the Gospel of John and on early liturgical prayers in the Primitive Church.... Read more
Reflections on Irises Years ago while I was taking a Psychology minor in my undergrad, my wife worked in a large, privately owned franchise (if that’s the right word) of group homes, all over the Bay Area. I would drop into the counselor’s office at times for shop talk. She had a very large lithograph of Irises in a beautiful frame. I was mesmerized by the work, so she eventually gifted it to me. As I share some reflections now,... Read more
Cruz is Graduating It’s hard to believe all these years have come and gone, but he’s graduating. Every once in awhile I reserve the right to stray from the formula. This is that moment. I want to talk about my son. He’s graduating this spring. He gets excellent grades and he has completed dual-enrollment courses with college credit as part of his high school curriculum. He’ll be attending a state college next year to start working on his general education... Read more
Vignette | French Girls Question Church Attendance “Yeah we go to church… on Easter and Christmas.” My cousin, my brother, and I had met 4 French girls in the mall. They could not believe we were getting ready to go to church on a Wednesday night. What kind of Christians were we? Well we certainly didn’t want to make them feel bad for being nominal Christians because we were making time with them, walking the mall. One of them had... Read more
Double Minded | When We Draw Near to God Previous article: Double Minded | Torn Between Two Worlds CLICK James does not explain the details in a formula. He uses the term double-minded as a lifestyle – a label. So the answer is not in a particular formula. The answer is in a lifestyle change, a new way of life… that is the one thing. Is it better to try a particular diet for a while, or to commit to a life... Read more
Double-Minded | Torn Between Two Worlds In the movie City Slickers, Billy Crystal plays a confused, dissatisfied thirty-something character with a vague sense that life is passing him by. Jack Palance, – ancient, leathery, wise to the ways of the world (“a saddlebag with eyes”) – asks Crystal if he would like to know the secret to life. “It’s this,” Palance says, holding up a single, index finger. “The secret to life is your finger?” asks Crystal “It’s one thing,”... Read more
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