Feast of John Coleridge Patteson, First Bishop of Melanesia, & his Companions, Martyrs, 1871 For the power Thou hast given read more

Feast of John Coleridge Patteson, First Bishop of Melanesia, & his Companions, Martyrs, 1871 For the power Thou hast given me to lay hold of things unseen: For the strong sense I have that this is not my home: For my restless heart which nothing finite can satisfy: I give Thee thanks, O God. For the invasion of my soul by Thy Holy Spirit: For all human love and goodness that speak to me of Thee: For the fullness of Thy glory outpoured in Jesus Christ I give Thee thanks, O God.

Wisdom begins at the end.

Wisdom begins at the end.

The overwhelming recognition of human sin controls the Old Testament and the New Testament alike, and no understanding of our read more

The overwhelming recognition of human sin controls the Old Testament and the New Testament alike, and no understanding of our Lord's words and actions is possible if we persist in denying it.

If man is not made for God, why is he not happy except in God? If man is made for read more

If man is not made for God, why is he not happy except in God? If man is made for God, why is he so opposed to God?

One attempt to reconcile the Gnostic doctrine [of the unreality of evilness] of matter with the apostolic teaching about Christ read more

One attempt to reconcile the Gnostic doctrine [of the unreality of evilness] of matter with the apostolic teaching about Christ was the theory that the body which our Lord took at His coming into the world was not a real body but a phantom one. He only seemed to inhabit a material body, and from the Greek word dokein ["to seem"], people who held this theory were known as Docetists. But if Christ's incarnation was unreal, His death and resurrection were also unreal; and the whole gospel message was thus evacuated of its truth and power: one unhappy legacy of this short-lived phase of Christian heresy remains to bedevil Christian witness to Muslims up to the present day. For when the Koran says of Jesus that "they did not kill Him, nor did they crucify Him, but they thought they did", we may infer that Muhammad was indebted for this idea to a Christian source tainted with Docetism.

Feast of Benedict of Nursia, Father of Western Monasticism, c.550 Christian history looks glorious in retrospect; but it is read more

Feast of Benedict of Nursia, Father of Western Monasticism, c.550 Christian history looks glorious in retrospect; but it is made up of constant hard choices and unattractive tasks, accepted under the pressure of the Will of God.

Feast of Hildegard, Abbess of Bingen, Visionary, 1179 Seducers we, they say; but they lead men astray. Oh, what read more

Feast of Hildegard, Abbess of Bingen, Visionary, 1179 Seducers we, they say; but they lead men astray. Oh, what a noble seduction ours, that men should change from dissolute to sober living -- or towards it; to justice from injustice -- or tending that way; to wisdom from being foolish -- or becoming such; and from cowardice, meanness and timidity, show courage and fortitude, not least in this struggle for the sake of our religion.

Feast of Charles, King & Martyr, 1649 Salt, when dissolved in water, may disappear, but it does not read more

Feast of Charles, King & Martyr, 1649 Salt, when dissolved in water, may disappear, but it does not cease to exist. We can be sure of its presence by tasting the water. Likewise, the indwelling Christ, though unseen, will be made evident to others from the love which he imparts to us.

I do not know a warning that I judge more necessary to be given to those who are called this read more

I do not know a warning that I judge more necessary to be given to those who are called this day, than to charge them not to trade too much with their natural gifts, and abilities, and learning. These are talents in their kind; but it is the Spirit that must manage all that learning they have, or it will prejudice them, and you also. I have known some good men who have been so addicted to their study, that they have thought the last day of the week sufficient to prepare for their ministry, though they employ all the rest of the week in other studies. But you business is to trade with your spiritual abilities... A man may preach a very good sermon, who is otherwise himself; but he will never make a good minister of Jesus Christ, whose mind and heart [are] not always in the work. Spiritual gifts will require continual ruminating on the things of the Gospel in our minds.