Friday, April 06, 2012

The older the better

In modern culture we often think that newer is better. When it comes to books the implication is that newer books are more relevant and more accurate. However, C. S. Lewis in his introduction to "On the incarnation" written by St. Athanasius strongly disagrees and I have to say I'm with him on this one.

Though there are some good modern Christian books out there, I have to say a large proportion of them are a waste of time - wishy washy shallow fluffy rubbish. C. S. Lewis says we often mistakenly think that old books are for scholars instead of the rest of us and that it would be better to read some new book about an old book instead of reading the book itself. For example, instead of reading Plato directly, Lewis says that we:

"would rather read some book that is ten times as long all about 'isms' and influences and only once in every twelve pages telling him what Plato actually said."

Thanks to some great teachers at my church I have recently been introduced to the writings of early church fathers such as Augustine, Athanasius and Eusebius and can I just say they are amazing! One of the things I love about these guys it that when it comes to interpreting the Bible they didn't have a plethora of concordances to turn to or books on culture or years of theories and opinions to guide them. Instead they use purely Scripture to interpret Scripture - surely a much better way to go. The result is some really amazing teaching that makes me fall more in love with the Bible (and therefore more in love with Jesus) every time I read.

For example check out this little sermon snippet from Theodore the Studite in the 9th century:
"How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return.
This was the tree on which Christ, like a king on a chariot, destroyed the devil, the lord of death, and freed the human race from his tyranny. This was the tree upon which the Lord like a brave warrior wounded in hands, feet and side, healed the wounds of sin that the evil serpent had inflicted on our nature. A tree once caused our death, but now a tree brings life. Once deceived by a tree, we have now repelled the cunning serpent by a tree. What an astonishing transformation! That death should become life, that decay should become immortality, that shame should become glory! Well might the holy Apostle exclaim: Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world! The supreme wisdom that flowered on the cross has shown the folly of worldly wisdom's pride. The knowledge of all good, which is the fruit of the cross, has cut away the shoots of wickedness.
The wonders accomplished through this tree were foreshadowed clearly even by the mere types and figures that existed in the past. Meditate on these, if you are eager to learn. Was it not the wood of a tree that enabled Noah, at God's command, to escape the destruction of the flood together with his sons, his wife, his sons' wives and every kind of animal? And surely the rod of Moses prefigured the cross when it changed water into blood, swallowed up the false serpents of Pharaoh's magicians, divided the sea at one stroke and then restored the waters to their normal course, drowning the enemy and saving God's own people? Aaron's rod, which blossomed in one day in proof of his true priesthood, was another figure of the cross, and did not Abraham foreshadow the cross when he bound his son Isaac and placed him on the pile of wood?
By the cross death was slain and Adam was restored to life. The cross is the glory of all the apostles, the crown of the martyrs, the sanctification of the saints. By the cross we put on Christ and cast aside our former self. By the cross we, the sheep of Christ, have been gathered into one flock, destined for the sheepfold of heaven."
See how beautifully he draws together many threads of Scripture? Love it. For a few more snippets from a variety of writers check out:
Happy reading



Not so bad Friday

Just saw this on a friends Facebook page and it made me smile. It also got me thinking. We have our own basic ideas about what is good and what is bad in life:
poverty=bad, plenty=good
pleasure=good, pain=bad

But as the Bible says, God's ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are different than ours. Not all painful things are bad. For example, child birth - plenty of pain involved but what an amazing result! Just as the pain of child birth results in a new life, so the pain Jesus went through on the cross results in new life for us.

Check out this quote from St Augustine:

"The death of the Lord our God should not be a cause of shame for us; rather, it should be our greatest hope, our greatest glory. In taking upon himself the death that he found in us, he has most faithfully promised to give us life in him, such as we cannot have of ourselves."

Happy Easter