The Ark, the Ethiopians, and the Monophysites

I just read an article from WND again and it goes into more elaborate explanation and actually talks about some "experts" in the field. It's worth a read. You can find it here.

Honestly I feel like I'm one of those trashy newspapers you see at the grocery store check-out because I keep posting all of this. In fact, until it hits real news I think I'm gonna lay off of it. It's great and interesting, but when this last article started quoting bible prophecy "experts" from TBN and the like I decided that I'm not going to pass anything else along.

However, I should address the questions I raised about the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. One of my good Orthodox friends pointed me a page I missed on the Ethiopian Church website. In these pages (here and here) it explains how and why the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is not in communion with either the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church. I would suggest reading both the articles, but the first is much more explanatory.

To give you a quick summary (for those of you who don't want to read the articles) the Ethiopians are non-Chalcedonian in their creedal heritage. What this means is that while all of Christianity embraces the 7 major ecumenical councils the Ethiopian Orthodox do not embrace the council of Chalcedon.

The council of Chalcedon (451 and the 4th council) declared that Christ had two distinct natures (Divine and Human) united in one person (hypostasis). Traditionally the Ethiopians would be referred to as monophysites which were condemned as heretics at the council. The monophysites taught that Christ had only one nature (divine and human combined together like a milkshake) and one person. If you read the article you will realize that the Ethiopians really don't like to be called monophysites and prefer the term "miaphysite." While their description is much closer to the orthodox Christian description given at the council and they are correct in rejecting monophysite teaching they are still, as a result of this disagreement still not in full communion with the Christian churches that hold to the 7 ecumenical councils.

I hope that brief description helps and doesn't confuse anyone. This discussion is heavy and sometimes I confuse myself. So if any of you all are more educated in this than I am please feel free to provide input.

All that to say that the Ethiopians are not in communion with the Orthodox and the Catholics and as such it is a huge step that the Ethiopian patriarch is talking to Rome and is willing to show the pope what the Ethiopians believe to be the true Ark of the Covenant.

The Ark of the Covenant!

If you grew up in the church, read the Old Testament, or even seen the Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Ark you know about the Ark of the Covenant. The container of Aaron's staff, the Ten Commandments (not the movie), and some manna is said to have disappeared a long long time ago.

There have always been rumors that the Ark made its way to Africa in the time of King Solomon and the queen of Sheba and then somehow (the rumors aren't too clear) found its way into an Ethiopian church much later in history. The legends and even some discovery channel specials have alluded that the Ethiopian church has closely guarded and kept secret the official place of the ark. Over the years the Ethiopian church has refused to allow anyone except for a few choice monks and patriarchs to see the ark but has confirmed reports that they are in possession of it. Well, apparently all of this is about to change.

According to "World Net Daily" (here: hat-tip to Laura Hubel via facebook) the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is going to allow the bishop of Rome (read: Pope) and the rest of the world to view the Ark of the Covenant.

Now, I'm not sure how reputable "World Net Daily" is. For all I know this could be a fake news site like the Onion, but it doesn't seem to read like one. I will continue to search for info on this and pass it along as I find it. But if this is indeed a credible story think about how amazing it is that the Ark, if this is the true Ark, is finally being allowed to be seen. Making this even more awesome is that the unveiling of this will be an ecumenical event and will help to mend the strains dividing the Catholic and Orthodox churches (providing the Ethiopian church is not in schism... could one of my Orthodox friends help me with this?).

While this is a great event and I rejoice in it, it also raises some pretty big questions, especially if this really is the true Ark of the Covenant.

• Given the New Covenant given to us by Jesus does the Ark still need to be handled in the same manner as the OT prescribed and if so who will fulfill this priestly duty?
• If the Ark does need to still be handled with in the same manner does the fact that the Ethiopian church can transport it validate their claim on being the true apostolic church?
• Will they allow anyone who is not special Ethiopian clergy to touch the Ark thus testing to see if if it validates their church?
• Will the church allow the Ark to be tested and historically dated?
• What will be the Jewish reaction to this claim? (I'm guessing complete rejection of the validity)
• Will they open the Ark?
  
• Will this produce a multitude of converts? To Christianity in general? To Orthodoxy? To Catholicism?

The questions are really endless and my mind is consumed by the multiple scenarios that this has to offer and thus my productivity at work has screeched to a halt even though I'm not 100% certain of the validity of this story. But think about it, either this is the true Ark of the covenant or it isn't.

I just found another story online that provides the report from INN (I think that stands for Israeli National News). Click Here.

Hopefully I'm not just posting a bogus story, but I was too excited by this not to put it on here. I'll post updates as I find them.

Blessings,

- Ben

Political Sainthood?

I was just reading my friend Paul's blog (here) where he mentions that the canonization process is in place for Julius Kambarage Nyerere the African ruler who brought about the creation of Tanzania.

Paul links to an article from the Sunday Monitor which provides some details. Click here for that article.

I find this potential canonization very interesting. While I do not know a whole lot about Africa or the political happenings there, I do find it interesting that the church would consider canonization of a person who rose to political power via a military coup and who seems to be just a political figure.

I guess I don't have as many thoughts regarding this as I do questions:

- Is this the work of liberation theologians that are striving to carry their legacy through the Catholic church via the remembrance of political saints?

- Does this political figure truly represent sainthood? We have other political saints such as Constantine in the east and the many political/religious popes in the west, but these individuals were not just political ideologues they also served as guardians of the faith.

- Is political achievement enough to merit sainthood? How does this fit with the way that the early Fathers viewed the Christian's role in government?


This is surely and interesting case and it will be interesting to see if the process is completed. If I hear any more information on this I will pass it on, especially if I am able to find anything about this person's spiritual qualification for canonization.

Thoughts from a Friend

My friend Ed is an Orthodox Christian who is currently writing a series of bulletin inserts for his congregation. While I love almost everything Ed writes on his blog I thought his latest bulletin insert was especially noteworthy. It is evident by this post that Ed shares many of my thoughts on Christian martyrdom. It seems the difference between us is that Ed explains his thoughts in a tactful and eloquent way rather than just claiming he desires to be martyred like I have done.

Click here to be directed to Ed's post.

Blessings,

- Ben

Have Faith!

That was the charge of many of the graduation speakers, salutatorians, valedictorians that I have heard speak at the three graduation ceremonies I attended over the past week or two. If this wasn't the specific charge it was nevertheless an essential piece of almost every speech that was given. The students were exhorted to keep the faith, have faith, and reminded that it was by faith that they had made it to this glorious point in their lives. Everywhere I turned faith was being mentioned in one way or another. But what kind of faith? Faith in what?

That is exactly the problem. The faith that was being exhorted and remembered was not a specific faith but merely some abstract notion and vague concept. These salutatorians, class presidents, and valedictorians freely mentioned church and God because most were good church-going people. But their concept of faith was surely less than a Christian understanding of the term.

Let me be clear, I am not laying the fault at these young kids because that is exactly what they are. They are students, they are doing nothing more than putting together a speech based on what they've learned through their lives at school, church, and from society. These kids did an admirable job with what they've been given, but sadly they have not been given enough substantial teaching in the Church to really know what faith is. I lay the blame on the churches for these students having unqualified abstract notions of faith that do not match with what the Christian church has taught through the ages. I also do not leave my church without blame because one of these speakers (though she was one of the best ones) was a student from my church.

As these students and graduation speakers spoke of having faith they mentioned faith in self on par with faith in God. They spoke about being able to overcome adversity and one even mentioned a scriptural reference of "faith the size of a mustard seed." It was when this quote was given that it all hit me like a load of bricks. This student (not the one from my church) and all the rest before her are products of an age of protestantism where faith is a commodity. Faith is something akin to positive self-talk. Sadly faith has become a form of positive God-talk that aids the individual in achieving his or her dreams and goals. The years of therapeutic and anthropocentric Christianity have left us with a shallow faith that amounts to nothing. This is what we are passing on to the next generation.

Sure, as protestants we champion the reformation cry "sola gratia" based on Paul's expression "salvation by grace through faith" but practically this works itself out to pulling oneself up by his or her bootstraps because faith is nothing more than positive thinking and self-motivation. If this is the case we are nothing more than pelagian heretics masquerading as believers of the truth. Surely faith is essential to the gospel call, but the substance of our faith does not lie in us but in our relationship with the triune God.

We have lost the sense that "faith the size of the mustard seed" isn't pointing to "faith" in the abstract or faith as a commodity but it necessitates that faith is something had via a relationship with the divine. To speak of faith in the abstract is absurd and it digs right at the root of the Christian Faith that we hold and are charged to pass along to younger generations.

In order for Protestantism to be true to the call of the gospel we must realize that faith is more than positive God-talk, that faith is based in the work of Christ - his incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension; for divorce faith from the Christ event is to own a faith that is as unchristian as pagan worship. We must also realize that faith by nature changes the very substance of our being. One cannot have faith in God and remain unchanged. Faith is more than a mental ascent it requires a change of our whole being. The Christian faith does not belong in the realm of the abstract but is firmly planted in the person of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of the Father who brought about our redemption.

Really I'm not angry at these students, I'm sad for them. Their professions merely indicate that we as a church have not done a good job passing on the truth of the Christian message. Lord have mercy on us as we seek to proclaim and pass along the true faith. Amen.

- Ben