Tag Archives: Trinity

For Trinity Sunday…

Some parts of the Church observe a “Church Year” or Liturgical Calendar that gives some shape to the topics emphasized through the year. Like Christmas (and the run-up to it, Advent), and Easter. We mark the time between Christmas and Easter thinking about the various events in the earthly life of Jesus, and continue that through Pentecost, which starts the history of the Church. After Pentecost, we think more about how the life, death, resurrection and continuing presence of Jesus affects us in the here and now, culminating with “Christ the King” Sunday, the last one before the cycle starts again.

This Sunday is the first in that “ordinary” time, and is called “Trinity Sunday” where now that we have thought about God the Father, talked for months about Jesus, and last week reflected on God the Holy Spirit, we look at the Blessed “Three-in-One” – The Holy Trinity, which we Christians hold as the fundamental understanding of God.

It is always interesting to me to see what different preachers have to say on this Sunday…

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What do we mean when we say the Holy Spirit “proceeds” from the Father and the Son? What does “to proceed” mean in this context?

This question popped up on another site, Quora.com, which I enjoy messing around with.
It gave me a chance to do sort of a theological “geek-out” on the “filioque” clause in the Nicene creed. I enjoy making an attempt at this because it lets me try something really hard in language that is very street-level. And that lets me see what it is I really think. (C.S. Lewis said that “any fool can write ‘learned’ language.” The real test is to see if you can translate the ideas into the everyday speech) Continue reading

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The Wedding in Cana, Water into Wine: The Gospel According to John, Chapter 2

(This is written as an early Lenten exploration, as described in an earlier post – I encourage you to comment!)

The Wedding at Cana

1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Continue reading

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Thoughts on Marriage (or, “An Exercise in Hubris”)

A friend of mine wrote a brief blog post on a subject I have been ruminating on for a few years, the purpose of marriage. His post compels me to write. I dare not say this is exactly in opposition to him, for he writes with several advantages over me:

  1. First of all, he has actually been successful, while I am twice married and twice divorced. The fact that both of my marriages and divorces were to and from the same woman may tell for or against me; I will leave that alone.
  2. He is demonstrably smarter than I am.
  3. He is a priest (Anglican/Episcopalian, hence #1 above) and has actually studied more than a little on these subjects. Mine was Psychology and Computer Technology, and much longer ago
  4. His post is full of biblical references,which he uses accurately.
  5. And most difficult for me, he is right.

Facing all these issues, how could I possibly resist the urge to stick in my own oar?

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And now…, the other shoe.

I’ve got to take care of a little unwelcome personal business.

As you may have picked up through these scattered threads lying about here are a number that try to make some connection between the themes of Christianity,  of Christian theology, and the way the world seems to actually work in observation. Sometimes, as in “Simul Justes et Peccator” that connection is revealed by failure. Failure to act in accordance with what one knows to be true involves, if not a willful blindness, a willful “dimming of the eye,” a choosing not to see, a choosing to not know what one knows. Continue reading

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Thoughts on the Holy Trinity:

holy-trinityFor quite some time, I have wanted to write at length concerning a subject dear to my heart. I’ve been drawn into several discussions with Muslims, Christians and seekers that touch on the ultimate reality of God, what is He like, and why does it matter. A couple of these conversations are here, and here. Of course, it is meaningless to say that “I worship God” if I neither know nor care who He is or what He is like. It would be like saying “I love my wife” without knowing, or caring to know, anything about her.

 

I am referring of course to that absolutely bedrock assertion of Christians that God is triune, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. In its fullness, it is maddeningly beyond our grasp, and yet if true, it represents the core and source of all that is, seen and unseen. Continue reading

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