As the great philosopher once wrote:
Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future...
So, I'm looking ahead at the next few months, and over the next couple days I will be posting my plans for what the community can expect for the rest of spring and into the summer. I won't dump it all on you in one posting, but watch over the next few days to see what's coming.
Right now, I'll just say two things - first of all, look for another "test" live stream coming this month - this one to test how it works for me to do a live stream from my phone, so that when I'm in Rome, I can do live streams from there. I'm really not the type to post YouTube videos of my travels in Rome, much less tourist tips or anything like that - there's a part of me that has a real aversion to all that because you really just have to be there, and I think posting it on YouTube cheapens the experience. But for this community here, I do want to do some live streams from Rome - maybe do The Journey from Rome, as I have in the past, and maybe post some things. So I'll be doing a test this month to get ready to be able that.
Second, I want to reiterate how this community was created to be a place of conversation. And I have really appreciated, and really been blessed by, the conversations we've been having with some of you regulars - it has satisfied my desire for this kind of conversation and camaraderie since I've gotten off of social media, and it provides a place for feedback in the absence of YouTube comments - and I will always keep the comments turned off in YouTube.
So with that in mind, I just want to say again how I hope we can have even more conversation here - all you new folks, please chime in! Since my YouTube videos do not have comments, my intention is to get people to come here, and have those conversations here, but of course only with people who are really interested in the early Church and serious about friendly dialogue, without the trolls, and other people who really just want to spout off. I know I could be more famous on YouTube if I catered to the fringes and gave the crazies a place to post on my videos, but that's not what I'm about, as you know. So let's really step up the posting and commenting here in the feed of our community - because especially when I'm traveling this summer, I won't be able to keep the postings going all by myself, so I hope you all will do it too! Anyone can start a conversation, post some thoughts, comment, etc. I want to hear from you (you don't have to be a supporter to post and comment, so don't be shy). Let's here from some new people. You can ask questions, or whatever, any time. I want to hear from you, and I want you to engage with each other!
Ciao for now... more coming...
Here's a short (about a minute) video I took going around the Holy Column in the church of Santa Prassede. This is the column that Jesus was tied to when he was scourged by Pontius Pilate. They don't always have the barrier down, so you usually don't get to see it from all the way around. I wanted to get video of the whole thing all the way around because I ran across a note in an ancient document that said that those who made a pilgrimage (at that time to the Holy Land, since it was still in Jerusalem) could visit the Holy Column, and could see marks left from the hands of Jesus where he gripped it as he was being whipped. I assume that this is pious legend, but I figured since the column has that dark & light marble, maybe there's a place where the dark parts look like hands. I did not see it, but if you do, let me know!
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
Here is our next set of texts - as we get into John chapter 6, we first encounter Jesus feeding the multitudes - in this case 5,000 families!
Now, as you know, there is also an account o Jesus feeding 4,000, and so you may also know that some scholars might speculate that these are just different versions of the same story that circulated and were handed down orally, until they were written down. Even the fact that both stories occur in the same gospel would not stop that kind of speculation. So I thought the first question I would have to ask was whether the Church fathers thought this was one event or two - BUT (and you see where this is going) I forgot that Jesus himself makes reference to two separate events (in Matthew 16 and in Mark 8) so there is no question for the Church fathers - these are two separate events. So it seems that Jesus performed this sign (miracle) of the feeding of the multitudes on two occasions. It's not just one event told two different ways, and it's also ...
My voice was still recovering from a bad cold, so not sounding my best, but this was a great conversation about pilgrimage, for the Jubilee year - more of this coming in other interviews! (FYI, I think I was the third of three guests that day, so you will have to fast forward to find me)
It seems that one way or another we need to talk about different kinds, or different levels of heresy. What I have been calling heresy vs. heterodoxy, others call heresy on fundamental doctrines vs. heresy on less fundamental doctrines. In other words, Heresy with a capital H (over fundamental doctrines like the Trinity and christology) are the kinds of heresies that move one outside the boundaries of what Christianity is, and that's because the very definition of Christianity is defined according to these fundamental doctrines. To refuse to sign the Creed at the Council of Nicaea in 325, or the Council of Constantinople in 381 - and indeed to reject any of the contents of the Creed today - means that a person is NOT a Christian.
So are the non-chalcedonians, such as the miaphysites (including St. Gregory of Narek, and today's Coptic Christians) - are they heretics? Well, like it is with a lot of things, that depends on your definition of heresy. If you include in your definition of ...
