An Inquisitor's Description of the Lollards

          Sometime around the year 1400, a Roman Catholic inquisitor named Reinher described the Lollards & Wycliffites in the following manner. For words that border on outright admiration, it is strange that he still believed men of this conduct were highly deserving of censure:

          "The disciples of Wycliffe are men of a serious, modest deportment, avoiding all ostentation in dress, mixing little with the busy world, and complaining of the debauchery of mankind. They maintain themselves wholly by their own labour, and utterly despise wealth; being fully content with bare necessities. They follow no traffic, because it is attended with so much lying, swearing, and cheating. They are chaste and temperate; are never seen in taverns, or amused by the trifling gaieties of life. You find them always employed, either learning or teaching. They are concise and devout in their prayers; blaming an un-animated prolixity [the unnecessarily lengthy prayers of the Romish priesthood]. They never swear; speak little; and in their public preaching they lay the chief stress on charity. They never mind canonical hours, because they say, that a paternoster [Lord's Prayer] or two, repeated with devotion, is better than tedious hours spent without devotion. They explain the scriptures in a different way from the holy doctors and the church of Rome. They speak little, and humbly, and are well-behaved in appearance."

Text from The Lollards, by George Stokes, 1838, 7-8.

A Good Summer

“Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well."
- George R.R. Martin, A Feast for Crows

       Summer 2014 is finishing well for me; the adventures in work, ministries, and various fun sundry activities from the past three months are all worthy to be recounted to future listening ears. Topping it off, in July I asked my beautiful girlfriend to marry me, and we are now counting down the days to our wedding (taking place July, 2015). Along with that, I started a new job teaching jr. high and high school science and Latin classes at a local Christian prep school. The doors the Lord has opened for me have been a great blessing, and I look forward to continuing the work of His Kingdom to the best of my ability.

       Meanwhile, I haven't been on my blog very much - or Facebook, or Twitter, or Youtube, for that matter. I've actually had a Bible review sitting in my drafts folder for the last month and a half, so I'll see about finishing that up soon. In the meantime, here is a quote to mull over from Tertullian, one of my favourite early church fathers:

"Christians are made, not born."
 
       Are we being fine craftsmen, fashioning and sharpening other Christians? Or are we just consumers, ingesting the nice parts of Christianity and ignoring its calls for a change of heart and of action?

The Christian Community in the 2nd Century

          Every once in a while, you read something that simply makes you excited about your Christian faith - whether it's a great sermon, an insightful blog post, or - as in this case - an ancient document. The Epistle to Diognetus is an apologetic treatise written by an anonymous author who was apparently well versed in elegant Greek. Likely penned between 120 and 200 AD, it was not well circulated, as neither Eusebius nor any other early church Father mentions it. The writer addresses himself in chapter 11, stating, "Although I am an instructor of the Gentiles now, I was a pupil of the Apostles once; and what was delivered to me then, I now minister faithfully to students of the truth." (Realistically however, anyone who believed the creed and adhered to the traditional early Christian lifestyle could call oneself a 'pupil of the Apostles'.) The fact that the author refers to Jesus Christ as "the Word" [Logos] reveals that he may have been a Johannine Christian. The epistle's contents hint that the author may have been Justin Martyr.

          The letter opens with a greeting to "my lord Diognetus", likely a nobleman, who is stated to have professed a "deep interest... in Christianity." (While unlikely to be the same man, the private tutor/teacher to Marcus Aurelius was named Diognetus.) The short chapters that follow involve the author detailing the superstitious follies of Paganism, the rigid scrupulousness of Judaism, the characteristics of a true Christian community, the reasons behind the persecution of Believers, the supernatural nature of the Christian revelation and mysterious incarnation, and a list of practical conclusions and a call for an inward reception of Christ the Word [Logos].

          It was chapter 5's detailing of the characteristics of a Christian community that caught my eye. I would hope that these words, written centuries ago to a unbeliever very much interested in the beliefs of Christianity, would echo true of today's community of Believers:

          "The difference between Christians and the rest of mankind is not a matter of nationality, or language, or customs. Christians do not live apart in separate cities of their own, speak any special dialect, nor practise any eccentric way of life. The doctrine they profess is not the invention of busy human minds and brains, nor are they, like some, adherents to this or that school of human thought. They pass their lives in whatever township - Greek or foreign - each man's lot has determined; and conform to ordinary local usage in their clothing, diet, and other habits."
 
          "Nevertheless the organisation of their community does exhibit some features that are remarkable, and even surprising. For instance, thought they are residents at home in their own countries, their behaviour is more like that of transients; they take their full part as citizens, but they also submit to anything and everything as if they were aliens. For them, any foreign country is a motherland, and any motherland is a foreign country. Like other men, they marry and beget children, though they do not expose their infants. Any Christian is free to share his neighbour's table, but never his marriage bed."
 
          "Though destiny has placed them here in the flesh, they do not live after the flesh; their days are passed on the earth, but their citizenship is above in the heavens. They obey the prescribed laws, but in their own private lives they transcend the laws. They show love to all men - and all men persecute them. They are misunderstood, and condemned, yet by suffering and death they are quickened to life. They are poor, yet making many rich; lacking all things, yet having all things in abundance. They are dishonoured, yet made glorious in their very dishonour; slandered yet vindicated. They repay calumny with blessings, and abuse with courtesy. For the good they do, they suffer stripes as evildoers; and under the strokes they rejoice like men given new life. Jews assail them as heretics, and Greeks harass them with persecutions; and yet of all their ill-wishers there is not one who can produce good grounds for his hostility."

This text is from the 1987 Penguin Classics edition of Early Christian Writings: The Apostolic Fathers, translated by Maxwell Staniforth, edited by Andrew Louth.

July Update

          I have been a bit lazy the past few weeks, and haven't gotten to post, but I have had many blog post ideas flying around in my head! I spent the last week of June being a counselor and high school team captain at Southwestern Leadership [Awana] Camp up in Idyllwild, which was a fatiguing but very much worthwhile blast. The spiritual atmosphere of camp really ramped up the last day or so, and I witnessed many changed hearts within the youth I had been working alongside all week.

          On the way back, I had the sobering honour of assisting with traffic control following a fatal accident that occurred on the winding road down the mountain. A motorcyclist had lost control, and ended up underneath a van full of kids from our camp. It wasn't the first terrible accident I had helped with, but it was a solemn reminder to all involved (including witnesses) of the fleeting and temporary life we live here on earth.
          
          Other than that, I have a few minor projects I'm starting preliminary research on, and work has been really heavy. Post-camp, I've been working, reading my Bible(s), and studying history even more than I did while I was in school! Hopefully I will be able to find some time in the busy month of July for some more historical anecdotes, notes from the early church, and maybe even some book reviews! I really do plan to post more often, so perhaps my many ideas will eventually make it onto 'paper' more often than they currently are. Stay tuned, shalom.

Tertullian on the Logos

"In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God... And the Logos became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:1, 14 [NKJV]

Most English Bibles today translate the Greek term Logos as 'word', though it can also mean 'reason', 'thought', 'mind', 'message', and 'wisdom'. God imparted His Logos to the fallen physical world in the form of the Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and through His sacrifice laid upon Him the sins of the world, saving all those who believe and call upon His name. [Isaiah 53:6, Acts 16:31]

Crafting a clear and solid description of the Logos, however, can be a daunting task, but the writings of the Apostolic Fathers can provide excellent answers for such questions.

I recently finished Paul Pavao's excellent book, In the Beginning was the Logos: The Council of Nicea for Everyman, which earns my accolades as one of the clearest and most accessible books ever written about the history and theology of the early church. Chapter 17 deals wholly with the discussion of the Trinity and the Logos, not just at the Council of Nicea, but also in written works throughout the first several centuries of Christianity. Pages 316-318 highlight some of the fantastic words of Tertullian (c. 160 - c. 225 AD), whose work Against Praxeas describes the Logos in relation to God:

          "Observe, then, that when you are silently conversing with yourself, this very process is carried on within you by your reason, which meets you with a word at every movement of your thought... Whatever you think, there is a word... You must speak it in your mind."[5] 

          "I would not hesitate... to call a tree the son or offspring of the root, and the river of the spring, and the ray of the sun. Every original source is a parent, and everything which issues from the origin is an offspring. Much more is the Word of God, who has actually received as his own peculiar designation the name of Son."

          "But still the tree is not severed from the root, nor the river from the spring, nor the ray from the sun. Nor, indeed, is the Word [Logos] separated from God."

          "Following, therefore, the form of these analogies, I confess that I call God and his Word, the Father and his Son, two. For the root and the tree are distinctly two things, but correlatively joined. The spring and the river are also two forms, but indivisible. So likewise the sun and the ray are two forms, but coherent ones." [8]

----------
Pavao summarizes Tertullian's view on his page devoted to the Early Christian Definition of the Trinity as the following: "In other words, there was a time when the Logos of God was inside of God. God was alone, but he had fellowship with his own Logos inside of him. When it was time to create the world, it was then that God birthed the Word as the second person of the Trinity."

It is worth noting that Tertullian was the first theologian to use the word "Trinity" (in Latin, Trinitas), though a similar term had been used earlier by Theophilus of Antioch, being the Greek word Triados.

A Word to Awana Citation Achievers

          Last Wednesday, I had the privilege of watching several high school seniors receive their Awana Citation Awards. These young men and women successfully finished their time as Awana clubbers, representing 10 years of Bible memorization, teamwork activities, service work, and various special projects. The journey towards a Citation Award starts in 3rd grade, the first year of Awana's Truth & Training club, and continues through the Trek (7th and 8th grade) and Journey (high school) clubs. 

From the Awana website:
A teenager earning the Citation Award must be a graduating senior. Adults can also earn the Citation. In completing the award requirements, the achiever will have memorised 836 verses, read the entire Bible and completed the 10 third- through 12th-grade handbooks and manuals.

I earned my Citation Award in May 2008, and I still remember exactly what being on stage and receiving it felt like. Would that all Awana boys and girls could strive for such a moment! The Citation is recognised as a prestigious award by many churches and organisations, and a number of Christian colleges and universities award various scholarships to students who have earned one. (As a note, mine earned me $1000 per year at San Diego Christian College.)

During my final year at Awana camp as a camper, the senior's teacher (a certain Mr. Houser,) gave us all some sage advice:

A Citation award is a tool. 

Some tools are earned/bought/received, and then stored in the shed indefinitely. Others are used often at first, but then gradually forgotten about. Others are tossed aside after a period of time, seen as archaic or useless. 

But, some tool are appreciated, and recognised for their usefulness, and are utilised often for the betterment of their owners life, and the lives of those around him. Will you leave your tool to rust in the shed? Or will you find uses for it in the situations that life presents?

That parable struck a chord with me; I've never forgotten it, and its truths are more and more evident with the passage of time.

Of the many fellow clubbers who I've seen earn Citation, some have fallen away, shunning Christianity and the life that the Lord offered them, preferring to pursue the countless and stark attractions of sin. Others have sought to serve two masters, joining their fleshly desires with their faith, and are enduring harsh consequences in an impossible lifestyle. These are people that I saw as my peers, and some I even looked up to. Such is the way of the world; God does not change, and His Word (both the Bible and the Logos Himself) warned us of such individuals.

But there's always a bright side: For every Citation earner who has fallen away, there are many more still that have risen to the challenge and continued on the paths of righteousness, paths that God has laid out and offered to them since the beginning of time. Some serve in their churches as leaders and pastors. Others serve their community as firefighters, law enforcement, and in the military and other government service positions. Some serve as missionaries in far-flung countries, while others travel to their 'lowly' office or job site every day, knowing that the Lord has given them the opportunity to minister and be an example, like many apostles, in the Agora --- the busy markets and places of exchange.

There are lawyers, doctors, teachers, salesmen, chefs, and construction workers who share the achievement that sets you and them apart as leaders in the Body of Christ. Finally, some are pursuing the toughest occupation of all: Raising Godly children in an increasingly hostile world. It is these people who chase after the highest calling, and the one with perhaps the greatest earthly rewards.

In essence, here is my message to Citation earners, from one Awana alumnus to another: 

Your Citation award is a tool, perhaps one of the greatest tools of your young life. The 'tool' portion is not the award itself - in all its monogrammed plastic glory - but rather the journey of the countless Bible verses and studies you've endured. Few Christians have the training you now possess, and fewer still have the grasp of the Bible that have obtained. Follow the path of righteousness the Lord has laid out for you, and it will be there for you when the need to use it arises. Whether your mission field is a third-world country, a business office, or a classroom, the Holy Spirit will bring to mind the verses you memorised, and that will open the doors for sharing your faith in Christ. Though your friends and fellow earners may fall away, stay strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

A related word of advice: If and when your friends and fellow Citation earners do fall away, do not shun them and throw them out of fellowship with you. Instead, continue to act as a beacon of light in their lives. Unless they completely shun you, you are still their friend! Christianity may come to seem foolish in their minds, but continue to exude the love of Christ, and the wisdom granted to us via the Holy Spirit. Keep a vigilant watch over your actions and deeds, lest you be seen as a hypocrite, for even though we may not think it, we are each witnesses and missionaries to those around us.

We all make mistakes and sin, but the mercy we receive, coupled with a heartfelt yearning to repent, is what has given us the ultimate freedom of Life.

To that end, your 'award' marks the beginning of a term of service to fellow believers. You are armed with the truth, the power, and the light: Follow Jesus Christ's command in Matthew 20, and be a Servus Servorum Dei --- a Servant of the Servants of God. 

The road to your Citation was about the journey, not the destination. It's a piece of plastic; never let its true value become clouded or lost on you!



1 Timothy 4:10-12 NKJV
For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the  Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. These things command and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

1 Peter 3:15 NKJV
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.

Luther: "Contribute to the Honour of God"

           My opinions on Martin Luther oscillate between appalled and inspired, usually ending up around neutral. Catholics and secularists love to focus on all his terrible denunciations of the Roman Catholic Church, Jews, and other groups not in agreement with him (including some Protestant sects); Protestants on the other hand love to focus on his successful split from Rome, contributions to Biblical literacy, and his popular theological doctrines. I would never choose to completely 'endorse' Luther, but some quotes of his are very much share-able, including this one from his "First Sunday After Epiphany" sermon - certainly a Lollard precept:

"He who cannot - by the gracious and lovely message of God's mercy so lavishly bestowed upon us in Christ - be persuaded, in a spirit of love and delight, to contribute to the honour of God and the benefit of his neighbour, is worthless to Christianity, and all effort is lost on him."


Those words of Luther hearken back to the words pious assertion of Clement of Rome, who wrote in his epistle of 1 Clement 44:

"Who, then, is noble-minded among you? Who compassionate? Who full of love? Let him declare, 'If on my account sedition, disagreements, and schism have arisen, I will depart. I will go away wherever you desire, and I will do what the many command. Only let the flock of God live on terms of peace with the elders set over it'."

The Spelling of 'Wycliffe'?

John De Wycliffe retains several titles, including Doctor Evangelicus [the Evangelical Doctor] from the period of his preaching, to the popular and famous Morningstar of the Reformation. But a casual internet search reveals that there seems to be no universally accepted spelling of John Wycliffe's name. The first part, John, is fairly easy and comes from the Latin name Iohannes, but there are actually upwards of twenty different ways of spelling his last name! These include but are not limited to: Wicklif, Wickliffe, Wiclefii, Wiclef, Wiclif, Wiclife, Wicliff, Wicliffe, Wyclef, Wycleff, Wyclif, Wycliffe, Wyclyf, and Wyclyffe.

What do records indicate on the subject matter? According to historian Philip Schaff, the form 'Wyclif' is found in a diocesan register of 1361 (from the reformer's tenure as warden of Balliol College), while an official state document from 26 July 1374 presents the name as 'Wiclif'. Over the last century, scholars have primarily used either 'Wyclif' or 'Wycliffe' - the latter of which continues to be my personal preference. How will future historians spell your name?