Reading the Book of the Apocalypse of Saint John (aka. Revelation)

And finally, here is my last short essay on a book of the Bible that I've just finished re-reading from top to toe, part of my great journey through the Bible, recently completed. Since August, I've been doing what I've wanted to do for a few years and read through the entire Knox English version of Holy Scripture, a copy of which I acquired when I was at the cathedral in Nottingham. Monsignor Knox was a twentieth-century Anglican clergyman who became a Catholic, following an intellectual pathway comparable to the great Saint John Henry Newman in the century before. He was an excellent author and essayist in English and is well known for his homily collections on various subjects, his satires and even his murder mysteries. At one point, by the request of the English bishops, he produced this excellent translation of Scripture, which has become known as the Knox version. You can get a new and well-bound copy here. More on Monsignor Knox here.

To begin this short post on Apocalypse, let's have a quick look at the traditional origin of this book, which is now frequently thrown in doubt by biblical scholarship. I shall take this from the bishop Eusebius' church history. This is what he says in Book III of that history:

"It is said that in this persecution [of the Emperor Domitian] the Apostle and evangelist John, who was still alive, was condemned to dwell on the island of Patmos in consequence of his testimony to the divine word. Irenæus, in the fifth book of his work Against Heresies, where he discusses the number of the name of Antichrist which is given in the so-called Apocalypse of John, speaks as follows concerning him: 'If it were necessary for his name to be proclaimed openly at the present time, it would have been declared by him who saw the revelation. For it was seen not long ago, but almost in our own generation, at the end of the reign of Domitian.' To such a degree, indeed, did the teaching of our faith flourish at that time that even those writers who were far from our religion did not hesitate to mention in their histories the persecution and the martyrdoms which took place during it."

So, then, Saint Irenaeus of Lyon, who lived within two generations of Saint John, passed on a tradition that the Apostle received the revelation or apocalypse in the reign of Domitian, while he was exiled to the island of Patmos. He would later return to action in Asia Minor, ending up in the west at Ephesus. It would be natural for him to receive messages to carry back to the several churches in Asia Minor. Right. On to the book, and there are messages to carry back to churches in Asia:

"Thus John writes to the seven churches in Asia, Grace and peace be yours, from Him Who is, and ever was, and is still to come, and from the seven spirits that stand before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, First-born of the risen dead, Who rules over all earthly kings. He has proved His love for us, by washing us clean from our sins in His own blood, and made us a royal race of priests, to serve God, His Father; glory and power be His through endless ages, Amen. Behold, He comes with clouds about Him, seen by every eye, seen by those who wounded Him, and He shall bring lamentation to all the tribes of earth. So it must be, Amen. 'I am Alpha, I am Omega, the beginning of all things and their end,' says the Lord God; 'He who is, and ever was, and is still to come, the Almighty.' I, John, your brother, who share your ill-usage, your royal dignity, and your endurance in Christ Jesus, was set down on the island called Patmos, for love of God’s word and of the truth concerning Jesus. And there, on the Lord’s day, I fell into a trance, and heard behind me a voice, loud as the call of a trumpet, which said, 'Write down all thou seest in a book, and send it to the seven churches in Asia, to Ephesus, and Smyrna, and Pergamum, and Thyatira, and Sardis, and Philadelphia, and Laodicea." - Apocalypse, 1: 4-11

It's worth including this whole block of text because of its inclusion of a basic Christian creed: Church is risen, He reigns over all forever. Behold, He comes with clouds, he comes with clouds descending... now listen to this lovely old Wesleyan hymn, which is a summary of the return of Christ as given by Apocalypse:

Following this listing of the churches is a frightful vision of Christ, as seen in the great vision, and it has the aspect of those wonderful visions of prophets like Jeremias and Ezechiel:

"...One who seemed like a son of man, clothed in a long garment, with a golden girdle about His breast. The hair on His head was like wool snow-white, and His eyes like flaming fire, His feet like orichalc melted in the crucible, and His voice like the sound of water in deep flood. In His right hand were seven stars; from His mouth came a sword sharpened at both its edges; and His face was like the sun when it shines at its full strength. At the sight of Him, I fell down at His feet like a dead man; and He, laying His right hand on me, spoke thus: 'Do not be afraid; I AM before all, I AM at the end of all, and I live. I, Who underwent death, am alive, as thou seest, to endless ages, and I hold the keys of death and hell.'" - Apocalypse, 1: 13-18

I do so love that Christ uses the same language here in his fearsome aspect that he used in the Gospels, when He also terrified men like John by walking over the water to them on a stormy sea. He at once explains that the seven stars in his hand represent seven angels that have the care of the seven churches, which are represented as candlesticks here. There follow the messages to the churches. To summarise, Ephesus has done well since it first received the Gospel and had even rejected the Nicolaitan heresy, but has suffered a loss of charity; Smyrna has done well and will soon suffer persecution; Pergamum has remained faithful in a pagan atmosphere but has lost some of its Christians to the Nicolaitan heresy; Thyatira has remained largely faithful but has been infected with a gnostic religion centering on a woman (named Jezabel here); Sardis has declined greatly and there remain only a few faithful Christians there; Philadelphia has remained faithful and will soon receive several Jewish converts; Laodicea is accused of being lukewarm, which I take to mean lacking in devotion to the faith and trusting in its own prosperity. Chapter four gives us a vision of the Throne:

"And all at once I was in a trance, and saw where a throne stood in heaven, and One sat there enthroned. He who sat there bore the semblance of a jewel, jasper or sardius, and there was a rainbow about the throne, like a vision of emerald. Round it were twenty-four seats, and on these sat twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with crowns of gold on their heads. Lightnings came out from the throne, and mutterings, and thunders, and before it burned seven lamps, which are the seven spirits of God; facing it was a whole sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst, where the throne was, round the throne itself, were four living figures, that had eyes everywhere to see before them and behind them. The first figure was that of a lion, the second that of an ox, the third had a man’s look, and the fourth was that of an eagle in flight. Each of the four figures had six wings, with eyes everywhere looking outwards and inwards; day and night they cried unceasingly, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who ever was, and is, and is still to come.'" - Apocalypse 4: 2-8

Many of our Mass texts come from the book of Apocalypse, for this book is about the unceasing divine worship in heaven, of which our Mass is a participation. Hence, above, we see the twenty-four elders in white and the four great seraphs who present worship of the Holy One in the immediate vicinity of the throne. The vision continues with the discovery of a scroll/book in the hand of the Holy One, a scroll/book written inside and out and sealed with seven seals - a book of judgement and punishment, no doubt. Only one person could open this scroll and disclose its content: Christ Himself, the Bridge between God and mankind, here presented in a new vision: that of the Lamb of God. 

"But there was no one in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth, who could open the scroll and have sight of it. I was all in tears, that none should be found worthy to open the scroll or have sight of it; until one of the elders said to me, 'No need for tears; here is One who has gained the right to open the book, by breaking its seven seals, the Lion that comes from the tribe of Juda, from the stock of David.' Then I saw, in the midst, where the throne was, amid the four figures and the elders, a Lamb standing upright, yet slain (as I thought) in sacrifice. He had seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, that go out to do His bidding everywhere on earth. He now came, and took the scroll from the right hand of Him Who sat on the throne, and when He disclosed it, the four living figures and the twenty-four elders fell down in the Lamb’s presence. Each bore a harp, and they had golden bowls full of incense, the prayers of the saints. And now it was a new hymn they sang, 'Thou, Lord, art worthy to take up the book and break the seals that are on it. Thou wast slain in sacrifice; out of every tribe, every language, every people, every nation Thou hast ransomed us with Thy blood and given us to God.'" - Apocalypse, 5: 3-9

As in the letter to the Hebrews, Christ receives His great authority as a result of His voluntary self-sacrifice. The rest of the chapter is about divine worship, not only of the Holy One Who sits upon the throne, but of the Lamb as well. Chapter six describes the result of the opening of the scroll of judgement/vengeance, a sequence of plagues upon the world. The notable vision results from the breaking of the fifth of the seven seals on the scroll, for it describes the pending reward of the Christian martyrs, who had given their lives for the faith. I call it notable because it points directly to the Mass again, where the sacrifice of the Lamb is offered upon an altar that contains the relics of the Saints, often including martyr Saints.

"And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw there, beneath the altar, the souls of all who had been slain for love of God’s word and of the truth they held, crying out with a loud voice, 'Sovereign Lord, the Holy, the True, how long now before Thou wilt sit in judgement, and exact vengeance for our blood from all those who dwell on earth?' Whereupon a white robe was given to each of them, and they were bidden to take their rest a little while longer, until their number had been made up by those others, their brethren and fellow servants, who were to die as they had died." - Apocalypse, 6: 9-11

In the next vision, in chapter seven, we find a fuller description of the martyrs of the Church who had suffered through the persecutions of Saint John's time ('the great afflication), a great multitude indeed. The Church has always greatly honoured those men and women who have payed the ultimate price for their allegiance to Christ.

"And then I saw a great multitude, past all counting, taken from all nations and tribes and peoples and languages. These stood before the throne in the Lamb’s presence, clothed in white robes, with palm-branches in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, 'To our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, all saving power belongs.' And all the angels that were standing round the throne, round the elders and the living figures, fell prostrate before the throne and paid God worship; 'Amen,' they cried, 'blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength belong to our God through endless ages, Amen.' And now one of the elders turned to me, and asked, 'Who are they, and whence do they come, these who are robed in white?' 'My Lord,' said I, 'thou canst tell me.' 'These,' he said, 'have come here out of the great affliction; they have washed their robes white in the Blood of the Lamb. And now they stand before God’s throne, serving Him day and night in His temple; the presence of Him Who sits on the throne shall overshadow them. They will not be hungry or thirsty any more; no sun, no noonday heat, shall fall across their path. The Lamb, Who dwells where the throne is, will be their Shepherd, leading them out to the springs whose water is life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'" - Apocalypse, 7: 9-17

The seals all broken on the scroll, a dead silence falls upon the great assembly of worshippers, and then we discover the angel that is mentioned at every Mass during the Eucharistic Prayer offering a burning of incense to God which is composed of the prayers of Christians:

"There was another angel that came and took his stand at the altar, with a censer of gold; and incense was given him in plenty, so that he could make an offering on the golden altar before the throne, out of the prayers said by all the saints. So, from the angel’s hand, the smoke of the incense went up in God’s presence, kindled by the saints’ prayer. Then the angel took his censer, filled it up with fire-brands from the altar, and threw it down on to the earth; thunder followed, and mutterings, and lightning, and a great earthquake." - Apocalypse, 8: 3-5

The this same angel apparently starts off the plagues that will afflict the earth. I often say that the whole theme of the Old Testament is the ending of idolatry, but we could say that this is the theme of the whole of Scripture. For the New Testament continues this theme (even drawing non-Jews out of idolatry and towards the worship of the one, true God), and here Saint John tells us that in spite of the great plagues, most of the inhabitants of the world refuse to give up their idolatrous acts and the sins that proceeded from these acts:

"The rest of mankind, that did not perish by these plagues, would not turn away from the things their own hands had fashioned; still worshipped evil spirits, false gods of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, that can neither see, nor hear, nor move. Nor would they repent of the murders, the sorceries, the fornications, and the thefts which they committed." - Apocalypse, 9: 20-21

Chapters ten and eleven are reminiscent of Ezechiel's own descriptions of swallowing a word of prophecy that is to be delivered to the people and then of measuring the Temple of God. And there is mention of the two olive trees or candlesticks in the book of Zacharias, a book that was used multiple times by the Gospel writers. If I read it correctly, these two witnesses to God were the twin ministries of the governor/administrator and the Temple high-priest, which had been erected with the establishment of the Second Temple under the priest Ezra (described by Zacharias), but which would now die together with the Temple, under the Romans (who may be the great beast coming up out of the abyss). It seems that this system is to be restored before the establishment of the divine sovereignty, which is sung about at this point.

"Then the seventh angel sounded, and with that, a great cry was raised in heaven, 'The dominion of the world has passed to the Lord of us all, and to Christ His anointed; He shall reign for ever and ever, Amen.' And the twenty-four elders who sit enthroned in God’s presence fell prostrate, worshipping God and crying out, 'Lord God Almighty, Who art, and ever wast, and art still to come, we give Thee thanks for assuming that high sovereignty which belongs to Thee, and beginning Thy reign. The heathen have vented their rage upon us, but now the day of Thy retribution has come; the time when Thou wilt judge the dead, rewarding Thy servants, prophets and holy men and all who fear Thy Name, little or great, and destroying the corrupters of the world." - Apocalypse, 11: 15-18

But how will all this be? What made all this possible? In chapter twelve we receive the great vision of the Immaculate and her eternal foe.

"And now, in heaven, a great portent appeared; a woman that wore the sun for her mantle, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars about her head. She had a child in her womb, and was crying out as she travailed, in great pain of her delivery. Then a second portent appeared in heaven; a great dragon was there, fiery-red, with seven heads and ten horns, and on each of the seven heads a royal diadem; his tail dragged down a third part of the stars in heaven, and flung them to earth. And he stood fronting the woman who was in childbirth, ready to swallow up the child as soon as she bore it. She bore a Son, the Son Who is to herd the nations like sheep with a crook of iron; and this Child of hers was caught up to God, right up to His throne..." - Apocalypse, 12: 1-5

And so heaven calls out again to declare the reign of God, as before, but qualified by the vision of the birth of the Child, and the defeat of the ancient serpent (by the sacrifice of Christ, which has enabled the martyrs to triumph), the enemy of the Lady's spiritual children:

"Then I heard a voice crying aloud in heaven, 'The time has come; now we are saved and made strong, our God reigns, and power belongs to Christ, His anointed; the accuser of our brethren is overthrown. Day and night he stood accusing them in God’s presence; but because of the Lamb’s blood and because of the truth to which they bore witness, they triumphed over him, holding their lives cheap till death overtook them. Rejoice over it, heaven, and all you that dwell in heaven; but woe to you, earth and sea, now that the devil has come down upon you, full of malice, because he knows how brief is the time given him.'" - Apocalypse, 12: 10-12

Now the vision deals with the malice of the devil worked out upon the inhabitants of the earth. Chapter thirteen now describes the beast that received the authority and power of the defeated serpent and established a particular religion that centred on it - an anti-Christian religion of rebellion against the rule of God. 

"And he was given power of speech, to boast and to blaspheme with, and freedom to work his will for a space of forty-two months. So he began to utter blasphemy against God, blasphemy against His Name, against His dwelling-place and all those who dwell in heaven. He was allowed, too, to levy war on the saints, and to triumph over them. The dominion given to him extended over all tribes and peoples and languages and races; all the dwellers on earth fell down in adoration of him, except those whose names the Lamb has written down in his book of life, the Lamb slain in sacrifice ever since the world was made." - Apocalypse, 13: 5-8

There is here an exhortation to Christians to remain true and faithful to the Christian faith and the Christian religion, reminiscent of the warnings in the letter to the Hebrews and elsewhere in the New Testament. The great persecutions of the nascent Church resulted in a great temptation for Christians to give up the fight and return to traditional religions or to the protected Jewish religion. The beast must always represent the cruel governments and corrupt cultures and societies that draw people away from the Christian religion. But the chapter ends with the famous reference to the number 666, which it seems clear referred to the persecuting Roman authority of Saint John's time. 

"Here is room for discernment; let the reader, if he has the skill, cast up the sum of the figures in the beast’s name, after our human fashion, and the number will be six hundred and sixty-six." - Apocalypse, 13: 18

But the challenge is not unanswered and chapter fourteen shows a vision of Christ and his company of 144,000 martyrs, attended now by consecrated virgins. Christians are bidden by several angels to remain true to God in the midst of the reign of the beast, 'by keeping true to God's commandments and the faith of Jesus.' This is followed by another great judgement of the earth by several angels with sharp sickels for reaping, and more plagues for the followers of the beast. In chapter seventeen, we find the vision of the so-called whore of Babylon - pagan Rome - that had so gutted the Church in Saint John's time.

"And now one of the angels that bear the seven cups came and spoke to me. 'Come with me,' he said, 'and I will shew thee how judgement is pronounced on the great harlot, that sits by the meeting-place of many rivers. The kings of the world have committed fornication with her; all the dwellers on earth have been drunk with the wine of her dalliance. Then, in a trance, he carried me off into the wilderness, where I saw a woman riding on a scarlet beast, scrawled over with names of blasphemy; it had seven heads, and ten horns. The woman went clad in purple and scarlet, all hung about with gold and jewels and pearls, and held a golden cup in her hand, full to the brim with those abominations of hers, with the lewdness of her harlot’s ways. There was a title written over her forehead, 'The mystic Babylon, great mother-city of all harlots, and all that is abominable on earth.' I saw this woman drunk with the blood of saints, the blood of those who bore witness to Jesus; and I was filled with great wonder at the sight." - Apocalypse, 17: 1-6

This woman and her beast fortunately stand no chance against Christ and his legions of martyrs. This woman might as well represent every other anti-Christian being or institution that tortures the Church. For itn the midst of that torture, Saint John continues to call for perseverance in the Faith. 

"After this I saw another angel, entrusted with great power, come down from heaven; earth shone with the glory of his presence. And he cried aloud, 'Babylon, great Babylon is fallen; she has become the abode of devils, the stronghold of all unclean spirits, the eyrie of all birds that are unclean and hateful to man. The whole world has drunk the maddening wine of her fornication; the kings of the earth have lived in dalliance with her, and its merchants have grown rich through her reckless pleasures.' And now I heard another voice from heaven say, 'Come out of her, my people, that you may not be involved in her guilt, nor share the plagues that fall upon her.'" - Apocalypse, 18: 1-4

I suppose there are limits to inculturation, and there comes a time when the Church must pull up the drawbridges and lock the gates against the evils of the culture surrounding her, to avoid sharing in its guilt, etc. Chapter eighteen seems to indicate a particular destruction of the fortunes of Rome, perhaps as a result of a natural disaster that briefly ruined the trade interests of the City or such things as the great fire of Rome, which many thought old 666 himself (the emperor Nero) had started. In chapter nineteen, heaven declares triumph over the great harlot of Rome and Christ reappears in glorious vision to finally make war with the beast and conquer it and its many followers.

"Then, in my vision, heaven opened, and I saw a white horse appear. Its rider bore for his title, the Faithful, the True; He judges and goes to battle in the cause of right. His eyes were like flaming fire, and on his brow were many royal diadems; the name written there is one that only He knows. He went clad in a garment deep dyed with blood, and the Name by which He is called is the Word of God; the armies of heaven followed Him, mounted on white horses, and clad in linen, white and clean. From His mouth came a two-edged sword, ready to smite the nations; He will herd them like sheep with a crook of iron. He treads out for them the wine-press, whose wine is the avenging anger of almighty God. And this title is written on his cloak, over His thigh, 'The King of kings, and the Lord of lords.'" - Apocalypse, 19: 11-16

The beast taken captive and tossed into a lake of fire, it comes the turn of the dragon/serpent. Chapter twenty describes its imprisonment and final defeat, its joining the beast in the fiery lake. And this is to be followed by the establishment of the throne of judgement for Christ and the salvation of all those whose names are found in the Book of Life. And finally, in chapter twenty-one, the new Jerusalem descends from on high, a Jerusalem from right out of the visions of the Hebrew prophets (think Ezechiel), with the water gushing out the east of it. 

"And I, John, saw in my vision that holy city which is the new Jerusalem, being sent down by God from heaven, all clothed in readiness, like a bride who has adorned herself to meet her Husband. I heard, too, a voice which cried aloud from the throne, 'Here is God’s tabernacle pitched among men; He will dwell with them, and they will be His own people, and He will be among them, their own God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, or mourning, or cries of distress, no more sorrow; those old things have passed away.' And He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' (These words I was bidden write down, words most sure and true.) And He said to me, 'It is over. I AM Alpha, I AM Omega, the beginning of all things and their end; those who are thirsty shall drink—it is my free gift—out of the spring whose water is life.'" - Apocalypse, 21: 2-6

Clearly, this new Jerusalem, called the Bride of Christ, is Holy Church herself, also the Body of Christ. There follows a detailed description of the new Jerusalem, a city of pure gold, but with foundations of precious and semi-precious stone and actual pearly gates. A city with no Temple, for it is the Temple, enshrining within itself the eternal presence of God, which is a life-giving source of such potency that there is no requirement for sun or moon. The gates are ever open, all peoples flock to the city and there is no uncleanness anymore. The final chapter further describes the spring gushing forth from the side of the City/Temple. And, hello, at the other end of the Bible, there now appears the Tree of Life, once forbidden to the children of Adam on account of their rebellion. The rebellion and all profanation is now ended. 

"He shewed me, too, a river, whose waters give life; it flows, clear as crystal, from the throne of God, from the throne of the Lamb. On either side of the river, mid-way along the city street, grows the tree that gives life, bearing its fruit twelvefold, one yield for each month. And the leaves of this tree bring health to all the nations. No longer can there be any profanation in that city; God’s throne (which is the Lamb’s throne) will be there, with His servants to worship Him, and to see His face, His name written on their foreheads. There will be no more night, no more need of light from lamp or sun; the Lord God will shed His light on them, and they will reign for ever and ever." - Apocalypse, 22: 1-5

The Tree of Life I would say is the sacramental life of the Church. Continue to wash your clothes in the Blood of the Lamb to have access to that fount of grace, that spring of life. Christ has the last word, too. Patience, He says, and persevere; avail yourself of the Sacraments, there is no room for idolatry and other sins; I AM; my bride calls for me and I am on the way; come to me and receive everything as a free gift.

"'Patience, I am coming soon; and with Me comes the award I make, repaying each man according to the life he has lived. I AM Alpha, I AM Omega, I AM before all, I AM at the end of all, the beginning of all things and their end. Blessed are those who wash their garments in the Blood of the Lamb; so they will have access to the tree which gives life, and find their way through the gates into the city. No room there for prowling dogs, for sorcerers and wantons and murderers and idolaters, for anyone who loves falsehood and lives in it. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you the assurance of this in your churches; I, the root, I, the Offspring of David’s race, I, the bright Star that brings in the day. The Spirit and My bride bid Me come; let everyone who hears this read out say, 'Come.' Come, you who are thirsty, take, you who will, the water of life; it is My free gift." - Apocalypse, 22: 12-17

Reading through the letter of Saint Paul to the Hebrews

Until a few decades ago, we had no trouble attributing this wonderful letter to Saint Paul, because the last bit of it is so obviously Saint Paul, and this is stylistically different from most of the letter. However, we've taken scientific means of textual analysis a little too seriously and most scholars talk about 'the letter to the Hebrews' and not 'Saint Paul's letter to the Hebrews.' But for the purposes of this reading, I'll assume what the vast majority of Catholics, Saints and scholars, have assumed and say that Saint Paul could very well assume different forms and address different audiences in his letters. I have a very good impression of this great Christian pharisee and scholar and I wouldn't put it past him to be capable of this. I called this letter wonderful because it addresses a Hebrew audience and is concerned with making a very particular argument. And in this short essay, I'll try to reproduce that. The letter begins famously enough.

"In old days, God spoke to our fathers in many ways and by many means, through the prophets; now at last in these times He has spoken to us with a Son to speak for Him; a Son, whom He has appointed to inherit all things, just as it was through Him that He created this world of time; a Son, who is the radiance of His Father’s splendour, and the full expression of His being; all creation depends, for its support, on His enabling word. Now, making atonement for our sins, He has taken His place on high, at the right hand of God’s majesty, superior to the angels in that measure in which the Name He has inherited is more excellent than theirs." - Hebrews, 1: 1-4

The fathers are the Hebrew patriarchs and the generations that followed them and we have a wonderful initial picture of Christ in His new glory after the Cross, which gave Him a particular place in His humanity, and a Name that is higher even than the angels. In the second chapter, the Apostle says that the first covenant (given through Moses) was given by angelic means, but the second covenant (that of Christ) has been given by the Lord Himself, without mediation, and sealed with the obvious gifts of the Holy Spirit. And that gives it a greater weight.

"The Old Law, which only had angels for its spokesmen, was none the less valid; every transgression of it, every refusal to listen to it, incurred just retribution; and what excuse shall we have, if we pay no heed to such a message of salvation as has been given to us? One which was delivered in the first instance by the Lord Himself, and has been guaranteed to us by those who heard it from his own lips? One which God Himself has attested by signs and portents, manifesting His power so variously, and distributing the gifts of His Holy Spirit wherever He would?" - Hebrews, 2: 2-4

The Apostle then interprets Psalm 8 as referring to this exaltation of the human nature of Christ, made only little less than the angels but exalted beyond them because of His sacrifice. And this suffering He endured for our sake is His crown and gives Him the ability to assist us in our own suffering, because together with His Incarnation as a human being it gave Him the function of high-priesthood for all humanity. Chapter three honours Christ as the Founder of the Church, and the Apostle now uses Psalm 94(95) to call his Hebrew audience to firm allegiance to Christ. Do not harden your hearts, he says.

"Take care, brethren, that there is no heart among you so warped by unbelief as to desert the living God. Each day, while the word Today has still a meaning, strengthen your own resolution, to make sure that none of you grows hardened; sin has such power to cheat us. We have been given a share in Christ, but only on condition that we keep unshaken to the end the principle by which we are grounded in Him. That is the meaning of the words, 'If you hear His voice speaking to you this day, do not harden your hearts, as they were hardened once when you provoked Me...'" - Hebrews, 3: 12-15

Those who had provoked God in the desert centuries ago had done so by rejected Moses and the Old Law, given by angels; the price of rejecting a covenant given by the Lord Himself in person would be higher. As at every time in the history of the Church, there would have been wavering Christians of the Hebrew tradition who would be tempted to fall away from Christ and back into an earlier observance. This is their warning: deserting Christ is not an act to be treated lightly, it would be giving up the rest that God promises in Psalm 94(95). This is what chapter four begins with. That chapter ends with a possible reason for Christians of Saint Paul's time falling away from the Church. 

"We can claim a great High Priest, and One Who has passed right up through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. It is not as if our High Priest was incapable of feeling for us in our humiliations; He has been through every trial, fashioned as we are, only sinless. Let us come boldly, then, before the throne of grace, to meet with mercy, and win that grace which will help us in our needs." - Hebrews, 4: 14-16

To Hebrew (Jewish) Christians of that time, such humiliations came from the Greeks and the Romans, but especially from non-Christian Jews. Chapter five describes further the function of the Jewish high-priest, and how well Christ fulfils that function in the Church - because of His humanity, which makes Him our representative, except for His sinlessness (which just means that He sacrifices for us only, not for Himself and for us).

"The purpose for which any high priest is chosen from among his fellow men, and made a representative of men in their dealings with God, is to offer gifts and sacrifices in expiation of their sins. He is qualified for this by being able to feel for them when they are ignorant and make mistakes, since he, too, is all beset with humiliations, and, for that reason, must needs present sin-offerings for himself, just as he does for the people. His vocation comes from God, as Aaron’s did; nobody can take on himself such a privilege as this. So it is with Christ. He did not raise Himself to the dignity of the high priesthood; it was God that raised Him to it, when He said, 'Thou art My Son, I have begotten Thee this day...'" - Hebrews, 5: 1-5

Chapter five ends with a bit of a scolding to those whose faith was weak and faltering and chapter six continues with theme of apostasy - Christians leaving the Church. 

"We can do nothing for those who have received, once for all, their enlightenment, who have tasted the heavenly gift, partaken of the Holy Spirit, known, too, God’s word of comfort, and the powers that belong to a future life, and then fallen away. They cannot attain repentance through a second renewal. Would they crucify the Son of God a second time, hold him up to mockery a second time, for their own ends? No, a piece of ground which has drunk in, again and again, the showers which fell upon it, has God’s blessing on it, if it yields a crop answering the needs of those who tilled it; if it bears thorns and thistles, it has lost its value; a curse hangs over it, and it will feed the bonfire at last." - Hebrews, 6: 4-8

Scary. It speaks of final and obdurate apostasy. The Apostle now presents as a model of faithfulness the patriarch Abraham, who accepted in the absence of visible circumstances the promise of God that he would be the father of many tribes of people. And just as God made that promise to Abraham in distant centuries, He also made an oath to Christ our high-priest in Psalm 109(110), and through Him to the Church. This must be the ground of our own faith. Chapter seven suggests that Christ's priesthood precedes the Levitical priesthood of the Hebrews, because of its connection to Melchisedech, the priest who was associated with the patriarch Abraham. Christ anyway, being like King David of the tribe of Juda, was not of the traditional hereditary Levitical priesthood. Christ's priesthood is of a different and more ancient Order.

"Now, there could be no need for a fresh priest to arise, accredited with Melchisedech’s priesthood, not with Aaron’s, if the Levitical priesthood had brought fulfilment. And it is on the Levitical priesthood that the Law given to God’s people is founded. When the priesthood is altered, the Law, necessarily, is altered with it. After all, He to whom the prophecy relates belonged to a different tribe, which never produced a man to stand at the altar; our Lord took His origin from Juda, that is certain, and Moses in speaking of this tribe, said nothing about priests. And something further becomes evident, when a fresh priest arises to fulfil the type of Melchisedech, appointed, not to obey the Law, with its outward observances, but in the power of an unending life..." - Hebrews, 7:11-16

Christ's priesthood has abrogated the Hebrew priesthood, returning things to an older system represented by the priest-king Melchisedech. And together with it, the Old Law associated with the Levitical priesthood has passed away to allow a more ancient Law to be restored, possibly that of the beginning of Genesis. This has echoes of Christ's teaching on marriage and divorce, which He had said was more primitive than Moses' dispensations. The rest of chapter seven speaks of the temporary nature of the Old Covenant and its inevitable replacement with Christ's New Covenant. Chapter eight begins an analogy of Christ the high-priest interceding for the Church with the Hebrew high-priest interceding for the Hebrews. The Hebrew system, with tabernacle and Temple, was based on a heavenly model that Moses had seen on the mountain. And Christ has taken the religion of the tabernacle and Temple back to what Moses had seen of heaven. The type created on earth had now reached its end.

"This High Priest of ours is one who has taken His seat in heaven, on the right hand of that throne where God sits in majesty, ministering, now, in the sanctuary, in that true tabernacle which the Lord, not man, has set up. After all, if it is the very function of a priest to offer gift and sacrifice, he too must needs have an offering to make. Whereas, if he were still on earth, he would be no priest at all; there are priests already, to offer the gifts which the law demands, men who devote their service to the type and the shadow of what has its true being in heaven. (That is why Moses, when he was building the tabernacle, received the warning, Be sure to make everything in accordance with the pattern that was shewn to thee on the mountain.)" - Hebrews, 8: 1-5

The letter was certainly written before the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. If Saint Paul had survived that, he would have altered this passage with a greater certainty of the passing away of both the old religion and the Old Law, properly replaced with the Christian religion and Law, as given by the rest of chapter eight. Chapter nine has a fuller description of elements of the Hebrew religious rites of the Jerusalem Temple and how the Christian rites supersede and transcend them. 

"The sanctuary into which Jesus has entered is not one made by human hands, is not some adumbration of the truth; He has entered heaven itself, where He now appears in God’s sight on our behalf. Nor does He make a repeated offering of Himself, as the High Priest, when He enters the sanctuary, makes a yearly offering of the blood that is not His own. If that were so, He must have suffered again and again, ever since the world was created; as it is, He has been revealed once for all, at the moment when history reached its fulfilment, annulling our sin by His sacrifice. Man’s destiny is to die once for all; nothing remains after that but judgement; and Christ was offered once for all, to drain the cup of a world’s sins; when we see Him again, sin will play its part no longer, He will be bringing salvation to those who await His coming." - Hebrews, 9: 24-28

If we keep in mind that this was written for a Hebrew/Jewish audience, we would understand why the Apostle goes into such detail about the abrogation of the Old Law, replaced with the Law of Christ. He uses Psalm 39(40) to demonstrate the inevitability of the end of the animal sacrifices of the Old Law. 

"No, what these offerings bring with them, year by year, is only the remembrance of sins; that sins should be taken away by the blood of bulls and goats is impossible. As Christ comes into the world, He says, 'No sacrifice, no offering was thy demand; thou hast endowed me, instead, with a body. Thou hast not found any pleasure in burnt-sacrifices, in sacrifices for sin. See then, I said, I am coming to fulfil what is written of me, where the book lies unrolled; to do thy will, O my God.' First He says, 'Thou didst not demand victim or offering, the burnt-sacrifice, the sacrifice for sin, nor hast thou found any pleasure in them; in anything, that is, which the law has to offer, and then:—I said, See, my God, I am coming to do thy will.' He must clear the ground first, so as to build up afterwards. In accordance with this divine will we have been sanctified by an offering made once for all, the body of Jesus Christ." - Hebrews, 10: 3-10

He had to clear the ground of animal sacrifices to make His own great sacrifice. Given this Sacrifice, we cannot remain forever in wilful sin, but must persevere in the observance of purity and await the promises associated with the following of the commandments of Christ. Perseverance in the faith seems to be the goal of this exhortation by the Apostle.

"Do not throw away that confidence of yours, with its rich hope of reward; you still need endurance, if you are to attain the prize God has promised to those who do His will. Only a brief moment, now, before He Who is coming will be here; He will not linger on the way. It is faith that brings life to the man whom I accept as justified; if he shrinks back, he shall win no favour with me. Not for us to shrink away, and be lost; it is for us to have faith, and save our souls." - Hebrews, 10: 35-39

Perseverance in faith. Chapter eleven summons up the faith of Abel, the faith of Enoch, the faith of Noah, the faith of Abraham and Sara, the faith of Isaac and Jacob, the faith of Moses, the faith of Israel under the Judges, the faith of Samuel and David, the faith of the Hebrew prophets.  All these believed without seeing the end of their faith, a faith they suffered for and accomplished marvels with; we Christians know that end.

"Theirs was the faith which subdued kingdoms, which served the cause of right, which made promises come true. They shut the mouths of lions, they quenched raging fire, swords were drawn on them, and they escaped. How strong they became, who till then were weak, what courage they shewed in battle, how they routed invading armies! There were women, too, who recovered their dead children, brought back to life. Others, looking forward to a better resurrection still, would not purchase their freedom on the rack. And others experienced mockery and scourging, chains, too, and imprisonment; they were stoned, they were cut in pieces, they were tortured, they were put to the sword; they wandered about, dressed in sheepskins and goatskins, amidst want, and distress, and ill-usage; men whom the world was unworthy to contain, living a hunted life in deserts and on mountain-sides, in rock-fastnesses and caverns underground. One and all gave proof of their faith, yet they never saw the promise fulfilled; for us, God had something better in store. We were needed, to make the history of their lives complete." - Hebrews, 11: 33-40

And in such fashion as the great men and women of the Old Testament worked wonders, suffered and died for the faith they had, so must we be prepared to do for the Christian faith, keeping Christ always before us. This is the flow of chapter twelve, which also gives us our heavenly goal - no longer the glory of God on Mount Horeb and the trumpet blasts of unseen angels, but something greater. 

"The scene of your approach now is mount Sion, is the heavenly Jerusalem, city of the living God; here are gathered thousands upon thousands of angels, here is the assembly of those first-born sons whose names are written in heaven, here is God sitting in judgement on all men, here are the spirits of just men, now made perfect; here is Jesus, the spokesman of the new covenant, and the sprinkling of his blood, which has better things to say than Abel’s had." - Hebrews, 12: 22-24

The rest of the letter, chapter thirteen, is a short exhortation to Christian virtue, a final exhortation agaisnt apostasy. If I were to summarise the whole letter, I would use these words: the authority of the Son of God, Christ our Lord, who took on our lowly human nature and through His great sacrifice was raised higher even than the angelic natures, is an authority that cannot be rejected for it has replaced the authority of the Hebrew priesthood, abrogating it and restoring a more ancient system - one that is based in heaven, with Christ ministering as priest there; Christ's Sacrifice gave Him a particular high-priestly role of service to His fellow human beings, and brought to an end both the Old Law and the Old religion of the Hebrews; with the one great Sacrifice of Christ completed, all Christians need do is persevere in faith and in keeping the commandments of Christ, until He arrives in glory. We have great models of faith in the Old Testament to inspire us and Christ Himself stands before us, beckoning us towards the heavenly Jerusalem and the eternal worship of the one God. I shall end this essay with Paul's usual words of farewell. He obviously wrote these words in Rome, and mentions his favourite spiritual son, Saint Timothy.

"I entreat you, brethren, bear patiently with all these words of warning; it is but a brief letter I am sending you. You must know that our brother Timothy has been set at liberty; if he comes soon, I will bring him with me when I visit you. Greet all those who are in authority, and all the saints. The brethren from Italy send you their greetings. Grace be with you all, Amen." - Hebrews, 13: 22-25

Reading through the Acts of the Apostles

I just got to the end of the great Bible read last week, and I'm going to put out the last three posts, on the last three books, in the next few days. This is the first of them. I'm not certain exactly how to summarise the Acts of the Apostles. Saint Luke did not write it precisely as a history, as we understand histories today, any more than he wrote his Gospel as a history. Rather, the Acts is his continuation of that Gospel demonstrating the ongoing abiding of Christ with His Church in the first years, as the Apostolic authority was erected in Jerusalem. But Luke was more concerned with Saint Paul, for they were companions in Paul's travels, as documented in Acts, and he quickly moves in the narrative from the last escape of Saint Peter from the Jerusalem priests to the mission of Paul to the West. But let's run through some highlights. We begin of course with Luke's Ascension narrative.

"When He had said this, they saw Him lifted up, and a cloud caught Him away from their sight. And as they strained their eyes towards heaven, to watch His journey, all at once two men in white garments were standing at their side. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking heavenwards? He who has been taken from you into heaven, this same Jesus, will come back in the same fashion, just as you have watched Him going into heaven.' Then, from the mountain which is called Olivet, they went back to Jerusalem; the distance from Jerusalem is not great, a sabbath day’s journey." - Acts of the Apostles, 1: 9-12

There still is a stone on Mount Olivet, east of Jerusalem, which is said to bear the imprint of Christ last foot-fall before that great leap that sent Him into the heavens. It is unfortunately now in the middle of a mosque. From this point, the Church now gathered around the Blessed Virgin, and awaited the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and Luke counts up the Apostles, who are at this point called no longer the Twelve, but the Eleven. For Judas, of course, is dead, and is now to be replaced, to restore the number of the Twelve.

"Coming in, they went up into the upper room where they dwelt, Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the brother of James. All these, with one mind, gave themselves up to prayer, together with Mary the mother of Jesus, and the rest of the women and his brethren. At this time, Peter stood up and spoke before all the brethren; a company of about a hundred and twenty were gathered there. Brethren, he said, there is a prophecy in scripture that must needs be fulfilled; that which the Holy Spirit made, by the lips of David, about Judas, who shewed the way to the men that arrested Jesus." - Acts of the Apostles, 1: 13-16

The first chapter ends with the appointment of Saint Matthias to replace Judas, and to form the twelfth foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem (that is, the Church). The second chapter is the great story of Pentecost, which we have been hearing in the last few weeks. On that first Pentecost, Saint Peter gave his first sermon and was already making Christian use of the Hebrew Bible, and especially Psalm 109(110), the great messianic psalm of King David.

"This man you have put to death; by God’s fixed design and foreknowledge, He was betrayed to you, and you, through the hands of sinful men, have cruelly murdered Him. But God raised Him up again, releasing Him from the pangs of death; it was impossible that death should have the mastery over Him. It is in His person that David says, 'Always I can keep the Lord within sight; always he is at my right hand, to make me stand firm. So there is gladness in my heart, and rejoicing on my lips; my body, too, shall rest in confidence that thou wilt not leave my soul in the place of death, or allow thy faithful servant to see corruption. Thou hast shewn me the way of life; thou wilt make me full of gladness in thy presence.' My brethren, I can say this to you about the patriarch David without fear of contradiction, that he did die, and was buried, and his tomb is among us to this day. But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised him on oath that he would set the sons of his body upon his throne; it was of the Christ he said, foreseeing His resurrection, that He was not left in the place of death, and that His body did not see corruption. God, then, has raised up this man, Jesus, from the dead; we are all witnesses of it. And now, exalted at God’s right hand, He has claimed from His Father His promise to bestow the Holy Spirit; and He has poured out that Spirit, as you can see and hear for yourselves. David never went up to heaven, and yet David has told us, 'The Lord said to my Master, Sit on my right hand, while I make thy enemies a footstool under thy feet.' Let it be known, then, beyond doubt, to all the house of Israel, that God has made Him Master and Christ, this Jesus Whom you crucified." - Acts of the Apostles, 2: 23-36

That short exhortation brought three thousand into the Church at once, as Luke happily records. These early Christians, at least for a while, lived a communal life that is best represented today by monasteries of monks and nuns. And miracles abounded, to confirm the claims made by the Apostles. Chapter three describes the first miracle of the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint John, and Saint Peter's following sermon, his second, in which he identifies Christ with the prophet Moses had mentioned centuries ago as one day replacing him (Moses) as a guide to the people.

"Repent, then, and turn back to Him, to have your sins effaced, against the day when the Lord sees fit to refresh our hearts. Then He will send out Jesus Christ, who has now been made known to you, but must have His dwelling-place in heaven until the time when all is restored anew, the time which God has spoken of by His holy prophets from the beginning. Thus, Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like myself, from among your own brethren; to him, to every word of his, you must listen. It is ordained that everyone who will not listen to the voice of that prophet shall be lost to his people.'" - Acts of the Apostles, 3: 19-23

So, wasn't it inevitable that the Temple priests would descend on these newly emboldened Apostles? Right on cue, in chapter four, the Sadducean priests arrive. As the Gospels told us, these Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead and they could not abide the Christian preaching. The high-priest Caiaphas and his father-in-law, the chief-priest Annas, both of whom had condemned Christ appear once more now, to place the Apostles on trial. Saint Peter did not mince his words:

"On the next day, there was a gathering of the rulers and elders and scribes in Jerusalem; the high priest Annas was there, and Caiphas, and John, and Alexander, and all those who belonged to the high-priestly family. And they had Peter and John brought into their presence, and asked them, 'By what power, in whose name, have such men as you done this?' Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, and said to them, 'Rulers of the people, elders of Israel, listen to me. If it is over kindness done to a cripple, and the means by which he has been restored, that we are called in question, here is news for you and for the whole people of Israel. You crucified Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, and God raised Him from the dead; it is through His name that this man stands before you restored. He is that stone, rejected by you, the builders, that has become the chief stone at the corner.'" - Acts of the Apostles, 4: 5-11

At this point, the Sadducees were merely surprised by the boldness of the Apostles and sent them away with a warning to stop their preaching in the City. The Apostles promptly convened and interpreted the situation as a fulfillment of Psalm 2 and prayed for strength to continue preaching: 

"Now that they were set free, they went back to their company, and told them all the chief priests and elders had said. And they, when they heard it, uttered prayer to God with one accord; 'Ruler of all, Thou art the maker of heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them. Thou hast said through Thy Holy Spirit, by the lips of Thy servant David, our father, What means this turmoil among the nations; why do the peoples cherish vain dreams? See how the kings of the earth stand in array, how its rulers make common cause, against the Lord and his Christ. True enough, in this city of ours, Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel to aid them, made common cause against Thy holy servant Jesus, so accomplishing all that Thy power and wisdom had decreed. Look down upon their threats, Lord, now as of old; enable Thy servants to preach Thy word confidently, by stretching out Thy hand to heal; and let signs and miracles be performed in the Name of Jesus, Thy holy Son." - Acts of the Apostles, 4: 23-30

The fourth chapter ends with the introduction to the Cypriot Joseph, whom the Apostles renamed Barnabas because of the great consolation he brought to the Church in Jerusalem. Saint Barnabas is of course very important to our diocese, for some at least of his relics are at our cathedral church in Nottingham. Chapter five tells us of the extraordinary power that attached itself to the person of Saint Peter, so that he could cause miracles to take place without even bending his mind to them. As took place with Christ Himself. The Old Testament already tells us of miracles worked through the physical presence of Saints like the prophet Eliseus (aka. Elisha) in both life and death, and this continued among the Apostles.

"And there were many signs and miracles done by the apostles before the people. They used to gather with one accord in Solomon’s porch. No one else dared to join them, although the people held them in high honour, and the number of those who believed in the Lord, both men and women, still increased; they even used to bring sick folk into the streets, and lay them down there on beds and pallets, in the hope that even the shadow of Peter, as he passed by, might fall upon one of them here and there, and so they would be healed of their infirmities. From neighbouring cities, too, the common people flocked to Jerusalem, bringing with them the sick and those who were troubled by unclean spirits; and all of them were cured." - Acts of the Apostles, 5: 12-16

All of this growth and activity now excited the envy of the Sadducean priesthood and they began to persecute the Church. They were at first restrained by the venerable sage Gamaliel at the end of chapter five, and merely scourged the Apostles and again forbade them to preach. They of course continued, and the Church grew further, causing the first organisational crisis, where the Apostles found themselves torn between the ministry of preaching and prayer and that of service to the community. They responded by ordaining the first deacons.

"So the Twelve called together the general body of the disciples, and said, 'It is too much that we should have to forgo preaching God’s word, and bestow our care upon tables. Come then, brethren, you must find among you seven men who are well spoken of, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, for us to put in charge of this business, while we devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of preaching.' This advice found favour with all the assembly; and they chose Stephen, a man who was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, who was a proselyte from Antioch. These they presented to the apostles, who laid their hands on them with prayer. By now the word of God was gaining influence, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem was greatly increasing; many of the priests had given their allegiance to the Faith." - Acts of the Apostles, 6: 2-6

I like that last line: it seems that some of the Sadducean priests became Christians, and certainly at least some of them would have been ordained by the Apostles for the Jerusalem Church. This would have created the wonderful circumstance of men who were simultaneously priests both of the Old Covenant and of the New! Chapter six and seven then tell of the great success of the ministry of Saint Stephen, one of the first deacons, and his arrest and long defence of himself before the Sanhedrin. He of course met the same fate as Christ had before him and in a similar way; but the end of his story introduces us to the great hero of the latter part of this book: the pharisee Paul, whose Hebrew name was Saul.

"But he, full of the Holy Spirit, fastened his eyes on heaven, and saw there the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand; 'I see heaven opening,' he said, 'and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.' Then they cried aloud, and put their fingers into their ears; with one accord they fell upon him, thrust him out of the city, and stoned him. And the witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. Thus they stoned Stephen; he, meanwhile, was praying; 'Lord Jesus,' he said, 'receive my spirit;' and then, kneeling down, he cried aloud, 'Lord, do not count this sin against them.' And with that, he fell asleep in the Lord. Saul was one of those who gave their voices for his murder." - Acts of the Apostles, 7: 55-59

The murder of Saint Stephen was part of a greater persecution of the Church in Jerusalem and the Apostles now scattered across Judaea and Samaria, going further north and west. The greater part of the Church, the laity, went even further. Acts soon tells of nascent churches in Cyprus, Phoenice, Damascus and Antioch, in northern Syria. Before we are introduced further to Saint Paul, chapter eight tells us of the ministry of another of the first deacons, Philip, in Samaria. Philip was able to draw the people there to faith and baptise them, but called the Apostles up for Confirmation, because they were priests:

"Long misled by his sorceries, they continued to pay attention to him, until Philip came and preached to them about God’s kingdom. Then they found faith and were baptised, men and women alike, in the name of Jesus Christ; and Simon, who had found faith and been baptised with the rest, kept close to Philip’s side; he was astonished by the great miracles and signs he saw happening. And now the Apostles at Jerusalem, hearing that Samaria had received the word of God, sent Peter and John to visit them. So these two came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, who had not, as yet, come down on any of them; they had received nothing so far except baptism in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Then the apostles began to lay their hands on them, so that the Holy Spirit was given them..." - Acts of the Apostles, 8: 11-17

Philip has more success with beginning the Ethiopian church at the end of chapter eight, before retiring to Caesarea. Chapter nine presents the conversion story of Saint Paul, a great turning point in the eventual acceptance of non-Jewish believers into the Church. Paul had been a vicious persecutor of the Church, and he never forgot that, and it took the Apostles some time to trust him. His great intelligence, knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures and enthusiasm was now turned to the advantage of the Church and it was long before the Christians had to send him away, in fear for his life.

"So he reached Jerusalem, where he tried to attach himself to the disciples; but they could not believe he was a true disciple, and all avoided his company. Whereupon Barnabas took him by the hand and brought him in to the apostles, telling them how, on his journey, he had seen the Lord and had speech with him, and how at Damascus he had spoken boldly in the Name of Jesus. So he came and went in their company at Jerusalem, and spoke boldly in the Name of the Lord. He preached, besides, to the Jews who talked Greek, and disputed with them, till they set about trying to take his life. As soon as they heard of this, the brethren took him down to Caesarea, and put him on his way to Tarsus." - Acts of the Apostles, 9: 26-30

This was only the beginning of the persecution of Paul by the Greek Jews of the diaspora. Paul himself was one of them, and his success in making Christians from among the Jewish communities of the diaspora led to continual plots against his life. While Paul was at Tarsus, Peter had his great vision and brought the first non-Jewish person into the Church, with his whole household. This was the centurion Cornelius who lived at Caesarea, and the story is told in chapter ten. This move by the Apostle was a dramatic one and would have to be defended repeatedly before the other Apostles and the Church in general could accept it, but it is the beginning for all of us non-Jewish Christians.

"And now the Apostles and brethren in Judaea were told how the word of God had been given to the Gentiles. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those who held to the tradition of circumcision found fault with him; 'Why didst thou pay a visit, they asked, to men who are uncircumcised, and eat with them?' Whereupon Peter told them the story point by point from the beginning;" - Acts of the Apostles, 11: 1-4

Chapter eleven now tells us that the Christians who had dispersed north and west of Jerusalem as a result of the persecutions had been busy spreading the word and creating small believing communities of both Jews and non-Jews (called Greeks here), but probably without priests in many places. The Apostles began to dispatch priests like Saint Barnabas north to bestow the Sacraments. Barnabas saw great promise in Antioch and went off to fetch the great fire of Saint Paul.

"Meanwhile, those who had been dispersed owing to the persecution that was raised over Stephen had travelled as far away as Phoenice and Cyprus and Antioch, without preaching the word to anyone except the Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they found their way to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks as well, preaching the Lord Jesus to them. And the Lord’s power went with them, so that a great number learned to believe, and turned to the Lord. The story of this came to the ears of the Church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas on a mission to Antioch. When he came there and saw what grace God was bestowing on them, he was full of joy, and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with steady purpose of heart, like the good man he was, full of the Holy Spirit, full of faith; a great multitude was thus won over to the Lord. He went on to Tarsus, to look for Saul, and when he found him, brought him back to Antioch. For a whole year after this they were made welcome in the Church there, teaching a great multitude. And Antioch was the first place in which the disciples were called Christians." - Acts of the Apostles, 11: 19-26

It was therefore at Antioch that non-Jews and non-Christians were able to distinguish the Church sufficiently from the Synagogue to give us a new name: Christian. The persecutions in Jerusalem continued however, and the first Apostle to fall was one of the Boanerges, Saint James son of Zebedee. Herod had a plan to execute Saint Peter also, but he was able to escape miraculously from prison and exits from our story, probably travelling north to Antioch, where tradition tells us he had his first bishopric. Chapter twelve, which tells this story, tells of the wretched end of Herod, who had had James killed. The narrative now shifts to Paul and Barnabas returning to Antioch, and then turning west. Their first voyage west begins in chapter thirteen: they went across to Cyprus and then up to Pamphylia (south-central Asia Minor) and further north to Antioch-in-Pisidia, then east towards Galatia, stopping at Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. Their usual procedure was to begin at the local synagogue at each of these places, and then to preach openly in the public square. They tended to draw some Jews and many non-Jews into small Church communities, before being chased away with violence by other Jews from the synagogue, probably for blasphemy. 

"On the following sabbath almost all the city had assembled to hear God’s word. The Jews, when they saw these crowds, were full of indignation, and began to argue blasphemously against all that Paul said. Whereupon Paul and Barnabas told them roundly, 'We were bound to preach God’s word to you first; but now, since you reject it, since you declare yourselves unfit for eternal life, be it so; we will turn our thoughts to the Gentiles. This, after all, is the charge the Lord has given us, I have appointed thee to be a light for the Gentiles, that thou mayst bring salvation to the ends of the earth.' The Gentiles were rejoiced to hear this, and praised the word of the Lord; and they found faith, all those of them who were destined to eternal life. And the word of the Lord spread far and wide all through the country. But the Jews used influence with such women of fashion as worshipped the true God, and with the leading men in the city, setting on foot a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and driving them out of their territory; so they shook off the dust from their feet as they left them, and went on to Iconium. The disciples, meanwhile, were filled with rejoicing, and with the Holy Spirit." - Acts of the Apostles, 13: 44-52

Chapter fourteen has a bit of a humorous episode at Lystra, where the non-Jews took Barnabas for the Greek god Zeus/Jupiter and Paul for Hermes/Mercury, and tried to offer animal sacrifices to them. But the mission could be described as a success, for those nascent churches continued to grow and Paul himself continued to shepherd them through later visits and through letters sent to them, such as the letter to the Galatians that we have in our Bibles. 

Chapter fifteen presents an ongoing problem in those early days that would have taken years to eliminate: the problem of Christians who were orthodox Jews and pharisees finding it difficult to mix socially with Christians who were non-Jews. Jewish Christians would arrive from Jerusalem to places like Antioch to find Christian communities that were majority non-Jewish, and would tell these non-Jewish Christians that they had to be judaised - that is, the men had to be circumcised and therefore formally inducted into the Jewish religion. This was a major doctrinal crisis, and the Apostles and priests now met in council at Jerusalem, their meeting chaired by the Apostle Saint James son of Alphaeus, who was the bishop of Jerusalem. Peter, Paul and Barnabas told of the greatest successes of their missions to the Gentiles and it was eventually decided that non-Jewish Christians would not have to be judaised. Now the word had to be sent around to all the new churches outside of the Holy Land. 

"And they sent, by their hands, this message in writing; 'To the Gentile brethren in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia, their brethren the apostles and presbyters send greeting. We hear that some of our number who visited you have disquieted you by what they said, unsettling your consciences, although we had given them no such commission; and therefore, meeting together with common purpose of heart, we have resolved to send you chosen messengers, in company with our well-beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have staked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have given this commission to Judas and Silas, who will confirm the message by word of mouth. It is the Holy Spirit’s pleasure and ours that no burden should be laid upon you beyond these, which cannot be avoided; you are to abstain from what is sacrificed to idols, from blood-meat and meat which has been strangled, and from fornication. If you keep away from such things, you will have done your part. Farewell.'" - Acts of the Apostles, 15: 23-29

Chapter fifteen ends with Paul desiring to visit his new churches in Pamphylia, Pisidia and Galatia, starting out with another Apostle called Silas. Newly in Galatia, Paul met at Lystra a young man called Timothy, who would remain a friend of his for the rest of his life. Timothy would eventually himself be ordained and become bishop of Ephesus. This time, Paul crossed over to mainland Greece, with Silas, Timothy and Luke, landing at Neapolis and carrying on to the Roman colony of Philippi (no synagogue). Here we discover one of the problems that Christianity brought to pagan societies: the new religion took away the professions of those profiting from superstition. There's a longer description of a similar situation at Ephesus in chapter nineteen.

"And now, as we were on our way to the place of prayer, we chanced to meet a girl who was possessed by a divining spirit; her predictions brought in large profits to her masters. This girl used to follow behind Paul and the rest of us, crying out, 'These men are the servants of the most high God; they are proclaiming to us the way of salvation.' And when she had done this for a number of days, Paul was distressed by it; he turned round and said to the spirit, 'I command thee to come out of her, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;' and there and then it came out of her. Her masters, who saw that all their hopes of profit had vanished, took hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them off to justice in the market-place." - Acts of the Apostles, 16: 16-19

Being pushed around for no crime committed in a Roman city, Paul for the first time disclosed his Roman citizenship and set the local governors who had allowed him to be abused quivering with fear. Roman citizens had rights that had to be defended by Roman authorities. Chapter seventeen takes the four missionaries over to Thessalonica, where they started at the synagogue again and were again set upon by Jews from the synagogue and Paul and Silas had to be smuggled away to Beroea for protection. They were chased by Jews from Thessalonica and Paul went south with Luke to Athens and on to Corinth, leaving the others to catch up later. In Corinth, Paul was treated in the usual way by the synagogue, but the ruler was made of sterner material than Pontius Pilate.

"...when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a concerted attack on Paul, and dragged him before the judgement-seat. 'This fellow,' they said, 'is persuading men to worship God in a manner the law forbids.' Paul was just opening his mouth to speak, when Gallio said to the Jews, 'It would be only right for me to listen to you Jews with patience, if we had here some wrong done, or some malicious contrivance; but the questions you raise are a matter of words and names, of the law which holds good among yourselves. You must see to it; I have no mind to try such cases.' And he drove them away from the judgement-seat. Thereupon there was a general onslaught upon Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, who was beaten before the judgement-seat; but all this caused Gallio no concern." - Acts of the Apostles, 18: 12-17

Paul ended this second great trip with a visit to Ephesus, where he had more success at the synagogue, before he returned to Antioch-in-Syria. This post is now long enough, so I'm not going to jump too far into the third journey. There are some touching little parts, which show Paul's affectionate nature, and the return made to him by his new communities, and especially the local clergy, such as of Ephesus here:

"'...I have never asked for silver or gold or clothing from any man; you will bear me out, that these hands of mine have sufficed for all that I and my companions needed. Always I have tried to shew you that it is our duty so to work, and be the support of the weak, remembering the words spoken by the Lord Jesus Himself, It is more blessed to give than to receive.' When he had said this, he knelt down and prayed with them all. They all wept abundantly, and embraced Paul and kissed him, grieving most over what he had said about never seeing his face again. And so they escorted him to the ship." - Acts of the Apostles, 20: 33-38

Not only does this show that Paul determined to work and so support his own work, taking no funds from the churches, except as charity (second collections) to other parts of the Church in need, such as in Judaea, which was suffering a dreadful famine at the time. But he also provides here a saying of Christ that is not in any of the Gospels: It is better to give than to receive. Paul had made many enemies among the synagogues of Greece and Asia Minor because of his preaching of the Christian gospel. As he now approached Jerusalem and his first imprisonment and trial at Rome, he was constantly warned by Christian prophets that this imprisonment was imminent. Every Christian community tried to convince him to not go up to the Temple, but Paul was determined and took some precautions to keep a low profile. But he was well known and was inevitably lynched by a mob and had to be rescued by the Roman authority. Paul again used his Roman citizenship to acquire security against his Jewish accusers, even trying to mollify the mob by speaking in Aramaic/Hebrew, their own language (end of chapter twenty-one). But they could not tolerate the idea of non-Jews (Gentiles) in any form of Jewish church or community.

"'...But, Lord, I said, it is within their own knowledge, how I used to imprison those who believed in thee, and scourge them in the synagogues; and when the blood of Stephen, thy martyr, was shed, I too stood by and gave my consent, and watched over the garments of those who slew him. And He said to me, Go on thy way; I mean to send thee on a distant errand, to the Gentiles.' Up to this point, they listened to his speech; but then they cried aloud, 'Away with such a fellow from the earth; it is a disgrace that he should live.'" - Acts of the Apostles, 22: 19-22

It's a puzzling thing. The Hebrew Bible speaks repeatedly in the books of the prophets about the eventual ingress of the Gentiles into the promises originally made to Israel. But in the late Jewish period, all the Jewish authorities were concerned about was maintaining the status quo. So Caiaphas the high-priest had said of Christ that one man must die for the sake of the nation: that is, Christ must die to preserve the then current arrangement with the Romans. The Sadducees were determined to make an end of Paul, as they seemingly had of Christ, and the Romans of course did not know how to deal with this religious strife. When the tribune at Jerusalem heard of a planned murderous attack on this Roman citizen, he sent him to the procurator at Caesarea with a military escort.

"Then he summoned two of the centurions, and told them, 'You are to have two hundred men from the cohort ready to march to Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen; they will set out at the third hour of the night. And you must provide beasts, so that they can mount Paul and take him safely to the governor, Felix.' (He was afraid that the Jews might seize on Paul and kill him; and that he himself might be falsely accused of taking a bribe from them.)" - Acts of the Apostles, 23: 23-25

The procurator Felix had a prisoner and he would never be able to explain why Paul was imprisoned. Nevertheless, out of fear of the Jewish mob, he kept him imprisoned for two years, and handed the problem over to his successor, Porcius Festus. Festus, also trying to keep peace with the Jews, offered Paul the opportunity to be tried at Jerusalem, but Paul must have known that he would be killed there and, claiming innocence, declared that he would be tried by Caesar as a Roman citizen. Festus now had to find a way of describing Paul's 'offence,' and he looked for assistance from the current Jewish prince, Herod Agrippa, who knew all about the Christian movement. Agrippa declared that Paul was innocent of any crime, but that he would have to go to Rome.

"'...Dost thou believe the prophets, king Agrippa? I am well assured thou dost believe them.' At this, Agrippa said to Paul, 'Thou wouldst have me turn Christian with very little ado.' 'Why,' said Paul, 'it would be my prayer to God that, whether it were with much ado or little, both thou and all those who are listening to me to-day should become just such as I am, but for these chains.' Then the king rose, and so did the governor, and Bernice, and all those who sat there with them. When they had retired, they said to one another, 'This man is guilty of no fault that deserves death or imprisonment.' And Agrippa said to Festus, 'If he had not appealed to Caesar, this man might have been set at liberty.'" - Acts of the Apostles, 26: 27-32

The rest of the book is of Paul's sea journey west to Italy and Rome, with brief visits to Crete and Malta in the course of the stormy autumn weather on the Mediterranean. We end with Paul's old procedure: start preaching to the Synagogue, have meagre success, and build the Church outside. We leave Paul in this his first imprisonment, awaiting trial at Rome. Tradition tells us that he was freed by the emperor Nero and enjoyed a few more years of active ministry before his second imprisonment and execution.

"So they made an appointment with him, and met him at his lodging in great numbers. And he bore his testimony and told them about the kingdom of God, trying to convince them from Moses and the prophets of What Jesus was, from dawn till dusk. Some were convinced by his words, others refused belief; and they took their leave still at variance among themselves, but not till Paul had spoken one last word, 'It was a true utterance the Holy Spirit made to our fathers through the prophet Isaias: Go to this people, and tell them, You will listen and listen, but for you there is no understanding; you will watch and watch, but for you there is no perceiving. The heart of this people has become dull, their ears are slow to listen, and they keep their eyes shut, so that they may never see with those eyes, or hear with those ears, or understand with that heart, and turn back to me, and win healing from me. Take notice, then, that this message of salvation has been sent by God to the Gentiles, and they, at least, will listen to it.'" - Acts of the Apostles, 28, 23-28

So there is the constant theme of the Acts of the Apostles, which is the theme of the Gospels: that the time of the Messiah had arrived and so the gates of Israel had been thrown open at last, and the promises of old had been made available to the Gentiles. The Apostles had to learn this, then they had to legislate for the Gentile Christians, and send out Apostolic letters to support missionaries to the Gentiles, like Paul, Barnabas and Silas. These men acquired eager coworkers among the Gentile communities, like Timothy and Lydia, and thus within a few years, the Church spread over the whole empire.  

Blog has been dying a little over the last few weeks

Ever since I started rebuilding the parish website, that is. The parish website is a bit of a blog itself, although it's slightly harder to work with than this blogspot one. Anyhow, I'm struggling a little with some medical issues, but I'll hopefully be back with more posting soon enough.

It's S. Kevin's day today, as well as the old feast day of Corpus Christi, which we shall mark on the Sunday coming. Below is S. Kevin's church at Glendalough. More about S. Kevin here.