Ancient Anglican

What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body.

The final chapter of Archbishop Rowan William’s book Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian Life is about “Life in the Spirit.” This is the end goal of Christian discipleship – to live by the Spirit. Too often when we speak of a “life in the spirit” we envision a monk dedicating himself to prayer in a monastery or a Pentecostal speaking in tongues or maybe a particularly “great” or “moving” worship service. But, as Dr. Williams points out,…

This week’s reading is Chapter 5 – Faith in Society – of Archbishop Rowan Williams’s book Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian Life. The question that Dr. Williams explores is “What place does Christian discipleship have in a modern democratic society?” Historically, there were different answers to the question of a Christian’s role in the world. In the early Church, there was a recognition that God’s kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36), but that…

This week we are discussing chapter 4 – Holiness – of Archbishop Rowan Williams’ book: Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian Life. The word “holy” in Hebrew – qodesh – means to be sacred or set apart. The Sabbath is holy because it is set apart from other days. The Aaronite priesthood is holy because it is set apart from other Israelites. Israel is holy because it is set apart from the other nations. Being set apart means having…

Tonight we will be gathering to discuss chapter 3 – Forgiveness – of Archbishop Rowan Williams’ book: Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian Life.  Please read over this chapter slowly in preparation for this evening. A blog that I read often is Glory to God for All Things. It is written by Fr. Stephen Freeman who grew up conservative Baptist in upstate South Carolina, converted to the Episcopal Church in college (eventually becoming a priest), and who moved…

This week we will be discussing chapter 3 – Forgiveness – of Archbishop Rowan Williams’s book Being Disciples – Essentials of the Christian Life. Last fall we looked at forgiveness in both Soren Kierkegaard’s Works of Love and in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6:14-15, 5:38-48). In his discussion of forgiveness, Dr. Williams links forgiveness with bread – Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matt…

Dr. Williams points out that the modern church has forgotten the erotic understanding of Divine Love. Eros is God’s very present activity in our lives in recalling us to himself and joining us to himself.

This Tuesday we will be discussing chapter 2 – “Faith, Hope, and Love” – of Archbishop Rowan Williams’ book Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian Life. The journey of a disciple begins with the three great theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love. It is these virtues which are given to us by the grace of God, define our ideal relationship to God, and ultimately allow us to be joined to God. As you prepare for this week’s…

I am excited to begin our Lenten study tonight of Rowan Williams’ book: Being Disciples – Essentials of the Christian Life. Tonight we will look at Chapter 1- Being Disciples where Dr. Williams give us a brief overview of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. One of the overall ideas of the chapter is that being a disciple is a continuous state of being in the presence of Jesus and of following him….

This week we are beginning our Lenten Study of Archbishop Rowan Williams’ book Being Disciples – Essentials of the Christian Life. The book presents us with a series of short reflections calling us to the holy state of living into the discipleship of Jesus Christ. I would love for you to accompany us on this Lenten journey. This week, please read and reflect on Chapter 1 – Being Disciples. In Chapter 1, Williams writes generally about…

Paul wants us to understand Christ’s role in the creation of all that is, so that we may then understand his role in the reconciliation of all that there is. Jesus restores everything to its original condition because he made everything initially.

Both John and Paul will directly adopt Philo’s understanding of the Logos in describing who Jesus is, and particularly Jesus’ pre-existence and role in creation. The uniqueness of their proclamation is that this Word became flesh and dwelt among us.