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He Is Risen

The cumulative evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is very compelling. First, the tomb was empty and the body is gone, otherwise rumors of resurrection would never have arisen, and that no satisfactory explanation have been given for the disappearance of the body except for the Christian affirmation that He rose from the dead. Secondly, the appearances of the risen Lord which followed do not fit what is known to be the pattern of hallucinations. And thirdly, the disciples were so dramatically changed from despair to confidence that nothing can account for this transformation except that they were convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead. The disappearance of the body, the reappearance of the Lord, and the emergence of the church together constitutes a three-fold evidence of the resurrection.

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On the Third Day

On the third day the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying ways they realized the new wonder; but even they hardly realized that the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in a semblance of the gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but the dawn. (G. K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man, 1925)

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Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted

These sober lyrics, set to a somber tune, make for an ideal Good Friday hymn. The opening line draws from Isaiah 53:4 and its description of the Messianic Suffering Servant: “We considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted.” In verse two, we are forced to consider the depth of Christ’s passion, His groaning, His betrayal, His insults, and His unmatched grief. The deepest stroke that pierced Him, however, was the stroke that divine justice gave.

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted See Him dying on the tree! ‘Tis the Christ by man rejected Yes, my soul, ‘tis He, ‘tis He! ‘Tis the long-expected Prophet David’s son, yet David’s Lord By His Son God now has spoken ‘Tis the true and faithful Word Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning Was there ever grief like His? Friends through fear His cause disowning Foes insulting His distress Many hands were raised to wound Him None would interpose to save But the deepest stroke that pierced Him Was the stroke that Justice gave Ye who think of sin but lightly Nor suppose the evil great Here may view its nature rightly Here its guilt may estimate Mark the sacrifice appointed See who bears the awful load ‘Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed Son of Man and Son of God Here we have a firm foundation Here the refuge of the lost Christ, the Rock of our salvation His the name of which we boast Lamb of God, for sinners wounded Sacrifice to cancel guilt! None shall ever be confounded Who on Him their hope have built

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Maundy Thursday

What is more contrary to expectation than this, what more awe-inspiring? He who is clothed with light as with a garment is girded with a towel. He who held the waters in the clouds and sealed the abyss with his fearsome name is bound about by a belt. He who gathers the waters of the sea like a wineskin pours water in a bowl. He who covers his upper chambers with water, with water washed the feet of the disciples. He who measured heaven with his hand’s span and holds the earth in his grasp, with his undefiled palms wiped off the feet of servants. He for whom “every knee bends, of those in heaven, and on earth and under the earth” bowed his neck to attendant servants. The angels saw and recoiled; heaven beheld and shuddered; creation observed and trembled. (Theophilus of Alexandria, Homily on the Mystical Supper)

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What is Holy Week?

This Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week—a week designed to focus our attention on the “passion,” or suffering, of Christ.

The tradition of Holy Week began when Christians making pilgrimages to Jerusalem had a natural desire to reenact the last scenes of the life of Christ in dramas.

There is an ancient text called The Pilgrimage of Egeria, that describes a fourth century visit to Jerusalem. It was noted that people were already observing Holy Week by that point in history, so it dates back many, many centuries.

There are five days in this week that are set apart:

1. Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem as the long-awaited Messianic King. But the scenes of coronation set the stage for His crucifixion later in the week, since the King of the Jews isn’t placed on a throne but hung on a cross.

2. Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday commemorates Jesus’ last meal with His disciples, where He institutes the Lord’s Supper. The term “Maundy” comes from the Latin mandatum (from which we get our English word “mandate”). The term is usually translated “commandment” in the account of this Thursday night in John’s Gospel, where Jesus gives His disciples a new commandment after they finish their meal together (John 13:34-35). It also commemorates Jesus’ agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

3. Good Friday

Good Friday commemorates Jesus’ arrest, trial, suffering, crucifixion, death, and burial. It is a grave reminder to us of the cost Jesus had to pay to save us from our sins, and it is a day for us to “survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died.”

4. Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday commemorates the day Jesus rested in the tomb, and it commemorates the grief, the sorrow, the pain, and the confusion of Jesus’ followers as they come to grips with the reality of His death. It feels like darkness has descended, because the light of the world has been slain.

5. Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday is the day Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, celebrating the joy and hope and victory we have through the risen Christ.

Each day is rich with meaning, significance and spiritual admonishment!

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Before Abraham Was, I Am

One of the most stunning scenes in the Gospel of John is when Jesus debates the Jewish leadership at the end of chapter eight and declares, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (8:58). There is little doubt that this constituted a claim of divinity because in the very next verse we read, “So they picked up stones to throw at Him” (8:59).

While there is little doubt that the Jews understood Jesus to be claiming a divine identity, there is some doubt regarding why they believed this. What is the background of Jesus’ “I am” declaration? Most of the time, it is assumed that Jesus is alluding to Exodus 3:14 when Yahweh expresses His own name as “I am who I am.”

This is certainly a possibility. But the Greek constructions are not precisely the same. There is another possibility that is more likely the background of Jesus’ “I am” declarations, namely the book of Isaiah, particularly chapters 40-55. Not only are these chapters formative for early Christian theology (e.g., Isaiah 40:3, cf. Mark 1:3), but they contain some of the most direct declarations of God’s identity as the only true God.  And many of these declarations use precisely the same “I am” (ego eimi) construction.

A few examples:

Isaiah 41:4. “Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am He [ego eimi].”

Isaiah 43:10. “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He [ego eimi]. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.”

Isaiah 48:12. “Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am He [ego eimi]; I am the first, and I am the last.”

These instances show that Isaiah uses the “I am” language to emphasize God’s exclusive status as the one true God. The phrase, in essence, means “I am [He]” or “I am [the One]” or “I am [the LORD].”

If so, then this brings insight into how John uses the “I am” language outside of John 8:58. For instance, when Jesus is arrested in the garden, He declares in 18:6: “I am He [ego eimi].” While most readers would miss the connection here, the response of the soldiers gives us a clue to what is meant: “When Jesus said to them, ‘I am he [ego eimi]’ they drew back and fell to the ground” (18:6).

The falling back is a contextual clue that Jesus is speaking like God speaks in Isaiah. Thus, there is likely a double entendre here in 18:6. On the one hand, Jesus is simply answering the soldiers’ question by saying “I am He [the one you are looking for].” But, on the other hand, He is saying, “I am He [the one true God].”

In the end, the “I am” language in John is a likely reference to God’s self-declarations in Isaiah, and thus a dramatic claim by Jesus to be the one true God of Israel. By appealing to Isaiah, Jesus is not portraying Himself as another God, but the one and the same God of the Jews.

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Who Am I?

For many teenagers, this is the question. The popular trans narrative tells young people that they are what they feel inside. Nothing else matters and no one else can tell you who you are. It’s your responsibility to work out who you are, and to embrace that and express it in order to experience your best life.

This sounds great until you actually stop and think about it. Only I can know who I am? I’ve got to work out who I am from within the mess of mixed and fluctuating feelings inside? If I don’t embrace who I really am, I’ll miss out on my best life? That puts us under a lot of pressure. The stakes are high and it’s down to the individual to get it right. It’s no wonder that the mental health of many young people is struggling. The pressure that this approach to identity puts on young people is bound to be one of the causal factors.

The Bible offers a much more freeing and life-giving approach to identity. You don’t have to work out who you are. You don’t have to try and make the right choice from the mix and mess you find inside. God tells you who you are. The one who made you and loves you wants to give you a solid, stable, life-giving identity. He’s given you the identity of being a boy or a girl through your body. You don’t have to act a certain way or feel a certain way, you’ve already been given that identity. And more than that, God wants to give you the identity of being His child—to know His unmeasurable and inexhaustible love, irrespective of what you do or how you feel. That’s good news for those asking the question “Who am I?”

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The Resurrection Appearances

Scholars today do not dispute that Jesus’ disciples had real experiences with one whom they believed was the risen Christ. However, just because the disciples think they saw Jesus doesn’t automatically mean that they really did. There are three possible alternatives:

1. They were lying. 2. They hallucinated. 3. They really saw the risen Christ.

Which of these is most likely? Were they lying? On this view, the disciples knew that Jesus had not really risen, but they made up this story about the resurrection. But then why did ten of the disciples willingly die as martyrs for their belief in the resurrection? People will often die for a lie that they believe is the truth. But if Jesus did not rise, the disciples knew it. Thus, they wouldn’t have just been dying for a lie that they mistakenly believed was true. They would have been dying for a lie that they knew was a lie. Ten people would not all give their lives for something they know to be a lie.

Because of the absurdity of the theory that the disciples were lying, we can see why almost all scholars today admit that, if nothing else, the disciples at least believed that Jesus appeared to them. But we know that just believing something to be true doesn’t make it true. Perhaps the disciples were wrong and had been deceived by a hallucination?

The hallucination theory is also untenable because it cannot explain the physical nature of the appearances. The disciples record eating and drinking with Jesus, as well as touching Him. This cannot be done with hallucinations. Second, it is highly unlikely that they would all have had the same hallucination. Hallucinations are highly individual, and not group projections. Imagine if I came to you and said, “Wasn’t that a great dream I had last night?” Hallucinations, like dreams, generally don’t transfer like that. Further, the hallucination theory cannot explain the conversion of Paul, three years later. Was Paul, the persecutor of Christians, so hoping to see the resurrected Jesus that his mind invented an appearance as well? And perhaps most significantly, the hallucination theory cannot even deal with the evidence for the empty tomb.

Conclusion

Since the disciples could not have been lying or hallucinating, we have only one possible explanation left: the disciples believed that they had seen the risen Jesus because they really had seen the risen Jesus. Therefore, the resurrection appearances alone demonstrate the resurrection.

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The First Witnesses

There are many other considerations that lend credibility to the Bible’s four Gospel accounts of the resurrection. But perhaps the most surprising of these is the fact that all the accounts agree that it was women who first found the tomb empty. This may mean little to us in our day, but in first century Jewish society women were, quite frankly, often regarded as being incurable talebearers. They weren’t in most circumstances even allowed to testify in court!

No wonder, then, that the male disciples didn’t believe them when the women first brought them their report that the tomb was empty (Luke 24:11). No wonder, also, that Paul does not include women in his list of people to whom the Lord appeared (1 Corinthians 15). Since this report was originally circulated in a Jewish environment before it was passed on to Paul, the women’s testimony would have been seen as being irrelevant, if not damaging, to the report. Hence, they are deleted from the earliest church creed about the event.

This inculcated sexism may (and should) aggravate us today. But the effect it has on the Gospel accounts which do include women—as playing a central role in the whole story—is to greatly increase their credibility. If the Gospel stories were fabricated, as certain scholars in the media today suggest, the last thing these fabricators would have wanted to put in their story was that it was women who first discovered that the tomb of Jesus was empty, and (in the case of Matthew and John) that it was to women that Jesus first appeared!

The fact that they did report it this way, therefore, strongly implies that these accounts are not fabrications. The only motive these various authors could have had for telling their story like they did is because that was how the story actually unfolded.

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A Word to Seminary Students

Seminary is a privilege. Many Christians around the world and throughout history have not been able to pursue concentrated Biblical study under the leadership of Bible scholars. They have been prevented by money, opportunity, persecution, and so on, but I want to write to those who have been granted the unusual grace of attending a seminary and I want to urge you: don’t waste this unique opportunity of God’s grace. Here are a few words of wisdom to the first-year seminary student.

1. Humble Yourself

One of the greatest enemies of your spiritual growth is pride. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). This principle is true for all of life, but it is especially true for the seminary environment. You are not an elite Christian because you decided to go to seminary. You are not a theologian because you took a systematic theology course, and you are not necessarily godly because you are writing papers on the doctrine of God. There is an overwhelming temptation in our Christian subculture of podcasts and conferences to see seminary as nothing more than a stepping stone to the public ministry platform that so many desire. If your end goal is a big platform and a lot of social media followers, I pray that by God’s grace you will not have one, for it would be destructive to your own soul and to the audience you are using for your own affirmation. Ministry is self-crucifying, God-glorifying, and pride-crushing. Embrace it. Listen a lot. Humbly learn from people that you agree with and disagree with. As you approach the deep things of God, be humbled by how much you don’t know and strive to both know Him more and model the humility in which He is pleased.

2. Devote Yourself to the Local Church

Seminary is not your priority, not even for a short season. It is secondary. It is the supportive role of a far more important institution—the local church. Finding and committing yourself to a local assembly of believers should be of the utmost importance early in your seminary career for it is the local church that will be your most life-changing professor. It is the place where theology comes to life. It is where orthodoxy becomes orthopraxy that results in doxology. The local church is the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:22-23), the body of Christ (1:22-23), the family of God’s adopted children (2:19), the blessed temple of God the Spirit (2:21-22). Study the church while you serve the church. Don’t ignore her or slander her in your preparation to serve her for the rest of your life.

3. Study the Bible

This word of wisdom may seem silly. Of course, you are going to study the Bible at a seminary. Not necessarily. There will be a temptation to focus your attention in several directions. Here are two examples. Some are tempted to give all their time, thought, and devotion to learning how to do ministry. These are the students that love the practical classes. They say things like, “I’m a doer” or “I’m more of a practical application guy.” Others are more intrigued by “the deep things.” They want to read all the theology from all the quotable authors and theologians past and present. They dream of stroking their beards in long conversation over ancient debates. Neither practical application nor theological depths are bad. I personally enjoy both. But Scripture reigns supreme.

Seminary is a time to saturate yourself in the study of the Scriptures. Practical application is pointless if you do not know the Scriptures that you are supposed to be applying. Practical application in ministry will also shift between cultures, time periods, and ministries. The Scriptures won’t. A deep and rich understanding of the Bible will transcend all ministry contexts from mission work in China to youth pastoring in northern Luzon. Likewise, you will not be able to discern between the many doctrinal debates past, present, and future if you have listened only to the voices of debaters rather than the voice of God in the Scriptures. Do not forsake other disciplines, but prioritize the discipline of Biblical study.

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The Deeps: A Puritan Prayer

Lord Jesus, give me a deeper repentance, a horror of sin, a dread of its approach. Help me chastely to flee it and jealously to resolve that my heart shall be Thine alone.

Give me a deeper trust, that I may lose myself to find myself in Thee, the ground of my rest, the spring of my being. Give me a deeper knowledge of Thyself as Savior, Master, Lord, and King. Give me deeper power in private prayer, more sweetness in Thy Word, more steadfast grip on its truth. Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action, and let me not seek moral virtue apart from Thee.

Plough deep in me, great Lord, heavenly husbandman, that my being may be a tilled field, the roots of grace spreading far and wide, until Thou alone art seen in me, Thy beauty golden like summer harvest, Thy fruitfulness as autumn plenty.

I have no master but Thee, no law but Thy will, no delight but Thyself, no wealth but that Thou givest, no good but that Thou blessest, no peace but that Thou bestowest. I am nothing but that Thou makest me. I have nothing but that I receive from Thee. I can be nothing but that grace adorns me. Quarry me deep, dear Lord, and then fill me to overflowing with living water.

The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritans Prayers and Devotions

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A Christian Perspective on Art

From opposition to religious images by the Byzantines in the eighth and ninth centuries to debate among the Reformers over what forms of art were acceptable, Christians have long differed over the role of art in a Christian worldview. But amid the debate, believers have almost always agreed that art appreciation is part of a Christian worldview. That belief stems from the Bible itself, which says much related to aesthetics, artwork, and creativity. Consider the following:

1. God is the ultimate artist. There can never be a creative act more magnificent than God’s fashioning of the universe. Genesis 1-2 provides details related to color and light and notes that the trees God created were not present merely for food but as objects “pleasing to the sight” (Genesis 2:9). Imaging God, Christians have contended, surely includes imitating His creativity through artwork.

2. In the Old Testament, God assumed there would be visual artists among His people. At the construction of the Tabernacle, He appointed Bezalel and Oholiab “to make artistic designs” (Exodus 31:4). Again, at the building of the Temple, artists were required to fashion the intricate particulars of the design, from carving 15-foot cherubim of olive wood (1 Kings 6:23) to carving “all the walls of the house” (1 Kings 6:29). When God commanded Moses in the wilderness to “make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard” (Numbers 21:8), He presumed there was a metalworker to craft the bronze serpent.

3. Scripture celebrates all five senses as means of experiencing God’s good creation. Song of Solomon 1:1-5 illustrates this well, with the Shulamite woman extoling the touch, taste, smell, sound, and sight of her lover. The God who created all five senses intended for His people to use them all, including the viewing of artwork, to appreciate His handiwork.

4. Although the New Testament isn’t as explicit in its commendation of artwork, Paul commanded the Philippians to set their minds on “whatever is lovely” (Philippians 4:8). Surely that command includes the appreciation of artistic beauty.

5. Revelation’s descriptions of heaven assume God’s people have cultivated a taste for things that are aesthetically beautiful. Foundations “adorned with every kind of precious stone” (Revelation 21:19) and the “river of the water of life, clear as crystal” (Revelation 22:1) clearly appeal to mankind’s desire for artistic beauty.

Of course, the Bible warns against using artwork for idolatrous purposes. That is made explicit in the Second Commandment (Exodus 20:4), and the harmful effects of ungodly artwork are illustrated in the account of Israel’s making a golden calf (Exodus 32). Further, Scripture’s emphasis on the Word as God’s primary means of communicating with humans (e.g., Romans 10:17) precludes using art as the only expression of our faith.

Still, Augustine of Hippo was right when he argued that the good, the beautiful, and the true are really one and the same—and they are all of God. Believers have taken that reality to heart through creating artistic expressions as diverse as Sistine Chapel frescoes painted by the Roman Catholic Michelangelo, the Reformation’s simple Bible illustrations and depictions of “secular” life, and the countless paintings, ceramics, and sculptures created by believers today.

So the next time you take brush, pencil, chalk, clay, or any other artistic tool in hand, remember that you’re participating in a rich Christian tradition.

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Alexander Campbell’s Advice to Preachers

1. The preacher must be a man of piety, and one who has the instruction and salvation of mankind sincerely at heart.

2. A man of modest and simple manners, and in his public performances and general behavior must conduct himself so as to make his people sensible that he has their temporal and eternal welfare more at heart than anything else.

3. He must be well instructed in morality and religion, and in the original tongues in which the Scriptures are written, for without them he can hardly be qualified to explain Scripture or to teach religion and morality.

4. He must be such a proficient in his own language, as to be able to express every doctrine and precept with the utmost simplicity, and without anything in his diction either finical on the one hand or vulgar on the other.

5. A sermon should be composed with regularity and unity of design, so that all its parts may have a mutual and natural connection, and it should not consist of many heads, neither should it be very long.

6. A sermon ought to be pronounced with gravity, modesty and meekness, and so as to be distinctly heard by all the audience.

7. Let the preacher, therefore, accustom himself to articulate slowly and deliver the words with a distinct voice, and without artificial attitudes or motions or any other affectation.

Memoirs of Alexander Campbell, Volume 1, published in 1868, p. 138

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Reflections on Singleness

1. Singleness isn’t inferior to marriage. Both singleness and marriage are callings, each with different ways of serving God and giving witness to His Kingdom.

2. Jesus, the most complete human who ever lived, was single. So it is possible to be single and human at the same time! In fact, Paul teaches that being unmarried is “good” (1 Corinthians 7:8), and that singleness may be preferential for a single-minded ministry focus (7:31-34).

3. The Bible teaches that both the religious and societal notion that ultimate fulfillment only comes through marriage or raising children, is erroneous. Fulfillment comes from knowing and following Christ. Singleness and marriage are both contexts in which individuals can experience the richness of life in Christ and flourish as a human.

4. Singles may very well experience feelings of loneliness or exclusion, which is why the role of the church as a spiritual family is profound. It means we can find deep relational intimacy and community within the body of Christ, and romantic intimacy or parenting, though gifts, are not ultimate or determinative to our joy and purpose.

5. In a culture that idolizes romantic relationships, joyful singleness can be a powerful counter-cultural testimony. Singles who find their identity and satisfaction in Christ offer to the world another way to be truly human as we find our deepest and most meaningful identity not in what we do, or the roles we fulfill, but in who Christ is, what He’s fulfilled, and who we are in Him.

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A Theology of Friendship

The Bible has a lot to say about friendship. It shows us that friendship is not a man-made idea but flows from the very heart of God. We see this first in the Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Even in eternity past, before the creation of anything else, there was perfect friendship shared within the Trinity. As image-bearers of God, you and I are made for friendship with God and with others.

Then we see how the friendship of God became friendship with God in creation, as God created Adam who walked with God. Then God saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone but that he needed a friend, a companion. So He created Eve. When we enjoy the gift of a healthy friendship, we are working within God’s good design. The Bible sees friendship as vital to human flourishing. It is that important.

Who is a True Friend?

Making friends is not easy but the Bible provides much wisdom to seek and invest in friendships that are good for us.

1. A friend chooses you. The beauty of friendship is that a faithful friend chooses you (Proverbs 18:24). Unlike your siblings who were given to you biologically, a faithful friend made a conscious decision to be with you. A faithful friend can be there for you in a way that feels closer than a sibling. Our brotherhood and sisterhood in Christ are deep and genuine.

2. A friend is there for you. The power of friendship is felt deepest in adversity (Proverbs 17:17). A true friend sticks with you even when life is falling apart, when things are not resolved, and when everyone else in your life is running towards the exit. A true friend is always true to you. 

3. A friend helps you grow and thrive. True and faithful friendship rubs off on you (Proverbs 13:20). Friends who love justice and mercy will help you grow in your own passion for justice and mercy. Friends that love Jesus will help you grow in your own affections for Jesus.

Jesus is our True Friend

Timothy Keller has described a friend as someone who “always lets you in and never lets you down.” If I were honest, I do not think I ever had a friend who always let me in and never let me down. I must also admit I have never been that kind of a friend to others. But healthy friendships are not built by trying to find the perfect friend who meets all these qualifications. They begin with our growing desire to become the kind of friend we are seeking.

Just before He went to the cross, Jesus gathered His disciples and told them, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:12-15).

If you belong to Jesus, these words are so liberating and powerful. Think of it, Jesus was treated like an enemy of God so we can become friends of God though we were once His enemies. He does that by laying down His life for you and me—as a true and faithful friend.

1. He is the true friend who chose us. Jesus knew full well all the ways you and I would fail Him, betray Him and choose other treasures and trinkets over Him. Yet He chose to love us. You did not choose Him, but He chose you to be His friend.

2. He is the true friend who is there for us. Not only did He choose you, but He becomes to us the kind of faithful friend who is present with us even in the dark nights of the soul. Jesus offers us His loving presence affirming what is most true about us—we are deeply loved by the Father, forgiven through Christ, empowered by the Spirit and received as friends of God.

3. He is the true friend who helps us grow and thrive. Jesus’ friendship frees us to be the kind of friends to others that He is to us. He not only chooses us to be His friends but chooses friends for us in His body, the church.

The more we learn to enjoy friendship with Jesus, the more it shapes us to be true friends to others. He works in and through our friendships to help us grow in Christ and thrive in our service to God and the portrait of friendship in the Bible begins to become real in our lives. In all our loneliness, may we seek and offer true friendship as we rest in our true and faithful friend, the Lord Jesus Himself.

[isaiahbie]

The Three Holy Hierarchs

In the Eastern calendar, today is the commemoration of the so-called Three Holy Hierarchs: Basil “the Great” of Caesarea (330-379), Gregory “the Theologian” of Nazianzus (320-389), and John Chrysostom, “the Golden-Mouthed,” bishop of Constantinople (347-407). Many of us are more familiar with the grouping of Basil and Gregory with Basil’s younger brother Gregory of Nyssa, the trio known as the Cappadocian Fathers. But the grouping of Basil and Nazianzen with John Chryostom is rooted in an eleventh century debate over which of the three was the greatest theologian, a debate allegedly resolved by a vision of the three to John the Bishop of Euchaita in which they declared their unity and equality. All three were defenders of Nicene orthodoxy and were committed churchmen (as was Gregory of Nyssa). All three were men of holiness and prayer. All three were supported by close Christian friends and family members, many of whom are also canonized in the Eastern tradition (especially noteworthy is Basil and Nyssen’s sister Macrina, a profound theological and spiritual influence on them both). But each of the three had his own unique gifting and personality, and each has his own lesson for today’s church. 1. Basil the Pastor underscores the importance of the church. He left a monastic life to pursue a public ministry in defense of the divinity of Christ. He soon conscripted his reluctant friend Gregory to the same task. 2. Gregory the Theologian teaches us to value the intellectual life. He is given the title “the Theologian” for a reason. Among his other writings, Gregory’s Five Theological Orations, preached to a small band of orthodox Christians while the see of Constantinople was in the hands of the heterodox, remain a classic defense of the doctrine of the Trinity. 3. John the Preacher reminds us of the power of proclaiming the Word of God. He was given the moniker “Golden-Mouthed” because of his remarkable gifts of oratory. Few in church history have moved the church more powerfully to obey all that Jesus demands in Holy Scripture. Men like these are an inspiration to the whole church of Jesus Christ. One need not be Orthodox or Roman Catholic to find great value in the lives of the saints. Yes, we understand that all Christians are already saints through faith in Jesus Christ. No, we will not be found asking the saints in heaven to intercede for us. But we confess belief in the communion of saints just the same. We too believe that all Christians share life together in the one body of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ. We too are the inheritors of the whole history of the church. All things are ours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or Basil or Gregory or John. And we are Christ’s and Christ is God’s (1 Corinthians 3:22-23). Considering the lives of the saints who have gone before us serves as inspiration to our own faith and life. Growth in Christian virtue takes place, by the grace of God, through habits inspired by exemplars. So, let us remember faithful pastors, theologians, and preachers like the Three Holy Hierarchs. And let us imitate their faith as they imitated our one Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 13:7; 1 Corinthians 11:1).

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Is Morality Decided By Society?

Moral relativists have the difficult position of grounding their moral persuasions. Why should one do x and not y, given the relative nature of morals? For example, why should person P not murder person Q when it is not in their interest to do so? A standard response is that murder is wrong because society has collectively determined it is wrong. This response invites three questions:

1. What if a majority of society determined murder was acceptable? Would the relativist change his position to affirm that murder is morally acceptable? If not, why not?

2. Why is person P obligated to abide by the dictates of the majority? After all, morals are just personal tastes. A cultural consensus is nothing more than the sum of individuals’ personal tastes. Why should person P be concerned about the personal tastes of the group? Why not assert his own interests over those of the group? Where does the moral obligation to follow the dictates of the majority come from?

3. If morality is determined by the collective majority, is the moral relativist prepared to acknowledge that all minority views are, by definition, immoral? This would include such views as homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and transgenderism—all of which do not enjoy the support of a majority in society. A moral relativist cannot argue for the morality of homosexuality within a relativistic framework of morality in which society determines what is right.

The fact of the matter is that moral relativists have no grounding for morality. They try to ground it in the consensus of the public whole, but cannot ground the moral obligation to follow the public consensus in anything but thin air. Finally, they are inconsistent in their application of moral relativism. They try to argue that things such as same-sex marriage are good, even when the public consensus disagrees. They can’t have their cake and eat it too.