The Lent Sermons at St Helen’s Church in Abingdon has the title ‘Spiritual Lessons my Dog taught me.’
Rev’d Dr Charles Miller says
‘Some of you, whether dog-lovers or not, have met my petite Jill Russell, Beth (actually Lambeth, but who would wish to be called that publicly?). She is now ten years old, so that we have begun the second decade of our daily walks together. Those walks certainly, but her behaviours and craving at other times too, have been occasions to observe and reflect. Time and again, in reaction to behaviour either charming or challenging, I’ve been led to ask myself, “Well, am I really that different?” It’s been sobering…’
March 9th – Scent & Sensibility – Is there such a thing as a taste for God (Matthew 4.1-11)?
March 16th – “Sit!” – Dealing with our impulses (John 3.1-17)
March 23rd – Scavenging – Where true joys are to be found (John 4.5-42)
March 30th – Mothering Sunday– the series takes a break
April 6th – Lap Dog – “There’s a place for us…” (John 11.1-45)
See Lent sermon series for more.
It is a pity that the early Christians and particularly the Romans did not include the gospel of Mary Magdalene in the bible. She was a disciple of Jesus and he was very fond of her. As per the Middle East woman were not allowed to play a part in life and the Christian Church has mainly been misogynistic since. In some other religions the female side of life is more revered.
The ‘Gospel of Mary Magdalene’ was not included in the New Testament because it is by a late Gnostic writer who lived after Jesus’ time and thus had no contemporary knowledge of what he said and did, whereas the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are each derived from one of the Apostles who were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ life.
Following Jesus’ example, the early Church greatly raised the status of women which was low in the pagan society of Jesus’ time, and over the centuries the dignity of women was promoted by Christianity. The Christian teaching on marriage taught men to love their wives as their own body instead of seeing them as mere property. Motherhood was honoured by the Church, as was the option to live a dedicated single life. Convents of religious sisters (nuns) were the first institutions to provide women with education. The great Abbesses of the Middle Ages wielded influence as great as any bishop’s.
The Catholic and Orthodox Churches (and some Anglicans) reverence a woman, the Blessed Virgin Mary, above all other human beings, except Jesus, with the title ‘Mother of God’ (given her by an early Council of the Church) and see her as the perfect role model for all Christians. It’s not surprising that women make up the majority of most Christian congregations.
Sexual equality in our society today is a direct result of our culture’s long Christian history. Jesus is the liberator of all human beings, whether male or female.
surely all the books of the bible were written hundreds of years after the event – whether those events actually happened or not. the current bible was compiled by the catholic church so I’ve always wondered why non catholics choose that compilation.
The Council of Nicea was held in 325AD. Constantine was a Roman and the Romans had a history of Emperors being declared deities. They discarded any gospels that bore testament to Jesus being human in order for him to be declared a deity as in the Roman tradition. Therefore they could not have Jesus declared as having been fond of Mary and of Mary being a disciple. She was at the cross and was important to Jesus. I do not see how the Roman Catholic Church being ruled by men could bear witness with half the population, being women being absent from any influence.
Was I the only person who thought this was an April Fool post? Backstreeter does have “form” in that area!
That was my reaction too Hester! 🙂
Is there an expression for a story you try to pass off as an April Fool that is not?
DoppelbluffennichtAprilscherz ? (Double-bluff-not-April-fool) literally in German sounds right – I just made that up though.
rudi
Modern scholarship dates the Gospels to the first century AD: Matthew, Mark and Luke in the 60s-80s, and John in the 90s. These written Gospels depended on earlier writings and on oral tradition. Other parts of the New Testament are even earlier: the first letters of St Paul are dated to 50s.
Janet
The Council of Nicaea was called to resolve the Arian crisis. Arius and his followers taught that Jesus was not actually God but only ‘like’ God, whereas the traditional teaching of the Church up to then was that Jesus was God (as the gospels state). Constantine actually favoured the Arians, but he was mainly concerned that the Church should settle the question so that there would be harmony throughout the empire. The Council of Nicaea assembled bishops from all over the Christian world to find out what was the teaching about Jesus which each local church had inherited. The bishops reported overwhelmingly that their churches believed the traditional teaching that Jesus was God, and so the Council drew up the Nicene Creed which says that.
Later Roman emperors also favoured the Arian belief and tried to impose it – so much so that the Church’s bishops had to meet again in another Council at Constantinople in 381 to settle the question finally.
Janet: you mention Middle Eastern society with women playing no part; is modern Western secular society treating women so well? I’m thinking here of sexualisation, proliferation of pornography and also the very trying demands society places on working mothers / families.
To me, females are highly regarded in the Catholic Church. Look into the females saints, look at how motherhood is given an exalted dignnified position, this testifies to that.
Females were the first to see Jesus’ ressurection, and Jesus’ drawing of a line in the sand: for me, a very powerful insight into His love for females. A misoygnistic religious order would not support such events.