Entries from July 2008 ↓

I’ve learned some interesting concepts from class #23: Eastern Orthodoxy.  The podcast is one from the Ancient and Medieval Church History class from Covenant Theological Seminary.  First, let’s have a little background.  (Incidentally, the seminary is a Presbyterian seminary.)

The Eastern Orthodox Church officially split with the Catholic Church in 1054.  The Pope excommunicated the Patriarch in Constantinople, so the Patriarch did the same to the Pope.  There had been some different emphasis on theology for quite some time.  For example, while the Catholic Church claimed that the Pope held all the leadership, the Orthodox Church held a much less central authority.  The Orthodox belief of revelation is that God speaks through these councils, not one central person.

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I had a very interesting time at the Conference Center this weekend.  The Osmonds joined the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for a Pioneer Day celebration.

The last time I was in the Conference Center was to attend the viewing of Pres. Hinckley, which was obviously a very somber occasion.  When the Osmonds came out, there were swirling spotlights, clapping, a little bit of country, and a little bit of Rock and Roll.  Donny had to remind the audience that it was ok to get a little more rowdy–that we had permission.  I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who felt it a little odd that there was actually a rock concert in a “house of worship.”

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As I mentioned before, I have been learning about Ancient and Medieval Church history from the Covenant Theological Seminary.  What has been so interesting to me is that Turkey is a real center for Christianity.

Paul spoke to the Ephesians in Ephesus (and his letter is in our bible now.)  He also travelled to many other cities such as Perge, Derbe, Lystra, Antioch. John died in Ephesus.  Peter built the first Christian church there in Antioch.  Philip lived in Heirapolis, and was killed with him family there.

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The history of baptism is quite interesting, and much more complex than most people know.

Baptism seems to be related to the ancient Jewish rite called “mikvah”, which was/is used for conversion to Judaism, ritual cleansing (Law of Moses type things, childbirth, women’s menstruation, and other things.) If you go to this link at Wikipedia, you can see a contemporary Mikvah font which look quite similar to a modern-day Christian baptismal font (at the bottom of the article.)
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I just read this heart-warming story at MSNBC.  It tells of a girl abandoned twice before she was 2 weeks old, and of the family who finally adopted her.  Her birth mother was an IV drug user, and the first adoptive family declined her after learning of her severe heart defect.  I find the Monroe’s unconditional love a wonderful example of Christian love.  I just wanted to share, as the story really touched me.

Ok, the title of my post actually comes from two different books.  The first is called “DNA and Tradition:  The Genetic Link to the Ancient Hebrews“, by Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman.  The rabbi looks into DNA evidence concerning the tribe of Levi, as well as the other lost tribes of Israel.

In the introduction to the book, there are several interesting quotes, and he quotes from a book written by Rabbi Moses Maimonides (1135 – 1204 ) called Guide for the Perplexed, which examines the issues of being a religious scientist.

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I came across an article in the NY Times about a tablet dating from before the time of Christ, that “may speak of a messiah who will rise from the dead after three days.”  This would be a major shift in understanding of Jewish thought at the time of Jesus.  The discovery is being called “a Dead Sea Scroll on stone.”

Here are some of the more interesting quotes from the article:

“Some Christians will find it shocking — a challenge to the uniqueness of their theology — while others will be comforted by the idea of it being a traditional part of Judaism,” Mr. Boyarin said.

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