God: Old Testament vs New Testament

This post covers a much more in depth question than any I have addressed before. Upon reading the scriptures for the first time, one can detect a different mood between the Old and New Testaments. To this I will agree that there are different themes as the Old focuses on God's Justice and the New centers around God's Love. What is key to remember here is that these two themes are not mutually exclusive. One cannot exist without the other for God is unchanging therefore encompassing both virtues eternally. The danger exists when we separate these themes and say that God is personified differently in the Old and New Testaments. This mindset has led to a number of heresies, one of which I will go into.

Marcion was a heretic in the Early Christian Church and the founder of Marcionism. His heresy was a Gnostic heresy which means that he claimed to have some secret knowledge that was only revealed to him. He was caught up in the dilemma mentioned earlier and could not reconcile Justice with Love, so he taught that there were Two Gods. The first was the Creator God who was Just or Righteous. His followers were those who were considered righteous in the Old Testament i.e. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The second was the Father of Christ who was the Loving and Good God. Marcion places this God above the Creator God. He also holds that Christ through his ministry abolished the Law and the Prophets who proclaimed the Creator God. First of all, this heresy, as is the case with all heresies, does not make sense. Second, it is inconsistent with the whole of Sacred Scripture and Apostolic Tradition. The Gospels all refute Marcionism, for in the Gospels Christ claims that the Creator of the Universe is his Father. Also, in the Sermon on the Mount Christ says that he has not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but rather to fulfill them. Marcion committed a fatal mistake by separating Justice and Love. That is something we just cannot do. For more information regarding Marcionism and the other Early Heresies, I recommend Irenaeus' Against Heresies. It is a very informative and well thought out work.

Was there ever a time in which God was without either Justice or Love. Of course not. This is evident in the Sacred Scriptures for we can see His Love in the Old and His Justice in the New. Throughout the Old Testament we see God punishing the wicked. This was Righteous Anger. The Wicked had it coming and essentially brought their punishments upon themselves as we see in the case Noah's son Ham who uncovered the nakedness of his father. It was at that moment when Ham's line was cursed. Note that the son of Ham was Canaan, the father of the people who would be conquered by the Israelites as they entered the Promised Land. All punishment is a result of Sin, but how many times did we also see God giving Humanity second chances in the Old Testament. God could have destroyed Mankind in the Flood but instead gave them a second chance through Noah. God could have destroyed the Israelites every time they turned away from him but instead gave them the Judges and the Prophets to bring them back. God could have destroyed Nineveh outright for their wickedness but instead sent the Prophet Jonah to preach repentance. All of God's punishments served a purpose which was to turn people back to what is Just and Good, Love. Did we also not see Christ angry in the New Testament as well? He turned over the tables of the salesmen in the temples and also cursed the fig tree when it did not bear fruit. These actions served the same purpose as Old Testament punishments. What is absolutely essential to remember is the Law of God. The Law and the Prophets can be summed up into two basic commandments. First, Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Second, Love your neighbor as yourself. God's Law is fulfilled through Love. Therefore those who are wicked are those who do not Love. To God, Justice and Love are linked. We must strive to view them in the same way.

Faith

I know I've been silent for a while but these last several weeks of school have been brutal. The workload can get very heavy sometimes but now that the semester is coming to an end, I can give a more time to my other projects. What I want to talk about in this post is faith. What is faith? That's a question I hear asked around on a frequent basis and I have heard many different answers. Some say that faith is believing without seeing. Others say that it is merely belief in general. Still others equate it as simply being a synonym for religion. Personally I have never been satisfied with these definitions. When I was a protestant I heard that if I believed I would be saved. I always thought to myself that it was way to easy that way. Christ said that the way would be difficult and full of trials these definitions of faith do not reflect that. Let me propose with a little example what I believe that Faith is. Say I have a chair next to me. I believe that the chair will hold my weight but if I do not sit in the chair what good is that belief. We have Faith only when we place the belief that we have at the center of our existence. Let us take another case. Jesus says in Matthew 16, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." That is Faith. Man is not the center of his own existence. God is.

St. Ignatius of Antioch says, "Faith is the beginning and Love is the end, and the union of the two together is God." This presents another point that I want to make about Faith. It is the beginning of every Christian's journey, but it is not the end. Having Faith does not mean that we have instantly been 100% saved. St. Paul says in Philippians 2: 12, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Salvation is a journey and Faith is what begins that journey. The end of that journey is something much greater, Love. The road is hard but we persevere in the Hope of the world to come. Thus we have the three Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love. Man needs all three to receive salvation and they are bestowed on him through the Grace of God received through prayer and the Sacraments. As St. Paul tells us, It is by Grace that we are saved. God freely gave Grace as a gift to Man and Man in turn accepts and cooperates with God's Grace. Faith, Hope, and Love; they are forever linked. Man cannot have one without the others and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

That brings this post to a close. Again if you have questions or anything to add feel free to do so.

The New Evangelization and Social Media

This post really just serves as an elaboration on some of the things I said in my first post. It has come to my attention when someone is asked to define what The New Evangelization is, more often than not they might not be able to. I admit that perhaps two years ago, I would have been the same way, but ever since I came to Franciscan University this movement has been both literally and figuratively pounded into my head. I am grateful for this, primarily because I am a result of it. The purpose of The New Evangelization is to re-evangelize. It was never about spreading the Gospel to those who have not heard it, but rather to those who have heard it but have since been de-Christianized. For the sake of explanation, I'll give some statistics to show the gravity of the situation the Church finds herself in today. Out of all people who by name equate themselves as "Catholic", only 30% are actually practicing Catholics. Not that isn't sad enough, the definition of practicing Catholic is a Catholic who attends Mass only once a month. It is far less than 30% who attend Mass on a regular basis let alone every Sunday. This truly is a sad situation, but it can be fixed. We all need to be more effective Christians. In this day and age many Christians think that if they stay in their own little bubble and only worry about there own personal morality they'll be just fine. This is not true. Humans were designed for community, and the Christian Church is the perfect community. In this day and age though, modern technology has sadly damaged our communication skills. With cell phones and instant messaging, people have lost the ability to communicate effectively, but this can also be fixed with a little effort. What modern technology has benefitted us with is the invention of Social Media. Many people say Facebook and Twitter are distractions. That all depends on how you use them. I think that these forms of Social Media can connect us in a way that nothing else in the world can. For example, I can only reach so many people on my own with this blog, but if I share it on Facebook (which I have done as many of you are aware of) my friends will see it, and then their friends will see it and sooner or later this Blog can reach thousands of people (which would be totally awesome by the way). I know I've said a lot regarding this subject, but it is very important that we as Christians use the tools that the world has presented us with for heavenly purposes. This may mean something different for all of us, but we all need to do something to spread the faith to those who have lost their way. John F. Kennedy once said, "It is not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." To close, let me adjust that statement. It is not what The Church can do for you, but what you can do for The Church.


P.S. If anyone would like to add anything to what I have said, or if you have a question, feel free to make a comment. In fact, I strongly desire feedback so I know I'm not talking to myself. Don't be shy to speak your mind.

Hello!!!

Hello Cyberspace. My name is Ryan Held and I am a 19-year-old convert to Catholicism. Currently I am a Sophomore at Franciscan University of Steubenville. In one of my classes this semester we are reading this book about the Church and new media, and one of the chapters talks about blogging the faith. I was inspired and decided to take up the challenge and do that myself. For this first post I just give some background information about myself. I was raised Protestant, Baptist to be exact. In my sophomore year of high school I converted to Catholicism. What made me do this were the writings of the Early Church Fathers, which I highly recommend everyone to read. Their writings were so logical and pointed to Catholicism constantly as the true Church established by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In future posts I want to relate many of their teachings to modern day life and to the New Evangelization, for I believe that to effectively evangelize we need the lessons of the Fathers to guide us. Well, that's enough for now. I'm just really excited to be doing this.