Second Easter Service

Now that I'm in the midst of the second sermon, I have time to say a few things about the evolution of faith. This verse from Heb 6 that Melvin is talking about has been variously interpreted over the centuries, just as the very nature of God has undergone tremendous changes, from the firm unity of the sheema to the trinity. Even our great Christian thinker Origen became posthumously a heretic for writing that Jesus was the first creation of the Father. Come on, those who are familiar with the Pauline Corpus would no doubt say; didn't St Paul write that Jesus was the firstborn of all creation? How can the firstborn of all creation not be a creation? That would do violence to the verse. But you see. After Origen's time, the church developed further the concept of the Trinity and Jesus became co-eternal with the Father. So St Paul's verse must be reinterpreted. Now, we don't bat an eyelid when we hear that the firstborn of all creation is not a creation. Poor Origen. He didn't have the benefit of our indoctrination.

I'm now getting arthritis of the fingers from typing on my phone. It's time to listen to the rest of the sermon a second time. Cheerio!

Sent from my iPhone

My record shows that the above was sent at 12:14pm when I was still in church.  Blogger, like most blog hosting sites, allows for email entries to be made which is of course quite cool.  I thought I should just add something that I noted in both services.  Melvin, in his prayer at both services, asked us all to think of someone who is on the verge of leaving the faith.  I felt a little uneasy because naturally, I thought that there were those who would be thinking of me.  I wish to make it absolutely clear that I'm not the one anyone should pray for.  I have no intention of leaving my childhood faith.  If anything, I'm probably one of the most pious parishioners in the entire church.

As the famous hymn goes, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love" applies to ALL of us including me.  We who take a deep interest in the faith of course will have the tendency to stray from the faith and why?  True biblical scholarship shows up the flaws in the faith.  But that's not synonymous with LEAVING the faith.  I may know the faith is full of logical flaws.  I may know the existence of God and other supernatural entities cannot be supported by even the smallest shred of evidence.  I may know how unreliable the Bible is and I can debate with the best apologist and cut him down to size.  But leaving the faith is not on the cards.

A person whose faith is untouched by doubts is a person who takes no interest in his religion.  He does not read up about his faith and frankly, he doesn't care two straws about these things.  He's more interested in other things (it's usually money) and if he reads a book, it'd probably be something on investments.  He looks upon his faith as a supporting pillar for his wealth-making and that's all Christianity means to him.  Is such a person more faithful than someone who takes a deep interest in his faith and discovers it can't stand logically?

So, folks, when you are about to say your prayers, please save your breath.  I'm very grateful to you but I'm firmly secure in the Father's hand, as the saying goes.  Neither blah blah blah nor blah blah blah can separate me from the love of God through Christ Jesus, as the verse goes but I've forgotten the exact words and I'm too lazy to look up the good book.