Let us note that the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning, which the Lord gave, was preached by the Apostles, and was preserved by the Fathers. On this was the Church founded; and if anyone departs from this, he neither is nor any longer ought to be called a Christian.
–Saint Athanasius (c.296/298-373)
So what do we call the revisionists/secularists in the The Episcopal Chucrh since they have departed in more than one way from “…the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning,…?”
IMVHO, i think the word “Episcopagan” works rather well! Many of these revisionists are not Christian IMVHO. Some are believers who have gotten caught up in social justice programs.
I fail to see why we need to call them anything. If one is already outside TEC, it’s an irrelevance; if still within it, one’s duty is simply to identify erroneous [b]teaching[/b] and denounce it. Anything else is more about relieving our own feelings than changing minds.
Perhaps at the start of Holy Week, we would better focused on how well we personally maintain the Great Tradition.
Amen, Jeremy Bonner. After a breath-taking and poignant start to Holy Week, it is equally breath-taking that some minds and hearts are on “proper name-calling.” Somehow I doubt that’s the reason Canon Harmon posted this — to get the name-calling right.
I see, it incorrect or politically incorrect to use a name to describe persons who deviate from “…the Faith once given…” during Holy Week.
In fact it apparently politically correct to ‘shame’ those who dare to be specific in their use of descriptive nouns.
Somehow, by being honest instead of politically correct, it seems to me to be (in the sense of a corollary Scriptural comment) to be a matter of my making my “yes,” yes and my “no,” no.
I call such clarity of noun usage ‘honesty.’
Maybe the use of terms such as “white washed tombs” was too insensitive in Jesus’ reference to the pharisees of His time.
I wonder how this glorious star of the heavenly firmament would have characterized WO.
It has nothing to do with being politically correct. There’s a difference between denouncing false teaching and believing one enjoys a window into men’s souls. That’s the prerogative of the Creator, not the creature.
The fact that our Lord had authority to make the pronouncements that he did is intimately related to his sinless condition. Neither you nor I can so afford to boast, as the Palm Sunday liturgy demonstrates.
We stand alongside the “Episcopagans” crying “Crucify Him!”
“We stand alongside the “Episcopagans†crying “Crucify Him!†”
Really.
Please tell me what you think rerally is the meaning of the term “Episcopagan.”
Using the rationale behind the ‘coining of the term’ “Episopagans,” the Samaritans of ancient Israel could be called ‘Judeopagans.’ I am sure that you are familiar with 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles and the fact that these books speak of Samaritans being guilty of repeatedly violating the first three of the Ten Commandments regarding our Creator. And I am sure that you are aware of the fact that these Samaritans also ‘payed lip service’ to God’s commandments passed to the Israelites through Moses.
So please tell me, can you explain just how your “Episcopagans” are not similar to the pre-Messiah Samaritans?
And if you think that this is not an appropriate discussion during Holy Week, then I question why? And this question has to do with abberrant Christoligies that have been uttered by a number of bishops of The Episcopal Church.
This is an appropriate week for those bishops and their adherents to fall down on their knees and beg for forgiveness as ‘modern-day Samaritans’ for the misleading leadership that they have presented within and without The Episcopal Church.
Re #1
AnglicanFirst
[blockquote] So what do we call the revisionists/secularists in the The Episcopal Chucrh since they have departed in more than one way from “…the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning,…?†[/blockquote]
What the Church has always called such persons and those who commune with them… “heretics.”
On a slightly different note, the above quote is cited often on the internet, and is said to be from a letter of Athanasius to Serapion, and dated to either 359 or 360 AD. So far, I have not been able to find anyone who cites more than the above quote.
Does anyone know if the text of this letter (i.e. the whole letter) is available online? CCEL has two letters to Serapion, neither of which contain this text, but it might be known by another name.
If not, does anyone have a reference to a hard copy source that contains a properly attested text of the whole letter?
Please ignore my #9, I found both the Greek and English text immediately after posting it! 😮
Athanasius is a church father held in high regard by protestants and catholics alike. His teaching is worth careful reading and rumination, for he had deep insight and understanding of the scriptures. When he writes above “if anyone departs from this”, the sense of the word “ekpipto” is “to fall from”. Thus, when Zeus strikes Odysseus’ ship with a thunderbolt and his sailors fall out of the ship into the sea, Homer uses the same expression as Athanasius uses here (Od, XII, 417).
Fine, you say, why the Greek lesson? Well, I think “depart from” doesn’t quite convey what Athanasius intended: He didn’t just mean “stray from a little” as we all do from time to time; he meant, “Depart fully and irrevocably from”.
But also, I think its more than departing from erroneous *teaching* as though that could be a limitation. Athanasius refers to “the tradition, the teaching, the faith” as one thing, which Christ gave to us. Given the nature of Christ’s teaching, it surely refers also to how we practice that teaching.
I hope this helps.