Sees Byzantine church a “perfect marriage” of Eastern traditions and unity with popePatricia Coll Freeman, "Ex-Protestant at home in Byzantine Catholic Church" (Catholic Anchor, Archdiocese of Anchorage, January 9, 2010):
A former Lutheran pastor from Northern Michigan now heads St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church in Anchorage.Read the rest of the article here. Interesting story, especially if you know a lot of Lutherans.
On Oct. 31, Father James Barrand, 52, succeeded just-retired pastor Father Mike Hornick at the little, dome-topped church, where an ancient Catholic liturgy is celebrated everyday. Father Barrand is quick to explain that he got to the icon and incense-filled church with the help of ancient guides — the Early Church Fathers — who chanted the same Divine Praises in the first centuries of the church as he does now.
... As with many Protestant denominations, Father Barrand explained, Lutherans think they must “restore” the church to “its pristine shape before the corruption – as they saw it – of the Middle Ages. So they very much encourage people to go back to the Fathers. So I did.”
But in examining the writings of those closest in time to Christ and his Apostles, Father Barrand discovered the church Christ founded was the Catholic Church ...
[Hat tip to M.L.]
There is a very rich heritage in the Eastern Churches. This writer is most impressed by the survival and even the flourishing of the Eastern Churches under the draconian persecutions of the Soviet Communist era. There is a wideness and a depth to Eastern Orthodoxy that is both very Catholic (in the best use of that term) and also very "protestant" in the sense of a reformation of thinking that always embraces and includes the modern era. So the question is, "Why not have a Lutheran Church of the Bystantine rite." Or even better why not take the example of the AELC in USA and challenge the behemoths of the RC and Orthodox world to unite into the smaller body thereby creating a truly united Christian Church. http://www.bibel-study-for-everyone.com
ReplyDeleteSo father Barrand has discovered that vicar of Christ is the Pope. The Holy Father on earth, and yet the Bible tell's us there is one Holy Father which is in heaven. Can anyone show me where in the Bible Christ said, "we must appoint a Pope". There was no popes but there was bishops. Apostle Peter died as an apostle but Roman catholic church made him a Pope. I wonder what He would have said ???
ReplyDeleteEJK,
ReplyDelete"Pope," like the Middle Latin "papa," simply means "father," "bishop" (=elder), or in a classical Roman context "tutor".
If you were a father, your children could properly call you "pope," though it would sound a bit funny.
The apostles were the first bishops. The King James Bible, in Acts 1:20, shows Peter applying Ps. 109:8 to Judas, saying "Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his *bishoprick* let another take."
This refers to the first case of apostolic succession applied to the bishops following the first twelve. Mathias was chosen by the Holy Spirit, of course, to take the episkopos ("bishoprick") of Judas.
Every listing of the Twelve Disciples in the NT has Peter at the head of the list, succeeded by a consistent hierarchy, with James, John, and Andrew (Jesus' closest friends) after Peter, and Judas always at the end. In Galatians 1 & 2, the great and highly educated apostle Paul is shown going up to Jerusalem after his conversion to spend 15 days with the fisherman Peter. Why? The first two verses of Gal. 2 tell us: in order to have his teaching vetted by the vicar of Christ, Peter and his closest circle of bishops.
The second most commonly mentioned apostle in the NT is John, who is mentioned something like 27 times. Peter is mentioned something like 129 times (check to be sure: I could be off a tiny bit).
In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says to Peter: "Thou art Peter, and on this Rock I will build my Church." This verse is a translation from the NT Greek; but the language spoken by Jesus would have been Aramaic, in which the word for "Peter" and "Rock" would have been the same word: "Kepha." Hence: "Thou art Kepha and on this Kepha I will build my Church." No ambiguity there.
Show me where in the Bible we can find the teachings that (1) Scripture ALONE should be our authority, (2) Scripture ALONE should suffice for the ongoing governance of the Church, and (3) Scripture ALONE should suffice for discovering which books now found in the Bible are inspired by God and therefore canonical (and therefore should be regarded as divinely inspired Revelation), and I shall join you in your separatist Protestantism.