Theo day 2

ok... I am not fooling anyone... this is an assignment for my theo class and I want it to be saved somewhere other than the computer in case it crashes... but maybe you learn something anyways... skip to the greek bus adventures if your not interested. i am off to Delphi tomorrow morning. Exciting!

We began class today talking about the books of the bible. More specifically the books of the New Testament. Sadly, I must say I was rather ignorant of the whole subject. We learned that the New Testament came into formation between around 50 AD – about 200 AD. With the book of Revelation as the last book written. The early churches would write to each other and compare letters they had received from the apostles. Hence, why we have Paul's letters to different early Christian communities.

We then learned about Justin Martyr. He was a philosopher who converted to Christianity. He wrote an apology to the emperor in 150 AD. An apology is a formal defense of a subject. Plato also wrote an apology defending Socrates. Justin Martyr gave the emperor an outline of how Christians worship. This is the first complete outline of Christian worship we have.

In his letter he tells that Christians gather on Sunday. At the beginning of the service the bishop gives a blessing. Then there are the readings from the Old Testament and the letters of Paul. Then there is a homily. Then the gifts are brought in and the presider prays over the gifts. The gifts are distributed and a collection is taken up. Finally, the deacons take communion to the homebound. When I heard this I was astonished to see how similar church services are today. It is interesting to think that in many ways we still celebrate mass the same way the earliest Christians did.

Then we talked about the ecumenical councils. They were essentially councils of representatives of all the Christian churches in the known world. At these councils matters of faith were discussed, debated, and decided upon.

One of the controversies was over the veneration of icons. The result of this was to confirm that it was ok for Christians to venerate icons, but not to worship them. It is like looking at photographs of loved ones. You venerate them, you don't worship them when you miss them.

This made me think a lot about who I admire and why. This is probably off topic, but this is supposed to be about what I thought about class. It seems to me that I am most reluctant to admire people. I think it is probably a defense mechanism. How often have we grown up with heroes only to have them fall from grace. But who can never let you down? God. So I admire God , so much so that you could say I worship him. And luckily enough that is ok, at least by my church:)

We talked a lot in class about the holy trinity. I am ashamed to admit it but I am 21 years old and I still don't really understand the trinity. I get the whole Father and son part. But the holy spirit is something intangible that I struggle greatly with. What is the holy spirit? I know it descended upon the apostles and people receive it at baptism... but what is is? I will have to think about it and ask friends, family and my teachers.

We continued our class talking about the great schism between the eastern and western churches. It is sad that this happened. Essentially it really occurred when the crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204. It is such a pity that this has happened. There was no reason for the crusaders to sack Constantinople and the result that they did has caused much animosity between the churches. So much so that it is really only the last 50 years or so when real talk of reconciliation has begun. I don't pretend to know if reconciliation will occur but I think that it can.

It was another class that made me think and I think that the rest will too. I find myself always leaving with more questions than answers, but the questions don't come until after I have left the classroom.