Sage advice from an old veteran preacher to a young aspiring one

"Son, if God saw fit to speak through Balaam's ass, I'm sure he's able to speak through yours!"

P.S. I was that young aspiring preacher... many years ago.

A Hermeneutical Thought to Ponder...while I'm taking a break from blogging

"Holy Scripture, if considered in origin to be both truly divine and truly human, must then, by necessity, contain the seeds of the demise of it own cultural conditioning."

The Preamble to the Constitution of the Episcopal Church

PREAMBLE
The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, otherwise known as the Episcopal Church (which name is hereby recognized as also designating the Church), is a constituent member of the Anglican Communion, a Fellowship within the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, of those duly constituted Dioceses, Provinces and regional Churches in communion with the See of Canterbury, upholding and propagating the historic Faith and Order as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer. This Constitution, adopted in General Convention in Philadelphia in October, 1789, as amended in subsequent General Conventions, sets forth the basic Articles for the government of this Church, and of its overseas missionary jurisdictions.

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Notes of interest:

(1) According to the Preamble of its Constitution, the Episcopal Church confidently asserts its self-identity as part of the "One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church," not directly or immediately, but through its constituent membership in the Anglican Communion.

(2) It follows then that the bond of the Episcopal Church to the Church of Christ is both mediately established in, and historically conditioned by, its communion with the See of Canterbury, through which it has also received the self-consciously "apostolic succession" of its polity.

(3) This establishes the Episcopal Church as a “catholic” church by virtue, not merely of legal claim, but rather (and more appropriately) by virtue of family descent from one of the most ancient and venerable branches of the Church.

(4) The Episcopal Church shares this family descent with all “duly constituted Dioceses, Provinces, and regional Churches in communion with the See of Canterbury, upholding and propagating the historic Faith and Order as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer,” which together constitute a distinct “Fellowship within the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.”

I'll make further comments in another entry. That's enough provocation for now.

Dhimmitude for Dhummies

Check out Dhimmitude for Dummies by Victor Sharpe.

Biretta tip to Orthodoxy Today.