Saturday, July 18, 2009

Avoiding Heresy

Many heresies spring from failure to apply basic critical thinking skills. Such is the case with TEC's 'sexual ethics' and with 'gender-neutral' Bibles. What do these have in common? They share an erroneous biblical anthropology.

There is no ontological difference between male and female. Both are human and both are fully in the image of God. Both crown the Creation, being created on the 6th day. Yet it is obvious that men and women are different. The Bible understands the difference as supplementarity. To understand the biblical worldview we must grasp the concept of binary distinctions and the concept of supplementarity. These concepts must be held together to avoid heresy and understand what the Bible teaches us about the created order.

In a sense, woman being created last, is the gemstone of the crown of creation. And of course, this is what Orthodox and Catholic Christians say about THE Woman, the Theotokos, from whom Christ our God became flesh by the Holy Spirit. If we say that the woman is of a substance different from the man, we fall into heresy, because that would mean that the substance of Christ (which HE took from his mother) is different from the substance of men. This is impossible, of course, since Jesus was born a male.

The Faith we've received from the Afro-Asiatics through Abraham recognizes a distinction and supplementarity between male and female when it comes to the order of creation. The man was made first, then the woman. The headship of males was expressed in the blood work of hunting, war, execution of lawbreakers, and in animal sacrifice by the ruler-priest. So Evangelical Anglicans who ordain women as priests but not as bishops on the Principle of Headship are missing the point!

The blood work of women is different and supplementary to the blood work of men. Women sacrifice blood in first marital intercourse. They bleed in their monthly cycle and in childbirth. The blood shed of women represents life and is distinct yet supplementary to the blood shed by men in hunting, war and animal sacrifice.

Among the Afro-Asiatics it was taboo to allow distinct entities to become confused. This is why both men and women were circumcised (a custom that continues in many parts of Africa). Male circumcision was seen as an enhancement of maleness by removing the flabby foreskin that resembles the female organ. The supplement to the circumcised male could only be a circumcised female. In Pharaonic circumcision, the clitoris and labia minora are removed to make the female organ less like the male organ. (Read more about this here.)

The prohibition against mixing types, be they fibers, seeds or blood, is like the prohibition against confusing the holy with the unholy, or blurring the distinction between life and death, such as happens when a baby goat is boiled in its mother's milk (forbidden 3 places in Scripture). That is why each seed is to go to its own kind. As plants are born from the earth, so the seeds of plants return to the earth. As the man is born from the woman, so the seed/semen of man is to return to woman. The spilling of seed called 'onanism' is regarded as an unrighteous deed, a violation of the order of creation. So obviously is homosex.

Bloods were never permitted to mix or even to be present in the same space. And of course, this is what Orthodox and Catholic Christians say about the Eucharist, where Christ's Blood alone is to be present. (That's why, according to ancient instruction in the Priests' Manuals, the priest must immediately leave the Holy Place should he accidently cut himself and bleed.) This is why women never can be priests and why they are "churched" after childbirth, following the ancient custom.

God's ordering of creation is for the benefit of those who would know God's Nature (as St. Paul tells us in Romans). As male and female alike are in God's Image, and God is not divided, neither can we divide in substance the male and the female. In marriage the two are able to become one because they are of the same "kind" and supplementary. Supplementary means that one cannot be perceived to exist without the other. This is a picture of the Godhead - for the Father and the Son (Logos) can't be perceived to exist one from the other. To say that the Word became flesh is to say that the Son of God became human in order to redeem and restore believing humanity to our original state. We fall into heresy when we leave out the part about the "Son" of God. The language of Father and Son is not coincidental to what God is revealing to us. The Father delivers the Kingdom to the Son. The Father presents the Church as a pure and radiant Bride to the Son.

The supplementarity of opposites is evident only when their distinctions are clear. Satan directs a good deal of effort to blurring distinctions by encouraging androgenous dress, homosex and fanning the flames of feminism. Yet if we attend to the binary distinctions of the created order which God declared "good" and we affirm their supplementarity, we are less likely to stray from the one true Path, which is not thing, but Person.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Nine Meaty Questions

Today a reader of Just Genesis e-mailed a list of questions. She is a very sharp lady, a medical doctor and Jill-of-many-trades, living on the KY/OH/VW border. I asked for and received her permission to post the questions here:

1. What do you believe about the age of the earth?

2. Do you believe in a literal 6-day creation?

3. Do you believe in evolution (of man), or was he created out of dust, fully formed?

4. If there were several original human couples, were they all involved in the fall?

5. Do you think the fall was eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, or was that just symbolic for some other disobedience?

6. I don't read Genesis 1 and 2 as two separate creation stories, but rather chapter 2 as an expansion on the outline laid out in chapter 1.... what do you think?

7. If marriage is between one man and one woman, as Gen. 2 seems to be saying....what is all this about men having two wives one North and one South? Is this disobedience or part of God's design, and if so, why doesn't Christianity accept polygamy now?

8. Did I understand you to say the Orthodox don't believe in inherited (original) sin? If so, how you they explain David saying he was conceived in sin, and sinful from birth?

9. What about the garden of Eden, real place or myth?

I love meaty questions like these! God willing, I intend to provide answers to each of them in a series beginning next week.

Before tackling the first question, I invite readers to address any of the questions that may interest you. What do YOU think? Please provide support from Scripture and Holy Tradition (which never contradict each other) in explaining your position.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Why TEC Hates the Nigerians (You Might be Surprised)

The 76th General Convention of the (Pagan) Episcopal Church has removed the final canonical obstacles to the "full inclusion" of non-celibate homosexuals. They may now be ordained as deacons and priests, they may be consecrated as bishops and their "unions" may be blessed in the churches. Of course, this has been going on for a good while in TEC so this isn't really news.

The story behind this story is the Anglican Church of Nigeria, which was blasted by a leading gay-rights activist who believes that divorce contradicts sexual ethics and because it is permitted in the Church, so should homosexuality be permitted (even 'celebrated', as Gene Robinson insists).

This leading activist is my former bishop and the man who has to sign my retirement papers in 2 weeks. He said: "It is time for the church be liberated from hypocrisy under which it has been operating about our gay brothers and sisters. Divorce contradicted sexual ethics. Our gay and lesbian members don't think much about what other Anglicans around the world think. The Nigerians are our most ardent critic. The Scribes and the Pharisees tied people up in burdens..." (Read the full report here.)

Bishop Sauls stated, "The Nigerians are our most ardent critic." Humm... Perhaps we should ask why that is?

The Nigerians know the Bible and Holy Tradition because they live in the crucible where Abraham's faith was formed. Kain and Seth married daughters of the chief of Nok (Nok is in the Jos Plateau of Nigeria.) The Jebu (Jebusites) intermarried with the descendents of Kain. The largest group of Jebusites today lives in Nigeria. Noah's homeland is Bor'nu near Lake Chad in northern Nigeria. The priestly lines, from which Joseph and Mary come, originated among the ancestors of the people (who in modern times) came to be called Yoruba. All of this has been documented and verified through linguistics, biblical studies and cultural anthropology.

So the weight of Holy Tradition is on the side of the Anglican Church of Nigeria and its Primate, Archbishop Peter Jasper Akinola, who is vehemently hated and constantly vilified by TEC pagans.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The Jebusites Unveiled

The religious views and practices of ancient Afro-Asiatics spread through the agency of ruler-priests who controlled water systems at a time when west central Africa, Canaan and Mesopotamia were wetter.

In 1892, the New York Times reported on the Jebu tribe, which controlled the water systems of the Port of Lagos. The Jebu are classified as Yoruba, but the term 'Yoruba' applied to related tribal groups only after the 18th century. The Jebu are also called Ijebu and in the Bible they are called Jebusites. The Jebu identify themselves as distinct from other Yoruba sub-groups by calling themselves Nago-Jebu, just as Yoruba from Ketu would be Nago-Ketu.

While there are 2 Jebu provinces, there are 3 brothers: Yoruba, Egba and Ketu. In Genesis we find this 2 kingdoms-3 brothers pattern throughout the book. One brother is often veiled/hidden or more peripheral to the events described. For example, we are told that Noah had 3 sons and Genesis makes it clear that the lines of Ham and Shem intermarried, but we know very little about the descendents of Japheth. Likewise, Abraham had 3 first-born sons: Joktan, Ishmael and Isaac, but we really have to dig into the text for information on Joktan.

We also discover from study of the Jebu that a kingdom is established when the ruler-apparent marries a second wife. This explains Abraham's urgency to fetch a cousin bride for Isaac before his death. Following the marriage pattern of the rulers of his people, Isaac would have already had a half-sister wife in Beersheba.

According to the New York Times report, the king of the Jebu levied taxes on all products carried through his territory. This is consistent with the biblical information concerning Abraham’s ruler-priest ancestors who controlled water systems in Nigeria (where the Jebu still reside), Canaan and Mesopotamia.

According to African legend, the Yoruba migrated into west central Africa from the east. Some stopped in the region of Lake Chad where they had kin in Bor'nu (land of Noah). Their kin were likely the Kanuri tribe (descendents of Kain), which explains why some Yoruba have tribal marks similar to those of the Kanuri.

This explains the relationship between Abraham and Melchizedek, a Jebusite ruler-priest, mentioned in Genesis 14 to whom Abraham offered tribute.

The principal ruler of the two Jebu provinces - Jebu Remu and Jebu Ode - is called "awujali." Jebu rulers are installed with palm branches. Jude Adebo Adeleye Ogunade writes in his memoir about growing up Ijebu. He was warned not to touch the leaves of the Igi-Ose tree, because as his Mama Eleni explained: "That tree is the tree whose leaves are used to install Chiefs and Kings of Ijebu and as your grandfather was a custodian of the rites of chieftaincy and kingship you must not play with its leaves."

Interestingly, the University of Oxford, Institute Paper, n° 7, (1937) on Medicinal Plants lists this plant as a blood purifier (see reference HA 1k, here).

The association of palm trees (tamars) with rulers and prophets is a common among many Africans and Arabians and is found in the Bible. Fresh palm tree fronds are used ceremonially at the installation of rulers and are used to decorate places of worship. The tamar as a sacred symbol is analogous to the oak tree. Male rulers and oracles apparently sat under oaks while female rulers and oracles sat under tamars. Deborah sat under a tamar as a judge and a prophet in Israel.

This also sheds some light on the origins of the word "Torah" which means 'that which is thrown by the hand' of the Moreh (oracle or prophet). In Genesis 12:6 we read that uponhis arrival in Canaan Abraham sought guidance from the Morah when he pitched his tent at the Oak of Moreh. The word "Torah" is usually rendered guidance or instruction, but is also associated with a prophet sitting under a tree.

When the people used palm fronds to greet Jesus as he entered Jerusalem, they greeted him as one to be enthroned. The connection between rulers and trees at sacred centers is found among the tribal peoples of West Africa. Among the Yoruba, fresh palm tree leaves are employed on occasions of installation of a sovereign, and to the office of high priest. (Read more about the palm tree in connection with rulers, prophets and shrines here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/mind/mind24.htm)

Saturday, July 11, 2009

The Creature After God's Kind

God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” It was so. The land produced vegetation – plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:11-12

The word 'kinds' in Genesis 1 is not analogous to the modern biological categories Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, or Species. This would be a foreign concept to the Afro-Asiatics whose religious worldview frames Genesis. The Hebrew word is מִין, min which is often translated ‘type.’ The Hebrew min has other uses, as in the phrase "from a man" – מִן אָדָם (min āḏām).

The meaning of ‘kinds’ is tied to the ancient Afro-Asiatic observation of the binary character of the order of creation. In Genesis 1 the distinction is between Heaven as the dwelling place of the Creator and Earth as the dwelling place of creatures. In the order of creation, humans are the most like God, but their dwelling place is earth. In Genesis 3:8 we are told that God came to earth (to the garden) to commune with those who He created in His Image. In the New Testament we are told that Christ, the Son of God, has come again to earth to restore communion with God the Father.

The word ‘kinds’ simply points to the observable reality that there are many non-human creatures on earth and all as a group are distinct from the Creator in Heaven. In Genesis the term ‘kind’ is used in reference to only 3 categories: vegetation (verse 12); birds and sea creatures (verse 21) and creatures that inhabit the dry ground (verse 25). This is significant because the number 3 in Genesis always indicates unity or ontological oneness. So vegetation, birds, sea creatures and land creatures share in a unity to which humans are peripheral. We recognize that this is so because the word ‘kinds’ is not used in reference to humans in Genesis 1. Why?

Because our communion is with the Triune Creator, in whose Image we are made. The Psalmist recognized this when he asks “What is man (Enock/Nok) that thou art mindful of him and the son of man (ben adam) that you care for him? For a time you have made him less than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor and put all things under his feet.” (Psalm 8:4-8). The Church Fathers teach that this speaks of the Son of God who emptied Himself and became flesh and dwelt on earth as one of us. The Creator became Man so that after a time, He could restore man's original state, as the creature made after God's kind.

This is why before His death and resurrection, Jesus prayed that those who believe in Him as the Son of God would be 'in Him' as He is in the Father (John 17). Jesus was praying for a restoration of the original order.

For more on this go here and read the comments.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Where Calvinism Errs

At the recent constitution of the Anglican Church in North America in Bedford Texas, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah expressed the hope of restored Christian unity and spoke of Calvinism as a heresy that has caused division. He identified the following as essential for unity:
  • Affirmation of Holy Tradition
  • Recognition of the authority of the seven Ecumenical Councils
  • Return to the original form of the Nicene Creed (without the filioque clause inserted at the Council of Toledo, 589 A.D.)
  • Recognition of all seven Sacraments
  • Rejection of 'the heresies of the Reformation' and subsequent 'isms' that resulted when Protestants rejected the authority of Holy Tradition: Calvinism, anti-sacramentalism, iconoclasm, Gnosticism, and the feminism and the egalitarianism that led to the ordination of women priests and the consecration of women as bishops.

Read it all here.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Ruler-Priests: Early Missionaries

The religious life of ancient Afro-Asiatics spread through the agency of ruler-priests who controlled water systems at a time when west central Africa, Mesopotamia and India were wetter. To read the linguistic support for this thesis, go to the Forum Discussion here. To read about the 7 key features of ancient Afro-Asiatic religion, go here.

In every generation God has had witnesses living in expectation of Christ's coming into the world as God Incarnate. Today Christians live as witnesses to the fulfillment of that expectation and we await HIS coming again to judge the living and the dead.