| Subject: | [socialcredit] Fundamental Truth | | Date: | Saturday, August 27, 2005 09:17:26 (-0700) | | From: | William B. Ryan <w_b_ryan @.....com>
|
Since the time of Constantine, it was the practice to
the time of the Reformation, in Protestant churches,
to Vatican II in Roman Catholic churches, for the
priest to stand with the people facing the back of the
church during the consecration of the Bread and Wine.
The practice was the incorporation of the court ritual
of the official Augustinian state cult into Christian
worship. The priest and people were symbolically
facing where the Emperor would have sat, often
elevated behind a screen.* It was the practice of the
official cult's temples throughout the empire, now
converted to Christianity, which in the time of
Constantine were the majority of Christian churches.
I don't believe there was anything wrong with the
priest facing the back of the church. Nor do I think
there is anything inherently wrong with everyone
sitting or standing around the table, as Jesus and his
Disciples did at the Last Supper.
They are traditions; to the extent we change them, we
lose our historical roots, which is not necessarily
bad, but also not necessarily good. It very much
depends on the circumstances and the reasons for the
change.
One reason I am an Episcopalian is that I admire the
fact that the denomination preserves many of the old
traditions, in outward form, which keeps us in touch
with our ancestors, at the same time defending the
substance of what is important to the Christian faith.
Now, the Doctrine of the Trinity, though introduced
into Christianity by philosophers from the official
state cult, is something quite different and far more
important than priests wearing or not wearing
vestments derived from the dress of upper class
Romans--for it tells us fundamental truth about the
nature of God.
Stripped of its partisan Christian connotations, it
should be useful to everyone regardless of religious
affiliation.
-
*The priests were probably behind the screen with the
Emperor, which is preserved in the liturgy of the
Orthodox churches. The people would have seen
fleeting images of movement behind the screen, heard
the incantations, and smelled the smoke from the
burning of incense.
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Fundamental Truth
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