This Saturday we will continue our journey through our topic of Christian Culture. We have no idea how many study lessons this may take. However we pray it is strikingly powerful and helpful in our daily walk in the 'world'.
As we have stated this may be a detour from classical Bible Study. However, if we are to listen to Jesus's admonition to take His word locally and to the ends of the earth we should not only be equipped with a Biblical underpinning, but a cultural understanding as well. One may be assured that in conversations about faith wherever we may be geographically, questions will arise that are more cultural than theological. We will need to be armed. Please note these notes are twice as long as our usual notes. The topics covered seemed to exhibit a need to be linked, spiritually, theologically and culturally so we went for the longer length.
Please join us, our Zoom Link and Bible Study notes are below for this Saturday's session at 8:00 AM PDT 04/05/2025. I pray you and yours are well.
Please remember that you bless us with your presence, and may the Holy Spirit bring you His comfort and His peace. Join us!!!
Zoom Link:
For Study, Prayer and Fellowship - 8:00 AM PDT on 04/05/2025:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82968961343?pwd=LzcwVjJKcWVESDRURlhDcXlNV0JUdz09
Meeting ID: 829 6896 1343
Passcode: 77299ere:
Prologue – 04/05/2025 – Christian Timeline -
1) Apostolic Period: 31 – 311 AD – Stephen stoned, persecutions, gospels, Apostolic missions to ends of the earth, Church of Acts [Acts 2:44-47];
2) 312 – 476: Constantine converts (312), persecution ends, (313) Sunday worship (323), Christmas 12/25 (345), Romans make Christianity state religion (380), Books of Bible selected (382);
3) 477 – 799: Regulation of monasteries (480), Laymen no longer vote for Pope (502), Write body of civil law (533), No heathen who became a Christian could be a slave (635), Jerusalem captured by Muslims (638);
4) 800 – 1000: Vladimir I, The Great baptized (988) 1st Christian duke of Kiev, most European countries become Christian;
5) 1001 – 1453: Church splits: East and West (1054), Jerusalem retaken (1099), Priests etc. no longer fraternize with women (1139), Ban clergy marriage (1187),Muslims retake Jerusalem (1187), Francis of Assisi (1181/2 – 1226), Franciscans (1209), Gutenberg Bible (1440), Fall of Constantinople (1453);
6) 1454 – 1599: Opposed to slave trade (1462), Luther 95 Thesis (1517), Luther ex-communicated (1521), Church of England (1534), Opposed to slave trade (1537), Roman Catholic Counter Reformation (1545 – 1965), New calendar (1552);
7) 1600 – 1699: Coffee okay (1600), Turks (Muslims) defeated in Poland (1683);
8) 1700 – 1799: John Carroll first bishop of Baltimore (1789);
9) 1800 – 1899: Anti-Slavery, ignored (1839), Dogma of Immaculate Conception (1849), Papal infallibility (1870), Rerum Novarum, Pro-Business Encl. (1891),
10) 1900 – 1999: Neutrality in WWI, (1914 – 1918), Persecution by Soviets (1918 – 1985), Vatican City a sovereign nation 1929, Neutrality in WWII (1939), Vatican II loosened rules and allowed mass in native language (1962 – 1965);
11) 2000 – Pope Francis authored Laudato Si, an environmental position (2015)
St. Francis of Assisi, was not just a friar, but also a transformative reformer of the Church. Born to wealth, he chose a path of poverty and humility, [Matt. 11:29] few could comprehend. He established the Franciscan Order in 1209, with vows of poverty, [Luke4:18] chastity, and obedience. Francis’ movement did not reform religious orders; it redefined the core values of the Church. He endured because of his embodiment of peace and brotherhood [John 13:34], bridging gaps between diverse communities. Do we miss something in our pursuit of spiritual fellowship today? Does Francis’s life have answers, urging us to reflect on our values and the message of Christian unity in a divided world.
Let us explore how this fascinating figure was formed in his faith and actions:
Francis was born in 1181 in Assisi, his father, Pietro Bernardone, was a successful cloth merchant. His mother, Pica de Bourlemont, was of noble descent. Francis was a carefree spirit. Captured during a local conflict, he was held as a POW for a year. When released something had shifted; he was no longer satisfied with material wealth. This would lead to a personal transformation and spiritual pursuit. He turned his back on wealth to embrace a life devoted to serving others and following his faith. While praying before the crucifix at the dilapidated church of San Damiano, he heard a voice from Christ saying, “Francis, repair My house, which, as you can see, is falling into ruins.” This vision was a call to physically rebuild a church and a mandate to spiritually renew the essence of the Church. He gathered stones to rebuild the physical structure of San Damiano. However, the implications of his vision was apparent; it was a commitment to spiritual reform and personal humility. He took the idea of living by the Gospel to heart by his choice to embrace poverty. This was about living in harmony with the teachings of Christ.
Francis embraced poverty, without possessions, and focused on his spiritual mission. He espoused a spirit of joy and freedom w/o the constraints of wealth. He declared a freedom; a liberation from material desire [Phil. 4:11-13], thus he served others with purity of heart and purpose. We are asked to reconsider our relationship with material possessions and the simplicity produced by poverty as displayed by Jesus and Francis; and called by God.
Saint Francis of Assisi, changed the Church with the founding of the Franciscan Order. Its simplicity and devotion captured hearts and sparked a movement spreading across Europe. The establishment of the Franciscans (1209), was with papal approval of the Rule of Saint Francis. The Rule spoke to a life of absolute poverty, humility, and brotherhood; a life without property, begging for food, and preaching love, peace, and stewardship of earth. These principles can be reduced to the values of: trust in God [Ps.118:8; Prov. 3:5], a heart for all living creatures, and a deep respect for nature.
Franciscans lived with sincerity, vigor and preaching; caring for the poor and sick when compassion was rare. Their lifestyle attracted many wanting meaning beyond materialism. The growth reflects the power of living a life aligned with values that transcend time and place; appealing to our desires for connection, purpose, and peace. Francis began a reform movement emphasizing humility and service; as the Church was criticized for its wealth and power. He renounced all worldly possessions; committing to a life of poverty, service, simplicity; and he challenged the Church to return to its spiritual roots.
He provided a counter-narrative to the attitudes of opulence and authority. His life with nature is legendary. Every living thing reflected God’s creation. He spoke to birds and animals and expressed his love for nature, as “Brother Sun” and “Sister Moon,” showing all creation as a unified family. This fostered stewardship; recognizing the interconnect-tedness of all life. He taught us to reform the Church and society, but first reforming ourselves: with humility, service, and a profound respect for all creation. These principles inspire those seeking spiritual and ecological harmony. He did not confront the Church directly, but sought to renew its spirit from within. Adherence to simplicity, poverty, and charity are foundational. He paved the way for reformers, like Martin Luther, who sought to address the excesses and corruption within the Church.
Francis of Assisi’s life and work resonate with endless significance, a beacon of peace and humility within the Church. His focus on reform was not about structures and doctrines, but a shift towards simplicity and charity. By living his values, Francis offered a path of transformation that challenges materialism and called for spiritual renewal. His legacy invites introspection; how do we embody his principles today? How do we seek ways to mirror his selflessness in our own lives. Francis’s vision inspires; it is a call to live with grace and intentionality. Let us carry his mission: embracing the transformative power of love and simplicity in our world.
Roughly four hundred years later another reformation took place in the Western church, led by Martin Luther. There were others, but Luther was the greatest because of the far-reaching political, economic, and social effects. The Reformation became the basis for the founding of Protestantism. The Roman Catholic Church, especially the pope was too involved in political life in Western Europe. The church’s wealth and sin nature, caused the bankruptcy of the church as a spiritual force. Charges of corruption undermined the church’s spiritual authority. One thing is clear: the political authorities increasingly sought to curtail the public role of the church, triggering tension. Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church, on October 31, 1517, the noted date for the beginning of the Reformation. (N.B. The church door was a bulletin board.)
What distinguished Martin Luther from previous reformers was that they attacked the open corruption of the church; he went to the theological root - the perversion of the church’s doctrine of meritorious grace and redemption. As a pastor and professor at the University of Wittenberg, he deplored the entanglement of God’s free gift of grace with a complex system of indulgences and good works. In his theses, he attacked the system: the pope had no authority over purgatory and that the doctrine of the merits of the saints had no script-ural foundation. This was key to Luther’s concerns: Scripture alone is the authority, and justification is by faith, not by works. [Eph. 2:7-10] He did not intend to break with the Catholic church, but the church has not recognized its error for 500+ years. Thus in 1521 Luther was excommunicated, after his life was threatened by the Pope, only to be saved by Frederick III of Saxony. What was an internal issue became a major public fracture.
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The Reformation movement within Germany diversified immediately, and other reform impulses arose independently. Another form is Calvinism named for John Calvin, a French lawyer who fled to Basil after his conversion to the Protestant cause. He wrote the first edition of The Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536. This was a theological treatise of the reform movement, claiming a more positive place for law within the Christian community. Calvin experimented with his ideal of a disciplined community of the elect. The Reformation spread to other European countries over the 16th century. In England its roots were political and religious. Henry VIII, incensed by Pope Clement VII’s refusal to grant him an annulment of his marriage, repudiated papal authority and established the Anglican church in 1534. The king was the supreme head. Unfortunately, from then to now we continue to slice and dice the teachings of Jesus and become ever more untrusting. Christianity has nearly become Burger King, “Have it your way.”
It is not difficult to extrapolate the reformations of Francis, Luther and Calvin, etal., into an underlying contribution to the American Revolution. (A reformation by violent means.) In the days prior to the American Revolution which led to becoming a nation; America was composed of thirteen independent colonies. The earliest was the Virginia Colony, located in Williamsburg. Leading up to the Declaration of Independence adopted on July 4, 1776, most of the governing bodies of each of the colonies wrote their own declaration. This provided rich material for Thomas Jefferson, author of the unified declaration: The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America. Here is an excerpt from the Virginia Declaration of Rights:
“Religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging it, can be directed by reason and conviction, not by force or violence, and there-fore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and … it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other.”
Thomas Jefferson’s declaration contains the following: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” [Gal.5:22] He also used the following phrases: “… the Supreme Judge of the world,” and “… reliance on the protection of Divine Providence …”
Regardless of the Founders’ personal beliefs, the religious language of the Declaration has had a lasting impact on American culture and identity. It has shaped the nation’s self-understanding as a people guided by a higher power, and the development of an American form of civil religion. The religious language of the Declaration reflects a belief in a divine being who created the world and established certain natural laws that govern it. The impact of the religious language on American culture and identity is undeniable. It is unfortunate that the entire premise of America has come under assault, beginning in 1906.
Benjamin Franklin on June 28, 1787, reminding the Constitutional Convention that in the days of the original Declaration of Independence, the signers had begun every session with prayers, he called for the following: “In this situation of this Assembly groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings?
“We had daily prayer in this room for Divine Protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence we owe this opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity [Phil. 1:6]. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance.
“I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proof I see of this truth – that God governs in the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that ‘except the Lord build, they labor in vain that build it.’ I believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel [Gen. 11:1-9]: We shall be div-ided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a bye word down to future age. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human Wisdom [Is. 55:8-9], and leave it to chance, war, and conquest.” AMEN!
Love, hank
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