Nikolaus Zinzendorf  — May 9

Europe, The Modern Era (1227-1936)

Bible connection

Read Isaiah 58

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
and remove the chains that bind people.
 Share your food with the hungry,
and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

All about Nicolaus Zinzendorf (1700-1760)

Nicholas Ludwig, Count Zinzendorf, was born in Dresden in 1700. He was deeply involved in the Pietist movement in Germany, which emphasized personal devotion and the emotional component of life in Christ. This was in contrast to the state Lutheran Church of the day, which had grown to symbolize a largely intellectual faith centered on belief in specific doctrines. Zinzendorf believed in “heart religion,” a personal salvation built on an individual’s spiritual relationship with Christ.

In 2000, German Moravians created a trail of sculptures commemorating the 300th birthday of Zinzendorf. This one features the Count with children, whom he believed modeled the kind of faith we are to have. The gray figures behind represent the rigidness of those leading the old church. Photo taken in Großhennersdorf, Herrnhut, Germany.

Zinzendorf was born into one of the most noble families of Europe. His father died when he was an infant, and he was raised by his Pietist pioneer grandmother, Henrietta Catherina, Baroness von Gersdorff, at her castle Gros Hennersdorf. There are many stories about his deep childhood faith. As a young man he struggled with his desire to study for the ministry and the expectation that he would fulfill his hereditary role as a Count. As a teenager at Halle Academy, he and several other young nobles formed a secret society, The Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed. The stated purpose of this order was that the members would use their position and influence to spread the Gospel. As an adult, Zinzendorf later reactivated this adolescent society, and many influential leaders of Europe ended up joining it. Their number included the King of Denmark, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Archbishop of Paris.

Zinzendorf was one of the most controversial figures of the early eighteenth century. The crowned heads of Europe and religious leaders of both Europe and America all knew him or knew of him — and either loved him or hated him.

Although born to an aristocratic family, Zinzendorf decided to use his wealth to shelter a group of Christian radicals: the Unitas Fratrum (The Latinized form of the Czech jednota bratrská/society of brethren). This name was was assumed by the branch of the Hussites known as the Bohemian Brethren and their successors, the Moravian Brethren.  During his lifetime, Europe was a tumultuous place. It was unsafe to leave the established state churches. But many people took the risk and amazing things resulted. In 1722 a small band of Jesus-followers who chose not to be part of the state church crossed the border from Moravia to settle in a town they built on Zinzendorf’s estate. They called it  Herrnhut, or “the Lord’s Watch.”

During its first five years of existence the settlement showed few signs of spiritual power. By the beginning of 1727 the community of about three hundred people was wracked by dissension and bickering. So the village was an unlikely site for a revival! Zinzendorf and others, however, covenanted to prayer and labor for the Holy Spirit to move among them. Largely due to Zinzendorf’s leadership in daily Bible studies, the group came to formulate a unique document, known as the Brotherly Agreement, which set forth basic tenets of Christian behavior. Residents of Herrnhut were required to sign a pledge to abide by these Biblical principals. There followed an intense and powerful experience of renewal, often described as the “Moravian Pentecost.”

On May 12, 1727 during a communion service, the entire congregation felt a powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, and felt their previous differences swept away. This experience began the Moravian renewal which led to remarkable ministry. Christians were aglow with new life and power, dissension vanished and unbelievers were converted. Looking back to that day and the four amazing months that followed, Zinzendorf later recalled: “The whole place represented truly a visible habitation of God among men.”

A spirit of prayer was immediately evident in the fellowship and continued throughout that “golden summer of 1727,” as the Moravians came to designate the period. On August 27 of that year twenty-four men and twenty-four women covenanted to spend one hour each day in scheduled prayer. Some others enlisted in the “hourly intercession.” For over a hundred years members of the Moravian Church maintained this continual prayer. “At home and abroad, on land and sea, this prayer watch ascended unceasingly to the Lord,” stated historian A. J. Lewis.

In 1731, while attending the coronation of Christian VI in Copenhagen, the young Count met a converted slave from the West Indies, Anthony Ulrich. Anthony’s tale of his people’s plight moved Zinzendorf, who brought him back to Herrnhut. As a result, two young men, Leonard Dober and David Nitchmann, were sent to St. Thomas to live among the slaves and share the good news about Jesus. This was the first organized Protestant mission work, which quickly expanded to Africa, North America, Russia, and other parts of the world. By 1791, sixty-five years after starting their hourly intercession, the small Moravian community had placed 300 missionaries from Greenland to South Africa, literally from one end of the earth to the other.

Members of the Mo­ra­vi­an Church helped populate the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. They are known as an historic Peace Church, as are the Brethren in Christ and Mennonites.

More 

All sorts of goodness at Zinzendorf.com. You need to work at this old website to reveal its treasures.

Zinzendorf in America

Zinzendorf the hymn writer [people singing one at Herrnhut]

Christian History 1) bio, 2) Magazine: Zinzendorf and the Moravians

The early Moravians were accused of sexual impropriety. The criticism may have been appropriate, at times. Here’s an investigation: Wound Worship, “Enthusiasts” and “Sodomites”: A History of Radical Moravians (2019)

1982 movie:

What do we do with this?

Pray: May the Church truly be a visible habitation of God.

The Pietists wanted heart religion. They used Bible study, prayer and intentional community to grow it. They shared resources and went on mission to show it. What do you want? What yearning in your spirit meets the passion of God’s Spirit? Are you still open to a Herrnhut in your future?

Julian of Norwich — May 8

Europe, The Modern Era (1227-1936)
Statue of Julian of Norwich, Norwich Cathedral, by David Holgate FSDC (2010)

Bible connection

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. — Ephesians 3:14-19

All about Julian of Norwich (1342-c.1416)

Julian of Norwich is known to us almost exclusively through her book, Revelations of Divine Love, which is widely acknowledged as one of the great classics on the spiritual life in Christ. Many think she is the first woman to write a book in English which has survived.

We do not know Julian’s actual name. Her name is taken from St. Julian’s Church in Norwich where she lived as an anchoress for most of her life. We know from the medieval literary work, The Book of Margery Kempe, that Julian was known as a spiritual counselor. People would come to her cell in Norwich to seek advice. Considering that, at the time, the citizens of Norwich suffered from plague and poverty, as well as a famine, she must have counseled a lot of people in pain. Yet, her writings are suffused with hope and trust in God’s goodness.

Julian’s Revelations of Divine Love is based on a series of sixteen visions she received on May 8, 1373. Julian laid on what she thought was her deathbed and suddenly she saw Christ bleeding in front of her. She received insight into his sufferings and his love for us.

Julian’s message is one of hope and trust in God, whose compassionate love is always given to us. In this all-gracious God there is no element of wrath. The wrath —

all that is contrary to peace and love — is in us and not in God. God’s saving work in Jesus of Nazareth and in the gift of God’s Spirit, is to slake our wrath in the power of his merciful and compassionate love.

Julian did not perceive God as blaming or judging us, but as enfolding us in love. Famously, Julian used women’s experience of motherhood to explore how God loves us, referring to Jesus as our Mother.

Revelations of Divine Love comes to us in two versions; the first (the short text) was written shortly after the revelations were given to Julian; the second (the long text) was written twenty years later. The long text is greatly expanded to include her meditations on what she had been shown. Today, only seventeenth century copies of earlier manuscripts of the long text, and fragments from the fifteenth century survive.

Julian recounts she was thirty and a half years old when she received her visions and this is how we know she was born in 1342. (An editor to one of the surviving manuscripts speaks of her as a “devout woman, who is a recluse at Norwich, and still alive, A.D. 1413”). There is further evidence to be found in a contemporary will that she was alive in 1416, and that she had a maid who lived in a room next to the cell. Apart from that, we know nothing else about Julian’s life. However, reading Revelations of Divine Love, reveals an intelligent, sensitive and very down-to-earth woman who maintains her trust in God’s goodness while addressing doubt, fear and deep theological questions.

St Julian's Church, Norwich, 2009.jpg
The building where she lived

Interest in Julian’s writings has grown over recent decades More and more people have discovered the significance of her book. Her lyrical language and positive image of God speak to her present-day readers. Her work is well-respected by theologians, historians and literary scholars, and there are now dozens of translations of her Revelations, together with countless commentaries. Modern poets and writers as diverse as T.S. Eliot, Denise Levertov, and Iris Murdoch reference Julian in their writings.

Julian’s Shrine, off Rouen Rd. in Norwich (above), is visited by pilgrims from all over the world.

Quotes

If there is anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love.

And all shall be well. And all shall be well. And all manner of things shall be exceeding well.

God, of thy goodness, give me Thyself;
for Thou art enough for me,
and I can ask for nothing less
that can be full honor to Thee.
And if I ask anything that is less,
ever Shall I be in want,
for only in Thee have I all.

Our Savior is our true Mother in whom we are endlessly born and out of whom we shall never come.

Truth sees God, and wisdom contemplates God, and from these two comes a third, a holy and wonderful delight in God, who is love.

More

Revelations of Divine Love [audio book]

The series of “praying with” books from the 80’s and 90’s are nice tools for getting in touch with spiritual guides from the past. Here is one for Julian [Goodreads].

Robert Fruehwirth’s book The Drawing of This Love puts Julian into action [Goodreads]. Here’s more teaching from this expert [lecture].

Julian was not alone. Other women of her time were writing down similar experiences. You might like to know her predecessors from among the beguines: Mechthild von Magdeburg (ca. 1207-ca. 1294) and Hadewijch of Antwerp (13th century). Her contemporary, John of Ruysbroeck (1293-1381) writes in and about the tradition Julian resembles.

What do we do with this?

Revelations like Julian’s are available to many people who is seeking. But not having visions do not make you a second-rate follower — besides, Julian offered her! It is possible we  all have some kind of pre-verbal experience with God that informs much of our lifelong walk with Jesus. Try the prayer of imagination.

Spend some time seeking. Let God clarify for you just what you should be hearing. If you really want to take Julian’s example, you will dare to write it all down and meditate on it another day.

Athanasius — May 2

Africa, Forerunners (33-1226)
Athanasius of Alexandria icon

Bible connection

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it. — Colossians 2:8-15

All about Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296 – c. 373)

“Those who maintain ‘There was a time when the Son was not’
rob God of his Word, like plunderers.”

Athanasius of Alexandria became the 20th bishop of Alexandria. His on-again-off-again service in that role spanned 45 years. Seventeen of those years were served in exile, when four different Roman emperors ordered his replacement. Athanasius was a Christian theologian, a Church Father, the chief defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism, and a noted Egyptian leader of the fourth century.

Conflict with Arius and Arianism, as well as successive Roman emperors, shaped Athanasius’ career. At the age of 27, he took a leading role against the Arians as a deacon and assistant to Bishop Alexander of Alexandria during the First Council of Nicaea. Roman emperor Constantine the Great convened the council to address the Arian position that the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, is of a distinct substance from the Father.

Three years after that council, Athanasius succeeded his mentor as archbishop of Alexandria. In addition to the conflict with the Arians, he struggled against the Emperors Constantine, Constantius II, Julian the Apostate and Valens. He was known by his admirers as Athanasius Contra Mundum (Latin for Athanasius Against the World). “Black Dwarf” was the tag his enemies gave him — and the short, dark-skinned, Egyptian bishop had plenty of enemies. In the end, his theological enemies were “exiled” from orthodoxy, and it is Athanasius’ writings that shaped the future of the church. Within a few years after his death, Gregory of Nazianzus called him the “Pillar of the Church.”

Most his enemies were earned by his stubborn insistence that Arianism, the reigning “orthodoxy” of the day, was in fact a heresy. The dispute began when Athanasius was the chief deacon in Alexandria. While his mentor, Alexander preached with philosophical exactitude on the Trinity, Arius, a presbyter from Libya announced, “If the Father begat the Son, then he who was begotten had a beginning in existence, and from this it follows there was a time when the Son was not.” The argument caught on, but Alexander and Athanasius fought against Arius, arguing that it denied the Trinity. Christ is not of a like substance to God, they argued, but of the same substance.

To Athanasius this was not splitting theological hairs. Salvation was at issue. Only one who was fully human could atone for human sin; only one who was fully divine could have the power to save us. To Athanasius, the logic of New Testament doctrine of salvation assumed the dual nature of Christ.  Alexander’s encyclical letter, signed by Athanasius (and possibly written by him), attacked the consequences of the Arian heresy. If it were true:

“The Son [then,] is a creature and a work; neither is he like in essence to the Father; neither is he the true and natural Word of the Father; neither is he his true wisdom; but he is one of the things made and created and is called the Word and Wisdom by an abuse of terms… Wherefore he is by nature subject to change and variation, as are all rational creatures.”

The controversy spread, and all over the empire, Christians could be heard singing a catchy tune that championed the Arian view: “There was a time when the Son was not,” which only deepened the conflict. Word of the dispute made it to the newly converted Emperor Constantine the Great, who was more concerned with seeing church unity than theological truth. To settle the matter, he called a council of bishops. “Division in the church is worse than war,” he told them.

Of the 1,800 bishops invited to Nicaea, about 300 came—and argued, fought, and eventually fleshed out an early version of the Nicene Creed. The council, led by Alexander, condemned Arius as a heretic, exiled him, and made it a capital offense to possess his writings. Constantine was pleased that peace had been restored to the church. Athanasius, whose treatise On the Incarnation laid the foundation for the orthodox party at Nicaea, was hailed as “the noble champion of Christ.”

But the Arian heresy did not die out. Within a few months, supporters of Arius talked Constantine into ending Arius’ exile. With a few private additions, Arius even signed the Nicene Creed, and the emperor ordered Athanasius, who had recently succeeded Alexander as bishop, to restore the heretic to fellowship. When Athanasius refused, his enemies spread false charges against him. He was accused of murder, illegal taxation, sorcery, and treason—the last of which led Constantine to exile him to Trier, now a German city near Luxembourg.

Constantine died two years later, and Athanasius returned to Alexandria. But in his absence, Arianism had gained the upper hand. Now church leaders were against him, and they banished him again. Athanasius fled to Pope Julius I in Rome. He returned in 346, but in the mercurial politics of the day, was banished three more times before he came home to stay in 366. By then he was about 70 years old.

While in exile, Athanasius spent most of his time writing, mostly to defend orthodoxy, but he took on pagan and Jewish opposition as well. One of his most lasting contributions is his Life of St. Ant[h]ony, which helped to shape the Christian ideal of monasticism. The book is filled with tales of Antony’s encounters with the devil, yet Athanasius wrote, “Do not be incredulous about what you hear of him… Consider, rather that from them only a few of his feats have been learned.” In fact, the bishop knew the monk personally, and his  biography is one of the most historically reliable. It became an early “bestseller” and made a deep impression on many people, even helping lead pagans to conversion — Augustine of Hippo is the most famous example.

During Athanasius’s first year permanently back in Alexandria, he sent his annual letter to the churches in his diocese, called a festal letter. Such letters were used to fix the dates of festivals such as Lent and Easter, and to discuss matters of general interest. In this letter, Athanasius listed what he believed were the books that should constitute the New Testament: “In these [27 writings] alone the teaching of godliness is proclaimed,” he wrote. “No one may add to them, and nothing may be taken away from them.” Though other such lists had been and would still be proposed, it is Athanasius’ list that the church eventually adopted, and the writings he listed make up the New Testament.

Quotes:

  • Christians, instead of arming themselves with swords, extend their hands in prayer.
  • The holy and inspired Scriptures are sufficient of themselves for the preaching of the truth.
  • Jesus became what we are that he might make us what he is.
  • You cannot put straight in others what is warped in yourself.
  • Similarly, anyone who wishes to understand the mind of the sacred writers must first cleanse his own life, and approach the saints by copying their deeds.
  • One cannot see all the waves with one’s eyes, for when one tries to do so those that are following on baffle one’s senses. Even so, when one wants to take in all the achievements of Christ in the body, one cannot do so, even by reckoning them up, for the things that transcend one’s thought are always more than those one thinks that one has grasped.
    As we cannot speak adequately about even a part of His work, therefore, it will be better for us not to speak about it as a whole. So we will mention but one thing more, and then leave the whole for you to marvel at. For, indeed, everything about it is marvelous, and wherever a man turns his gaze he sees the Godhead of the Word and is smitten with awe.
  • The presence and love of the Word had called them into being; inevitably, therefore when they lost the knowledge of God, they lost existence with it; for it is God alone Who exists, evil is non-being, the negation and antithesis of good.
  • For of what use is existence to the creature if it cannot know its Maker?
  • The Greek philosophers have compiled many works with persuasiveness and much skill in words; but what fruit have they to show for this such as has the cross of Christ? Their wise thoughts were persuasive enough until they died.
  • Even on the cross he did not hide himself from sight; rather, he made all creation witness to the presence of its Maker.

More

Development of New Testament canon

The Incarnation from the Coptics.

Roman Catholic biography 

His letter regarding the death of Arius. [link]

Controversy about “deification”

What do we do with this?

Athanasius is also known as the “father of orthodoxy.” He helped refine doctrines that set the baseline for true faith and set the final parameters on the New Testament. He was fighting for the church’s life in a time when the government wanted to exploit it and society was absorbing it according to its own image. Nothing is new under the sun.

What do you think the Lord would like you to fight for in this era? What truth is threatened? What necessity is being watered down or lost? If we want to leave a coherent faith for the next generation, what  should we do?

Constantine thought Arius should be reinstated after he “signed” the Nicene Creed. But Athanasius was not ready to love his enemy if the enemy was trying to wiggle his way back into orthodoxy with a few caveats. Even though Athanasius holds the line, Arianism does not die out. It becomes the main basis for the Christianity of the “East.”  Some form of it is what Persians, Mongols and Chinese adopt. (And it is a central belief for Jehovah’s Witnesses). From the 4th century on, protecting the metaphysics of God is an occupation that divides the church and changes the character of Christian faith, now organized under political goals and power struggles. You probably have an idea of what is “true” in general and what is true about Jesus. Can you summarize it? Dare you investigate it?

Cesar Chavez — April 23

North America, This century (1937-2025)

Bible connection

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    For they shall be filled. — Matthew 5:3-6

All about Cesar Chavez (1927-1993)

Cesar Estrada Chavez was born on March 31, 1927 near Yuma, Arizona. At 35 years old, he founded the National Farm Workers Association (later known as the United Farm Workers/ UFW).

Chavez employed nonviolent means to bring attention to the plight of farmworkers. As a labor leader, he led marches, called for boycotts and went on several hunger strikes. It is believed that Chavez’s hunger strikes contributed to his death on April 23, 1993, in San Luis, Arizona.

Chavez dedicated his life to improving the treatment, pay and working conditions for farm workers. He knew all too well the hardships farm workers faced. When he was young, Chavez and his family toiled in the fields as migrant workers.

After working as a community and labor organizer in the 1950s, Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962. This union joined with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee in its first strike against grape growers in California in 1965. A year later, the two unions merged, and the resulting union was renamed the United Farm Workers in 1972.

In early 1968, Chavez called for a national boycott of California table grape growers. Chavez’s battle with the grape growers for improved compensation and labor conditions would last for years. At the end, Chavez and his union won several victories for the workers when many growers signed contracts with the union. He faced more challenges through the years from other growers and the Teamsters Union. All the while, he continued to oversee the union and work to advance his cause. He also brought the national awareness to the dangers of pesticides to workers’ health. His dedication to his work earned him numerous friends and supporters, including Robert Kennedy and Jesse Jackson.

In a speech entitled Jesus’s Friendship Chavez asserts that

The love for justice that is in us is not only the best part of our being but it is also the most true to our nature….I have met many, many farm workers and friends who love justice and who are willing to sacrifice for what is right. They have a quality about them that reminds me of the beatitudes. They are living examples that Jesus’ promise is true: they have been hungry and thirsty for righteousness and they have been satisfied.

About his fasts Chavez wrote,

A fast is first and foremost personal. It is a fast for the purification of my own body, mind, and soul. The fast is also a heartfelt prayer for purification and strengthening for all those who work beside me in the farm worker movement. The fast is also an act of penance for those in positions of moral authority and for all men and women activists who know what is right and just, who know that they could and should do more. The fast is finally a declaration of non-cooperation with supermarkets who promote and sell and profit from California table grapes…I pray to God that this fast will be a preparation for a multitude of simple deeds for justice.

Chavez encourages us in the work of justice, saying

It is possible to become discouraged about the injustice we see everywhere. But God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. He gives us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth. It is an awesome opportunity.

Cesar Chavez quotes:
  • What do we want the church to do? We ask for its presence with us, beside us, as Christ among us. We ask the church to sacrifice with the people for social change, for justice and for love of brother and sister. We don’t ask for words. We ask for deeds. We don’t ask for paternalism. We ask for servanthood.
  • We can choose to use our lives for others to bring about a better and more just world for our children. People who make that choice will know hardship and sacrifice. But if you give yourself totally to the non-violence struggle for peace and justice you also find that people give you their hearts and you will never go hungry and never be alone. And in giving of yourself you will discover a whole new life full of meaning and love.
  • Every time we sit at a table at night or in the morning to enjoy the fruits and grain and vegetables from our good earth, remember that they come from the work of men and women and children who have been exploited for generations…
  • When the man who feeds the world by toiling in the fields is himself deprived of the basic rights of feeding, sheltering and caring for his own family, the whole community of man is sick.
  • We shall strike. We shall organize boycotts. We shall demonstrate and have political campaigns. We shall pursue the revolution we have proposed. We are sons and daughters of the farm workers’ revolution, a revolution of the poor seeking bread and justice.
  • Non violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak…Nonviolence is hard work. It is the willingness to sacrifice. It is the patience to win.
  • We’re going to pray a lot and picket a lot.
  • Jesus’ life and words are a challenge at the same time that they are Good News. They are a challenge to those of us who are poor and oppressed. By His life He is calling us to give ourselves to other, to sacrifice for those who suffer, to share our lives with our brothers and sisters who are also oppressed. He is calling us to ‘hunger and thirst after justice’ in the same way that we hunger and thirst after food and water: that is, by putting our yearning into practice.
  • It is clearly evident that our path travels through a valley of tears well known to all farm workers, because in all valleys the way of the farm workers has been one of sacrifice for generations. Our sweat and our blood have fallen on this land to make other men rich. This pilgrimage is a witness to the suffering we have seen for generations.

More 

Biography on YouTube [link]

United Farm Workers page [link]

An article about his spiritual praxis [link]

What do we do with this?

Pray the Cesar Chavez prayer:

Free me to pray for others,
for You are present in every person.
Help me take responsibility for my life
so that I can be free at last.
Grant me courage to serve others
for in service there is true life.
Let the Spirit flourish and grow,
so that we will never tire of the struggle.
Help us love even those who hate us
so we can change the world. Amen.

Anselm — April 21

Europe, Forerunners (33-1226)

Bible connection

Read Psalm 14

The fool says in his heart,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
    there is no one who does good.
The Lord looks down from heaven
    on all humankind
to see if there are any who understand,
    any who seek God.
All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.
Do all these evildoers know nothing?
The illuminated beginning of an 11th-century manuscript of the Monologion.

All about Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)

Anselm was a Benedictine monk, Christian philosopher, and scholar who is recognized for many intellectual accomplishments, including his application of reason for exploring the mysteries of faith and for his definition of theology as “faith seeking understanding.”

The brilliance of Anselm’s thinking and writing about the nature of faith and of God has intrigued and influenced scholars since the Middle Ages. His highly respected work, Monologium, rationalizes a proof of God’s existence. His Proslogium, advances the idea that God exists according to the human notion of a perfect being in whom nothing is lacking. Since they were first written, both works have been studied and praised by many of the world’s greatest theologians and philosophers. In our set of explanations, we recognize Anselm’s contribution to the meaning of the atonement with his work Cur Deus Homo (Why the God-Man?). In it he conceptualizes the common telling of story of Christ’s death  and resurrection as a “satisfaction theory” in the new logic of his day (which he is instrumental in inventing). His work also reflects the feudal zeitgeist of his day, which is interesting in itself.  (Video explanation).

Anselmo was born near Aosta in Italy in 1033. He began his education under the tutelage of the monks of a local Benedictine monastery. After his mother died, Anselm observed a period of mourning and then traveled throughout Europe. At that time, the spiritual and intellectual reputation of the monk Lanfranc, who belonged to the monastery of Bec in Normandy, was widespread. Anselm was drawn to Lanfranc, and in 1060 he attached himself to Lanfranc’s abbey. The community soon recognized Anselm’s unique abilities and assigned him to teach in the abbey school. He was made prior of the monastery in 1063 when he was only 30 years old.

It was during his days at Bec that Anselm composed his innovative works on the existence and nature of God. It was really only out of a sense of obligation and submission to the will of the community that he undertook the duties and burdens of administration at all.

William the II demands Anselm take the Archbishop of Canterbury crozier from his sickbed. By James William Edmund Doyle (1864)

His election to the position of abbot of the community in 1078 speaks to the love and regard in which he was held by his community members. But Bec was not to be the end of his journey. In 1093 he was summoned to England to become the Archbishop of Canterbury, succeeding his master and spiritual director, Lanfranc. Anselm’s years at Canterbury were rife with political controversy. He showed great courage in disputing with William II and Henry I in regard to ecclesiastical abuses visited upon the church by those kings. Twice he was banished while making appeals in Rome. Twice he returned to Canterbury, riding his reputation, even fame, as an extraordinary theologian, negotiator, and statesman who added luster and authority to the cause of the Church and also gratified the monarchs who saw him as another jewel in their crown, if also a pesky opponent.

Throughout his years, Anselm maintained a strong allegiance to his monastic lifestyle and to his intellectual pursuits. He composed his philosophical and theological treatises, as well as a series of beautiful prayers and meditations. People saved the letters they got from him and they are also inspirational.

Anselm held the position of archbishop until his death in 1109. A biography by his contemporary Eadmer provides many insights into the life of this remarkably saintly and scholarly man.

Anselm quotes:

From the Preface to the Proslogion:

I have written the little work that follows… in the role of one who strives to raise his mind to the contemplation of God and one who seeks to understand what he believes. [More from Rod on this]

I acknowledge, Lord, and I give thanks that you have created your image in me, so that I may remember you, think of you, love you. But this image is so obliterated and worn away by wickedness, it is so obscured by the smoke of sins, that it cannot do what it was created to do, unless you renew and reform it. I am not attempting, O Lord, to penetrate your loftiness, for I cannot begin to match my understanding with it, but I desire in some measure to understand your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this too I believe, that “unless I believe, I shall not understand.” (Isa. 7:9)

A prayer of Anselm

My God,
I pray that I may so know you and love you
that I may rejoice in you.
And if I may not do so fully in this life
let me go steadily on
to the day when I come to that fullness …
Let me receive
That which you promised through your truth,
that my joy may be full.

A song of Anselm

Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you:
You are gentle with us as a mother with her children;
Often you weep over our sins and our pride:
tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgement.
You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds:
in sickness you nurse us, and with pure milk you feed us.
Jesus, by your dying we are born to new life:
by your anguish and labor we come forth in joy.
Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness:
through your gentleness we find comfort in fear.
Your warmth gives life to the dead:
your touch makes sinners righteous.
Lord Jesus, in your mercy heal us:
in your love and tenderness remake us.
In your compassion bring grace and forgiveness:
for the beauty of heaven may your love prepare us.

More

Here is another more detailed bio. [link]

A lecture that tells you everything [link]

You can read the Monologium and Proslogium online. [link]

Here is a nice translation of Cur Deus Homo online. [link]

What do we do with this?

Anselm did administrative work because he was asked to do it. He would have preferred meditating, studying, writing and mentoring to having conflicts with the kings of England. Doing what he did not prefer did not diminish his influence, however. Living with an attitude of obedience grates on most people we know. We don’t always know what we want, but it is often not what we are supposed to be doing! How are you working that out?

New ways of thinking and organizing society were maturing in Anselm’s day, he moved the ball along like a first-round draft pick. The English king recruited him for his premier church. You may not appreciate all he did, but you have to admire how he was always “in the game.” Things are moving new directions in our era too. How should we influence them? Are you still in the action?

Rest in the Lord for a moment and settle down. What is the best thing you can do today despite distracting or detracting circumstances? For now, you can pray and worship, that is something good we can do no matter who is trying to get us to do something  else.

Easter Sunday — April 20, 2025

Holy Days,

Bible connection

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. — Romans 6:3-5

All about the origin of Easter

Was Easter actually borrowed from a pagan celebration? Did it usurp one?

There is an argument that says so. It largely rests on the supposed pagan associations of the English and German names for the celebration (Easter in English and Ostern in German). It is important to note, however, that in most other European languages, the name for the Christian celebration is derived from the Greek word Pascha, which comes from pesach, the Hebrew word for Passover. Easter is associated with the Jewish Passover festival by virtue of the historical record (Jesus was killed during the Passover festival) and symbolism (Jesus is the ultimate passover sacrifice).

Christians always contextualize their faith in one way or another — we express our message and worship in the language or forms of our culture. But that does not mean we compromise our basic truths. Christians around the world have sought to redeem the local culture for Christ while purging it of practices antithetical to the way of Jesus. After all, Christians speak of “Good Friday,” but they are in no way honoring the worship of the Norse/Germanic queen of the gods Freya (for whom Friday is named) by doing so.

In fact, in the case of Easter, the evidence suggests otherwise: that neither the commemoration of Christ’s death and resurrection nor its name are derived from paganism. The opposite is true, the so-called “pagans” came to see their springtime festival as an expression of new life in Christ.

Easter is a celebration with ancient roots

The usual argument for the pagan origins of Easter is based on a comment made by the Venerable Bede (673-735), an English monk who wrote the first history of Christianity in England, and who is one of our main sources of knowledge about early Anglo-Saxon culture. In De temporum ratione (On the Reckoning of Time, c. 730), Bede wrote this:

In olden times the English people—for it did not seem fitting that I should speak of other nations’ observance of the year and yet be silent about my own nation’s—calculated their months according to the course of the Moon. Hence, after the manner of the Greeks and the Romans, [the months] take their name from the Moon, for the Moon is called mona and the month monath. The first month, which the Latins call January, is Giuli; February is called Solmonath; March Hrethmonath; April, Eosturmonath … Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated “Paschal month” and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance.

The first question is whether the actual Christian celebration of Easter is derived from a pagan festival. This is easily answered. The Nordic/Germanic peoples (including the Anglo-Saxons) were comparative latecomers to Christianity. Pope Gregory I sent a missionary enterprise led by Augustine of Canterbury to the Anglo-Saxons in 596/7. The forcible conversion of the Saxons in Europe began under Charlemagne in 772. So if “Easter” (i.e. the Christian Passover festival) was celebrated prior to those dates, any supposed pagan Anglo-Saxon festival of “Eostre” can have no significance. And there is, in fact, clear evidence that Christians celebrated an Easter/Passover festival by the second century, if not earlier. It follows that the Christian Easter/Passover celebration, which originated in the Mediterranean basin, was not unduly influenced by any Germanic pagan festival.

Why the name Easter is not “pagan” 

The second question is whether the name of the holiday “Easter” comes from the blurring of the Christian celebration with the worship of a purported pagan fertility goddess named “Eostre” in English and Germanic cultures. There are several problems with the passage in Bede. He has a sketchy knowledge of pagan festivals, which he freely admitted.

As it turns out, there is no evidence outside of Bede for the existence of this Anglo-Saxon goddess. There is no equivalent goddess in the Norse Eddas or in ancient Germanic paganism from continental Europe. Scholars suggest that the Anglo-Saxon Estor-monath simply means “the month of opening” or “the month of beginnings.” There is no evidence for a pre-Christian festival in the British Isles in March or April.

There is another objection to the claim that Eosturmonath has anything to do with a pagan goddess. Anglo-Saxon days were usually named after gods, such as Wednesday (“Woden’s day”), the names of their months were either calendrical, such as Giuli, meaning “wheel,” referring to the turn of the year; metereological-environmental, such as Solmónath (roughly February), meaning “Mud-Month”; or referred to actions taken in that period, such as Blótmónath (roughly November), meaning “Blood Month,” when animals were slaughtered. No other month was dedicated to a deity, with the exception (according to Bede) of Hrethmonath (roughly March), which he claims was named after the goddess Hrethe. But like Eostre, there is no other evidence for Hrethe, nor any equivalent in Germanic/Norse mythology.

Another problem with Bede’s explanation concerns the Saxons in continental Europe. Einhard (c. 775-840), the courtier and biographer of Charlemagne, tells us that among Charlemagne’s reforms was the renaming of the months. April was renamed Ostarmanoth. Charlemagne spoke a Germanic dialect, as did the Anglo-Saxons in Britain, although their vernacular was distinct. But why would Charlemagne change the old Roman title for the spring month to Ostarmanoth? Charlemagne was the scourge of Germanic paganism. He attacked the pagan Saxons and felled their great pillar Irminsul (after their god Irmin) in 772. He forcibly converted them to Christianity and savagely repressed them when they revolted because of this. It seems very unlikely, therefore, that Charlemagne would name a month after a Germanic goddess.

The name is basically “spring holiday”

One theory for the origin of the name Easter is that the Latin phrase in albis (“in white”), which Christians used in reference to Easter week, found its way into Old High German as eostarum, or “dawn.” There is some evidence of early Germanic borrowing of Latin despite that fact that the Germanic peoples lived outside the Roman Empire. This theory presumes that the word only became current after the introduction of either Roman influence or the Christian faith, which is uncertain. But if accurate, it would demonstrate that the festival is not named after a pagan goddess.

Alternatively, some suggest Eosturmonath simply meant “the month of opening,” which is comparable to the meaning of “April” in Latin. The names of both the Saxon and Latin months (which are calendrically similar) were related to spring, the season when the buds open.

So Christians in ancient Anglo-Saxon and Germanic areas called their Passover holiday what they did—doubtless colloquially at first—simply because it occurred around the time of Eosturmonath/Ostarmanoth. A contemporary analogy can be found in the way Americans refer to December as “the holidays,” or the way people sometimes speak about something happening “around Christmas,” usually referring to the time at the turn of the year. The Christian title “Easter,” then, essentially reflects its general date in the calendar, rather than the Paschal festival having been re-named in honor of a supposed pagan deity.

[Thanks to Anthony McCroy, Christian History, 2009]

More

15 Fact-based reasons to accept the resurrection of Jesus

If you need some celebration tips from the 1950s… [codified by Judy and Fred]

Five minutes from the Bible Project to depict the resurrection in the Gospel of Luke (show the kids!).

What do we do with this?

The Christian commemoration of the Paschal festival rests not on the title of the celebration but on its content—namely, the remembrance of Christ’s death and resurrection. It is Christ’s conquest of sin, death, and Satan that gives us the right to wish everyone “Happy Easter!”

Sometimes we have renamed the day “Resurrection Sunday” so people can get some separation from chicks, bunnies and other fertility symbols. Resurrection Sunday makes candy hidden in baskets full of fake grass seems as innocuous as it should be. Like Jesus followers in the past, we also make our own decisions about how we want to live in our culture and present Jesus to it. Don’t you?

Our general mentality is generosity. We are not only transhistorical (thus, this blog) we are genuinely interested in the genius behind most expressions of life in Christ. Having a joyful celebration of new life budding from the cold earth seems like a good way for people in the northern hemisphere to celebrate resurrection! On the other end of the spectrum, keeping away from faithless imagery and thinking about the most important and spiritually-potent day of the year could be a sincere way to commemorate the Lord’s resurrection. The resurrection is the constant that spans the spectrum.

Corrie ten Boom — April 15

Europe, This century (1937-2025)
Corrie ten Boom in scouting uniform (around 1921). The triangle on her uniform refers to the name of the scouting group: “the triangle girls.”

Bible connection

You are my hiding place;
    you will protect me from trouble
    and surround me with songs of deliverance. —Psalm 32:7

All about Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983)

Corrie ten Boom and her family helped Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust during World War II, saving hundreds of lives.

Cornelia “Corrie” ten Boom was born in Haarlem, Netherlands, and grew up in a devout Protestant family. During World War II, she and her family harbored hundreds of Jews to protect them from arrest by Nazi authorities. Betrayed by a fellow Dutch citizen, the entire family was imprisoned. Corrie survived the concentration camp and started a worldwide ministry. She later told her story in a book entitled The Hiding Place.

The ten Boom family lived in the Beje house in Haarlem (short for Barteljorisstraat, the street where the house was located) in rooms above Casper’s watch shop. Family members were strict Calvinists in the Dutch Reformed Church. Faith inspired them to serve society, offering shelter, food and money to those in need. In this tradition, the family held a deep respect for the Jewish community in Amsterdam, considering them “God’s ancient people.”

After the death of her mother and a disappointing romance, Corrie trained to be a watchmaker and in 1922 became the first woman in Holland to be licensed. Over the next decade, in addition to working in her father’s shop, she established a youth club for teenage girls, which provided religious instruction as well as classes in the performing arts, sewing and handicrafts.

In May 1940, the German “blitzkrieg” ran though the Netherlands and the other Low Countries. Within months, the “Nazification” of the Dutch people began and the quiet life of the ten Boom family was changed forever. During the war, their house became a refuge for Jews, students and intellectuals. The façade of the watch shop made the house an ideal front for these activities. A secret room, no larger than a small wardrobe closet, was built into Corrie’s bedroom behind a false wall. The space could hold up to six people, all of whom had to stand quiet and still. A crude ventilation system was installed to provide air for the occupants. When security sweeps came through the neighborhood, a buzzer in the house would signal danger, allowing the refugees a little over a minute to seek sanctuary in the hiding place.

The entire ten Boom family became active in the Dutch resistance, risking their lives harboring those hunted by the Gestapo. Some fugitives would stay only a few hours, while others would stay several days until another “safe house” could be located. Corrie ten Boom became a leader in the movement, overseeing a network of “safe houses” in the country. Through these activities, it was estimated the lives of 800 Jews were saved.

On February 28, 1944, a Dutch informant told the Nazis of the ten Booms’ activities and the Gestapo raided the home. They kept the house under surveillance, and by the end of the day 35 people, including the entire ten Boom family, were arrested, Although German soldiers thoroughly searched the house, they didn’t find the half-dozen Jews safely concealed in the hiding place. The six stayed in the cramped space for nearly three days before being rescued by the Dutch underground.

All the ten Boom family members were incarcerated, including Corrie’s 84-year-old father, who soon died in the Scheveningen prison, located near The Hague. Corrie and her sister Betsie were remanded to the notorious Ravensbrück concentration camp, near Berlin. Betsie died there on December 16, 1944. Twelve days later, Corrie was released for reasons not completely known.

Corrie ten Boom returned to the Netherlands after the war and set up a rehabilitation center for concentration camp survivors. In the Christian spirit to which she was so devoted, she also took in those who had cooperated with the Germans during the occupation. In 1946, she began a worldwide ministry that took her to more than 60 countries. She received many tributes, including being knighted by the queen of the Netherlands. In 1971, she wrote the best-selling book about her experiences during World War II. In 1975, the book was made into a movie starring Jeannette Clift as Corrie and Julie Harris as her sister Betsie.

In 1977, at age 85, Corrie ten Boom moved to Placentia, California. The next year, she suffered a series of strokes that left her paralyzed and unable to speak. She died on her 91st birthday, April 15, 1983. Her passing on this date evokes the Jewish traditional belief that only specially blessed people are granted the privilege of dying on the date they were born.

Quotes

  • Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.
  • Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.
  • When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.
  • Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.
  • The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation.
  • Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.
  • Let God’s promises shine on your problems.
  • Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future.
  • Faith is like radar that sees through the fog.
  • Discernment is God’s call to intercession, never to faultfinding.

More

The movie: The Hiding Place

The Maranatha song associated: [link]

The Corrie ten Boom museum [link]

Teaching YWAM trainees:

What do we do with this?

Corrie ten Boom overcame her trauma and proved God’s faithfulness. It propelled her to tell her story and made her world famous. You don’t need to be famous, but don’t you need to tell your story?

How do you know Jesus is faithful? Or have you yet to trust Him?

Holy Week — April 13-20, 2025

Holy Days

What is your cross?https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d4dc37_e048ce61ab9344a8bf780759e145e26a~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_599,h_599,al_c,lg_1,q_80/d4dc37_e048ce61ab9344a8bf780759e145e26a~mv2.jpg If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and ...

Bible connection

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? — Matthew 16:13-26

All about Holy Week

Holy Week is the week immediately before Easter. It begins with Palm Sunday and leads up to Easter Sunday. It is the highlight of the Christian calendar.

The earliest allusion to the custom of marking this whole week with special observances is  found in the Apostolic Constitutions from Syria, dating from the second half of the 3rd century.

The Constitutions are a form of  of early church literature (1st to 5th century) called “orders.” Their purpose was to promote “apostolic” prescriptions on matters of moral conduct, liturgy and Church organization. They are written in the name of the authority they evoke (technical name: pseudepigrapha). Many orders, like the Constitutions purport to have been handed down by the Twelve Apostles.  Apart from the Apostolic Constitutions, which was made known and printed before 1563, all the other early texts of orders were discovered and published in the 19th or early 20th century.

  • In the few lines from the Constitutions about Holy Week, abstinence from meat is commanded for the week. On Friday and Saturday there is to be a full fast.
  • Dionysius Alexandrinus in his letter of 260 (which the Eastern Church preserves as inspired) refers to the 91 fasting days in the calendar, implying that the observance of them had already become an established usage in his time.
  • By the time of of the Christian Emperor Theodosius (reigned 379 to 395), who called the Council of Nicaea, the Codex Theodosianus orders all actions of law to cease for the seven days before and after Easter.
  • One of the “best sellers” of the 300’s, The Pilgrimage of Etheria/Egeria (about a woman who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land), details the whole observance of Holy Week at that time. [It is worth noting that the name in the Wiki link after the slash above also titles the Egeria Project, which has usurped the name for a  metadata exchange computer program].

The first days of the “great week” to emerge into general observance were Good Friday, and then the Great Sabbath/Holy Saturday. Following the usual custom of the Church, the eve of Easter took on its own significance and a vigil became traditional. In many places the vigil focused on the hope the Lord’s return would occur on an Easter Day.

We have found common cause with the Moravian Church whose Holy Week observances are extensive and immersive. Congregations follow the life of Christ through His final week in daily gatherings dedicated to readings from a harmony of the Gospel stories, responding to the readings with hymns, prayers and litanies. They begin on the eve of Palm Sunday and culminate at the Easter sunrise service. The practice began with the Moravians in 1732.

More

Wikipedia has a good description of Holy Week [link]

A tour operator in Jerusalem offers a nice video for people who could not get to the Holy Land for Holy Week during the pandemic:

Stations of the Cross for Good Friday. This walk of following Jesus to the cross (and our own death and resurrection) comes in many forms. Here is one from the Catholic bishops [link]. Here is one our former church created for doing at home during a pandemic [link]. Here is an art-filled video of the Stations by the Holy Land Franciscans [link]

What do we do with this?

You might be connected to a church that observes Holy Week. Get involved. Go to all the meetings. If you are not connected, research who observes these days in your area and join them; it is all one Church, one history, one story even if people cordon off territory for themselves. Many churches have Maundy Thursday and Good Friday observances. The Catholics may include a Stations of the Cross liturgy on Friday. The Orthodox churches are known for their Easter vigils.

Don’t be afraid to create your own journey through the week with Jesus. The way he took his own journey in spite of the pressure to stay safe is an example for all of us. Read the portions of the Bible above and imagine how you can get involved and involve your family and friends. Here are some ideas:

  • Monday: Overturn some tables. This might be a good day to protest: Pray in front of an oppressive institution or statue. Have a letter-writing exercise after dinner.
  • Tuesday: Organize a meeting to read through all the great teaching recorded as part of the Lord’s last week. Maybe act out parts of it. Sing songs connected to it. Point it at people or organizations that need to hear it. Address your difficulty with following it.
  • Wednesday: Emulate the woman who anointed Jesus. Fill your house with fragrance for an hour. Encourage each other to face the daily deaths we all face as we follow.
  • Thursday: Re-enact the Last Supper in some way. There is lots of advice on the internet for how to do this: [kids] [small group of adults]. For you, simple might be fine: you could read the scripture and have your own version of the communion ceremony.
  • Friday: You could journey through the stations of the cross [mentioned above]. You could take off work from noon to three and sit with Jesus in silence. You could watch a movie that includes the crucifixion [Zeferelli’s 1977 Europe-wide cast does well in Jesus of Nazareth — start at 3:45 for all of holy week, at 4:55 for trials and crucifixion].
  • Saturday: A symbolic day of silence one day a year might be perfect. You could bury a statue of Jesus with the kids and let them dig him up on Easter. Explore the legends that grew up around Joseph of Arimathea [Glastonbury] [Saintes Maries de la Mer].

Howard Thurman — April 10

North America, This century (1937-2025)

Bible connection

Read Isaiah 5:1-7

I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines.

All about Howard Thurman (1899-1981)

Born in Florida in 1899, Howard Thurman was raised primarily by his grandmother—a former slave. Even as a child, he showed signs of a vibrant spiritual life early, and would read the Bible to her. Thurman tells the story in his most famous work: Jesus and the Disinherited, how his mother would not permit him to read anything by the Apostle Paul (besides 1 Corinthians 13) because of the abusive theology that the white preachers would perpetrate on her and other enslaved people—biblical mandates to be “good slaves.”

Thurman grew as a pastor and academic, and became a man many people call a mystic. He had a significant bond with Quaker leader and pacifist Rufas Jones of Haverford College (the key leader of the organization that became the American Friends Service Committee). That connection moved Thurman to lead a delegation to meet with Mohandas Gandhi.

As a theologian, Thurman was a pioneer in articulating Jesus’ mission of liberation for oppressed people. He taught that “if you ever developed a cultivated will with spiritual discipline the flame of freedom would never perish.”  He served as one of the pastors of the first intentionally interracial church in the U.S. — The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco.  Through his friendship with Martin King, Thurman became a spiritual adviser and mentor to his son, Martin Luther King, Jr.  Howard Thurman is usually credited with developing the nonviolence theories and tactics that were central to the Civil Rights Movement. He wrote over twenty books besides speeches and articles before he died on this day in 1981.

Listening to Howard Thurman

  • Whatever may be the tensions and the stresses of a particular day, there is always lurking close at hand the trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace. —from Meditations of the Heart
  • Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
  • Community cannot for long feed on itself; it can only flourish with the coming of others from beyond, their unknown and undiscovered brothers.
  • During times of war, hatred becomes quite respectable even though it has to masquerade often under the guise of patriotism.

More

The Howard Thurman Digital Archive [Emory University]

Recent books about Howard Thurman [Christian Century]

“Life Goes On” from Meditations of the Heart. 

A sermon (and also a book):

Here is a biography from PBS:

What do we do with this?

Listen. Thurman was a good listener to God and others, and to his own genius. You have all those resources today, as well. Listen to them and see if you are encouraged and directed.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer — April 9

Europe, This century (1937-2025)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer at 18 in 1924

Bible connection

Read Matthew 5:38-42

Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

All about Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his twin sister were born in a Prussian city (now in Poland) in 1906. His family moved to Berlin a few years later. Bonhoeffer earned a doctorate in theology at the age of 21 from one if the most prestigious universities in the world at the time – the University of Berlin.  He began to work as a pastor and also continued to pursue academic studies which took him to Spain and then to Harlem. Dissatisfied with the lack of rigor at Union Seminary, where he was teaching and doing post graduate work, he became a disciple and Sunday school teacher at Abyssinian Baptist Church, where his love for spirituals developed along with his deep desire for the Church to change the world.

Two years after his return to Germany, the Nazi Party rose to power. Bonhoeffer was overtly critical of the regime and a resister from the beginning.  While Hitler and the Nazis infiltrated and found a stronghold in the German Church, Bonhoeffer was building something new in Germany through the Confessing Church (wiki). After only a few months living under Nazi control, Bonhoeffer moved to London to work on international ecumenical work. He was very frustrated with the state of the German church.

Two years later, rather than going to study non-violent civil disobedience under Gandhi, he returned to Germany, responding to the repeated pleas and demands of Swiss theologians and Karl Barth, who’s battle cry, “Revelation, not religion!” would remain a basic element of Bonhoeffer’s theology to the end. Barth was sent back to Switzerland and Bonhoeffer found the Confessing Church to be under fire by the Nazis.  He soon lost his credentials to teach because he was a “pacifist and enemy of the state.”  He began underground seminaries and further resisted.

Bonhoeffer became more involved in direct resistance and was arrested in 1943.  He was part of a group that was responsible both for attempts at liberating Jews and attempting to assassinate Hitler. His pacifism has been widely written about, especially in light of this glaring contradiction. In the last 10 years historians have disputed the assumption that Bonheoffer deserted his pacifism for the practicality of assassination. See Mark Theissen’s book: Bonhoeffer the Assassin?: Challenging The Myth, Recovering His Call To Peacemaking (2013).

Dietrich was executed on this day in 1945, two weeks before US soldiers liberated the  camp where he was imprisoned.  He is largely considered a martyr for the faith and for peace, and for being a Nazi resister.

Two of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s most influential works are Life Together and The Cost of Discipleship – this quote is from the latter:

Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession…. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

More

Want to watch a small documentary about his life? Here is a [link] Another from 2003 [link] One premiered in 2024 [link]

Bonhoeffer speaks out against Hitler [link]

His philosophy, theology and books. [link]

Biographer interview. [link]

What do we do with this?

Bonhoeffer applied himself to unmasking the lies of his culture and the ideologies that took God’s place. It was not easy, since the church was generally in line with them. In spite of state threat and lack of support from the church, he took risks to teach the truth, even moving back to Germany when he would have been safer elsewhere.

That kind of courage is demonstrated in the Bible repeatedly by people whose loves are trained on God. What threat do you feel from those you know and from the great “other” of the powers that be when it comes to expressing your faith in word and deed? Pray for courage. Pray that we build a confessing church in a culture of lies.