Avalon Chronicles #22-"The Way We Must Be"
Allen's Website: www.combatfaith.com
Blog: www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
Contact: allenbclark@aol.com
When I was in elementary school I devoured a set of books with orange-colored covers about famous Americans. One of my favorites was about Robert E. Lee. He was a graduate of West Point, the eventual school of my undergraduate education, a member of my childhood denomination of Episcopalian, and in my mind a Christian gentleman worthy of emulation. Never have I not held him up as an example. Currently I am in the midst of reading a book titled Call of Duty The Sterling Nobility of Robert E. Lee by J. Steven Wilkins. It is a short and concise expression of a life well-lived by a consummate Christian gentleman and great military leader. Each chapter reflects a way to live one's life and very early this morning I began to read again, but was moved to reflect on a life to be well-lived and so here are my thoughts on such a life.
Without shame. Without guile. Unafraid in the light of the world. Not needing approval. Heeding counsel. Reading meritable material. Elevating oneself above the common levels of life. Not taking offense. Not needing a defense. Complimenting often. Critiquing candidly. Speaking softly, but heartedly. Thinking with the mind, feeling from the heart, acting with the Spirit. Caring for others before self. Seeking the higher purpose. Everything in moderation. Nothing in excess. Enriching reading. Allocating wisely one's time, it grows shorter each day. Knowing thyself. Striving to know others. Forgiving slights. Forgeting the fights. Believing in the Creator, not the created. Identifying with uplifted ideals. Fixing oneself before others. Preserving property. Protecting propriety. Holding high your head to the heavens. Lifting the lowly.
Freedom isn't free, you have to pay the price, you have to sacrifice for your liberty.
Know your Maker, what He wrote, how He lived, why He came, why He died, that He lives, whom He left, and go forth to follow Him. Never depart from God and He will not depart from you.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Avalon Chronicles #21-"Christianity and the Romans Part 3"
Avalon Chronicles #21-"Christianity and the Romans Part 3"
Allen's web site www.combatfaith.com blog: www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
In November 2013 Linda and I traveled in England to Bath, a city in southwest England. Bath was originally a Celtic settlement, which in 44 A.D. became a Roman outpost. In 60 A.D. the Romans built baths here which became celebrated and are a major tourist attraction today. They were originally established as a temple to the local Celtic god Sul and the Roman god Minerva and were founded as a major center of pagan culture. Of course, Rome at this time was a pagan empire and Christianity had to be practiced very carefully and surreptitiously due to the Romans terming it illegal. However, several sources point out that Joseph of Arimathea was indeed the founder of Christianity in England. Sabellius, AD 250, wrote, "Christianity was privately confessed elsewhere, but the first nation that proclaimed it as their religion and called it Christianity after the name of Christ, was Britain."
The Romans were violently opposed to the spread of Christianity, but converted Celts and Druids fought the Romans ferociously. Julius Caesar wrote even before Christianity existed, circa 54 BC in Gallic War (ch 1, sec1) of the British warriors, "They make the immortality of the soul the basis of all their teaching, holding it to be the principal incentive and reason for a virtuous life. Believing in the immortality of the soul they were careless of death." Many of us do not recognize the basics of our faith that our soul survives us!
The first Christian martyr in England was St. Alban, a Roman soldier, who had given shelter to a Christian priest in 251-253 AD and was converted to Christianity due to the priest's character. Becoming a Christian was a capital offense and he was executed.
The Cambridge Story, one of the wonderful resources we came across relates, "A particularly fascinating piece of evidence from the late 4th (century) for the prevalence of Christianity is a curse directed at a thief inscribed on a piece of lead and thrown in to the sacred spring of Solis Minerva in Bath. The curse states 'whether pagan or Christian,' presupposing a society where both commonly existed." Linda and I viewed some of these examples of pieces of lead with messages on display in the Roman baths.
One of the little-known facts of history is that the Roman Emperor Constantine, who lived from 272-337 AD was actually crowned as Roman emperor in York, England where he was serving as a Roman soldier and commander. His mother, Helena, was a Christian and this family heritage was a principal exposure for his eventual signing of the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, which allowed the legalization of Christianity throughout the empire. Christians could now worship Christ openly. Once sanctioned in the Roman empire Christianity was able to flourish. In the British Museum we viewed jewelry and tableware from the 4th century inscribed with Christian monograms, the Greek letters alpha and omega and the Chi Ro symbols, which were clear indicators of the Christian belief. English Christians sent St Patrick to Ireland as a missionary in 432 AD.
In the early 5th century, after Rome had fallen, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, came storming in to England from across the North Sea and attacked England. They were intent on abolishing Christianity, but the roots of the original mision of Joseph of Arimathea survived with the Roman-British Celts in Cornwall and Wales in the West. The Catholic Church in Rome sent St. Augustine to England in 597 AD and he was greeted by Christians from St. Martin's Celtic Church in Canterbury.
There was obviously a previous strong presence of a basic Christianity practiced in England before St. Augustine and this mission began unobtrusively, but eventually there were clashes of these branches of Christianity that have persisted until modern times. We will attempt to document these clashes, many times very bloody in nature, through British history. We came away after our discovery of England's past times newly aware of the bloodshed and turmoil and suffering caused by the clashes in the name of "religion." Today we are very cognizant of the murders and persecutions of Christians all over the world by the members of the political branch of Islam, who demand adherence only to the requirements of their beliefs to the exclusion of all others. May we recognize the extraordinary blessing we have in the United States with the basics of our religious freedoms being safe.
Allen's web site www.combatfaith.com blog: www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
In November 2013 Linda and I traveled in England to Bath, a city in southwest England. Bath was originally a Celtic settlement, which in 44 A.D. became a Roman outpost. In 60 A.D. the Romans built baths here which became celebrated and are a major tourist attraction today. They were originally established as a temple to the local Celtic god Sul and the Roman god Minerva and were founded as a major center of pagan culture. Of course, Rome at this time was a pagan empire and Christianity had to be practiced very carefully and surreptitiously due to the Romans terming it illegal. However, several sources point out that Joseph of Arimathea was indeed the founder of Christianity in England. Sabellius, AD 250, wrote, "Christianity was privately confessed elsewhere, but the first nation that proclaimed it as their religion and called it Christianity after the name of Christ, was Britain."
The Romans were violently opposed to the spread of Christianity, but converted Celts and Druids fought the Romans ferociously. Julius Caesar wrote even before Christianity existed, circa 54 BC in Gallic War (ch 1, sec1) of the British warriors, "They make the immortality of the soul the basis of all their teaching, holding it to be the principal incentive and reason for a virtuous life. Believing in the immortality of the soul they were careless of death." Many of us do not recognize the basics of our faith that our soul survives us!
The first Christian martyr in England was St. Alban, a Roman soldier, who had given shelter to a Christian priest in 251-253 AD and was converted to Christianity due to the priest's character. Becoming a Christian was a capital offense and he was executed.
The Cambridge Story, one of the wonderful resources we came across relates, "A particularly fascinating piece of evidence from the late 4th (century) for the prevalence of Christianity is a curse directed at a thief inscribed on a piece of lead and thrown in to the sacred spring of Solis Minerva in Bath. The curse states 'whether pagan or Christian,' presupposing a society where both commonly existed." Linda and I viewed some of these examples of pieces of lead with messages on display in the Roman baths.
One of the little-known facts of history is that the Roman Emperor Constantine, who lived from 272-337 AD was actually crowned as Roman emperor in York, England where he was serving as a Roman soldier and commander. His mother, Helena, was a Christian and this family heritage was a principal exposure for his eventual signing of the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, which allowed the legalization of Christianity throughout the empire. Christians could now worship Christ openly. Once sanctioned in the Roman empire Christianity was able to flourish. In the British Museum we viewed jewelry and tableware from the 4th century inscribed with Christian monograms, the Greek letters alpha and omega and the Chi Ro symbols, which were clear indicators of the Christian belief. English Christians sent St Patrick to Ireland as a missionary in 432 AD.
In the early 5th century, after Rome had fallen, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, came storming in to England from across the North Sea and attacked England. They were intent on abolishing Christianity, but the roots of the original mision of Joseph of Arimathea survived with the Roman-British Celts in Cornwall and Wales in the West. The Catholic Church in Rome sent St. Augustine to England in 597 AD and he was greeted by Christians from St. Martin's Celtic Church in Canterbury.
There was obviously a previous strong presence of a basic Christianity practiced in England before St. Augustine and this mission began unobtrusively, but eventually there were clashes of these branches of Christianity that have persisted until modern times. We will attempt to document these clashes, many times very bloody in nature, through British history. We came away after our discovery of England's past times newly aware of the bloodshed and turmoil and suffering caused by the clashes in the name of "religion." Today we are very cognizant of the murders and persecutions of Christians all over the world by the members of the political branch of Islam, who demand adherence only to the requirements of their beliefs to the exclusion of all others. May we recognize the extraordinary blessing we have in the United States with the basics of our religious freedoms being safe.
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