Separation of Church 8 Augustine

The Separation of Church and Faith:
How Did We Get FROM THERE: SCRIPTURE?
To Here: church traditions?
8. Augustine
John Chrysostom
“…we must hate both
them
and their synagogue”
the Jews: “are fit for
killing”
“fit for slaughter”
“have no right to speak”
“are only half a Christian”
“became dogs…
we became the children.”
“Christ said: ‘bring them
here and slay them’”
St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican:
Altar of the Chair of St.
Peter
Chrysostom
as part of the Altar
foundation
JEROME: Latin Vulgate
AD 383-405
 Translated mostly from Hebrew rather than Greek.
 Severely criticized by Augustine
 Augustine considered Greek LXX translation
superior to Hebrew
 Translated Melito’s Greek anti-Jewish title into Latin:
Old Testamentum
 Translated over 60 of Origen’s sermons
Gregory Bishop of Nyssa, AD 372 … 395
 Writings strongly influenced by Origen
 Believed in the Universal Salvation of all human
beings
Gregory Bishop of Nyssa, AD 372 … 395
Likened
The Transubstantiation
of the Eucharist Host
to the Transubstantiation
of the Priest
Gregory Bishop of Nyssa, AD 372 … 395
The Catechism claims that the priest acts “in the person of Christ”
and like Christ, the priest is a “living image of God the Father.”
Through the ministry of ordained priests, the presence of Jesus Christ
“is made visible in the community of believers.”
Church theology refers to an ontological change—a change in the very being
–
claiming the Ordination Sacrament of Holy Orders:
“confers an indelible spiritual character” that is imprinted forever
Gregory of Nyssa:
“The bread is at first common bread.
But when the sacramental action consecrates it, it is called the Body of Christ
…
“The same power of the word makes the priest worthy of veneration and
honor...
“Now, suddenly he has become a guide… an instructor of hidden mysteries.
And this he does without any change in body and form…
his invisible soul has really been transformed to a higher condition …”
The Crucifixion of
William of Norwich
on display at
Holy Trinity Church,
Norfolk
Norwich England, 1144
It was alleged
that the Jews had tortured
and crucified a Christian
child
before Easter
Painting of Blood Libel
Jews draining blood
from several
infants and children
Cathedral Basilica of the
Nativity of the Blessed
Virgin Mary
Sandomierz, Poland
With the Doctrine of Transubstantiation,
the idea of torturing the “the Host”
– breaking into churches
to stab and desecrate
the ‘Holy Eucharist’ wafer
was added to Apion's ancient
legend of blood libel
Medieval painting: Host Desecration by Jews
Muse Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
(Northeastern Spain, Barcelona)
Desecration of Hosts
by Jews
In Passau in 1477
Detail of a 16th century
painting
Oberhaus Museum,
Fortress of the Bishop of
Passau
Paolo Uccello’s
Miracle of the Profaned
Host
Urbino Confraternity of
Corpus Domini Predella
(altar platform).
A Jewish
moneylender
is cooking the Host,
which emanates
blood.
The Jew's wife,
her unborn child,
and her children
look on in terror
as a river of blood
pours into the street,
alerting Christians to
break down the door
Paolo Uccello’s
Miracle of the Profaned
Host
from the
Urbino Confraternity of
Corpus Domini Predella
(altar platform).
The Jewish
moneylender
his wife,
their unborn child,
and their children
are burned alive
1915
Anti-Jewish
blood-libel flier
circulated in Kiev:
“Christians,
take care of your
children!
It will be Jewish
Passover
on 17 March!”
Cover of the
May 2009
edition of
Al-Islam Magazine
with the page
containing
the photograph of
The Desecrated Host
superimposed over
it.
Aug 2014, Sheik Bassam Ammoush,
Minister of Administrative Development; Jordan's House of
Senate:
“In [the Gaza Strip] we are dealing with the enemies of Allah,
who believe that the matzos that they bake on their holidays
must be kneaded with blood.
“When the Jews were in the diaspora, they would murder children
in England, in Europe, and in America.
They would… use their blood to make their matzos...
“They believe that they are God's chosen people.
They believe that the killing of any human being
is a form of worship and a means to draw near their god."
Nov. 2015, Hamas official on Gaza TV:
Jewish people
“kill children and collect their blood,
in order to knead it into the bread that is eaten on Passover.
Today, they are trying to say that these things never
happened,
and that it was a joke or a lie,
but these are the facts of history.”
Caius, ca. AD 180–217
 EARLY “Christian” Gnostic
 Rejected Book of Revelation
 Rejected that it was written by John
 1st record: Veneration of Relics
 1ST record of ‘Christian Amillennialism’
Caius, ca. AD 180–217
“…alleging that after the resurrection
the kingdom of Christ is to be on earth,
and that the flesh dwelling in Jerusalem
is again to be subject to desires and pleasures…
a space of a thousand years for marriage festivals.”
Amillennial Theology
conceived from “Christian” Gnostic school of Alexandria
(Caius  Clement of Alexandria  Origen)
Origen’s wildest theology was eventually rejected by Church
Councils
BUT, Gnostic Allegorizing of Scripture and Prophecy was retained,
systematized, and incorporated into Church Orthodoxy by
Augustine (AD 354-430)
Book Two, Psa 59 Title: Mik-tam’ ‫ ִמכְ ָּתם‬#4387 carved. permanent, important
Saul sent men to kill David; He was warned by Mikhal
(1 Sam 19:11)
Do not destroy … Al – Tash-khayt’ #516 ‫ת ְשחֵ ת‬
ַ -‫… אַ ל‬
Deut 9:26-29
Do not destroy Your People and Your inheritance whom You have redeemed
…
Remember Your servants … Do not look on the stubbornness of this people …
They are … Your inheritance … Your Na-kha-la’ …
‫… נַחֲ לָּ ה‬
Book of Ruth … 2 Sam 7:8-19
Psa 59 :1-5
“save me from men of bloodshed … they’ve set an ambush …”
59:5 “punish all the nations – all the wicked … SELAH”
59:6-10 “But You, O LORD, laugh at them … You scoff at all the nations.”
59:11-13 “Do not slay them, lest my people forget.
Let them be trapped in their pride,
For the cursing and lies that they utter.
“Consume them till they are no more,
And let them know that God rules in Jacob
To the ends of the Earth ... SELAH”
The City of God, book 18, chapter 46
Augustine’s Monument of ‘Christian’ Apologetic
Re.
Psalm 59
“Do not slay the Jews, lest my people forget.
By your power, make them homeless wanderers
Therefore, God has shown the Church,
in her enemies the Jews,
the grace of His compassion”
Previous Church Fathers called for outright slaughter of
Jews
Augustine:
 Authorized Jewish oppression as a “witness”  Proof of the Permanent Rejection and Replacement of the
Jews
 Preached the enforced humiliation of Jews as a Christian
activity
Ecclesia and Synagoga were common allegorical figures in the
Middle Ages;
Representing the transition from the Old Law to the New Church.
Victorious
Ecclesia
typically wears
a crown,
carries a cross-staff,
and holds a chalice,
representing
the Redeemer's
blood.
Defeated Synagoga
is always blindfolded,
representing moral
and spiritual blindness.
She often carries
a broken spear-staff
as Scripture
falls from her hands
Ecclesia and Synagoga
Ecclesia (left)
Wears Crown,
Fills Chalice
----------------------Synagoga (right)
Synagoga blindfolded, fallen
crown,
Broken staff,
Falling Tablets
blindfolded,
holding
a goat head;
----------------------from a
German Psalter,
ca. 1260
Psalm 114
“When Israel went forth from Egypt …
The sea looked and fled; The Jordan turned back …”
According to Augustine: “Israel” is “the Church”
“The sea” and “The Jordan” are “the Jews”
Expositions on the Book of Psalms by Saint Augustine,
114.3
“The Christian people then is rather Israel …
But that multitude of Jews … sold their birthright”
Augustine, On the Merit and Forgiveness of Sins, Book 1.
Chapter 2
 Denies that Adam’s sin has brought death into creation
 Declares all the “physical” was created as bad … before the fall:
“…if Adam had not sinned …
would have been clothed upon with immortality and incorruption …
that is,
have passed from the NATURAL body
into the SPIRITUAL body.”
Augustine’s City of God
• Maintained Philo’s Allegorical Method AND Gnostic
Philosophy
• Established the Replacement Definition of a Gentile Church
• Theologically: Displaced the Jews From God’s Covenants
…
Previously Polycarp had specific grounds to refuse to submit to the Bishops of
Rome:
“observed … Passover according to THE GOSPEL,
deviating in no respect, but following THE RULE OF FAITH ”
The Gospel - The Scriptures had provided the RULE OF FAITH
For AUGUSTINE,
CHURCH ORTHODOXY determined “THE RULE OF FAITH”
Augustine’s only restriction on ALLEGORICAL FANTASIES:
“the Standard of the harmonious unity of the Catholic Faith”
Augustine’s City of God
Presents a Theological “FINAL-SOLUTION” to the Jews.
The Bible’s promise of a RESTORED CREATION,
Covenant Promises of a Future Reign of Messiah on earth
with the physical resurrection – of all believers …
were all unacceptably carnal to Augustine:
“This opinion might be allowed,
if it proposed only spiritual delight unto the saints”
Augustine’s Amillennialism— ‘Now - Millennialism’ teaches:
This present age is ‘the Millennium’, Satan is currently bound
“This binding of Satan began when the church began to spread”
1 Peter 5:8 “… prowls around like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour.”
Augustine rejects the
plain sense of Scripture
because it can’t be reconciled
with his mystical concepts
of Christendom
with the Imperial Church
as the New Israel
victoriously establishing the
Kingdom of God on earth,
Ecclesia Enthroned, 12th century, Prüfening Abbey,
Bavaria
NOTE: NOT Jesus ‘enthroned’, NOT Maria ‘enthroned’
WITHOUT
the King of the JEWS
Postmillennial:
Christ returns after the figurative Millennium of the Dominion Church:
• a Golden Age in which Christian ethics prosper
Prior to Christ's return, increasing Church success will produce a time in
which
• Global Peace, Social Justice, and Faith will prevail …
After the Dominion Church builds the Kingdom • Christ will return to bring on eternity
• with a general resurrection and final judgment
Ancient Gnosticism is the foundation of the Postmillennial Social
Gospel
Rooted in the belief that
• a lack of harmony within society is a result of evil, or disorder, in the world
The disorder of the world can be transcended by insight, learning, or knowledge
• The Church/Humanity can implement policy to bring about – to “ACTUALIZE”
To Immanent-ize the Eschaton, to create a heaven on earth global society
Post-Millennialism: The Age of Aquarius dressed in church lingo
SCRIPTURE teaches that believers
Overcome this world in the same way Jesus did –
by being faithful until death …
Great falling away …
Anything less is a different Gospel
Rev 2:13 … 16
“… I have a few things against you:
you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam,
who taught Balak to
put a stumbling block before the children of Israel …
Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly,
and I will make war against them
with the sword of My mouth”
Next Final Week:
Luther
English Reformation