December 31, 2016 – Christmas + 6
Persecution of Jews by the Spanish Inquisition

On this date in 1492, an estimated 100,000 Jews experienced the culmination of their expulsion from Sicily. Here is a first hand account of this event.

“In the spring of 1492, shortly after the Moors were driven out of Granada, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain expelled all the Jews from their lands and thus, by a stroke of the pen, put an end to the largest and most distinguished Jewish settlement in Europe. The expulsion of this intelligent, cultured, and industrious class was prompted only in part by the greed of the king and the intensified nationalism of the people who had just brought the crusade against the Muslim Moors to a glorious close. The real motive was the religious zeal of the Church, the Queen, and the masses. The official reason given for driving out the Jews was that they encouraged the Marranos to persist in their Jewishness and thus would not allow them to become good Christians.” (Wikipedia)

Also in the year 1492, thousands of Jews were expelled from Spain. The expulsions were the culmination of “anti-Jewish” sentiment that flourished throughout the 14th and 15th centuries in Europe. Many Jews had converted to Christianity to avoid expulsion, but maintained much of their Jewish heritage in practice and inward piety. Thus the powers of the church and state looked to remove those converts who were not “sincere” in their Christian faith. Since much of Europe was under Christian rule, the best way to avoid influence and thus power on the part of Jews was simply to remove them from the country. It would take Vatican II and the actions of this ecumenical council to remove many of the decrees about Jews that still existed in writing in 1968.

We end this year remembering those who have been persecuted in the name of G-d, and those who struggle for the name of G-d to continue to be worshipped and remembered. Every year we begin anew – on January 1 – and often we make resolutions to make our lives better, more meaningful, and less unproductive. Let us resolve to worship G-d more, proclaim the name of Jesus more, and judge others less.

Pastor Dave

January 7, 2017
Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria (297/8 – May 2, 373)

“Before reaching the age of 20, Athanasius wrote a treatise entitled On the Incarnation, affirming and explaining that Jesus was both God and Man. In about 319, when Athanasius was a deacon , a presbyter named Arius began teaching that there was a time before God the Father begat Jesus Christ when the latter did not exist. Athanasius responded that the Father’s begetting of the Son, or uttering of the Word, was an eternal relationship between them, not an event that took place within time. Thus began catholic Christianity’s fight against the heresy of Arianism . Athanasius fought consistently against Arianism all his life. He accompanied bishop Alexander to the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which council produced the Nicene Creed and anathematized Arius and his followers. On May 9, 328, he succeeded Alexander as bishop of Alexandria. As a result of rises and falls in Arianism’s influence, he was banished from Alexandria only to be later restored on at least five separate occasions, perhaps as many as seven. This gave rise to the expression “Athanasius contra mundum” or “Athanasius against the world”. During some of his exiles, he spent time with the Desert Fathers, monks and hermits who lived in remote areas of Egypt. ” (theopedia.com website)

“Black Dwarf” was the tag his enemies gave him. And the short, dark-skinned Egyptian bishop had plenty of enemies. He was exiled five times by four Roman emperors, spending 17 of the 45 years he served as bishop of Alexandria in exile. Yet in the end, his theological enemies were “exiled” from the church’s teaching, and it is Athanasius’s writings that shaped the future of the church.” (Christianitytoday.com website)

On this day, January 7, 363, Athanasius wrote: “Inasmuch as some have taken in hand to draw up for themselves an arrangement of the so-called apocryphal books and to intersperse them with the divinely inspired scripture…it has seemed good to me…to set forth in order the books which are included in the canon and have been delivered to us with accreditation that they are divine.” (Christianitytoday.com website)

The Lutheran Church has three Creeds – three “I believe” statements. Two are most familiar, the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed. One is hardly used, rarely spoken, and remains the most enigmatic – The Athanasian Creed. Though named after Athanasius, it was not written by him, nor was it considered a Creed at first. It was written most likely 100 years after his death by a group of people from the region of southern Gaul. The main purpose seems to be an apology of the faith against several different heresies; but it also speaks to a sense of high Christology. It is seldom used in the Lutheran Church today due to its length and the confusing, repetitive style in which it is written. However, it is worthy to be read by all Christians at least twice a year as a reminder of its poetry and the breadth of the religious statements within.

Pastor Dave