Church and State as Seen in the Formation of ChristendomAllies, T. W. (Thomas William)
Religion
Church and State as Seen in the Formation of Christendom
Allies, T. W. (Thomas William)
Church and state; Church history -- Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600; Religion and state
For it is impossible, fifthly, to separate the gift of adoption from the
Divine Sacrifice, which contains it and imparts it. Wherefore does the
Son of the Eternal Father lie upon the altar in the state of death? He
cries out aloud there, "Behold I and my children whom God has given Me."
It is precisely out of the act assuming our nature, and out of the act
offering that nature to death, that He draws His human family. It is
after the detailed account of His sufferings in the 21st Psalm that He
concludes with the words which St. Paul has quoted in this
connection:[105] "I will declare Thy name to My brethren: in the midst
of the Church will I praise Thee." It is in the act of priesthood that He
creates His race. "Because the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
He also Himself in like manner has been partaker of them, that through
death He might destroy him who had the empire of death." Thus, "It
behoved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren, that He
might become a merciful and faithful High Priest before God." And the
daily act of His Priesthood thus performed, the unbloody immolation for
ever presented before God in the eyes of His people, is the bond and
pledge to them of the communicated sonship. They who have the Church's
daily sacrifice have never fallen from the belief of the divine
brotherhood, have never substituted for it the natural kinship of fallen
man. They have not sunk away from the bond of redemption giving sonship,
to the phantom of brotherhood, dispensing with faith, and vainly calling
on men to unite in the midst of national enmity, broken belief, and
thirst for material enjoyment. The Divine Sacrifice, as it is the
instrument, so also it is the guardian of divine adoption, and
perpetuates it upon the earth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account