Previous Course Study Materials Available

We are now making study materials from our previous seminar, The Early Church at Prayer and Worship, available for purchase.  They can be used for individual or group study.  Please visit our study materials page for more information.

The Spiritual Meadow

In the late sixth and early seventh centuries, a monk named John Moschus visited many of the monasteries and hermits in the Middle East.  He wrote The Spiritual Meadow, a collection of stories told by the people he encountered.  It contains all sorts of accounts: conversions, visions, strange miracles, and great deeds of faith.  In the prologue, John describes the purpose of the book this way:

It is obvious to all, my beloved son, that the meadows present their most beautiful appearance in Springtime, with its pleasing variety of flowers of every sort, demanding the attention of all who gaze, impossible to ignore, beneficial in all sorts of ways, for they delight the eyes and give pleasure to the sense of smell...Think of this present work like this, Sophronius, my holy and most faithful son, since you will find in it the virtues of the holy men who have enlightened our time "planted by the running waters", as the Psalmist says (Psalms 1.3). And though all of them are acceptable to God and of great grace, yet each one of them is distinguished by some particular grace more than the others, so that out of this great variety of virtues arises a charming picture of pleasing beauty...It is not only right belief and meditation on divine truth which lead to a life and morals of integrity, but also the examples of other people, and written accounts of their virtuous lives.

In reading this work, I have found that it functions as John intended.  While sometimes the practices and experiences of these Christians seem quite foreign to us, they served God with an intensity rarely seen today.  The work is a beautiful testament to the power of Jesus Christ to transform lives.  Here is just one of the stories he recounts:

In this same monastery of Turrius there was an old man who was a great lover of almsgiving, even to the extent of holy nakedness. For one day a beggar came to his cell seeking alms. The old man had nothing to give him but one loaf which he offered to the beggar.

"It's not bread I want but clothing," said the beggar.

The old man wanted to help him so he took him by the hand and led him inside his cell. The beggar could not see anything inside but what the old man stood up in, but driven by his virtuous nature the old man opened the only moneybag he had by taking off everything he wore, saying: "Take these, good sir, and I will seek elsewhere for what I need."

The entire work is available online.


Update: The link above only has the first 85 chapters, out of 214.  Here is the full work on another site.  (The whole book is spread over a number of pages; click "Next" at the bottom to go to the next page.)

Fall Seminar on Scripture

Registration is now open for our Fall Seminar, the Early Church in Devotion to Scripture.  This one will be held at The Upper Room church in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA.  It will also be available online.

I encourage you to consider taking this seminar.  We will be reading some of the greatest Scripture teachers in Christian history.

House of St. Michael the Archangel Blog

The House of St. Michel the Archangel is Tim and Matt's vision for a community immersed in the Scriptures and the Fathers. They seek to "operate a house with a life of worship, prayer, and reflection on the Scriptures and the historic Christian Faith, for a total Christian perspective on existence."  Read more about their vision here.

They have launched a new blog, which will feature regular reflections on ancient Christian writings.  I invite you to check it out.  Two reflections are already posted, and each is very challenging and thought-provoking.

Seminar Response

Among the participants in our recently-completed seminar on Prayer and Worship was a group of elders from First Presbyterian Church of Tulsa.  Tim and Matt had the opportunity to fly there twice to interact with them in person.  Here is what their senior pastor, Dr. Jim Miller, had to say about the experience:

The Ancient Christian Faith Initiative invites Christians to take the blessings of our heritage seriously.  Reading, pondering, and praying over the writings of early Church leaders is a powerful antidote to the shallow spiritualities of our own day.  Timothy Becker and Matthew Bell, both Ph.D. candidates in Patristics, have the rare gift of leading twenty-first century disciples of Jesus into the writings and lessons of ancient Christian faith.

As part of our new elder development ministry, First Presbyterian Church, Tulsa, invited Tim and Matt to lead us on an eight-week series, diving deep into the pool of ancient Christian witness.  This was completely new terrain for most of these First Church leaders.  But the experience was rich and fruitful at so many different levels.

With enthusiasm and confidence I am happy to recommend the Ancient Christian Faith Initiative to local congregations. 

 

 

Reading Revelation

In the last week of our seminar on prayer and worship, we read the Book of Revelation. This was the most familiar of our readings, since it is part of Scripture. It does not seem nearly as strange to us as ancient writers like Pseudo-Dionysius. And yet, it was really the strangest thing we read by far. Imagine reading Revelation without having been previously exposed to it: most of us would tear our hair out trying to figure out what is going on. And yet: do we really know what it means, or have we merely gotten comfortable with the language of Scripture's stranger sections, without truly grasping it?

Despite having a seminary degree, I have never seriously studied Revelation (and certain other books), and reading Revelation anew challenged me that I need to do so. God has given me the

great privilege of His truth revealed in Scripture, and I have simply not been interested enough to receive all of it.

One of the striking insights of Revelation is how connected worship is to everything that happens in the world. Repeatedly in the book, worship accompanies the defeat of evil. One could push
that further and say that worship IS the defeat of evil--since evil consists of the failure to acknowledge and worship God. A theologian named John Webster said it this way: "Praise is the great act of rebellion against sin."

The question, then, is: is this how we view our worship? Do we think that we are participating in God's victory over evil when we gather on Sunday? Do we realize that we are taking part in a world-transforming act? More often, I think we see ourselves as retreating from the world, taking a brief rest in God's presence, before we have to go out there and get to work again.
When we think about this, it is unsurprising that many Christians have trouble connecting worship to service. In fact, the two have become antithetical: some Christians worship, while others go out and help the poor. Some are accused of "being too heavenly-minded to do any earthly good." Such a statement has no place in Revelation, though: the "heavenly-minded" are the ones who see and take part in God's mighty acts in the world. If being "heavenly-minded" leads us to disengage from the world, than what we have in our minds is not heaven at all, but an idolatrous illusion.

How can we worship in a way that reflects the divine reality?

How can we worship conscious that we are participants in the heavenly worship and in God's victory over sin and evil in the world?

How can worship be more connected to the battles in our own lives?

These are the questions with which Revelation has left me.

Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science

I commend to you Rev. Chris Brown's blog post, Renewing the Mind: Porn, Neurology, and Monkish Wisdom. Chris connects what science teaches about addiction to the spiritual practices of ancient Christian ascetics. He draws on the Philokalia, one of the texts for our current seminar.

The reason we encourage the study of these ancient teachers is because we believe they are far more than historical curiosities; they offer us great spiritual wisdom that can help us grow in our faith today. Thanks, Chris, for providing an excellent illustration of that.

Testimonial

Here's what BJ Woodworth, lead pastor of The Open Door, has to say about ACFI:

As I have begun to read the early church fathers through The Ancient Christian Faith Initiative I have discovered a deep well of inspiring theological discourse that has opened my eyes and my heart to the majesty and mystery of God. In reading and discussing these saints of the faith with others I have found myself driven to my knees in prayer and worship. I have found myself deeply aware of my humanity in the shadow of an unfathomable yet immanent God. I have seen my heart set aflame for the love of God for me and the world and most of all I have had my mind blown with the humble brilliance of these ancient but completely relevant writers of our faith. ACFI has equipped me in ministry to plumb the depths of God with great humility and awe and to lead the church out of a deep place of prayer and worship. In an age of searching mystical spirituality I encourage everyone to read these ancient yet surprisingly relevant sages of our Christian faith.

Augustine on Jesus' Miracles and the Miracle of Creation

As I was preparing a sermon on Jesus' turning water into wine, I came across this great reflection on miracles by Augustine:

The miracle indeed of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby He made the water into wine, is not marvellous to those who know that it was God’s doing. For He who made wine on that day at the marriage feast, in those six water-pots, which He commanded to be filled with water, the self-same does this every year in vines. For even as that which the servants put into the water-pots was turned into wine by the doing of the Lord, so in like manner also is what the clouds pour forth changed into wine by the doing of the same Lord. But we do not wonder at the latter, because it happens every year: it has lost its marvellousness by its constant recurrence. And yet it suggests a greater consideration than that which was done in the water-pots. For who is there that considers the works of God, whereby this whole world is governed and regulated, who is not amazed and overwhelmed with miracles?

If he considers the vigorous power of a single grain of any seed whatever, it is a mighty thing, it inspires him with awe. But since men, intent on a different matter, have lost the consideration of the works of God, by which they should daily praise Him as the Creator, God has, as it were, reserved to Himself the doing of certain extraordinary actions, that, by striking them with wonder, He might rouse men as from sleep to worship Him. A dead man has risen again; men marvel: so many are born daily, and none marvels. If we reflect more considerately, it is a matter of greater wonder for one to be who was not before, than for one who was to come to life again. Yet the same God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, doeth by His word all these things; and it is He who created that governs also. The former miracles He did by His Word, God with Himself; the latter miracles He did by the same Word incarnate, and for us made man.

As we wonder at the things which were done by the man Jesus, so let us wonder at the things which where done by Jesus God. By Jesus God were made heaven, and earth, and the sea, all the garniture of heaven, the abounding riches of the earth, and the fruitfulness of the sea;—all these things which lie within the reach of our eyes were made by Jesus God. And we look at these things, and if His own spirit is in us they in such manner please us, that we praise Him that contrived them.

Indeed.