Old Time Religion J. Brandon Meeks

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“Mere Christianity” should lead quite naturally to “Mere Catholicity.” Pentecost marked the un-babeling of the world. In the Church, fragmented humanity is put back together by the power of the Spirit. So we must be about the business of putting the Church back together. If Christianity embraces “one Lord, one faith, and one baptism,” then we must learn to embrace one another.

For many Protestants, October is "Reformation Month." How should we regard that period? What good, if any, can come from a 500 year old protest movement? Why should it matter to those of us for whom conversion to Rome holds as much allure as the prospect of a root canal? Maybe more than you think. It is possible that by reacting against your Protestant forebears, you have fallen backward into the Tiber and the current has already carried you halfway to Popeville, Italy. So, what will it be? Semper reformanda, or "Buongiorno, Papa?" 

In this episode, we had the privilege to sit down with Dr. Miles Smith IV, lecturer in History at Hillsdale College, to discuss the nature and importance of history. 

The Greek word for creed is the word “symbolon,” from which we get our English word, “symbol.” The word refers to two parts of a seal or token placed together in order to prove a person’s identity. The Creeds function in just this way. Our individual confession of faith is one half of the symbol, the historic faith shared by the whole Church is the other half. As the two halves fit together as one, we can say that we belong to that undying body known as the communion of the saints. But by saying that the Creeds are symbols, we are not maintaining that that the body of doctrine contained therein is something less than real. Rather, we are suggesting that nothing is more real than symbols.

Shelf Life is an occasional offering of poetry and literature with the odd comment or two thrown in for good measure.