Ash Wednesday

Today's Special: Free mark on the forehead with every Mass! Get your ashes today for you may be dust tomorrow.

Responses to Dan Brown's assertions regarding Sacred Scripture

This almost seems like a pointless exercise, unworthy of anyone's efforts, given Dan Brown's lack of credibility as an historian, a theologian, an "exegesis expert", or even as a writer of high-quality fiction. Nevertheless, in case you should encounter individuals who have fallen prey to his web of deceit, I have gathered some source data to expose the fallacious nature of Mr. Brown's assertions in the DaVinci Code regarding the nature of early Christianity and the origins of the Sacred Scripture. Specifically, I address the claims that: 1) Prior to the 300s, Christians did not believe in the divinity of Our Lord Jesus; and 2) the Bible was composed in the 300s by Emperor Constantine and his regime.

Evidence that Our Lord Jesus was seen as God prior to Constantine is found in actual manuscripts of St. Paul's letters and the Gospels, dating from well before the 300s. St. Paul's language was clear, time and time again, that he thought Our Lord Jesus was God. Manuscripts exist for Paul from the 100s and 200s. This piece below is about the Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri:

• Papyrus 46, one of the oldest New Testament manuscripts (c. 200), contains the last eight chapters of Romans; all of Hebrews; virtually all of 1–2 Corinthians; all of Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians; and two chapters of 1 Thessalonians. Because it is damaged there is no scholarly consensus on whether to consider the omission of a text definitive. Scholar Young Kyu Kim dated Papyrus 46 to the first century before the reign of Domitian (pre 81) ^[64], however other scholars have disputed this early dating^[65]

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorship_of_the_Pauline_Epistles#History_of_the_Pauline_canon

Another ancient manuscript source for the Scripture is the Bodmer Papyri.

Finally, if you don't trust the Bible as a source for the belief of Christians that Our Lord Jesus was indeed God, here is evidence from Roman government correspondence in the early 100s. Pliny was a high-ranking Roman lawyer and official, and, in a letter to the Emperor Trajan, he writes the following about his dealings with Christians :

They affirmed the whole of their guilt, or their
error, was, that they met on a stated day before it was light, and
addressed a form of prayer to Christ, as to a divinity, binding
themselves by a solemn oath, not for the purposes of any wicked
design, but never to commit any fraud, theft, or adultery, never to
falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called
upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate,
and then reassemble, to eat in common a harmless meal. 

source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliny_the_Younger

http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?pageno=117&fk_files=2025

Another interesting early Christian apologist is St. Justin Martyr; he is from the 100s, as well. He was apparently converted by watching Christian martyrs die. I didn't look up his oldest manuscripts, but here is a little clip about him:

Justin Martyr—the patron of apologists, by the way; his feast day is June 1—admits to having been converted by watching martyrs die: "Seeing them fearless before death, I thought it impossible that they lived in vice and love of pleasure." He came into the earthly Church because of others’ martyrdoms and left it through his own, suffering under Rusticus, prefect of Rome, around 165.

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2003/0305fr.asp

As far as Emperor Constantine's activities with the Scripture, here is a general overview:

It is true that Constantine, following his conversion to Christ, presided over the First Council of Nicaea, but it is not true that Constantine "turned Jesus into a deity" or that Christians had not viewed Jesus as God prior to this event.

Constantine had called the Council together to settle a dispute that had arisen when a priest from Egypt named Arius began to deny that Jesus was God, causing a scandal by repudiating the faith of Christians everywhere. Arius gained a number of followers (known as Arians) and the controversy between the Arians and traditional Christians grew so sharp that the emperor called the Council to settle the matter. Personally, Constantine tended to support the position of the Arians, but he recognized the authority of the bishops in articulating the Christian faith, and the bishops of the Council reaffirmed the traditional Christian teaching that Jesus was fully divine. It was thus the bishops of the Council of Nicaea who reaffirmed the historic Christian position against Arius and his followers. Constantine recognized their authority to do so in spite of the fact he would have preferred a different outcome.

source: http://www.catholic.com/library/cracking_da_vinci_code.asp

Please post any additional sources or ideas, as I did not find any one source that addresses all of these issues thoroughly.

Disbanding the Drones Club

“Bertie,” she said – in part and chattily – “it is young men like you who make the person with the future of the race at heart despair!”
“What-ho!” I said.
“Cursed with too much money, you fritter away in selfish idleness a life which might have been useful, helpful, and profitable. You do nothing but waste your time on frivolous pleasures. You are simply an anti-social animal, a drone…”
-P.G. Wodehouse, “Scoring Off Jeeves”

*****

In Wodehouse’s stories about the idle and trouble-prone Bertie Wooster and his resourceful valet Jeeves, frequent mention is made of the Drones Club, of which Bertie is a member. Bertie and his fellow Drones are young, wealthy, single, and unemployed, and the quote above, spoken by Bertie’s formidable Aunt Agatha, is in fact quite accurate. While the characters that inhabit Wodehouse’s literary world are from another time and place, as a single young adult, I have recently been reflecting on the potentials and pitfalls of this state of life.

Most churches have some sort of young adult group or “ministry”. They are sometimes referred to as “singles groups”, since by some unwritten code, married people tend not to remain in these groups, despite their relative age. In general, the people who take part in such groups have several attributes in common: they are young, they are single, they are essentially independent adults, and they are still in the process of making the life-changing decisions that will ultimately lead them into a religious order, the priesthood, or marriage. Practically speaking, they are also in possession of more leisure time and expendable income than other demographic groups.

The positive side of single young adulthood (individually or collectively) is that it affords a great opportunity for service, spiritual growth, and fellowship. The negative side is that it also affords the dangerous luxury of a self-centered life – a luxury that priests, religious, and married people frequently lack. When the tendency toward narcissism and meaningless pursuits is given free rein, the young adult group at even the best parish will start to resemble the Drones Club. The following are some suggestions for preventing (or curing) this unfortunate situation:

1) The young adult group must be anchored at the heart of the parish, and must not seek to distance itself from the whole of parish life. Its activities must not be in direct conflict with parish-wide activities. In particular, “demographic” Masses must be discouraged as they take away from the unity of the parish. The group must be subject to the oversight of the pastor, and must be humble and obedient to him in all things.

2) The young adult group must be dedicated primarily to service. The curse of single young adulthood is selfishness, and the antidote to this is to seek out opportunities to volunteer and serve. When there is a need for catechists, musicians, or altar servers, young adults should be ready to offer assistance. When the parish holds a festival, young adults should be helping provide games and activities for the children. When food is being served, young adults should be serving it (and, needless to say, serving themselves only after everyone else has had some). They should not wait to be asked, but actively seek out opportunities to lend a hand. One of the primary roles of the young adult group as an organization should be to coordinate service opportunities, both within the parish and in the wider community.

3) The young adult group must provide opportunities for spiritual growth as well as social activities. No young adult group should request (much less demand) a personalized Mass, holy hour, or other allowance from the parish unless its members are already attending those offered to the entire parish, and will continue to do so. Another key role of the organization is to point its members toward these activities and encourage them to attend. Care must be taken not to schedule social activities that are in direct conflict.

In an earlier post, I posited that the invention of the “adolescent” is greatly to the detriment of civilization. Much of that same argument can be applied here to the “young adult” phenomenon, inasmuch as young adults retain the characteristics of “adolescents”. We are adults, make no mistake. We have been confirmed, and our roles in the church must reflect that. Our service to parish and community must prepare us for the roles we will eventually take on, and we must fight valiantly against the temptation to be drones where we need to be workers. Let us ask Mary, our Queen, for the courage to make good use of this transitional state in our lives.

Let heaven and nature sing

Is it a firework display? A galaxy far far away? Some sort of deep-sea creature?

Actually, it's a mouse endothelial cell stained with fluorescently tagged antibodies (vimentin and actin, for what it's worth). But I thought it made a nice Christmas display, so here's some more:

On a completely unrelated note, I'm out of the lab for two weeks and will be heading somewhere snowy to spend Christmas with family and friends...may God protect all who are traveling and bring them safely to their destinations without delays, cancellations, or lost luggage. Saint Christopher, pray for us!

A friendly reminder

...well, there's a ribbon campaign for pretty much everything else! :)

Post a video; the more Catholic the better.

Here is an interesting link: en.gloria.tv

You too can become a producer... check your basement for videos or make now a video. Do not forget to invite the Orthodox brothers!

“Happy Holidays”? It just makes cents

‘Tis the season. What began as a somewhat anachronistic flurry around the Eve of the Feast of All Saints has now gathered into a full blizzard of decorating, seasonal music, and credit card overuse. Even a few local purveyors of foodstuffs have started sullying the air in their stores with a cinnamon scent. (Notice to Kroger and Whole Foods – knock it off. Your assault on my nostrils does not induce a desire for food or the urge to purchase additional items. I also thank God I am not prone to allergies, but your antics leave me incensed. Pun intended.) It’s also that special time when we see the annual “War on Christmas” alarmism in the conservative media. What I’m about to say will not endear me to many of my colleagues in faith, but nonetheless I propose the following sentiment:

If someone is not inclined to use the name of Our Lord or refer to the feast of His birth by its proper name, it is better that he should not. The same holds true for corporations.

Let’s be honest with ourselves: we live in a society that is founded on Christian beliefs, and in the past the peer pressure tended toward the outward expression of those beliefs. But Christmas did not become the commercial madhouse that it now is overnight. For decades prior to this “War on Christmas”, businesses were more than happy to part people from their money in the name of celebrating Our Lord’s birth, in a manner that might have seen their sales tables angrily overturned in another time and place. If those same entities now see fit to drop that last bit of lip service to the higher realities that are the true cause of our festivities, why should we quibble? They abandoned the spirit of the season long ago.

And so, for those of us who love Christmas for the mystery of omnipotence and majesty wrapped in the swaddling clothes of humble simplicity, we can take pleasure in the experience of being greeted by a passerby or salesperson who knows this holy time by its proper name, and afford them the same in return. But in the end, we don’t go to Best Buy or Macy’s to find the heart of Christmas – we go to church. We go to where we can find that same Lord Who took the form of a helpless human baby in the equally unlikely form of a Communion wafer. We marvel at our own ability to emulate Our Lady and St. Joseph by receiving Him with joy. And having done so, we can go out and prepare to celebrate with our families, and not be inspired to petty anger when someone offers us the best wishes they know how in the form of a “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” because we know where the truth about this holy time can be found. And as long as our local parishes are not afraid or ashamed to keep Christ in Christmas, then all is as it should be.