Nicene Truth

Flashback 2004: Dalai Lama Service in Mexican Cathedral

By: John Vennari

TraditionInAction

In the September issue of Catholic Family News, I wrote an article on the “Pagan Invasion of the Catholic Church,” noting that there seems to be a sharp increase of pagan activity inside of Catholic churches worldwide. It’s as if there is a directive from the post-Conciliar Vatican urging these scandalous pagan operations in churches to increase.

The latest example is the Dalai Lama’s recent visit to the National Cathedral in Mexico City on October 4. Billed as an interfaith event, the Dalai Lama prayed at the Cathedral along with other Buddhists. Representatives from 11 other major religions attended.

The Dalai Lama received a standing ovation when he entered the Cathedral. It is beyond me why religious leaders, and a congregation of Catholics, wish to applaud a man who claims to be the reincarnation of each of the previous thirteen Dalai Lamas of Tibet (the first having been born in 1351 AD), who are in turn considered to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara, or Chenrezig, Bodhisattva of Compassion, holder of the White Lotus. The enthusiastic welcome he receives in Catholic churches and from Catholic leaders demonstrates the depth and breadth of the post- Conciliar mind-rot.

Continued.

The Essence / Energy Debate With Taylor Marshall

From Cantuar.blogspot.com

You're conflating two issues that need not be conflated. The energy/essence distinction is an issue that is related but not necessarily the same as hesychasm. Hesychasm has just become a buzzword when it needn't be. Its just ascesis, not unlike what we see in the works of the Latin St. John Cassian. Nothing is necessarily wrong with it. The problem we in the west have is the whole Energy/essence distintiion part of it all, which has marked become a greek character of this form of religious practice. Not sure what to make of E/E, except i just follow the Catholic church. Everything any other argument esp by the Orthodox about energies and so called distinctions, is just more pretext to remain in schism. Tap | 04.01.09 - 9:45 pm | #

Taylor, I think the desire to reconcile Aquinas and Palamas is following the directives and actions of John Paul II, who wanted Catholics to do everything we can to unite with our Eastern brothers and sisters. I think this is a noble effort. Obviously, the Church cannot betray her doctrines, but at the same time there is often room to acknowledge that Eastern theologians have insights that Western theologians do not (and obviously, the reverse is true). Attempts to reconcile East and West are valuable efforts, as they show us what is truly reconcilable and what is not (I have a tendency to think more is reconcilable than we might think). JPII understood this and this is what he meant by breathing with both lungs. I admire St. Thomas greatly, but he is not the only theologian we can look to for insights into the vast mysteries of our faith. No one theologian or school ever is capable of doing so. The Eastern view of the Transfiguration, for example, can do much to lead us into a deeper understanding of this great event. As a side note: Eastern Catholic Churches celebrate the Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas every 2nd Sunday of Lent and Rome has not tried to stop this. If Palamas and his teaching is truly antithetical to Catholic teaching, I would think that they would have not allowed such a celebration to continue. Eric Sammons | Homepage | 04.02.09 - 6:18 am | #

Ancient Byzantine Monastery Discovered in Connecticut!?

This is fascinating. PDF here.

The Decree of Pope St. Gelasius - The Liturgical Milieu and Protestant Bankruptcy

By: Jay Dyer

Protestants are generally clueless when it comes to the canon of Scripture. Even the best of them act as if the Bible dropped out of heaven into their academic circles, as God, of course, needs their rigorous scientific exegesis. But what's the real problem with this? The problem is that the Protestants have taken  the Bible out of it's proper context - that of the Liturgy. And, for all you Federal Visionists, the Church already has apostolic liturgies - we don't need you inventing and fabricating your own.  But at least the FV guys are moving in the right direction.

As I've stated many times in debates and discussions, the formation of the canon, whether new or old Testament, cannot be separated from the context that gave those books meaning - public liturgy. The only way we know the authorship of the texts is from Apostolic Tradition, as I've demonstrated many times, and the milieu of that Tradition was the public readings at the local liturgy. Scholars across various denominations have known this for years. This growth in the knowledge of God via liturgy and sacraments is called "mystagogy."  Eastern Orthodox theologian, Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver, explains:

"Strictly speaking, there never was a Bible in the Orthodox Church, at least not as we commonly think of the Bible as a single volume book we can hold in our hand. Since the beginning of the Church, from the start of our liturgical tradition, there has never been a single book in an Orthodox church we could point to as the Bible. Instead, the various Booksof the Bible are found scattered throughout several service books located either on the Holy Altar itself, or at the chanter's stand. The Gospels (or their pericopes) are complied into a single volume — usually bound in precious metal and richly decorated — placed on the Holy Altar." citation

Satanism, Exorcists on the Rise in Italy

Video here. We see that Satanism is merely relativism and vice versa. Apologies for the lame Pat Robertson moments.

Evidence for Giants - Old Testament, Rephaim, Nephilim

Of course, I do not accept the "alien colony" theory of Genesis. I do think Genesis 6 is talking about angels, though. -Jay

Dr. Craig Blomberg - The Historical Jesus (6 pts.)

Correcting J.N.D. Kelly: St. Cyril of Jerusalem and the Real Presence

By: Jay Dyer

Although an otherwise good introduction to patristics, Oxford patristics scholar J.N.D. Kelly's Early Christian Doctrines has a few small, strange errors I've noticed. For some reason, Kelly argued that St. Cyril of Jerusalem (circa 315-386) held to a "symbolic view of the Eucharist." Since the Catechetical Lectures are so well know, it's always been a mystery to me how he goofed on something like this.  This is one of the reasons why I usually recommend Pelikan's volume I over Kelly's to newcomers to patristics. I've tried for years to get friends to read the Catechetical Lectures to no avail, as they are excellent catechesis. They are also not one bit Protestant, which is why I wanted to write up this corrective to Kelly. We will see what St. Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem, himself says about the Eucharist:

Catechetical Lecture 22

(On the Mysteries. IV.)

On the Body and Blood of Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:23

I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, how that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which He was betrayed, took bread, etc.

1. Even of itself the teaching of the Blessed Paul is sufficient to give you a full assurance concerning those Divine Mysteries, of which having been deemed worthy, you have become of the same body and blood with Christ. For you have just heard him say distinctly, That our Lord Jesus Christ in the night in which He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks He broke it, and gave to His disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is My Body: and having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, Take, drink, this is My Blood. Since then He Himself declared and said of the Bread, This is My Body, who shall dare to doubt any longer? And since He has Himself affirmed and said, This is My Blood, who shall ever hesitate, saying, that it is not His blood?

Jews Not a Race

By: Elizabeth Dilling

ComeandHear [see original link for in-text hyperlinks]

I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan,” said Christ from the Spirit to John, about 96 AD (Revelation 2:9). At that time true Scripture believers had accepted Christ and called themselves Christians. The Sadducees had disappeared, according to the Jewish Encyclopedia, and the Pharisees were in complete control. Judaism was synonymous with Pharisaism (See Exhibit 264).

The question arises whether the boasts of present day Pharisees “which say they are Jews” have any genealogical backing. Are the so-called Jews of today descendants of the patriarch Judah? The Bible is the best answer to this. And the answer is that they are not. There was barely enough record in Christ’s time to identify Him and a few of His followers, as descendants of a certain Israel tribe. St. Paul was a Benjaminite, for example.

Whether or not they were lineal descendants of the patriarch Judah, a sinner, was not the issue. They had had access to the word of God, and instead, adopted a pagan tradition which nullified, as Christ said, the commandments of God (Matt. 15:3-9; Mark 7:5-9). He said: “Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.”

Flashback 2003: Michael Jackson Paid 150k for Voodoo Curse on Spielberg, Geffen

Everyone is speculating about where Michael Jackson went bad. Was it abuse? Neglect? Fame? Fortune? I'll tell you what it was. It began with membership in the Jehovah's Witnesses (the anti-Christian cult) and then moved into full-blown Satanism. His death is sad, but it's a testament to the reality of demonism and the self-destructive nature of occultism. His curse didn't worse, and as far we know, he suffered the sad fate of all those who follow Lucifer. Note the skull and crossbones and all-seeing, as well as other occult imagery on Dangerous. -Jay

SRAcases

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Embattled pop star Michael Jackson wears a prosthetic nose and once paid $150,000 for a "voodoo curse" to kill director Steven Spielberg despite being deep in debt, Vanity Fair magazine reported on Monday.

Vanity Fair, in an article for its March 11 edition, also reports that Jackson bleaches his skin white because he does not like being black. The 44-year-old singer sometimes refers to black people as "spabooks," the magazine said

Jackson's manager did not immediately return phone calls and a faxed request for comment on the article. Jackson's London publicist could not be reached for comment.