Blogging about a guy blogging about a guy named Thomas

To restore man, who had been laid low by sin, to the heights of divine glory, the Word of the eternal Father, though containing all things within His immensity, willed to become small. This He did, not by putting aside His greatness, but by taking to Himself our littleness. No one can say that he is unable to grasp the teaching of heavenly wisdom; what the Word taught at great length, although clearly, throughout the various volumes of Sacred Scripture for those who have leisure to study, He has reduced to brief compass for the sake of those whose time is taken up with the cares of daily life. Man’s salvation consists in knowing the truth, so that the human mind may not be confused by divers errors; in making for the right goal, so that man may not fall away from true happiness by pursuing wrong ends; and in carrying out the law of justice, so that he may not besmirch himself with a multitude of vices.
- St. Thomas Aquinas - from Compendium Theologiae  (Borrowed from CT1: Thomas' Plan of Attack by Will Duquette)

What impresses me about the above statement is that Thomas intended for all kinds of Christians to read and understand this compendium. It was not written solely for theologians or the clergy. It was written for us.

I love the phrase referring to the Incarnation,

"The Word of the eternal Father, though containing all things within His immensity, willed to become small. This He did, not by putting aside His greatness, but by taking to Himself our littleness." 

Beautiful!  Simple! Clear! How small did He become? A single cell embryo to begin with. All human life was hallowed in the beginning by being created in God's image. (Genesis 1)  It is further hallowed by the Son of God being formed in Mary's womb where God the Son took on human flesh in its smallest possible form.

He willed it to be so.

Note, too, that the intention of this work is not to give smart people something to talk about to impress their smart friends. It is intended to be a sanctifying influence on the life of the true believer who reads it.

What a Find!

I feel like I hit the blogging world's Thomas Aquinas motherload, at least for beginners like me.

Check out blogging Aquinas


'I’ve begun a project of blogging my way through Thomas Aquinas’ Compendium Theologiae chapter by chapter, with excursions to explain some of the philosophical principles he uses. The complete series of posts is as follows, and should be read in this order:'

- Will Duquette

Bless the Broken Road

This seems to be how my mind works. It goes from wanting to think wonderful, beautiful thoughts to music, to chattiness, - back and forth, around and around. Often all 3 - beautiful thoughts, music, and chattiness - meet here on my blogs. I'm just going to go with it right now.

A a couple of weeks ago, my daughter and I played music for a wedding. It was her sister-in-laws' second marriage. Her first husband abandoned the family. Her groom's first wife abandoned him. So, they got together. I hope it works out for them. 

Our daughter plays tenor sax. I play lots of things, including guitar. It is a skill leftover from my young, folksinger days. I had not played in public for years, but a mother will do just about anything for her daughter - including building up some callouses in order to help her with her project. She really wanted to give this gift to her sister in law - some live music before the service and some live music during it as well. 

We picked out some old, easy listening favorites - Moon River, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, What a Wonderful World, Unchained Melody, and others. 

We also did the processional for the groom and bridesmaids. It was Yesterday's Love, or some such thing, that the bride and groom had picked out. I played my oboe - yes, I am one of those odd people who play the oboe - and daughter played keyboard. We are a musical family. My husband would have played as well, but he was recovering from a small operation on his lip and couldn't play his clarinet. 

They had also picked out the song Bless the Broken Road, which I understand is very popular for weddings these days. I have never been very into popular music because I was always a classical music snob.  Then I had a child who loved all kinds of music. She broadened my musical horizons. I'm still pretty ignorant, but I'm trying. There are some kinds of popular music that I really, totally love. 

Oh, yes, at one time folk music was popular, as hard as that may be to imagine now. So, to that extent, I was into popular music. I was definitely not into country. 

Here is the song just in case anyone who reads this has also been living under a rock as far as pop culture goes. We decided to use the recorded song for the wedding, since it was for the bride and groom's dance after the ceremony - in lieu of a waltz. We would not have been able to play and sing loud enough without mikes, which we did not have. 

Now, here comes the somewhat tacky, but with great meaning for me, wonderful, beautiful thoughts part. I know this song is talking about human love, and that is not what I'm talking about. My husband and I have been married for 34 years, and he is the love of my life. There is no other, and we're in it till death parts us - and gladly so. Well, not the death part, but the together part. ...and our love is human, and...anyway...on to the next point. 

Actually, the meaning for me is really difficult to express. I wrote in the first post on this blog that I did not know where St. Thomas was taking me, but I knew he was a Jesus follower so it was okay. 

It seems that he is taking me home - a home I didn't even know was mine or that it was home. The details are to be worked out, and I don't know when I'll get there, but the broken road we're going down is taking me somewhere good. 

A few years ago I had the first rational thought about that possibility, and it may have been someone quoting Aquinas even when the thought struck me. It seemed so crazy at the time I just tucked it away. It was more like a longing than it was a fully formed thought. It was kind of like looking over the neighbor's fence and wishing I could live with them. 

Ever so gently, ever so kindly, ever so sweetly, one by one, my defenses and arguments have lately been moved aside so I can see something more clearly. I am seeing great and wonderful things. No, it is not as thought I had never seen or known Christ. I have known Him since I was a small child, but this is different. No, it is not a moving away from Christ, but rather it is Christ leading me to a safer, more homely haven, it seems. 

Jeremiah 33:3

3 Call to me and I will answer and reveal to you wondrous secrets that you haven’t known.

I didn't even know I was calling in that way. In fact, I am not the only one. I am certainly not the brightest or the best one, but I am one. I certainly do not understand all - or even very much - of what Thomas is telling us, but I understand enough. 

"Naturally I taught my students Thomas Aquinas, but I found it difficult to do so. The problem was that his arguments presented such a strong appearance of truth. For the very beauty of this appearance, I had to exercise strong discipline not to weep."

From Objections and Obstacles, an Interview with  J. Budziszewski 

Then there's Anscombe's article on The Eucharist in the book Faith in a Hard Ground and The Anchoress' article today on the Immaculate Conception. God tackled the hard things for me first. The rest will come. 

I love my home church and the people there. It is a beautiful place of Christian fellowship and worship. I'm not unhappy there at all, or with my ministry. I am sad about the direction that Evangelicalism in general is going, but that cannot be the reason I am heading elsewhere - though that's part of it.

So, that's how my mind works. I don't think it's that different from most, but I don't know. I'm trying to keep  the  chatter under control - but that's just how my girl brain works, and it's fun - to hear the music and to see the wonder and the beauty of the Lord. 

...and I don't know if that is where we are going, but I know I have to investigate further.

Then, to prove that I am really a nerdy classical music snob, there's the NY Philharmonic's performance of Bach's b minor Mass - Alan Gilbert -  that kind of helps seal the deal.

There is also the unnamed friend who I shall call Artaban, though that name doesn't fit exactly. He gave me this jewel whose name is Thomas Aquinas - as well as Anscombe. It's the jewel part that fits, along with the idea that a person doesn't always see how they are being used.  I had no idea what I was receiving, but I do not expect to ever be just the same again no matter where I end up.

Someone to Watch Over Me

My daughter and I are going to play some music for a wedding this coming Saturday. She will play tenor sax and I will play my guitar for 8 old romantic  songs. Someone to Watch Over Me is one of the songs. 

What happened to us as a culture? I mean, why are we taught as women that the kind of man in this song is dangerous and abusive? Here is part of the Wikkipedia entry for the song.

"Someone to Watch Over Me" is a song composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin from the musical Oh, Kay! (1926), where it was introduced by Gertrude Lawrence. Gershwin originally approached the song as an uptempo jazz tune, but his brother Ira suggested that it might work much better as a ballad, and George ultimately agreed. It has been performed by numerous artists since its debut and is a jazz standard as well as a key work in the Great American Songbook. It is also referenced in the play Someone Who'll Watch Over Me.

A man who is willing to watch over his wife - yes, notice that the woman in the song is looking for a husband - is by definition a man who is not planning to abuse her. 

There are other versions of this song sung by men, and I think that works as well. Good husbands and wives watch over one another. They care for one another. What is wrong with that? I say nothing. 

It's in the traditional marriage vows, even. 

Okay, so I am an unusual person. When my husband and I got married these vows were already considered to be archaic. No, I have not always kept my vows to the letter, but this is what I promised my husband, and what he promised me before God. These vows did not lead to my being abused. We are not the perfect couple, but we took these vows seriously, and still do. 

Groom: I,____, take thee,_____, to be my wedded Wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy ordinance.

Bride: I,_____, take thee,_____, to be my wedded Husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and to obey, till death us do part,
according to God’s holy ordinance.

It has not been easy for him, because I am not an easy person to live with all the time. I can be a drama queen, demanding, and very high maintenance sometimes. I am a soft spoken person, but don't mistake that for weakness. 

There are times he has had to clean up my messes, even. There are times he has watched over me  when I have been sick. There are times he has had to tell me that I cannot do something that I want to do. There are other times he has encouraged me to do things that have stretched me to the limit. 

When we made this commitment before God, we thought it would be kind of easy since we were in love - and still are - and we had a purpose in life.

There are times when my husband has said in despair that he is glad there will be no marriage in heaven!  Anyway, I don't think we're that unusual. We promised to stay together through good times and bad. There have been a lot of good times. I can still make him laugh.

I know that not everyone has had spouses that have kept their vows. I get that. Why do we have to, as a culture, allow broken vows to become the norm? Can't we fight harder to preserve the ideal of what marriage is supposed to be like?

Yes, there are times that I have had to tell him that I cannot possibly do what he is asking me to do. There are times I have had to tell him that what he was planning was not all that great an idea.It's my job as help meet - corresponding helper. Sometimes we negotiate.

However, those vows never wear out.




----------------------------------------------------------------



There's a saying old, says that love is blind
Still we're often told, "seek and ye shall find"
So I'm going to seek a certain lad I've had in mind

Looking everywhere, haven't found him yet
He's the big affair I cannot forget
Only man I ever think of with regret

I'd like to add his initial to my monogram
Tell me, where is the shepherd for this lost lamb?

There's a somebody I'm longin' to see
I hope that he, turns out to be
Someone who'll watch over me

I'm a little lamb who's lost in the wood
I know I could, always be good
To one who'll watch over me

Although he may not be the man some
Girls think of as handsome
To my heart he carries the key

Won't you tell him please to put on some speed
Follow my lead, oh, how I need
Someone to watch over me

Won't you tell him please to put on some speed
Follow my lead, oh, how I need
Someone to watch over me

Someone to watch over me

St. Thomas Aquinas Praying - Ethical Dilemma

O God, grant that whatever good things I have, I may share generously with those who have not, and that whatever good things I do not have, I may request humbly from those who do. Plant deep in me, Lord, all the virtues, that I might be devout in divine matters, discerning in human affairs, and burdensome to no one in fulfilling my own bodily needs. Order me inwardly through a good life that I might do what is right and what will be meritorious for me and a good example for others.

- St. Thomas Aquinas

A couple of weeks or so ago I was facing a small dilemma in my life and ministry. Some of our colleagues in Mexico - Mayans - have relied on an agricultural project to help with their support needs. We have been doing this for about 10 years, now. 

Well, the guys have run out of capital. So, what do I do? Do I use some of my money - an inheritance from my parents that we really need for our retirement? It was weighing on me, because I believe that Jesus really meant it when He said.:

Luke 6:30

30 Give to everyone who asks you,

So, what do I do? I had already given the lion's share of the money to my husband to invest somewhere for retirement. We are missionaries and our income is on the lower end of the scale. No, we are not poor, but we are on the bottom of middle class. We are fine, but are also getting to that age where retirement is looking more like a real possibility all the time. No, missionaries don't really ever retire, but they do transition to other kinds of ministries. So, I would be taking back some of what I had already given to my husband. 

Anyway, that's the context of this dilemma.  What to do? 

A friend reminded me that in the story of the Good Samaritan, he did not take the wounded man home. We can reason from that fact that our own homes come first. Yes, be generous, but do not give away what your own family needs.

I think that has an application to ministry. How many children of pastors and missionaries lose their faith because the parents were giving away what really belonged to the children - their parents' time, love, and care for them as part of the family unit. Many Christian workers are no better than infidels in that regard. 

My own family needs that inheritance money - which is not a large amount, but it is something. 

Anyway, my friends in Mexico still had a need, and it still weighed on me. 

I stumbled on this quote from Aquinas, and I think that in what he says, there is proper Christian, Biblical balance. Be generous. Do not be a burden on anyone. If you are not able to meet a need you know about, then ask people who do have the means necessary to help. 

So, I have asked others for help in this.I was trying to figure out how to do it on my own, and maybe God has another idea.  If God provides through them, then isn't it like His saying that the project is His will and it needs to go forward? I am going on the assumption, one that we have lived by for all our married life. I don't want to implicate God as if I know exactly what His mind is, but I asked for help. 

We have until January.  For now, I am at peace about it.  We shall see. No, I am not asking anyone who may read this for help. This is not a fundraising post. It is about how Christians resolve ethical dilemmas using Scripture, common sense, and sound reasoning - like Acquinas and many others have done before and since. 

If I just went by some gut feeling, I would have sent the money down, and made my family unhappy. I had not considered all options, including the fact that it may not be God's will. My heart is willing to give, but that may not be enough in all cases. 

Anscombe - good quotes

I am taking refuge in the beauty of Christian philosophy and Christian music, as well as Scripture and prayer. It's a crazy world out there, and everyone needs a place of refuge and rest. Kind of like  Lothlórien in The Lord of the Rings. So, here I am again. 

Faith in a Hard Ground
Essays on Religion, Philosophy and Ethics by G.E.M. Anscombe - edited by Mary Geach and Luke Gormally. 

Mary Geach is one of Anscombe's daughters. Anscombe was the mother of 7 children. That part still amazes and inspires me. 

 First of all, the title is appropriate for our day. It has always been difficult for believers to keep their faith strong. We constantly battle our own inertia, the tug of the world's system and its values, and the devil's deceptions. The ground is hard for many reasons. Anscombe's essays have been preserved in several volumes. Faith in a Hard Ground is one of them.

Here is a Chesterton quote that is found on p. 4 of the iBooks version of Faith in a Hard Ground.

"And his faith grew in a hard ground
Of doubt and reason and falsehood found,
Where no faith else could grow."

- The Ballad of the White Horse

Geometry was her favourite branch of mathematics. p. 12)

I found this detail interesting, since geometry was the only branch of mathematics that made sense to me. Interesting factoid.

On the same page as the quote, Anscombe is said to have found an argument that she wanted to improve in a  work on natural theology. This was when she was still a student. I'm not sure, but I think this was a book that influenced her to convert to the Catholic religion. She had grown up in a Protestant home.

The book she had been reading presented an argument to the effect that God "has knowledge of what sins dead people would have committed if they had lived longer." (p. 12) She saw the flaw in that line of reasoning, since no such thing existed so how could it be known?

"She consciously became a Catholic, but her treatment of this book shows that she was a philosopher, with good philosophical instincts, before she knew that she was one." (p. 12)

I suspect that she had been a philosopher for a long time before she worked out the flaw in the argument of the book she was reading - probably since childhood, but I don't know that for a fact.

Here is something that shows her ability to take complex ideas and make them accessible to all kinds of people, not just her fellow philosophers.

"Mary Warnock describes her as 'dedicated to dialogue which is central to philosophy..." (p. 12) 

This kind of dialogue is really needed in our day. And...

'She was in some ways, a more attentive parent than most; ... She was good at thinking at the level of the person she was speaking to,..." (p. 13)

Some of the articles in this book were written for a more general audience, and not just for those trained in philosophy. She could communicate her ideas to all kinds of people.

Anscombe's faith came first in her life, so that is why all of her children stayed in the Catholic faith. (p. 13)  Philosophy was her life as well as her profession. She did have a time when she was tempted intellectually in the form of an argument presented by Bertrand Russell. He claimed that, "an argument from the facts about the world to the existence of God could not be valid, as one could not deduce a necessary conclusion from a contingent premiss." (p. 13)

It took her some time to find the solution to this problem that had challenged her faith. She made an act of faith by going to church.

She realized later that of course one can derive necessary conclusions from contingent premises.

Evidently Russell's inability to see the flaw in his own argument likely showed his hatred of God, according to the author. If he admitted that he was wrong, then he would have come face to face with the reality of God's existence - something he was not willing or not able to do.

So, these few quotes and some commentary based on the book's introduction give a little window into the sould of Anscombe. Her faith kept her from falling into grave error even philosophically as well as theologically.

Here is an article by William Lane Craig explaining the Argument from Contingency and why it is logically irrefutable.

Thomas, Anscombe, and Mahalia

What do St. Thomas Aquinas, G.E.M. Anscombe, and Mahalia Jackson have in common?  Well, maybe the connection is nothing more than a personal one for me. I will try to explain.

I have gotten to know them and their work lately. Why didn't I know about them before? Well, of course, Thomas is famous and so was Mahalia. I had heard about them but had not paid very much attention to them at all. It wasn't the right time, I suppose. My mother told us just a few days before she passed away that Jesus always comes at just the right time. So, I suppose that these three came to me at just the right time. I believe Jesus had a lot to do with it. No, I am not having visions or hearing voices. By their coming to me, I mean in the form of the written page and in the case of Mahalia Jackson, the recorded voice.

Each one, in their own way, has been enriching my life. There is beauty and even artistry in what each one did. They are like role models for me. Aquinas as a saint and great Christian thinker. Anscombe as a woman, the mother of 7 children, who was also a renowned Christian philosopher. Mahalia as The Queen of Gospel. Somehow they got connected in my mind. Not quite sure how that happened, but it was a very good influence that helped me make that connection.

I like theology, especially Reformed theology. However, I think it's more of a guys' thing. After awhile, I kind of lost interest. What especially thrilled, and still thrills me about theology is the Gospel as expressed in the Doctrines of Grace. Then there is the wonderful ordo salutis, which really doesn't have anything to do with the way my Reformed brothers greet one another...and God's blessed, mysterious sovereignty. So, I am grateful for all I learned while discussing and studying theology. I will keep pecking away at my book on the Westminster Confession of Faith, which I enjoy. Really, I enjoy it like I enjoy my morning oatmeal and cup of coffee. It is comforting and nourishing. I look forward to it.  It's like a good way to start the day, but I can't eat oatmeal all day.

Lately, a dear person suggested that maybe I might be interested in St. Thomas Aquinas and G.E.M. Anscombe. Say what? It was kind of off the wall, but I thought why not. I feel like I need a challenge. So, here I am. No, I do not have what it takes to be a real philosopher, but maybe I can sit at the feet of greatness and learn something beautiful, heavenly even.

Why Mahalia? Not sure. I am kind of bogged down musically as well. So, somehow it seemed to make sense to try to learn Gospel oboe. Now, maybe the oboe is too melancholy for Gospel. Maybe it is not intense and gutsy in the right ways, since it is a pretty refined instrument. It also has a lighter, happier side to it. So, maybe Gospel blues will work. It has been fun to jam on my oboe along with Mahalia. It makes me feel good.  I have to improvise my own parts. It is a stretch. Not sure if I can get fully incorporate the mystical 3 of Gospel blues into my musical ser.

When I play with Mahalia, I kind of get it, but away from her I revert to squaring off all the little notes. Jazz musicians call what they do "swing" and what I do "square". They are right. We are trained as classical musicians to square everything up - each 16th note carefully placed where it belongs in each beat, each 8th note as well. Triples are carefully placed in neat little bundles of squared 3s.

Jazz is pure metaphysics, at least that's what Dave taught me. It's Coletrain and A Love Supreme. Now to see if the oboe and I have it in us. Not sure, but I want to reach for it, by the grace of God. If I cannot, the oboe's best friend, Bach, will be there to pick me up if I fall from Mahalia grace. He loves the square, but he also was a mystic. There is a trinity of form and expression. Circles of phrasing and dynamics, - the breath of God's Spirit. Anyway...

I just purchased an oboe d'Amore. Can't wait to hear what it sounds like with Mahalia. It has to acclimatize first. Then it needs to be broken in gently - 15 minutes twice a day for awhile, then a little more, and then a little more until it is safe to play all I want. I can't let the wood crack. That would be tragic. I have wanted to get an English Horn, but decided on the d'Amore instead. The EH is a bit of a stretch for my hands, and it is kind of heavy.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I think to good places.

Aquinas and Anscombe settle my mind, which gets restless. I am not interested in all kinds of philosophy, just in Christian philosophy in the form of Thomism. We'll see how far this takes us.

I remember taking a philosophy class back in college. It was disturbing, and I have never wanted to study philosophy again. The course I took was not grounded in the Source.

I think it is wonderful to think of St. Thomas, at the end of his life. As he lay dying, all he wanted read to him was The Song of Solomon. His soul was in rapture, communing with His Beloved.

I think that Mahalia saw the same things, and lived in Jesus' presence as few have. This song I borrowed from YouTube - How I Got Over - expresses her wonder at the very idea that she would have made it over. It was through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

I wanna' thank God for how He kept me
I wanna' thank God for how He never left me.
...
My soul looks back in wonder at how I made it over.

I want to live in that place of wonderment and rapture that Thomas and Mahalia experienced. The world is a very dark and violent place. I don't want to withdraw from the world, but while in this world, I want to take refuge in Jesus. I want to have some good company along the way in the form of good books, good thoughts, good music and good friends.

So, I have chosen these 3 companions - or have they chosen me?  Has Someone chosen them for me? I think so.


I need strength for the journey since in my real life, I often go on adventures to far off places that are in turmoil, or where former turmoil has settled the people's soul into a kind of quiet desperation. Besides, this past year has been one of grief for our family as we lost first my mother and then, a few weeks later, my father-in-law. Next year will be intense as well as we as a family face a huge giant that is already casting a shadow on our lives. We need His light more than ever before as things around get darker. I want to live in the Light from on high as my new friends did. In a way they are with me, since they are having an impact on my life - and girls are all about relationships.

Luke 1:78,79
because of the tender mercy of our God,
    whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Mary, the Free - 3

Children create a mother out of an ordinary woman.
- Janice M. Van Dyck in Finding Frances


I hope I can put into words what I believe about motherhood, and then make a connection to Mary, the mother of our Lord. This subject is probably way beyond me, but is it such a bad thing for a woman's reach to exceed her grasp?

What I think and believe is pretty archaic, really. It is old wisdom. In fact, I believe it is as old as Creation itself, eternal wisdom, even. At this point in my life, I want to sink down further into that Wisdom, into God Himself. Okay, so, I just took a leap, there, but isn't  life about Him, since He is Life itself? Sooner or later the leap has to be made. The alternative is death and deep darkness. So much more could and should be said. I'll just throw that idea out there.

John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

So, I'll wrap this up for now and say that if you look at Mary, she was a pretty ordinary woman, a woman of her time and circumstance. Here is what she said about herself.:

Luke 1:52

He has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate;


She was talking about all of Israel, and including herself in the category of "those of humble estate."


So, she had no special status in society. Her fiance, and later husband, Joseph, was a construction worker. Now, the idea that Joseph was a construction worker has an historical basis. Sure, maybe he also worked in wood, so he could be called a carpenter. But Galilee where he and Mary lived is not a forested area. What they have are rocks, lots of them. The ruins of the buildings around the Sea of Galilee are made from rocks, not wood. I will try to document what I say, here, but for now, I'll just throw that out there. He was indeed, just an average Joe.  Yes, there is more to their background than what their outward appearance at the time of Roman occupation demonstrated, but outwardly, they were what we might call  humble,  small-town folk, working hard to make a living.

In fact we would not have known anything about her 2,000 years later if it had not been for her Child. It is that Child which made her not just a mother, but the mother and that woman. What woman?

So, I think that Van Dyck's observation about motherhood is right in the sweet spot of capturing the essence of motherhood. A Child turned an ordinary woman into the most important mother of all mothers after Eve, who was the mother of all living.

Mary, the Free - 2

Okay, so just because I think that Evangelicals like me need to talk more about Mary, the mother of our Lord, doesn't mean that I know how to. It is not part of my faith tradition. Yes, we learn facts about her, just like we learn facts about other Bible characters, but we don't know what to do with her otherwise.

I'll start by saying that Mary is probably the exact opposite of evil, Lilith that I have written about. While Lilith is the anti-wife and anti-mother, Mary is an ideal wife and mother who gave herself to the mission God had for her - and she did so beautifully.

Now, I'm going to say something that may be a little controversial. We Evangelicals may think of Mary as a demon, so that's why we don't even talk about the Mary of the Bible.  We accuse Catholics of Mariolatry, and are so smug and Biblical about it. Online, there is website after website, article after article written to expose the dangers of Mary. Well, they may not mean it that way, but that is the way it comes across.

No wonder we don't even want to talk about the Biblical Mary.  Maybe cowardice is part of it. Maybe we don't want to be branded Maryolatrous. So we avoid her, at least for the most part.

I think that is unfortunate. We may be missing out on an important part of our Christian heritage. Read my first post where I gave 3 links to legit Catholic sources where what their Church teaches about Mary is explained. No, I am not in agreement with everything, but I at least owe it to Catholics to acknowledge what they really believe, avoiding straw men arguments.  Anyone can beat the stuffing out of a straw man.


I can talk about the Mary of the Bible without insulting my Catholic friends and loved ones, at least I hope I can. Maybe I can say something that will help someone else, or maybe something that will help me as I look for my mother - which sounds odd to me, too, if anyone reads that and thinks it's odd for me to talk like that.

If anyone is offended, I am truly sorry. That is not my intention at all. If anyone is encouraged to go back to the Bible and take a look at the example our sister, Mary, left for us, then that's a good thing.

More later...

Lilith, the Free - 4

Okay, so maybe one more on the Lilith myth, and I'll be done with this topic.

Lilith, then, rejected her role as wife and mother. This myth was known in the 1st Century, and may have been one of the Jewish fables that Paul talked about in Titus 1:14-16 saying "not devoting themselves to Jewish myths..."

Paul, here, cannot mean the Old Testament Scriptures of the Jews, since that is the inspired Word of God. So, he must mean something else.

In post #3 of this series, I provided a link to a website that explained some Jewish Gnostic teachings about the Lilith myth. These teachings are very ancient, some being taken from the Talmud, according to the article The Lilith Myth found at the Gnosis Archive. 

The long and the short of it is that Lilith did not want to be a wife, and she did not want to be a mother. What I call Lilith feminism, as I said earlier, is the brand of feminism that predominates the women's movement at this point in time, as I said in post #2.

So, maybe we can tie the Lilith Myth to the Biblical phrase I mentioned,  "not devoting themselves to Jewish myths..."  The Apostle Paul very likely had this myth, as well as others in mind when he wrote that phrase.

To support what I say, I would like to offer as evidence Paul's teachings on marriage found in the same book of Titus in the famous chapter 2.  Here is the text that talks about how Christian women are to behave. A lot has been written about being that Titus 2 woman. Could it be that he is presenting the Christian alternative to the Lilith lifestyle?

Titus 2
3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 
4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 
5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 

So, how is the Lilith myth related to Titus 2?  It is very likely saying to women, "don't be a Lilith." Look at the extreme behavior Lilith was involved in. She was promiscuous. She destroyed her children. She refused to live with her husband. She wanted nothing to do with her home and family. In short, her behavior was outrageous, and she was unrepentant. 

Don't be like her. Be devoted to one man, your husband. Love him and him alone - and I think that  the implication is probably something like,  "have sex with him and not with other men." The Bible does not assault us with sexual imagery, but it does give us the idea of what should go on between a husband and a wife. Of course, that phrase "to Love their husbands" would include things like being kind to him as well as caring for him. 

Work at home. Many books or at least book chapters have been written on this phrase - a lot of it really silly. Wouldn't it mean something like make sure your home is cared for? I don't see a prohibition in there about working outside the home as well.  Each family needs to weigh the pros and cons. Many women are stay at home moms or at least limit their number of hours at work. Other women work fulltime outside the home. That depends on many, many factors.  So, there is no one size fits all solution for Christian women as far as working outside the home goes. Not all Christian women even have children, and of course, not all are married.  It's just that the family should not be sacrificed to the wanton lusts of the wife and mother. 

Take care of your children. Do not destroy them like Lilith did. Don't be a promiscuous party girl. Assume your responsibilities at home. Stuff like that. 

I don't see how the Quiverfull teachings can be shoe-horned into Titus 2. Some families have faith to receive many children, and I actually love it that they do. It's just that there is no law about that in the New Testament, so we should not try to make one either for or against, IMO. It is undeniable, thought, that traditional Christianity - including pretty much every kind of Christian group before the advent of birth control - has always encouraged Christians to have large families. It's a beautiful thing. That's easy for me to say since I am the mother of an only child. I am also the daughter of a 10th child. My dad was the last in a series of 10 children that my grandmother gave birth to. 

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be just like my Mumu from Finland. It wasn't meant to be. 

Whatever else, the Christian wife and mother is not supposed to be like the demonic spirit, Lilith, of Jewish mythology. Paul gives the antidote.

I'm just throwing that out there. I don't think it's too much of a stretch, but I do not have access to a lot of historical stuff to support what I say. Besides, the Lilith myth is so creepy I don't want to study it any further.