Merry Christmas!

A Blessed and Joyous Christmas to all celebrating the birth of our Lord God and Saviour on the New Calendar!

From the Roman Martyrology: In the 5199th year of the creation of the world, from the time when God in the beginning created the heaven and earth; the 2957th year after the flood; the 2015th year from the birth of Abraham; the 1510th year from Moses and the going forth of the people of Israel from Egypt; the 1032nd year from the anointing of David King; in the 65th week according to the prophecy of Daniel; in the 194th Olympiad; the 752nd year from the foundation of the City of Rome; the 42nd year of the rule of Octavian Augustus, all the earth being at peace, Jesus Christ, the Eternal God and the Son of the Eternal Father, desirous to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, nine months after his conception was born in Bethlehem of Juda, made Man of the Virgin Mary. The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the Flesh.

A Uralic and Finno-Ugric Language Tree

The Finno-Ugric Peoples

More on "The Nativity Story"

Setting the Record Straight on Mary The new movie that debuted on December 1st, The Nativity Story, has received many positive reviews around the country already and also a fair amount of attacks by the standard group of village atheists. Criticisms notwithstanding, the movie certainly has many redeeming qualities to it including its portrayal of Joseph and the touching scene of Mary's visit to Elizabeth, but at the same time I feel it necessary to correct the record about its presentation of Mary. More to the point, twenty centuries of theological reflection on the Virgin Mary have been effectively glossed over in the movie, and we have been given someone's private interpretation of Mary's role in salvation history which does not match the public record of historical Christianity. The Catholic Church has made it clear from the beginning that we do not understand Jesus as a historical and theological figure without Mary, and so a Nativity story that gets Mary wrong also skews our understanding of Jesus. First and foremost, any portrayal of Mary as giving birth in pain is simply contrary to the Christian Church's long tradition of Mary as virginal before, during and after birth. In this view, Her intact physical integrity during birth was accompanied by a psychic integrity that admitted of no pains during childbirth in any form. That may be a surprise to some, but it is nonetheless the historical Christian view of this event. The movie's portrayal of Her childbirth is thus not the Church's mainstream understanding and qualifies as a strictly private interpretation of the event. In fact, the movie had a chance to contrast the painful childbirth of John the Baptist to Elizabeth with the miraculous birth of Jesus to Mary, and it missed the perfect opportunity to provoke a good theological debate! Biblical Christians should know that there is a Scriptural reason for this doctrine. The virtually unanimous opinion of the Fathers of the Church in the first six centuries was that Mary is the "New Eve," the necessary counterpart to Christ, the New Adam (cf. Rom 5:12-14). Just as the old Eve collaborated in the sin of Adam, so the New Eve, with the New Adam, reverses the original disobedience and undoes the curse brought upon the human race by the first sinners. That same curse also brought about the grim consequence of labor pains for all of Eve's daughters (cf. Gen 3:16), but the New Eve who broke the curse was not subject to its dictates. Secondly, Mary was not an immature adolescent as she is portrayed in the movie. The director of the movie, Catherine Hardwicke, intended to portray Her as such in order to make her more "real" to teens. That is fine as an evangelistic motive, but depicting Her in a quasi-feminist tizzy against her father's authority when he addresses the delicate subject of pre-marital relations is simply inaccurate to the historical record and doesn't help kids to take Her as a role model. The immaculate Mary's passions were first and foremost totally consecrated to the Lord and without the slightest disorder in any sense; she is not your typical teen in western society. She is the teen Mother of the Messiah, the perfect role model for all kids and adults alike. Not only would it not have entered the mind of the All Pure Mary to have pre-marital relations, She could not have had a fit of rebellion against Her father's legitimate authority that concretized God's Will for Her. This presentation of Mary is quintessentially Hollywood and reflects neither historical Christianity nor even the Biblical evidence. It is also a reflection of the Protestant view that Mary is just another person who happened to follow Jesus. No, Mary is the Mother of God, perfectly pure in every respect and, even as a teenager dedicated heart, mind, soul and strength to God's Plan of salvation. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me as you say." (Lk 1:38) Let the historical record speak for itself. Sincerely Yours in Christ, Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer President, Human Life International

The American Sex Revolution

"In his book, The American Sex Revolution (1957), Harvard sociologist Pitirim Sorokin reviewed the history of societies through the ages, and found that none survived after they ceased honoring and upholding the institution of marriage between a man and a woman." Linda Bowles. Damage for the Children. June 13, 2000. Worldnet Daily.

A Product of the "Modern University"?

Okay, this is probably stretching cause and effect a little but... Dr Kamau Kambon holds a B.A. degree in education/history, a master's degree in physical education, both a M.A. and a M. Ed. degree in education/administration, and an Ed. D. in urban education/curriculum and instruction:

A Modern Annunciation

From Diogenes:

The Nativity Story

TradReviews: The Nativity Story An excellent review of a new Christmas movie - explaining/confirming why I won't be going to see it. Aside, of course, from the fact that I refuse to have anything to do with what passes for "cinema" these days. ;-)

Lutheran Pastor's Resignation Letter

Statement of Resignation John W. Fenton, for 16 years a Lutheran pastor, most recently at Detroit's Zion Evangelical-Lutheran Church (The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod), and author of the Conversi ad Dominum blog (highly valued by yrs truly), recently announced his resignation and his entry into the Orthodox Church. Interesting reading.

Divisions of the Church

Posted by Occidentalis - evidently from a decidedly Oriental (Malankar) perspective: