Only by the Grace of and only to the Glory of the Holy Trinity:
God the Father, Unbegotten; God the Son, Onlybegotten;
and God the Holy Spirit from the Father Proceeding:
Celtic Orthodox Christian Quarterly
"If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." [Galatians 1:10]

December  2009

Religion versus Science, a meditation on the beginning of Psalm 1 at Advent.

(Deaconess Elizabeth Dowling, Cele De, Advent of 2009)

“Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly...” St. Hilary of Poitiers addressed the problem of evolution in his commentary on Psalm 1, which marks the beginning of the ancient Church year. A six week Advent starts on or after November 13^th, or 26^th Old Calendar.

Just before Advent, CNN (Cable News Network) had an article on their website: “On November 24, 1859, the first edition of a book that would shake the most deeply established beliefs about life was published in London. What would eventually be known as 'The Origin of Species' was the opening shot in a debate that hasn't ended, even 150 years later.” CNN goes on to interview an atheist who calls any religious people stupid, and then CNN states that this is a good idea! To fight the statements of atheists is to glorify them by implying that they are worthy enough to argue with, but, many have wide publicity and extreme negativity towards religion. November 24^th, or on the Old Calendar November 11^th, also happens to be St. Martin's day, traditionally the carnival just before Advent (where, in Europe, a large roast bird was served, around the time of the American Thanksgiving). St. Martin of Tours was a great teacher, monk, Bishop, and wonderworker, who also fought the devil. Allegorically, he threw down a tree that had been worshiped by pagans; not the tree of life, but a tree of selfish power; the philosophy of Christianity today throws down philosophies of selfishness. St. Martin also had divided his cloak in half to give to the poor. During the French Revolution, the Cathedral of St. Martin in Tours was destroyed, and later only a small chapel was rebuilt housing his relics (although other relics were lost). The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris was almost destroyed as well. The publication date of “The Origin of Species” is a new assault on St. Martin. The feast of St. Martin should be honored as was once done.

Some liberal Christians have painted themselves into a corner, saying that they do not want to offend others, giving others a “freedom from religion” (as if America, with its Christmas trees instead of creches, and few if any shrines on roadsides, is a “religious” country. We are just going further and further on a road of iconoclasm and Puritanism, taking out all references to religion, not allowing Baroque music sung in schools, renaming holidays, etc.) When I was a child, the public schools had Christmas pageants about the Nativity of Christ, with the shepherds, wise men, little drummers, etc. Children respected others' religions, because we were allowed to respect our own; and yes, there were children who had other religions at my school. It is ignorance, not knowledge, that leads to the greatest misunderstandings and greatest tendency to think of others as not equal humans. It is the lack of education about religion in the schools that has led to a tendency of religion to claim persecution by government that funds history, science, mathematics, and languages, but will give not one cent, even of college loans, to a religion course. And then, rightly or wrongly, one political party that is against many of the moral beliefs of religion to care for others, because it still supports some religious freedom, is the one party that often gathers votes from religious conservatives. Liberal Christians need more strength in their convictions, to be able to discuss rationally, and yes, defend their faith. We expect Christianity to go on and on until the end of time, but Christianity in other countries has become almost extinct, because people are educated to reject religion. As an Irish Hymn in the Antiphonary of Bangor says about the Blessed Virgin Mary, she “didst not shy but stood fast.” We must also stand for our faith.

The first point of debate that most have against religion is that it causes war, but nobody killed more people than the secret occultist Hitler; atheists Lenin, Stalin, and Mao; and nature worshiper Hirohito. Add them up. Add the “rational” atheist Napoleon as well. No religion has caused such bloodbaths. Religions which have lifted up the sword aggressively have earned animosity, not faith.

I would rather that, within ethical bounds, scientists get on with their research, and stop biting the hands that give them literacy and an organized society. It may just be the next new way to make a lot of money: to find reasons to bash religion, much the way that books came out bashing Christianity by purported archeology and assumptions about people in the Bible. In this economy, I would rather give the scientists money who are actually spending time doing research, instead of taking precious time away from their (government-funded) research projects to bash religion. But, although that would be ideal, I would not expect all atheists to leave religion alone, after all, they have managed to remove many religious symbols from public places by saying that these are “offensive.” These religious symbols only offend them, not everybody. To have such objects removed (truly iconoclasm), is to say that such objects are untrue. To me, such arguments seem like somebody wanting to paint the sky red because they are offended by the color blue, even though the sky is blue because of the make-up of the earth's atmosphere, which is a fact. What we are dealing with is people who want to ignore facts, either facts of history (such as Jesus, the Prophets, and the Saints as historical figures), or facts of culture (such as Jesus, the Prophets, and the Saints as cultural or literary characters that have shaped the mind-set or history of other people). And that kind of ignorance offends me; deeply.

So, at some point, the debate must begin, and must be won by those of religious belief. Yes, it is possible that the idea of “public place” may, by “eminent domain,” become a definition of any place at all, and all religious icons would have to be removed. By icons, I do not only mean pictures, but also Crosses, meeting places shaped like churches, and also books of hymns, Liturgics, and even the Holy Bible. (Sometimes I think the worst iconoclasts are within the churches themselves, tearing out altars to God and replacing them with performance spaces or head tables as though all that might be going on is a banquet, and not an important Sacrifice of prayer to God.) But, enough paranoia.

The idea of evolution, or a purely physical origin of everything in the universe, did not start with Darwin. Looking back on history and philosophy (as the Church is uniquely able to do), we see some early Church fathers arguing against Democratus and Epicurius, who both posited the atom, and also the random nature of interactions of these atoms. St. Basil, in the 4^th century, wrote the “Hexaemeron” about the six days of creation. St. Dionysius of Alexandria also of that century, directly addressed the theories of Democratus and Epicurius. Pagan philosophers also were against the theories of the atom and randomness, because these were not only against God, but any god. But, St. Basil's and St. Dionysius of Alexandria's arguments against the atom tend to be too shallow, just as the first atomic theory of Epicurius and Democratus was shallow. St. Basil, and also St. Gregory of Nazianzus, were able to easily refute claims that reduced the divinity of Christ, with great logic and insight as well as Scriptural quotes, their arguments going places that angels fear to tread. But speaking on more earthly matters concerning the creation of the physical universe, their wings did not fly. At least they tried to focus on these theories.

Today there is some compromise with the theories of the atom, which is not the same atom as posited by Democratus and Epicurius. Although those philosophers are credited with the name “atom,” the myriad sub-atomic particles were not predicted by them, because the term “atom” was supposed to mean the smallest particle. Nor would they have arrived at their theories by smashing things apart to find the tiniest shard of reality, and then name that fragment by the name of a particle. But, the kinds of elements and their classification on the Periodic Chart seems reasonable, and that demands at least some of the theory of the atom, as does the existence of DNA, and the mapping of genes. However, the existence of carefully ordered genes, even after billions of years, challenges the randomness in the theories of Democratus, Epicurius, and also Darwin. How can there be “entropy,” which states that everything falls apart, slows down, and becomes more mixed-up and chaotic, if DNA becomes more and more organized?

In the 20^th century, Einstein inadvertently may have opened a door to the refutation of some of the randomness of the theory in the first connection between matter and energy, E = MC² (energy equals mass times the speed of light squared). Since that time, so many other theories have emerged, from giant black holes and worm holes, gravity waves and quantum mechanics, to string theories connecting everything, or fractals finding a rhythm in everything. (Some modern theories seem to have an eleven-fold multi-personality; not unified as the Holy Trinity.) Some of these theories have not been thoroughly worked out or proven in the realm of science, especially a “unified field theory” that connects all the various kinds of energy together, but, at the very least, the wave or energy theories all have one thing in common: the particles suddenly do not act alone in a random fashion; the theory of selfishness cannot exist with them.

The same atheists who draw conclusions based upon a cultural education (which includes an education in mathematics and science) are quick to reject any theories which find a value in culture; but culture itself, especially including religion, has a strong value in the survival of the human species. Anthropologists and economic theorists such as John Nash both have proven that human society would not function without a group dynamic, that individual selfishness does not work, and only makes transactions fall apart. Animal behaviorists also notice that animals which function in families have a better chance of their young surviving. In the human realm, even if it is regarded as “myth,” the groups with a strong ethic to stay together and help each other and not live for selfish reasons have a much better chance of survival than a society which constantly steals from and kills each other. The very existence of a Holy Bible that traces a few thousand years of history of one group of people points to this need, not only of help from God, but help of each other following the Law of God, because even through wars and times when others sought to exterminate them, the Jews have survived. And the lessons of the Law of God can be applied to all people. In many zoos, there is a caption next to an exhibit entitled, “The Most Dangerous Creature On Earth,” and next to that caption is only a mirror. Without the restraint of moral culture, humans are the most destructive of creatures. Konrad Lorenz proved that animals that are aggressive, such as wolves, learn to submit to the “alpha” wolf, and not tear each other to pieces. Bears avoid each other's territories, which causes all bears but mothers and immediate young to move far away from each other, and also limits the size of the population of any bear species.

Jesus said that the two most important laws (which are a sum of the ten Laws of the Old Testament) are to love God and love thy neighbor. The love of ones' neighbor keeps a society from destroying itself through selfishness. This applies to the inheritance of documents, as well as an education in reading of such documents, because it is the preservation of society and its values, not the selfish destruction of society, that encourages humans to hold on to literacy. These moral values that allow inheritance, that actually allow survival in humans, would seem to apply only to the care of the neighbor, as our “brothers and sisters,” or more accurately, cousins, in a family that goes back hundreds of generations.

But the first law, the love and belief in God, also making humans strive for greatness in praying to and being able to enter into a kind of society with God, is necessary if people are to strive for the very things that science strives for: a greater and greater understanding of the universe. Nor would the striving for writing and the arts have happened if people had not been striving for something greater. The love of God is the love of infinity, and necessitates a much greater understanding, not ignorance. The current atheists believe, as an article of their dogma, that religion and science cannot co-exist. Religion strives for the love of God (charity being greater than faith), and this includes with the whole mind. The mind is not a blind receptacle, nor is it drowned in a greater ocean (as St. John the Apostle, Evangelist, and Theologian proved in his Gospel). There is always a striving for growth, and therefore the mind seeks knowledge for its own sake, not creating limited hypotheses, but seeking always for that which goes beyond a limited viewpoint.

However, the atheists, who claim to actually be the scientists that try to find out what actually is, are those same people who reject the mathematical findings of John Nash and still promote evolutionary selfishness (e.g.: the selfish economic theory of Adam Smith), that each creature is alone and survives through its own selfishness. They claim to be those who promote all knowledge, but they reject the formation of culture and education which is based upon religious values of looking outward towards that which is greater than ones' self, and of caring for ones' neighbor. Literacy is not an instinct, but is learned, and requires a stable, moral society striving toward infinity and godhead in order to be able to continue to be taught. Epicurius is known as the inventor of the atom, but also the phrase, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” “Epicurianism” is the practice of hedonism, and not a philosophy of sober parenting and holding on to history. While the first symposiums were drunken parties, these parties were held to discuss philosophy; these were not mathematical conferences. The mathematicians of Taranto Italy (the followers of Pythagoras who lived in the colonies of Magna Graecia in the boot of Italy), and also the mathematicians of Alexandria (the most famous city of philosophers and mathematicians) were not so inebriated; they wrote books of proofs, and by very rational logic built mathematical systems that were the foundation of much later discoveries. These were very educated people, not people who sought ignorance, or who saw no point to tomorrow. The term for logic, in Latin “ratio,” also was the term used for the “rational soul,” in other words, capable of striving towards infinity, towards divinity, and with a capability of self-control and civic duty, not selfishness. In some sense, it takes a woman to refute these atheists. (As in some legends, that only a woman can defeat certain heartless monsters.) Women see children grow from completely ignorant, dependent, and selfish individuals into adults capable of striving for a greater good, towards God and for their society. Those who have only studied atheism without thinking of atheism in the context of children and family only think about the existence of those atoms, and not the implications of culture; they look at the building blocks and not the buildings.

But what about those building blocks? Beyond stating that the universe can't be all about just the building blocks, or else humanity would not exist as it is, some sort of investigation must be made about those buildings blocks of atoms. In the book called “The Pastor of Hermas,” once part of the New Testament Biblical Canon, there is a discussion of the building of a tower. Rough stones are used, which represent disciples, not perfect persons, but rough at the edges. The tower stands because of those rough edges. But the tower made of perfectly round stones falls, because the round stones slip past each other, and turn the tower into a pile of rubble. This is an obvious analogy, from a society used to building stone structures. It is for this reason that Egyptian sand cannot be used for mortar: the thousands of years of blowing in winds has caused the corners of the particles of sand to be much too round and smooth to work as mortar. But what about atoms? Why are their smooth, round, and even magnetic sub-atomic electrons, protons, neutrons, and all the other myriad particles, able to glue together anything solid, or even any sort of molecule? Many reasons have been posited, but all the various energy fields have not, to date, been completely explained. Certainly, DNA cannot be denied, but, the more microscopic the particles, it seems also the more likely a scientist is to look at all those little round blocks and not look at God as having anything to do with any of the molecular processes. And the scientists seeking to find more particles by breaking them apart may only be smashing china, and not finding out what the dishes are used for.

I don't think that alchemy could solve scientific hubris. If anything, the alchemical processes as described, may seem to make understanding more vague, until explained in some form that science would understand. Alchemy is true, but it has a radically different viewpoint on the physical world. Although biological creatures somehow utilize silica to produce calcium, and also do other transmutations (as measured carefully by the French researcher Kervran), this process, while mysterious, is an atomic process that does nothing to explain the participation of divinity (except a general philosophical view of intrinsic unity in living things). Alchemy does one thing: it refutes those equations of even the “string theorists” and “warp drive” engines which propose massive amounts of energy for processes: in biological alchemy, the transmutation of silica mica eaten by chickens into calcium egg shells, or iron-free grapes and plums into iron-rich raisins and prunes, takes almost no heat. But, at least many modern theories find some common ground, even if they think that gravity is an energy that peeks out from another dimension (should we say, pulled down to hell?).

Of course, science would argue that all of these kinds of mathematics point to a natural process, not an intelligent Godhead. But they forget that the “god” that they imagine, a fully anthropomorphized being (that is, making God in man's image), is not the kind of infinite intelligence that religion actually strives for! There is something truly behind the fractals, the chaos, the strings, the quanta, the information, that is much greater. This is not a proof of that great intelligence, but a suggestion that the scientists look up, not down toward some mostly-forgotten Sunday-school lesson, when they consider what is meant by intelligent God. My main difficulty with the term “intelligent design,” is that it declares that God thinks somewhat the same way that we do. I believe that creation has been designed intelligently, but not under a theory that tries to use scattered examples; the great whole of existence is my proof, if any proof is possible.

Exodus 3:14, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” One of the Names of God is “Ehieh,” “Eh-he-eh,” which means “I am that I am.” The Greek letters around a halo of Christ in an icon are “O ON,” “O” being a definite article meaning “He,” and “ON” standing for “On” THE BEING as in “Ontology” or the study of being; the phrase translated to “He Who IS,” or “I AM.” St. John 8:58 “Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am.” St. Matthew 28:6-7, St. Mark 16:6, “He is risen.” This does not say “was” but “is” which states that this is an eternal, not a temporal truth. In Greek grammar, in the Words of Institution it says, “do this, so that you may be keeping me in mind.” English Bibles, destroying the sense of the present tense, and the sense of eternity in the immediate NOW, translated the Greek “keeping me in mind” to “remembrance” in the King James Version, or in the Douay Version “commemoration,” Luke 22:19. “Remembrance” or “commemoration” implies something remembered from the past, or only a representation of a past event, and has led, within Christian churches, to a grave misunderstanding of the eternal present of Divine events: so that the Redemption on the Cross is somehow a past event not connected to them, and the Last Supper is a past event somehow not connected to them, and so that anybody may easily challenge their faith. God IS. Even the Greek pagan philosopher, Plato, understood that truth, that which IS, is the only Reality.

St. Gregory Nazianzus, the Theologian, spoke of Christ's divine essence before time. The writings of St. Gregory Nazianzus are a great introduction to this subject, because he introduces time as a concept, and begins the idea of time as part of creation, apart from a unity that did not include a sequence of events. He said that “begotten” or “proceeding” mean things that may happen in eternity, before time, before even the past, at present, in the future, always, and forever, all at the same time (because “begotten” and “proceeding” are outside of time). Of course, St. Gregory Nazianzus was referring to the Persons of the Holy Trinity: the Father unbegotten, the Son only-begotten, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father (which was the original form of the Creed, as known by early Church Saints such as St. Gregory Nazianzus). But the Persons of the Holy Trinity help us to begin to comprehend the arguments about time and creation. The verb “to be” may be eternal, but all of the action verbs are limited to little segments of events. These little segments are called “created.” The one question that nobody has discussed (as far as I know), is what is creation itself? People say that, as Psalm 99 in Greek numbering or Psalm 100 in Hebrew numbering says, God made us and not we ourselves. But the verb “to make” is also finite, and does not necessarily imply any sort of eternal divinity that “creates” in this limited word. Therefore, it is more accurate to look at St. Gregory Nazianzus's thoughts on the subject, and say that “creation” means things which occur within time.

On the scientists' side, Albert Einstein said that time exists with space and matter, and that matter and gravity affect time. Again, matter exists in time; it is “created” to use a religious term, or using a scientific term, is part of “space-time.” Even a “vacuum,” although free of matter, is not free of space, and is part of the material existence; part of “space-time.” (And very recent experiments with vacuums prove that there are sub-atomic “quanta” particles in vacuums that have pressure.) Hubble developed the theory of the “big bang,” which is the scientists' way of theorizing that everything had a beginning, and suddenly exploded into plasma, which differentiated into (surprisingly) equal-sized sub-atomic particles (somehow) and definable kinds of energy (some way), which coalesced (through fusion) to make all the different atoms of the different elements, the simplest and most abundant being hydrogen. And then billions of years later, somehow all of this stuff became human, and wrote the Bible and the Shakespeare plays, invented candy bars (a funny proof of the existence of God by Stephen Colbert). The glue used by those touting the theory of evolution is time... somehow removed (conveniently) from the “space-time continuum;” removed by virtue of the space-time somehow organizing itself just because of time, as though time itself were a cause (which no energy study suggests). There are also no quanta in this theory.

Where science differs from religion, then, is not the number of days or years (as St. Peter said, to God a day may last a thousand, meaning an immeasurably great, number of years). Religion differs from science because religion has a basic belief that there is a connection between the eternal and infinite (God), and the finite and temporary (creation, or space-time), and that such a connection may be that the eternal and infinite (God) might somehow have some control, or at least guidance allowing the creation to have free-will. How would the eternal have control? By virtue of the eternal “traversing” all time-zones at once (imagining a circular or spherical space-time)? Or by reaching out to infinity connecting all the finite pieces at once? Either way, it would seem that something that stretches beyond finite pieces would have a much greater influence, even if it is almost undetectable to those finite pieces, and except at odd cataclysmic times seems weak. “Membrane” or “brane” theory states that there are connections between everything, but if the “membrane” collides with itself, a “big bang” will result, which would have no merit in organizing a universe built out of well-organized sub-atomic particles of the kind that are in this universe, or organized gravity wells, or anything else. The “brane” theory appears to be transcendent, but “brane” theory flees away under closer scrutiny, because it seems to react to the physical universe instead of the physical universe reacting to it. The tail wags the dog. If the “brane” theory were transcendent, it would be a theory of God, and there would be no quibble at all between religion and science, because science would admit that the “brane” guides the physical world, not in a random manner. The randomness is negated by its vast connection to itself, or the intelligence that is not outside of the universe, but is seen in a very small part in organized DNA, or human brains!

Let's give an analogy (even in the finite, there are some very large numbers). For example: one human being (after all, according to religion, made in the image and likeness of God). How many atoms are in one human being: trillions? How many molecules? How much illness is present at any time? How carefully detailed are the chemical processes that make up that body? Even given the brain and the liver, how does this vast system function without falling apart from the first moment of its existence? The scientists would answer, evolution, but that does not answer why one particular human being keeps ahead of all the viruses, bacteria, prions, cancers, metabolism problems, auto-immune problems, and all the very complex conditions it may develop? Evolution is not a perfect protector against all ills, or else people would not become ill so easily. Somehow, a greater whole, greater than all the parts, is internally known. Some say that it is written in the DNA, but the DNA do not predict all the possible influences. But most people somehow (with some help from doctors, true), are able to grow up. As a child, I was not a person of much faith, because I could see how DNA would govern cell divisions. But as I grew older, I realized, after several near-death experiences, that it is not very random that we somehow are able to grow to adulthood. When adding-in environmental factors (not predicted by DNA such as accidents involving cars, trains, or climbing cliffs), the survival of one human being seems astounding, and only possible with the help of God. And, one human being must survive until adulthood simply to spawn the next generation, and survive well into adulthood to help that next generation survive.

The question should not be, are religious people unable to understand science, but can science understand the infinite and eternal? And that is important, because increasingly, science looks at very very old and very very large and very very tiny and instantaneous things. (And they are funded, given stuff to blow up, given teaching positions; students in the field are allowed to use student loans for their courses, etc.) But the scientists always seem to have a huge blind spot, and it will affect their scientific inquiries: they immediately include a hypothesis that they are studying “things” (in “space-time,” even though they are trying to find the edges or beginnings of space-time). Suppressing religious theories means that science will not have a grasp of the infinite universe they claim to investigate.

More must be said on this subject, because Psalm 1 does not stop at addressing the problems of the ungodly, but of sinners. St. Hilary of Poitiers emphasized that Psalm 1 says we should not “walk” in the way of the ungodly, that is, to walk, or to move through time, when thinking about God Who IS timeless. The next line after “Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly” is: “nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence.” Sin means to turn away from God even when believing in Him, or to fall short, not participating, thinking, or acting as required. To stand means to use the verb “to be” when, in this case, one should be doing something; one is walking when one should be standing still and contemplating God, and standing when one should be doing good. As Christ said, use your talents (either money or abilities) to increase good. A sinner also sins against their neighbor, and if they walk, they walk away from God. To sit in the chair of pestilence is to sit in judgment, but in the chair of pestilence, which is not the seat of the Law of Moses but the seat that finds fault with everything. This is another form of sin, and does not lead to God.

The desert fathers said there are more sins than virtues, and the road through sins is very difficult. St. John Cassian's Conferences with the desert fathers and his Rule, written in his Institutes, mentions “eight principal faults” which group the many sins into categories. (See the article on the Eight Principal Faults.) But Psalm 1 separates ordinary sinners from the ungodly, separating the other lesser sins from pride and vain glory. Pride is the most difficult sin to overcome, and is considered the worst of the sins by St. John Chrysostom (who Ordained St. John Cassian), and therefore, lack of faith (pride) is examined first at the beginning of Advent, and also at the name-day of Jesus, which was the beginning of the Roman New Year, January 1^st, or on the Old Calendar January 14^th. (The Psalm for that day is Greek numbering Psalm 13, or Hebrew numbering 14, “The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God...”)

Ungodly and sinners, who are greedy and destroy land for their own gain, also will be overcome by God who can make the deserts bloom. The second Sunday of Advent, Old Testament Lection (from Seleustat, a continental Irish monastery), is Isaiah 35:1-10, which talks about God making the deserts bloom. “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose...” This is God's work. “And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Every Sunday in Advent happens to focus on the coming of the Lord. St. John the Baptist says, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (St. John 3:30). St. John the Baptist is referring to Christ, not only whose light increases after His birth at Christmas, but also that Jesus Christ is the source of life. St. John 10:10: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly.” The Baptism of St. John the Baptist is a Baptism of repentance, which is only the first part of the Rite of Baptism. The Baptism of Christ brings us through His death to His Resurrection, and therefore toward life, towards increase. St. John the Baptist brings us to a point where we may submit to God, but we may not realize the need to care for others and our world. The Baptism of Christ brings more life, because it focuses on our mandate to “take up the towel” (the Mandatum, or command, in the foot-washing, St. John 13:4-10), which means to help others as well as worship God. We are led to plant, not just harvest; we allow others to grow, not force our own will, because our obedience to God includes love of God, and our prayer for mercy also means that we should be merciful and forgive. Those who are of Christ should not participate in creating deserts; although many who are greedy do just that. But, our Baptism in Christ, if we take it seriously, allows us to nurture, allows us to be abstinent if required, allows the world to be renewed. People who have created deserts may worship God, but they may not have followed all of God's will; they are likely oppressing others in some way. Only God can bring life.

There is a new form of standing “in the way of sinners.” People are now following any sort of theory about the end of time. There may besome true prophecies such as that given in Oengus's “Speckled Book” for the Passion of St. John the Baptist, new calendar date August 29^th, or old calendar September 11^th: for a clear Tuesday early in the morning and two ale-houses, which means places of business, that will be destroyed by something coming out of the sky. It is very difficult to discern among true and false prophecies, or to interpret them. But a prophecy which states that we should all leave our religions so that we may “ascend” is not a prophecy of God, and not true. We are taught that at the end of time (whenever that may be), the sheep (those who follow moral laws, that give food to the hungry, good water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, house the homeless, heal the sick, visit the captives, Mt. 25:32) will go to heaven, and those who do not do these things will go to hell. Leaving Christianity, that teaches moral law, will not help in “attaining” heaven. Any such “attainment” system negates God altogether in favor of a very selfish self. The word sin in Greek means to fall short of the aim, or be flat and not on the note in music, out of harmony, less than expected. Likewise, heresy means a reduction of truth, not only containing false statements. Those that follow heresy stubbornly stand in a reduced theology, and they won't be lifted up, but will fall lower.

Counting numerology can also lead to any number of conclusions; just as in mathematics any two-dimensional equation in a plane (such as a “quadratic equation”) has not one, but two equally true answers. With more dimensions than two, the number of answers, or possible interpretations, likewise goes up. Moreover, musicians at one time said that within three octaves the notes would not be in tune with themselves; meaning that the overtone series does not match notes derived by finding three octaves plus the steps to an interval. Any long equation, or equation with many steps, has such inherent “truncation error” problems. The dimensions of string theories or the numerology of Mayan and other calendars can't tell us as much as the Biblical command to watch and pray, heard every year in the church just before Pascha, our celebration of the Passover into the Resurrection of the dead. As the wise virgins who kept oil in their lamps, we do not know the hour of the return of the Bridegroom, and therefore we should watch at all times and pray without ceasing. Instead of waiting for a particular supposed numerological moment, it might be a good idea to pray NOW.

The readings and prayers for the first Sunday in Advent are very important, because these all reflect the beginning of the way leading to God, and therefore combat both ungodly atheism and sin in its many forms of turning away from God and falling short of the mark. The readings for the rest of the six Sundays in Advent move closer and closer towards God; or, more accurately, we understand how close God is to us. These translations from Latin by Bishop Maelruain (Kristopher Dowling), and also Irish Lectionary, are from Irish monasteries on the continent of Europe. The assignment of Psalm 1 fits this day. And it turns out, with the sharp contrast of Darwin's book on Nov. 24^th 150 years ago, appropriate to this time of year.

Old Testament: Malachi 3:1-6 (The angel that will prepare the way... “Behold, I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face...” about St. John the Baptist, and about Christ. We must take the Lord seriously.)

Introductory Collect: Send forth Thy power O Lord and come work that which Thou didst promise unto Thy Church even unto the end to the age: Through Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord Who reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit throughout all ages of ages. Amen. Send forth Thy power O Lord to secure us by great virtue and by the aid of Thy Glory may the redemption of Thy forgiveness hasten unto us, for our sins weigh us down: This we ask through Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord Who reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit throughout all ages of ages. Amen.

Collect before the Epistle: Rise up O Lord in our hearts, we beseech Thee, for the preparation of the way of Thine Only-begotten Son so that through His Advent we may be made worthy and purified to serve Thee: Through the same, Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord Who reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit throughout all ages of ages. Amen. Preserve us, we beseech Thee Almighty God and may Thy Grace always follow us so that we may endure through the Advent from on high of Thine Only-Begotten Son who is longed-for by our hearts and may we attain Thine aid in the life of the present and the future: Through Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord Who reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit throughout all ages of ages. Amen.

Epistle: James 5:7-12,19, 20 (Be patient waiting for the Lord, and convert sinners. Six weeks before Christmas, we begin to think about the coming of Christ. We think about the patience of learning about God, and the blessing of teaching. Rather than swearing all kinds of oaths, it is most important to patiently work to learn the truth. Also, be correct in speech, so that there are no mistakes in understanding, and you are not judged.)

Sequence: Psalm 1. (“Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence...”)

Gospel: John 1:35-51 (St. John the Baptist points out Jesus, and disciples of St. John follow Jesus.)

Ad Pacem: We beseech Thee Almighty, purify our consciences by daily visitation so that when Thy Son the Lord has come He may find a lodging place prepared for him in us: Through the same Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord Who reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit throughout all ages of ages. Amen. Please cleanse our bodies and minds Almighty God so that, strengthened by Thy blessing, we may always be illumined and protected by Thine Only-Begotten Son Our Lord Whose arrival we await: Through the same Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord Who reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit throughout all ages of ages. Amen.

Dignum: It is truly worthy and just Almighty God through Christ our Lord to Whom alone this is due for Thou art good and Thou art never separated in action from Thyself. Be pleased by our supplications and because of Thy mercy show Thyself unto Thy Church which confesses Thee. Wonderfully manifest to the people the coming Sacrament of Thine Only-Begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ so that they may be made a perfected nation in the universe, Through the Gospel of Thy Word Thou hast promised that they will have the fullness of the adoption because the testimony of the Truth has endured through Christ our Lord. Unto Whom...

Bishop's Blessing at the Peace: May the Lord grant you the reward of sincere charity that you may always dwell with everyone in Peace. Amen. May you overcome all subtleties of all that is evil and pass this life in true sincerity. Amen. May you be free of a guilty conscience so that nothing may weigh against you on the coming day of judgment. Amen. May He Whose Kingdom and Dominion remain without end, be please to sustain us unto ages of ages. Amen. May the blessing of God: the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and the peace of the Lord be ever with you. Amen.

Postcommunion: Our Souls have received that which they desired, we ask Thee Almighty God that they may be inflamed by Thy Spirit so that we with the abundance of divine gifts may shine like lamps before the Face of the Coming Christ Thy Son, like bright lights. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Who reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit throughout all ages of ages. Amen.