More from Saint Antony of the Desert
Book II
Of Quiet
i. The abbot Antony said, "Who sits in solitude and is quiet hath escaped from three wars: hearing, speaking, seeing: yet against one thing shall he continually battle: that is, his own heart."
I understand Antony's statement concerning the heart, to be in truth the battle that wars within my mind. The semantics of the three elements of the human being is in my view somewhat critical when it comes to understanding the working of God in our lives. Saint Paul the Apostle declares "the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." and I think this sums up the most precise understanding of the human life in the eyes of the Church. We are a spiritual being, living in a earthly body of flesh, and we have a soul, which we more commonly refer to as our mind. Usually the heart and spirit of a man are used interchangeably in the scripture, and the mind and soul likewise, although on occasion the word "soul" is used to refer to a living person in general. The point is the war that wages within us, at least those of us who are saved, is a war of the mind, and indeed it never ceases. Saint Paul once again declared "Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind," and this is the great challenge to every believer. The truth is the world does not approve of the true Christian mind set, or way of thinking. The Christian is called to think in accordance to the word of God, not according to modern culture, or modern standards. We are called to align our minds with the mind of Christ, that is the mind of God, and the mind of God is in truth at variance to this present age, indeed there has never been an age that aligned itself with the mind of God. Modern culture defines sin as an archaic expression of an un-enlightened conscience, and in our days the only things that we deem unacceptable are those things which are outlawed, and often we find many unlawful practices perfectly acceptable, for instance, cheating the IRS. I find that rather ordinary individuals constantly advise me to cheat on my taxes, accept cash under the table in my business practices, etc. I am sure that they mean well, but it is absolutely foreign to the mind of Christ that I would allow something like a few extra dollars to cause me to compromise my relationship with God. The common modern man does not really believe in sin, or even the concept of evil, at least not until it is personally directed toward them. If they are victimized, they of course attribute it to evil within the individual that victimized them, or a loved one, but they really don't view sin as the scripture portrays such.
The Greek word most commonly translated as sin in the New Testament is "Hamartia," which simply means to miss the mark, or to wander from the right path. Living in an age where everything is considered relative has diminished the notion of sin for most people. Individuals often think that if they enjoy something on a purely physical level then there can't be anything wrong with such, but I digress. The truth is, for the modern Christian, it is becoming increasingly difficult to think according to the scriptures, when so often it places us in situations where our thoughts and viewpoints are considered bigoted, and politically incorrect. I guess I will end this by saying I am sure God is amused at the pitifully ignorant attempts of modern man to develop this new code of righteousness we call "political correctness."
Of Quiet
i. The abbot Antony said, "Who sits in solitude and is quiet hath escaped from three wars: hearing, speaking, seeing: yet against one thing shall he continually battle: that is, his own heart."
I understand Antony's statement concerning the heart, to be in truth the battle that wars within my mind. The semantics of the three elements of the human being is in my view somewhat critical when it comes to understanding the working of God in our lives. Saint Paul the Apostle declares "the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." and I think this sums up the most precise understanding of the human life in the eyes of the Church. We are a spiritual being, living in a earthly body of flesh, and we have a soul, which we more commonly refer to as our mind. Usually the heart and spirit of a man are used interchangeably in the scripture, and the mind and soul likewise, although on occasion the word "soul" is used to refer to a living person in general. The point is the war that wages within us, at least those of us who are saved, is a war of the mind, and indeed it never ceases. Saint Paul once again declared "Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind," and this is the great challenge to every believer. The truth is the world does not approve of the true Christian mind set, or way of thinking. The Christian is called to think in accordance to the word of God, not according to modern culture, or modern standards. We are called to align our minds with the mind of Christ, that is the mind of God, and the mind of God is in truth at variance to this present age, indeed there has never been an age that aligned itself with the mind of God. Modern culture defines sin as an archaic expression of an un-enlightened conscience, and in our days the only things that we deem unacceptable are those things which are outlawed, and often we find many unlawful practices perfectly acceptable, for instance, cheating the IRS. I find that rather ordinary individuals constantly advise me to cheat on my taxes, accept cash under the table in my business practices, etc. I am sure that they mean well, but it is absolutely foreign to the mind of Christ that I would allow something like a few extra dollars to cause me to compromise my relationship with God. The common modern man does not really believe in sin, or even the concept of evil, at least not until it is personally directed toward them. If they are victimized, they of course attribute it to evil within the individual that victimized them, or a loved one, but they really don't view sin as the scripture portrays such.
The Greek word most commonly translated as sin in the New Testament is "Hamartia," which simply means to miss the mark, or to wander from the right path. Living in an age where everything is considered relative has diminished the notion of sin for most people. Individuals often think that if they enjoy something on a purely physical level then there can't be anything wrong with such, but I digress. The truth is, for the modern Christian, it is becoming increasingly difficult to think according to the scriptures, when so often it places us in situations where our thoughts and viewpoints are considered bigoted, and politically incorrect. I guess I will end this by saying I am sure God is amused at the pitifully ignorant attempts of modern man to develop this new code of righteousness we call "political correctness."