:: St. Stephen's Musings ::

:: Friday, March 12, 2004 ::

How Relevant It All Is

"Guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the godless chatter and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, for by professing it some have missed the mark as regards the faith." 1 Timothy 6:20-21

"Is this not what many of our clergy do? Do they not choose for themselves teachers who flatter their hearing? They do not learn from the one teacher--Christ; they do not learn from His Gospel or His Church."

"Rather, they learn from worldly journalists, novelists, politicians, sociologists, and the like, and explain how interesting it all is, how exciting it all its, how instructive, how relevant it all is. In effect, they say, 'We have no need of the Gospel and the Church; we have such good teachers elsewhere.' Lord Jesus! To what have we come?"

--St. John of Krondstadt, "Counsels on the Christian Priesthood"--

Of course we have many examples of Church Fathers and contemporary elders who were well educated and knowledgeable about current events, philosophical trends, and human wisdom.

The question is: How much time do you devote to the reading of the Bible, the Fathers, and other spiritual reading vs. the latest novel, the newspaper, or popular movies?

:: Karl :: 8:01:00 AM [Link] ::