Preaching the Scriptures

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Matthew 10:40-42   Simple Vision It all seems so complicated, doesn't it?    The Bible is too big and too complicated.    The problems in our world are too big and too complicated.    And it makes it difficult to know how to really live like a Christian in the world.    We seldom come across anything simple. The Bible is a huge book.    Actually the Bible is a huge collection of books: 39 books in the Old Testament, 27 in the New Testament, and then, for us Anglicans, the books of the Apocrypha.    And they are written by a wide variety of authors, with a wide variety of theologies, in a wide variety of genres, over a number of centuries.    It is the kind of collection that has a martyred prophet in 2 Chronicles invoke the vengeance of God with his last breath and has another martyred prophet use his last breath to pray for the forgiveness of his killers.    And they are both good guys.   It is a complicated book. And it is old.   

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Genesis 1:1-2:4a Living the Trinity If one did desire to understand the doctrine of the Trinity, and went to our treasured Book of Common Prayer, and found their way to An Outline of the Faith, commonly called the Catechism, they would end the search in the section entitled, “ The Creeds ” .   The final question in the section reads: What is the Trinity?   The question is followed by the answer: The Trinity is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That answer is not wrong.   It is, however, a bit basic – like answering the question, “ What is the ocean? ” by saying “ the ocean is a lot of water ” .   That's t rue but hardly comprehensive.   A lot has been said about the Trinity over the centuries.   Almost all of it more complicated than what you will find in the catechism.   And probably most of what has been said has been declared heretical by someone or many, many someones.   So it is understandable that the Prayer Book would ta