Sojourners
Acts 7:1-8
"Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?" To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship Me in this place.’ Then He gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs."
The martyr, the Apostle Stephen began his masterful defense with a history lesson. Obviously, these events written in Scripture are common knowledge to the Jewish faithful especially the teachers of the law, but its significance may not be always as clear. Yesterday I came across a rather polemical book on history entitled "The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World" by Catherine Nixey where she presents the history of the Church from the third and centuries that followed how Christianity triumphed over paganism and destroyed classical culture akin to Islam and ISIS destroying historical sites due to religious fervor. A review of the book by Josh Herring at the Acton Institute offers a welcome (yet scathing rebuttal) and to us is instructive of the principles of good historiography: "Beyond misrepresenting a key element of her study, Nixey misses the mark on the discipline of history itself. I received my historical training from the excellent professors at Hillsdale College. From David Stewart, I learned that change is the only historical constant; therefore, a strong historical question does not ask “did something change?” but rather, “how do people define themselves after change occurs?” From Richard Gamble, I gained a conviction (by way of St. Augustine, Herbert Butterfield, and C.S. Lewis) that the purpose of history is not to judge (read: condemn) the past, but rather to understand it. These professors shaped my love of history, and by both of these criteria Nixey fails to write a work of good history. The Darkening Age reads like a love letter for paganism. Nixey spends paragraphs in each chapter bemoaning the fact that change occurred in the shift from paganism to Christianity as the dominant religion. She mourns the loss of so much classical culture, when a better historical attitude would appreciate the miracle that any of it survived." The art and science of history is inexact but the discipline helps us illuminate the past and use the wisdom gleaned to gain better understanding and for us as Christians know how our sovereign God works, after all, "the earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it (Psa 24:1) and history will be a testament to God's work in creation, it may provide us with a longview, still, just a glimpse of God's perspective, "for we are foreigners and sojourners in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope (I Chron 29:15)." This is what our LORD provided St. Cleopas and his companion along the road to Emmaus, what privilege (Luke 24:13-35) and this is what St. Stephen reminded the teachers of the Law of, but sadly they didn't listen, even when they agreed to hear, just like Pilate who cynically retorted when Jesus talked about the Truth, "Quid est veritas?" "What is truth", and walked away (John 18:37-38). St. Stephen's opening discourse brings me to another brilliant exposition on faith (and the resurrection, interestingly, forshadowed and emphasised in Abraham's experience) by another: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the opportune age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised. And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.Those who say such things show that they are seeking a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and in a sense, he did receive Isaac back from death... (Heb 11:8-18)" Whoever wrote the letter to the Hebrews is impressive in knowledge and understanding of the history of God's chosen people. Ultimately, this leads us to a place of wonder and a state of awe for the main author of the Bible, God, Himself the Author of Life and history. When we read His Word, may we praise and revere Him and may it cause us to honour Him in our daily lives.
"Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?" To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship Me in this place.’ Then He gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs."
The martyr, the Apostle Stephen began his masterful defense with a history lesson. Obviously, these events written in Scripture are common knowledge to the Jewish faithful especially the teachers of the law, but its significance may not be always as clear. Yesterday I came across a rather polemical book on history entitled "The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World" by Catherine Nixey where she presents the history of the Church from the third and centuries that followed how Christianity triumphed over paganism and destroyed classical culture akin to Islam and ISIS destroying historical sites due to religious fervor. A review of the book by Josh Herring at the Acton Institute offers a welcome (yet scathing rebuttal) and to us is instructive of the principles of good historiography: "Beyond misrepresenting a key element of her study, Nixey misses the mark on the discipline of history itself. I received my historical training from the excellent professors at Hillsdale College. From David Stewart, I learned that change is the only historical constant; therefore, a strong historical question does not ask “did something change?” but rather, “how do people define themselves after change occurs?” From Richard Gamble, I gained a conviction (by way of St. Augustine, Herbert Butterfield, and C.S. Lewis) that the purpose of history is not to judge (read: condemn) the past, but rather to understand it. These professors shaped my love of history, and by both of these criteria Nixey fails to write a work of good history. The Darkening Age reads like a love letter for paganism. Nixey spends paragraphs in each chapter bemoaning the fact that change occurred in the shift from paganism to Christianity as the dominant religion. She mourns the loss of so much classical culture, when a better historical attitude would appreciate the miracle that any of it survived." The art and science of history is inexact but the discipline helps us illuminate the past and use the wisdom gleaned to gain better understanding and for us as Christians know how our sovereign God works, after all, "the earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it (Psa 24:1) and history will be a testament to God's work in creation, it may provide us with a longview, still, just a glimpse of God's perspective, "for we are foreigners and sojourners in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope (I Chron 29:15)." This is what our LORD provided St. Cleopas and his companion along the road to Emmaus, what privilege (Luke 24:13-35) and this is what St. Stephen reminded the teachers of the Law of, but sadly they didn't listen, even when they agreed to hear, just like Pilate who cynically retorted when Jesus talked about the Truth, "Quid est veritas?" "What is truth", and walked away (John 18:37-38). St. Stephen's opening discourse brings me to another brilliant exposition on faith (and the resurrection, interestingly, forshadowed and emphasised in Abraham's experience) by another: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the opportune age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised. And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.Those who say such things show that they are seeking a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and in a sense, he did receive Isaac back from death... (Heb 11:8-18)" Whoever wrote the letter to the Hebrews is impressive in knowledge and understanding of the history of God's chosen people. Ultimately, this leads us to a place of wonder and a state of awe for the main author of the Bible, God, Himself the Author of Life and history. When we read His Word, may we praise and revere Him and may it cause us to honour Him in our daily lives.
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