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The Christmas season reminds us of HOW He did it: God became flesh[4]. He entered the world He created to redeem the world He created because He loved it[5]. God became what He would ultimately redeem: humanity in the fully human nature of the person Jesus, a real baby with real flesh, real emotions[6], real hunger[7], real physical and intellectual growth[8], real friendships[9], real temptation[10] and real betrayal – all done in the real fallen world – yet without sin[11] and remaining fully divine, as the God-Man[12]. He came to seek and save sinners[13] – in the real world. But,...

I teach Sunday school at my Church. For our next study we will be doing a class on the Trinity - which I see the world and false Christians attacking more and more in contemporary society. The primary text I will be using is “The Forgotten Trinity” by Dr. James White. It is aimed at the layman and should be an excellent resource. But whenever I teach a subject I like to get immersed in it so I can respond to the inevitable tough questions the class always ends up throwing at me. Accordingly, I am looking for some other...

In a Mormon(LDS) blog interview,1 Jenkins defended not only the Mormon owned Vid-Angel distribution and the filming of “The Chosen” in Utah on an LDS set, but he also defended the idea that Mormons follow the “same Christ” and that there is no significant difference between Mormons and Evangelicals. He further admitted that many LDS people are working on the project and influencing his thinking. Jenkins’ defense against criticism was quite telling. Hear it in his own words: “So even if you are listening to this right now as an evangelical and are horrified to hear me say some of...

“[Christ] existed in the form of God” (Philippians 2:6). Christ possesses the very nature of God. In the second part of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Christiana and her children travel toward the Celestial Country. During their pilgrimage, Interpreter introduces them to one of his male servants, whose name is Great-heart. When Christiana asks Great-heart to explain the nature of Christ’s forgiveness, part of his answer is: “He [Christ] has two natures in one Person, easy to distinguish but impossible to divide. There is a righteousness that belongs to both of these natures, and each righteousness is essential to that nature,...

I consider it both a strange mystery and a settled matter of the faith that God prefers not to do things alone. Repeatedly, He acts in a manner that involves the actions of others when it would seem, He could have acted alone. Why would God reveal His Word to the world through the agency of men? Why would He bother to use writing? Why not simply communicate directly with people? Why speak to Moses in a burning bush? Why did the Incarnation involve Mary? Could He not have simply become man, whole, complete, adult, in a single moment? Such...

Or . . . God The Father's Great Love And Humility As Demonstrated By The Cross And The Incarnation. The Cross {Jesus endured the shame of the Cross Hebrews 12:2} You must true-love deeply to allow evil men to hammer nails through your Son's hands and feet when you are Almighty God and could easily stop them but you didn't because you're not a self-seeker, rather you were willing to suffer excruciating agony to kelp others ~ physical and emotional agony. And it wasn't only nails driven through hands and feet. It was also severe flogging, insults, and humiliation. They...

15 Reasons Why Jesus Came 1. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 2. Jesus Christ came into the world to call sinners to repentance. Mark 2:17, When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." 3. Jesus Christ came into the world to seek...

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter John 15:1-8 Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus declares that he is the vine, and we are the branches who must remain in him. If we ourselves do not participate in who Jesus was, we miss the spiritual power that he meant to unleash. If John’s Gospel is any indication, Jesus does not want worshipers but followers, or better, participants: "I am the vine, you are the branches; live on in me; my body is real food and my blood real drink. The one who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains...

This is a rerun from 2015, I hope you enjoy… There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of...

Four Reasons That the Incarnation was Fitting, According to St. Thomas Aquinas Msgr. Charles Pope • December 9, 2018 • Incarnation of Jesus, Piero di Cosimo (1505)As we approach the Christmas feasts, it is good for us to ponder aspects of the Incarnation. In this post, I would like to consider what St. Thomas Aquinas teaches about its fittingness. God was not radically “required” to do everything as He did. We do well to ponder why the manner of the Lord’s incarnation is “fitting,” why it makes sense.St. Thomas, referencing St. John Damascene, gives four reasons for the fittingness...

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us…(I John 1:1-2)The Final of the three simple, theological propositions set forth by the apostle John, in his restorative ministry to those whose faith had been distorted due to the gnostics is this; …Jesus Christ has come (and remains)...

A Daring Image of the Reason for the Incarnation Msgr. Charles Pope • January 5, 2017 • Saints can be daring in their words. For example, St Athanasius said that God became man so that man might become God (De inarnationis c. 54, 3). And St. Thomas Aquinas said that pride is such a serious sin that, as a remedy for it, God permits other sins to humble us (Summa Theologica II IIae, 162,6).These are daring—even dangerous—assertions if they are not properly understood. And of course they can be properly understood. We do not become gods, but we do...

Incarnation and the First Letter of John Msgr. Charles Pope • January 3, 2017 • Åâàíãåëèñò ÈîàííIn the weekday Masses following the Christmas octave we celebrate the Word becoming flesh. We read from the First Letter of John, which emphasizes the Incarnation of Jesus and demands that we experience the Word becoming Flesh in a practical way in our own lives.Fundamentally, the Incarnation, the Second Person of the Trinity becoming flesh, means that our faith is about things that are real and tangible. As human beings, we have bodies. We have a soul that is spiritual, but it is...

The Value of Silence Before the Great Mystery of the Incarnation Msgr. Charles Pope • December 29, 2016 • Something at Christmas urges me (a man of many words) to write of holy silence. Perhaps it is due to one of the great Christmas antiphons, which speaks of the birth of Christ as a magnum mysterium (a great mystery). During Mass recently, the words of Zechariah came to my mind:Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord … Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for...

Four Arguments for the Fittingness of the Incarnation According to St. Thomas Aquinas Msgr. Charles Pope • December 18, 2016 • As we approach the Christmas feasts, it is good for us to ponder aspects of the Incarnation. In this article, I would like to consider what St. Thomas Aquinas teaches about the fittingness of the Incarnation. God was not radically “required” to do everything as He did. We do well to ponder why the manner of the Lord’s incarnation is “fitting,” why it makes sense.St. Thomas, referencing St. John Damascene, gives four reasons for the fittingness of the...

Why Did the Second Person of the Trinity Become Incarnate Rather Than the Father or the Holy Spirit? Msgr. Charles Pope • December 19, 2016 • As we continue to await the fast-approaching Feast of Holy Christmas, it is good to ponder some aspects of the Incarnation. Among the questions for us to consider is why it was the Son, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, that became incarnate, rather than the Father or the Holy Spirit.Most people have never even thought of this question let alone sought to answer it. God could have chosen many different ways...

Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the...

Beyond creeds. All attempts to articulate the Triune Godhead that I have seen focus on inconsequentials. The nature of the Trinity is rather simple but I can't come up with a way to express it compactly so please bear with me. You will acknowledge that God in His Omnipotence has the power to create a perfect copy of me, a color Xerox of me if you will. Such a copy might be so perfect that the copy would be convinced that he actually WAS me. My family couldn't tell the difference either because he would share every single attribute I...

Msgr. Charles Pope -- December 30, 2015 -- In the ancient Church and up until rather recently, one genuflected at the two references to the Incarnation during the Mass: during the Creed and in the Last Gospel (John 1). Why was this done? It was explained to me that the mystery of the Incarnation is so deep, one can only fall in silent reverence.There are many paradoxes and seeming impossibilities in the Incarnation. They cannot be fully solved, so they claim our reverence. We genuflected in the past, and today we bow today at the mention of the Incarnation in...

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS CAROLIntroduction: Have you ever considered, What is the first Christmas Carol?A carol is a song of joyful praise involving the birth of The Lord Jesus Christ. The first carol goes all the way back to the night in which The Lord Jesus Christ was born. No, it was not the Shepherds! Neither was it the Heavenly host which the shepherds heard. But even before the angels sang, The Lord Jesus Himself sang. Yes, That Little Baby in the manger sang the first Christmas Carol. It was not heard by His parents, nor by any human being, but...