ACE Quiz
The passage from Isaiah speaks of six-winged angels. What are the various types or orders of angels spoken of in scripture?
A) Cherubim
B) Archangels
C) Putti
D) Seraphim
E) Angels (regular grade)
The passage from Isaiah to be read this Sunday refers to angels in the court of heaven, specifically to seraphim (plural of seraph), the six-winged beings who also appear in the Revelation of St. John. The angels continually sing the Trisagion which we sing with them in the eucharistic prayer: “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.”
In Isaiah chapter 6 one of the angels removes a coal from the altar and presses it to the lips of the prophet to purify him so that he might speak the word of God. This is one of the biblical sources for the Catholic doctrine of purgatory and for the general doctrine of an act or process of purification before a soul is brought into the presence of God in heaven.
In Anglicanism the doctrine of purgatory as a place where souls are gathered for terms of painful purification that may be shortened by allotment of the Church’s accumulation of merit is nearly universally rejected. However, the idea of a continued spiritual progress and purification of the soul is accepted by many Anglicans as it is among the Orthodox. Perhaps the best known and loved Anglican expounder of purgatory in this sense is C.S. Lewis in his book The Great Divorce. In that short book the purification process is presented as a response to grace, rather than punishment.
As an Episcopalian, both Evangelical and Catholic, I find a lot of hope in the wisdom of the Church that God will straighten me out in the end. Whether by fire as in Isaiah or by a long bus ride as imagined by C.S. Lewis I do not know. As St. Paul tells us, now we see as in a mirror dimly, but then we shall see clearly. God grant me – and all of us -- in this life and in the life to come the grace to accept the firewhich burns away our chaff and melts away our sin so our thoughts, words and deeds may be God’s own.
Answer to the quiz: All except putti. Actually, these chubby babies of Raphael paintings, tire and toilet paper commercials, are what we are most used to seeing in popular culture, but the cherubim of scripture bear them little resemblance. Fat baby angels are definitely cuter.
The passage from Isaiah speaks of six-winged angels. What are the various types or orders of angels spoken of in scripture?
A) Cherubim
B) Archangels
C) Putti
D) Seraphim
E) Angels (regular grade)
The passage from Isaiah to be read this Sunday refers to angels in the court of heaven, specifically to seraphim (plural of seraph), the six-winged beings who also appear in the Revelation of St. John. The angels continually sing the Trisagion which we sing with them in the eucharistic prayer: “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.”
In Isaiah chapter 6 one of the angels removes a coal from the altar and presses it to the lips of the prophet to purify him so that he might speak the word of God. This is one of the biblical sources for the Catholic doctrine of purgatory and for the general doctrine of an act or process of purification before a soul is brought into the presence of God in heaven.
In Anglicanism the doctrine of purgatory as a place where souls are gathered for terms of painful purification that may be shortened by allotment of the Church’s accumulation of merit is nearly universally rejected. However, the idea of a continued spiritual progress and purification of the soul is accepted by many Anglicans as it is among the Orthodox. Perhaps the best known and loved Anglican expounder of purgatory in this sense is C.S. Lewis in his book The Great Divorce. In that short book the purification process is presented as a response to grace, rather than punishment.
As an Episcopalian, both Evangelical and Catholic, I find a lot of hope in the wisdom of the Church that God will straighten me out in the end. Whether by fire as in Isaiah or by a long bus ride as imagined by C.S. Lewis I do not know. As St. Paul tells us, now we see as in a mirror dimly, but then we shall see clearly. God grant me – and all of us -- in this life and in the life to come the grace to accept the firewhich burns away our chaff and melts away our sin so our thoughts, words and deeds may be God’s own.
Answer to the quiz: All except putti. Actually, these chubby babies of Raphael paintings, tire and toilet paper commercials, are what we are most used to seeing in popular culture, but the cherubim of scripture bear them little resemblance. Fat baby angels are definitely cuter.
posted by Adult Christian Education of the heart at 9:26 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home