2. All instruction is either about things or about signs; but things are learnt by means of signs. I now use the word “thing” in a strict sense, to signify that which is never employed as a sign of anything else: for . . . Continue reading →
signs
Wearing Crosses or Bearing Them?
In my past life, battling through the highway throng on the ‘5’ out of Escondido, I used to stare in amazement at the gas guzzling Christian four by fours thundering past my little Volkswagen. As I tried to prevent myself from being . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 66: Sacraments Are No More Or Less Than Gospel Signs And Seals (3)
66. What are the Sacraments? The Sacraments are visible holy signs and seals appointed of God for this end, that by the use thereof He may the more fully declare and seal to us the promise of the Gospel: namely, that of . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 67: The Sacraments Are True Signs And Seals Of Christ And His Gospel (2)
67. Are both the Word and the Sacraments designed to direct our faith to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation? Yes truly, for the Holy Spirit teaches in the Gospel and assures us by . . . Continue reading →
Heidelberg 69: How Is Baptism A Sign And Seal?
69. How is it signified and sealed to you in Holy Baptism, that you have part in the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross? Thus: that Christ instituted this outward washing with water and joined therewith this promise: that I am . . . Continue reading →
Augustine On Words And Meanings
While Augustine argues that ‘there are two things on which all interpretation of Scripture depends: the mode of ascertaining the proper meaning and the mode of making known the meaning when it is ascertained,’ it should be evident that the first step . . . Continue reading →
Augustine Gives Us A Clue As To The Meaning Of “Hymns” In The Ancient Church
Meanwhile, a certain Hilary, a Catholic layman of tribunitial rank, incited to anger, for some reason or other, against the ministers of God, as often happens, in abusive, censorious language, wherever it was possible, was violently attacking the custom which, at the . . . Continue reading →