Sunday's Hymn: When Morning Gilds the Sky

When morning gilds the skies,
My heart awaking cries
May Jesus Christ be praised:
Alike at work and prayer
To Jesus I repair;
May Jesus Christ be praised.

When sleep her balm denies,
My silent spirit sighs,
May Jesus Christ be praised:
When evil thoughts molest,
With this I shield my breast,
May Jesus Christ be praised.

Does sadness fill my mind?
A solace here I find,
May Jesus Christ be praised:
Or fades my earthly bliss?
My comfort still is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised.

In heav’n’s eternal bliss
The loveliest strain is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised:
The powers of darkness fear,
When this sweet chant they hear,
May Jesus Christ be praised.

Let earth’s wide circle round
In joyful notes resound,
May Jesus Christ be praised:
Let air and sea and sky,
From depth to height, reply,
May Jesus Christ be praised.

Be this, while life is mine,
My canticle divine,
May Jesus Christ be praised:
Be this th’eternal song,
Through all the ages on,
May Jesus Christ be praised.

Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• When Morning Guilds the Skies at The Happy Wonderer (Coincidentely, we chose the same song!)

Selected Reading, March 6, 2020

 

I’m really pleased with the selection of stuff this week. 

Christ

The Most Neglected Doctrine About Christ
This is an excellent review of what looks to be an excellent book. And when I say excellent review, I mean you might actually learn something from the review itself, especially when it comes to the place of the ascension of Christ in the threefold office of Christ.

Culture

What’s Wrong with Cancel Culture (and What Isn’t)
A very thoughtful piece by Amy Mantravadi.

Covenant

A Covenant With the Body Too
A reminder from Derek Rishmawy the “[o]ur union with Christ is body and soul, and even when our bodies lie in the grave, they are resting there in his care.” As he say, this is “marvelous.” 

Confession

The Belgic Confession
A few things you should know about this historic doctrinal statement: Who wrote it? What’s it’s history? What makes it disctinctive?

Theological Term of the Week: Justin Martyr

Justin Martyr
The “greatest of the 2nd Century [Christian] apologists.”1 In about AD 165, he was executed in Rome for being a Christian.

• From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. H. Needham:

In his writings, Justin tried to show that all the truths which the Greek philosophers, particularly the Platonists, had been striving to understand were now perfectly revealed in Christianity. To demonstrate this, Justin described Christ as the Logos… . Logos was a term which Greek philosophers used to refer to the eternal principle of Reason that gives order and meaning to the universe. Philosophers saw the Logos standing half-way between God and creation; God was too distant and perfect to have any immediate contact with the universe, but He could deal with it indirectly through His Logos. According to Justin, this eternal Logos or Reason was Christ himself before He became flesh as Jesus of Nazareth… . So instead of setting the Christian faith and Greek philosophy against each other, Justin believed that Christianity was the fulfilment of Greek philosophy. The philosophers had only seen parts of the jigsaw: Christianity gave the complete picture.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: Who was Justin Martyr?
2. Christian History: Justin Martyr
3. Doug Geivett: Justin Martyr: The First Apologist of the Christian Church
4. Justin Martyr: Dialogue with Trypho
5. Justin Martyr: How We Christians Worship

Related terms:

• Ambrose of Milan
• Apollinarius
• Athanasius
• Augustine of Hippo
• Basil of Caesarea
• Cappadocian fathers
• Columba
• Cyril of Alexandria
• Gregory of Nanzianzus
• Gregory of Nyssa
• Gregory the Great
• Hilary of Poitiers
• Irenaeus of Lyons
• Jerome
• John Chrysostom
• Maximus the Confessor
• Monica
• Nestorius
• Origen
• Patrick
• Pelagius
• Sabellius
• Tertullian
• Venerable Bede, The

Filed under Christian History

1From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. R. Needham.

---

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.