Sure seems Clement of Roman foresaw the root of our current dilemma of Christian syncretism in his first letter to the church at Corinth:
“Every kind of honour and happiness was bestowed upon you, and then was fulfilled that which is written, My beloved ate and drank, and was enlarged and became fat, and kicked. Deuteronomy 32:15 Hence flowed emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. So the worthless rose up against the honoured, those of no reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years. For this reason righteousness and peace are now far departed from you, inasmuch as every one abandons the fear of God, and has become blind in His faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part becoming a Christian, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into the world.
He presses into and elaborates on this idea of envy in the next several chapters. It was enough to give me pause.
By the way, Duane thanks for the recommend. Now I found that I can listen to it on Librivox and read the text on the line at the same time I will be working my way through this multiple times.
It’s all yours today…
Sure seems Clement of Roman foresaw the root of our current dilemma of Christian syncretism in his first letter to the church at Corinth:
“Every kind of honour and happiness was bestowed upon you, and then was fulfilled that which is written, My beloved ate and drank, and was enlarged and became fat, and kicked. Deuteronomy 32:15 Hence flowed emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. So the worthless rose up against the honoured, those of no reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years. For this reason righteousness and peace are now far departed from you, inasmuch as every one abandons the fear of God, and has become blind in His faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part becoming a Christian, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into the world.
He presses into and elaborates on this idea of envy in the next several chapters. It was enough to give me pause.
By the way, Duane thanks for the recommend. Now I found that I can listen to it on Librivox and read the text on the line at the same time I will be working my way through this multiple times.
*of Rome