PROGRESS AND THE CHURCH

[Iudaes 1087]

AN ACOLYTE’S THESIS

 PROGRESS AND THE CHURCH

 

On the Matter of the Church and the Modern World,
and Her Place Among the Flow of Progress.

 

Written and Published by Brother Ernst,
Submitted to the Cardinal Providentia.

 

10th of Owyn's Light, 1829

“He entrusted to them the Word of GOD, which were the Virtue and the Spirit, 
and charged them to instruct their brethren in the path of holiness.” (Gospel 5:4)

 

 

Those millennium ago did the first spiritual son of Exalted Horen, Prophet Owyn, bestow unto the twins, Saints Evaristus and Clement the Laurel, and entrusted with them the revealed Scripture, the undeniable and infallible wisdom of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is this Holy Truth which has been passed down throughout the ages along a line of similarly anointed men, sharing a mission that has remained a constant since those days of yore and which is detailed most clearly in the Holy Scrolls; to instruct their brethren in that path of holiness, a path ordained a righteous one and so very necessary by the Divine.

 

These Vicars of the Almighty God, the High Pontiffs, have guided generation after generation throughout the ages and have and continue to succeed in this most holy objective. As truth this is known for the Church’s reach stretches far and wide, from the Holy Orenian Empire to the great Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska, and to the honorable Sutica and Luciensburg, and to many other nations and states. So with the Church has gone the reach of God, yet the Church’s teachings, those derived from the Lord God, nevertheless wane. 

 

Whilst still held close to men’s hearts, as modernity has been ushered forth with it’s great progress in toe, at times the Word of God has been overshadowed by that of culture. With years of progress come new ideals and while greater and fairer rights, representative government, and many other innovations can be lauded far and wide as remarkable achievements of men, there are too developing ideals contrary to that which the Church holds true. Certainly a God who praises the labors of men in the Scroll of Virtue (Virtue 4:6) too commends His faithful for the advancements alike to those formerly mentioned, yet beyond doubt is there (so called) progress which He too will admonish. 

 

The faithful nations of which the Church encompasses remain great pillars of Canonism, yet they nevertheless stumble at times in this age of progress; they labor in virtue but too grow lax in sin, accepting notions born not of God and Faith but of man and culture, views contrary to God’s will and in conflict with the Church’s principles. Yet, I speak not of this directly for surely it has been written of in length by those of higher station and knowledge then mine own. I speak not of this creeping “Age of Culture” but of the Church’s place in it. As a ship out to sea, this most holy institution faces harsh waves which threaten to turn it off course, the calls of some laymen for the Church to progress alongside the world and to not remain “behind it”. 

 

Yet, to this I firmly say no, for it is not the Church’s place to walk alongside the world. While certainly the Church must allow for some change within, as great reformers like Their Holinesses, Blessed Siegmund I, Blessed Daniel VI, and Saint James II have made clear, the Church nevertheless possesses or rather, has received that which cannot be changed (and other things which can but should not be or are not so easily altered). While the great reformers have adapted matters like Priestly celibacy, the codified Canon Law, and other doctrines to the modern day, I remind the reader of what the High Priests Evaristus and Clement received; the infallible, unchangeable, one and single truth of God.

 

We are not a government of the modern day but a holy institution which derives all things from one, the Lord God, who has, in blessing us with the Holy Scrolls, set clear limitations for the Church in its service to Him. While we may interpret, we cannot fabricate, for it is the Lord God who is without peer (Virtue 1:3) and it is the Church who is not God but of God. Doctrines may change at times (although rarely), yet it is God who does not change and therefore, nor does His Word. It is we who must instead preserve that which we have been given and act as guides on His path, the virtuous path which all the righteous must follow (Virtue 1:9).

 

It was Exalted Owyn who admonished the Jorenites in the Scroll of Spirit, “So to you sons of Joren I admonish: There is no innovation in faith. For GOD is as he was and shall be, and the holiness of Horen is the holiness of all men, forever.” (Spirit 2:17-18) It is these words written by the man who did bestow the first High Priests the Laurel that are words the Church must hold true to for as said prior, it is not the Church’s place to progress alongside the world. Verily, there is no innovation in faith and serving in the example of Exalted Owyn, we must admonish the world when it’s progress comes in conflict with the Church’s teachings. 

 

The Church is not merely an institution among others but God’s institution and therefore pertains to much more than this world. As the descendants may walk astray from what God deems right, it is the Church which acts as the tether to all that is holy and therefore cannot walk with the faithful but must lead them. While we may make alterations to the institution where necessary, it is forever more the Word of God which remains to be the basis of the Church and if the Church is to ever to part from that for the sake of earthly progress contradictory to those interpretations which we have held as ultimate, holy truths for centuries, surely are we not true to the Church’s mission.

 

So, to those who are tempted to call on the Church to join the world in progress or those who mean to sway the Church to the culture of modern day, certainly this is wrong for verily this is not the place of the Church. We are shepherds after all and it is not the shepherd who follows the sheep but the sheep who follow the shepherd.

 

Forever Faithful,
Ernst
 

@JoanOfArc

Edited July 17, 2021 by GoldWolf

[JoanOfArc 4586]

Cardinal Gawain stamped off on the thesis, from the tired and ugly look of his face, he did not actually read it. "Mmm. I will invest him and he can do... what can he do?" the Cardinal said, forgetting what his train of thought was about. "He can write or, something or other."

[Axelu 3691]

"A beauteous take," remarked Johanna I whilst in the midst of her readings. "This brother has an innovative, yet devoted, mind. GOTT bless him." 

[Urahra 5359]

"The man neglects to state exactly what principles of modern society he's so apparently against," Anthony Bentarus comments. "No need to be shy, sir - let's hear it. Is it women inheriting that offends you? Or the mere existence of Adunians sharing in our society? Go on, let's make our positions quite clear. We won't make any progress by being coy about what we believe."