Are you Holy, Oren ? [II]

[Jentos 9422]

A month passed, and the man returned. Nothing had changed. So he lifted hammer and struck a nail to the door of the imperial court of justice. Another parchment stood besides the last who sat no longer solitary. It was a message meant for the peoples of the Orenic Empire. The letters now were not so transcribed with gold - nothing but ink, for the last was so spent reminding the living of God's view on the mage. Though this time - some letters were written large and bold, as if made to shout to the reader. 

 

ARUS VOS SANCTUS, OREN

 

 EPISTLE TO THE JORENITES

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Grace to you and peace from our Lord GOD, the Most Merciful, Singular, and Omnipotent.

 I am Owyn Son of Godwin, servant of the Lord, called to prophetic vocation in His service.

 Verily, brother, the Lord GOD spoke the Virtue to Horen.

 And verily you are commended for your virtue in defense of man, for indeed your own king kept me from death.

 But while you preserve the kingdom of man, the kingdom of GOD languishes.

 The Lord is the Lord GOD without peer, but you have failed in your defense of His word.

 Indeed, your own brothers mingle the word of lesser beings among His, and lapse in His commands for favor of new and foreign ways. 

 This is a sin of great heedlessness, for the Word of GOD lasts into the eve of the world, and the fruit of virtue cannot rot.

Whatever the Lord GOD spoke, the Lord GOD spoke indeed.

His word is not abrogated, never annulled.

 So I find that you are strict in your arms, but lax in your prayers. But to pray is to gird the spirit.

 The hand of GOD is the greatest weapon to bear, and His word is the paramount strategy.

 There can be no laxity in faith for any reason, not war nor peace, not wealth nor poverty.

 The Lord lasts through all adversities, for He is their source and their remedy—without Him, they are uncured.

 Verily brother, the Lord GOD is the eternal GOD, and he gives no exception to holiness.

His word is the lasting word, and it is the only Virtue.

 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.

 

There the words sat, and were nothing but words. But words holy nonetheless. 

[thesmellypocket 1859]

"Well timed, for today I attended a church service, and the Priest said that sin was 'unavoidable.' How can sin merit punishment or warrant forgiveness if it is 'unavoidable?' How can God's anger be just against us, if it is so? Moreover if God always loves us and wills our good, how could He make sin 'unavoidable?' Because sin obviously cuts us off from God, and if God loves us and desires to be united to us, He would always make His grace sufficient to avoid sin in any given situation. And so He does. And thus sin is always avoidable in any given situation; God would not possibly make it unavoidable. Hence, when we sin, we are always responsible, because God gave us everything we needed to do the good, but we chose not to follow the way of grace. And hence we are greatly punishable and truly responsible for sin.

 

And then he fell into the opposite error, saying 'God cannot overcome sin alone.' Excuse me, isn't He omnipotent? Perhaps he meant to say: God can overcome sin alone, but He values our free will and hence our free co-operation with His grace is necessary to overcome it. But this is not a question of God lacking the ability to make us not sin, for did He but will, He could do so, but only with our free co-operation will He do so. Do these Priests actually think through their homilies before saying them? And everyone nodded along like nothing; truly the people have forgotten the true doctrines if such errors are openly preached and received." Says Edmund, to himself.

[Jentos 9422]

5 hours ago, thesmellypocket said:

"Well timed, for today I attended a church service, and the Priest said that sin was 'unavoidable.' How can sin merit punishment or warrant forgiveness if it is 'unavoidable?' How can God's anger be just against us, if it is so? Moreover if God always loves us and wills our good, how could He make sin 'unavoidable?' Because sin obviously cuts us off from God, and if God loves us and desires to be united to us, He would always make His grace sufficient to avoid sin in any given situation. And so He does. And thus sin is always avoidable in any given situation; God would not possibly make it unavoidable. Hence, when we sin, we are always responsible, because God gave us everything we needed to do the good, but we chose not to follow the way of grace. And hence we are greatly punishable and truly responsible for sin.

 

And then he fell into the opposite error, saying 'God cannot overcome sin alone.' Excuse me, isn't He omnipotent? Perhaps he meant to say: God can overcome sin alone, but He values our free will and hence our free co-operation with His grace is necessary to overcome it. But this is not a question of God lacking the ability to make us not sin, for did He but will, He could do so, but only with our free co-operation will He do so. Do these Priests actually think through their homilies before saying them? And everyone nodded along like nothing; truly the people have forgotten the true doctrines if such errors are openly preached and received." Says Edmund, to himself.

Sitting in the second floor of a building, a man nodded - not knowing why, but nodding nonetheless, as if from a subconscious epiphany.