Stephen K. Ray's Blog, page 49

What Does “Water and Spirit” Mean?

Since we were just at the Jordan River, where Jesus was baptized in water and the Spirit came down, I thought I would share this post again. A while ago a Protestant friend tried to prove that Born Again by “water and Spirit” did not mean baptism. Here is one paragraph that he sent me:

In John, chapter 3, Jesus told Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews and a Pharisee, that one must be born ‘from above’ (Gr. anothen) in order to enter the kingdom of God. Nicodemus asked if one could enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born. But Jesus told him that one must be born ‘of the Spirit’ in order to enter the kingdom of God.

A better translation of John 3.5 would read: “… except a man be born of water—even of the Spirit—he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” The little greek word kai is often translated “even”—which I believe better conveys the Lord’s meaning here. He is contrasting the water of the womb and fleshly birth, with the water of the Spirit and heavenly birth.

Water is often symbolic of the Holy Spirit in scripture (John 4.10-14; 7.37-39; Revelation 22.1, 17; Isaiah 12.3; 44.3; Matthew 3.11; Mark 1.8; Luke 3.16; John 1.33).

So I responded:

Hello Friend

Thanks for your recent e-mail. In reading even the first part of the article you sent I see it is exactly the arguments I used before I realized better and became Catholic. The paragraph referred to is utter nonsense and though the author cites a lot of Scripture, his reasoning and conclusion are blatantly unscriptural. I tried to explain to you the biblical understanding of “born again” when we had lunch but I saw at the time that you either were not listening or it went right over your head — I’m not sure which.

My Comments:
First, the Greek word anothen can and does mean both “born again” or “born from above”. They both apply. John frequently uses words with two meanings (eg. pneuma which means both “wind” and “spirit”).

“Born of water and the Spirit“: Using the word “even” instead of “and“ is NOT a better translation. It is a cop-out. The little Greek word “kai” is the common word for “and” and only if someone has a Fundamentalist doctrinal bias would they try to slip the word “even” into the translation. It is dishonest and I am surprised you would fall for it.

John 3:5 in the best Evangelical Translations of the Bible
Here are you major Protestant translations. Notice NONE of them cheat and use the word “even”! Why not? Because they know something your web author is being dishonest about. Like you said to me, “Please study carefully with an open heart to the Holy Spirit” (and not to denominational bigots who twist Scripture to teach the doctrines of men). This is just one sampling of how I could decimate the whole article if I considered it worthy of my time — which I don’t.

The King James VersionThe New International VersionYoung’s Literal TranslationThe Revised Standard VersionThe New Jerusalem BibleThe Good News TranslationThe Contemporary English Version5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.5 Jesus answered, ‘Verily, verily, I say to thee, If any one may not be born of water, and the Spirit, he is not able to enter into the reign of God;5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.5 Jesus replied: In all truth I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born through water and the Spirit;5 “I am telling you the truth,” replied Jesus. “No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.5 Jesus answered: I tell you for certain that before you can get into God’s kingdom, you must be born not only by water, but by the Spirit.

So, if the best translation is of kai is actually “even”, then why don’t the best Protesant translations use “even” instead of “and“? Huh?

The Very First Christians (unanimously!!)
By the way, notice how the very first Christians interpreted John 3:5 below. Look how far you have strayed for the Early Church, the followers of the first apostles and the martyrs and champions of the faith.

St. Justin Martyr (c. 100-c. 165), “Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated [reborn]: in the name of God the Father . . . and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing of water. For Christ said, ‘Except you be born again, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’ . . . The reason for doing this, we have learned from the Apostles” (The First Apology 1, 61) (Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1985],1:183).

St. Theophilus of Antioch (died c. 185 A.D.), who first coined the word “Trinity,” writes, “Those things which were created from the waters [Gen 1] were blessed by God, so that this might also be a sign that men would at a future time receive repentance and remission of sins through water and the bath of regeneration” (To Autolycus 2, 16) (William Jurgens, The Faith of the Early Fathers [Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1970], 1:75).

Origen (c. 185-c. 254) “The Church received from the Apostles the tradition [custom] of giving Baptism even to infants. For the Apostles, to whom were committed the secrets of divine mysteries, knew that there is in everyone the innate stains of sin, which must be washed away through water and the Spirit” (Commentary on Romans 5, 9) (Jurgens, The Faith of the Early Fathers, 1:209).

St. Augustine (AD 354-430) “Who is so wicked as to want to exclude infants from the kingdom of heaven by prohibiting their being baptized and born again in Christ?” (Pecc. merit. 3, 6, 12) (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, ed. Philip Schaff [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publ., 1971], 5:244). “This [infant baptism] the Church always had, always held; this she received from the faith of our ancestors; this she perseveringly guards even to the end” (Sermon 11, De Verb Apost) (Catholic Encyclopedia, ed. Charles Herbermann, et al, [New York: Robert Appleton, 1907], 2:270).

Protestant Commentators
“Even” (no pun intended) scholarly Evangelical commentators will tell you the truth about this verse:

Baptist commentator George Beasley-Murray wrote in one of the most solid Evangelical commentaries on John’s Gospel, “Suggestions like these do not do justice to the text [of John 3:5] and have not commended themselves to scholarly opinion. It would seem that the text relates birth from above to baptism and the Holy Spirit” (Word Biblical Commentary: John, [Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987],36:48).

Protestant commentator R.V.G. Tasker agreed, “In light of the reference to the practice by Jesus of water baptism in verse 22, it is difficult to avoid construing the words ‘of water and of the Spirit’ conjunctively, and regarding them as a description of Christian baptism, in which cleansing and endowment are both essential elements” (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: The Gospel According to St. John [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publ., 1977], 4: 71).

Look what Martin Luther said!  “Here [John 3:5] Christ is speaking of Baptism, of real and natural water such as a cow may drink. . . . Here Christ also speaks of the Holy Spirit and teaches us to regard Baptism as a spiritual, yes, a Spirit-filled water, in which the Holy Spirit is present and active. . . . And thus the person who has been baptized is said to be born anew. . . . . In this passage Christ declares that whoever is not born anew of the water and the Holy Spirit cannot come into the kingdom of God. Therefore God’s words dare not be tampered with. Of course, we are well aware that Baptism is natural water. But after the Holy Spirit is added to it, we have more than mere water. It becomes a veritable bath of rejuvenation, a living bath which washes and purges man of sin and death, which cleanses him of all sin” (“Sermons on the Gospel of St. John” Luther’s Works ed. Jaroslav Pelikan [St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publ. House, 1957], 22:283).

Keep an open mind Friend! Come home to where you belong.

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Poland Day 7: Mass at Maria Faustina & Divine Mercy Convent; Walking Tour of Krakow

Travel to the tomb of St. Faustina Kowalska where we will pray the Divine Mercy
Novena and celebrate Mass at the tomb of St. Mary Faustina in the Basilica of the Divine Mercy and tour of the convent. The Basilica of the Divine Mercy, which was consecrated by St. John Paul II, during his last trip to Poland. One of the Sisters gave us a short welcome and talk.

Transfer to Krakow to visit Market Square and saw the Witt Stwosz Altar at the Mariacki Church. Guided tour of Krakow
with the Royal Chambers, Wawel Hill and the Cathedral, where St. John Paul II
was ordained a priest and celebrated his first Mass.

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Maria Faustina and the Divine Mercy: A Short Biography & History

Since today we are praying the Divine Mercy at the bones of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska at the convent in Poland, I thought I would share this short biography and history.

Click here for the whole story with pictures….

The Biography of St. Maria Faustina. (August 25, 1905 – October 5, 1938)?

An excerpt from Apostle of Divine Mercy, a biography published by the Vatican.

Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, an apostle of Divine Mercy, one of the most popular and well-known saints of the Church. Through her, the Lord Jesus communicates to the world the great message of God’s mercy and reveals the pattern of Christian perfection based on trust in God and on the attitude of mercy toward one’s neighbors.

Sister Faustina was born on August 25, 1905 in Glogowiec, Poland of a poor and religious family of peasants, the third of 10 children. She was baptized with the name Helena in the parish church of Swinice Warckie. From a very tender age she stood out because of her love of prayer, work, obedience, and also her sensitivity to the poor.

At the age of seven she had already felt the first stirrings of a religious vocation. Helen made her first Holy Communion at the age of nine, which was very profound moment in her awareness of the presence of the Divine Guest within her soul. She attended school for three years. After finishing school, she wanted to enter the convent, but her parents would not give her permission. Being of age at 16, Helen left home and went to work as a housekeeper in Aleksandrów, Lodi, and Ostrówek in order to find the means of supporting herself and of helping her parents.

Helen joins Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy: Helen never lost her desire for a religious vocation. After being called during a vision of the Suffering Christ, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy on August 1, 1925, and took the name Sr. Maria Faustina of the Most Blessed Sacrament. She lived in the Congregation for thirteen years in several religious houses. She spent time at Krakow, Plock and Vilnius, where she worked as a cook, gardener, and porter.

Externally nothing revealed her rich mystical interior life. She zealously performed her tasks and faithfully observed the rule of religious life. She was recollected and at the same time very natural, serene, and full of kindness and disinterested love for her neighbor. Although her life was apparently insignificant, monotonous and dull, she hid within herself an extraordinary union with God.

Click here for the whole story with pictures….

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Poland Day 6: Home of St. Pope John Paul II; Poland’s Jerusalem

Today is another highlight for our pilgrims. Wadowice is the birthplace and hometown of St. John Paul II. We visited the house of St. John Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyła) which is now a fantastic museum. We ate the Pope’s favorite cakes!

We saw the Basilica of the Offering of the Blessed Virgin Mary and saw the baptismal
font where St. John Paul II was baptized.

After lunch we traveled to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, known as the Polish Jerusalem.
Visited the Shrine dedicated to the Passion of the Christ and the miraculous icon
of the Virgin Mary. We celebrated Mass at the Shrine before arriving in Krakow.

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Remembering Communism in Poland: Solzhenhitsyn on “Group-think Control”

We are currently leading a group in Poland, which, until recently was under Soviet Communism. The Poles have not forgotten. Here’s an example from one of my favorite authors Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

This episode is in Alexandr Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago, Vol. 1.  It shows the stupidity and mind control that totalitarian, socialist and intolerant governments and groups can impose upon people. It shows what can happen if we move toward socialism and Communism in our country with the liberals and the Far Left pushing their agenda and being very vocal about it.

If you haven’t read Solzhenitsyn you should acquaint yourself with him. He was a devout Russian Orthodox Christian. Start with his One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich which won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970. It is a short novel but very powerful.

The episode below from his Gulag Archipelago fascinated me so I decided to share it with you.

**********************

Here is one vignette from those years as it actually occurred. A district Party conference was underway in Moscow Province. It was presided over by a new secretary of the District Party Committee, replacing one recently arrested. At the conclusion of the conference, a tribute to Comrade Stalin was called for.

Of course, everyone stood up (just as everyone had leaped to his feet during the conference at every mention of his name). The small hall echoed with “stormy applause, rising to an ovation.” For three minutes, four minutes, five minutes, the “stormy applause, rising to an ovation,” continued.

But palms were getting sore and raised arms were already aching. And the older people were panting from exhaustion. It was becoming insufferably silly even to those who really adored Stalin. However, who would dare be the first to stop?

The secretary of the District Party Committee could have done it. He was standing on the platform, and it was he who had just called for the ovation. But he was a newcomer. He had taken the place of a man who’d been arrested. He was afraid! After all, NKVD men were standing in the hall applauding and watching to see who quit first! And in that obscure, small hall, unknown to the Leader, the applause went on —six, seven, eight minutes! They were done for! Their goose was cooked! They couldn’t stop now till they collapsed with heart attacks!

At the rear of the hall, which was crowded, they could of course cheat a bit, clap less frequently, less vigorously, not so eagerly—but up there with the presidium where everyone could see them? The director of the local paper factory, an independent and strong-minded man, stood with the presidium. Aware of all the falsity and all the impossibility of the situation, he still kept on applauding! Nine minutes! Ten! In anguish he watched the secretary of the District Party Committee, but the latter dared not stop. Insanity! To the last man!

With make-believe enthusiasm on their faces, looking at each other with faint hope, the district leaders were just going to go on and on applauding till they fell where they stood, till they were carried out of the hall on stretchers! And even then those who were left would not falter. . . .

Then, after eleven minutes, the director of the paper factory assumed a businesslike expression and sat down in his seat. And, oh, a miracle took place! Where had the universal, uninhibited, indescribable enthusiasm gone? To a man, everyone else stopped dead and sat down. They had been saved! The squirrel had been smart enough to jump off his revolving wheel.

That, however, was how they discovered who the independent people were. And that was how they went about eliminating them. That same night the factory director was arrested. They easily pasted ten years on him on the pretext of something quite different. But after he had signed Form 206, the final document of the interrogation, his interrogator reminded him:

“Don’t ever be the first to stop applauding!”

  Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr I. The Gulag Archipelago Part I (NY: Harper & Row, Publ., 1974), 69-70.

and imagine, there are people trying to bring communism back into our country. Blithering idiots!

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Poland Day 5: Mountains of Zakopane – JP II’s Favorite Vacation Place

A restful and very pleasant day today. We are in the mountains of Zakopané, which is John Paul II’s favorite vacation place. And we can see why! Beautiful countryside that reminds us a lot of Switzerland.

We had Mass in the beautiful wooden church of our lady of Fatima and then took the funiculars up Mount Glubowka for a bird’s eye view over the city and hillsides of Zakopane. Time to enjoy the mountain top. Then back down the tram to enjoy a fantastic and authentic “highlander lunch” at Góralska Tradycja.

Afternoon at leisure for strolling and shopping on the outdoor Krupowki Street Marketplace and visiting the local churches. Some people even decided to take a nap

 

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Poland Day 4: Jasna Gora Monastery; Black Madonna, Czestochowa, Zakopane

We do a fair amount of writing on the bus today to get south to the mountains of Zakopané. But we have a lot of fun stuff prepared along the way including movies about the sites, the Rosary and more.

We have lots of stories to tell, Fr. Ryan will share his vocation story and we had stops for snacks and lunches. We even plan an hour nap time after lunch!

We will visit the spiritual heart of Poland in Czestochowa. We will celebrate Mass at Jasna Gora Monastery and venerate the Black Madonna. We will arrive in Zakopane in time for dinner and to settle into our beautiful hotel.

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Poland Day 3: Maximilian Kolbe‘s Niepokolanow – Immaculata City; Old Town Warsaw

After a good nights, sleep, and a wonderful breakfast, we begin our first full day touring this amazing Catholic country of Poland. We started with a short drive to Maximilian Kolbe‘s Niepokolanow – the Immaculata City where he published his paper and established Catholic radio Poland. He was a real pioneer at both endeavors.

It was fun to see Jen Brown and Jim Carroll sit in the broadcasters seat and meet the present Franciscan broadcaster. Also, interesting that both the radio stations in Poland and in Omaha are frequently 102.7!

Back to the center of old historic Warsaw for lunch, and then a tour of the amazing city. Knowing how much of the city was destroyed during World War II, it is stunning how quaint and authentic and beautiful it is today.

Guided tour including St. John’s Cathedral where Servant of God Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski is buried and the Royal Castle Square, which features the magnificent Royal Residence and Sigmund Column.

Saw the Jewish Quarter and Heroes Memorial
along with Lazienki Park and Palace, former summer residence of the Polish Kings, and the famous Chopin Monument.

Dinner at the Belvedere Restaurant in the forest, one of the best restaurants of Warsaw.

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Bible Riddle

I am one but you’d see three,
and people barely think of me.
But I am often on their lips,
or found beneath their fingertips.
I warrant very little thought,
but with my help billions are taught.
And while I span a space so small,
I help you see what’s one, not all.
When God’s words first appeared on scrolls,
I was not found among their roles.
But in God’s word I’m now throughout,
to help you his will learn about.
Read just his first verse and his last,
and you’ve seen me there five times fast.
In fact this verse is one of few,
in which I’m not found through and through.
Although it’s true I’m found in “there”
but you will never see me here.

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Poland Day 1 & 2: Arrival in Warsaw, Mass at St. Stanislaw Koska, Westin Hotel

The big day has arrived as our group flew over the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Warsaw in good time.

We gathered everyone together at the Chopin Airport and went directly to the quaint Old City of Warsaw where everyone scattered to find nice cafés and coffee shops and snack bars. We gathered and bused to St. Stanislaw Kostka Church.

We toured the nicely done museum and venerated  Blessed Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko and his martyrdom. We found out that he was declared a Blessed aon August 6, which is the day we were here.

He was the famous priest that was murdered because he stood up to the Communists during the days of the Solidarity Movement, which eventually brought down the Soviet Union. Polish Pope John Paul II was massively important in the liberation of the Eastern Bloc countries, including Poland.

Fr. Ryan Lewis celebrated Mass for us at the main altar of the beautiful church before we arrived an our luxurious Westin Hotel, had a delicious dinner, and everybody got settled in early for the night. All is well and we are OFF TO A GREAT START!

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