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Sabbath, July 8, 2006 - Newark Seventh-day Adventist Church

Pastor Thomas M. Hughes
 

THE DA VINCI CODE – Part Five

Was Jesus The Messiah?
 
This week we’re shifting gears. The two major attacks on Christianity by The Da Vinci Code are basically the credibility of the Bible and then it’s attacking Jesus Christ.
 
Father in heaven we thank you for the opportunity to review these things. You make our foundations even surer and our faith even stronger when it is tested and challenged; and bless us today as we do this. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
 
The Da Vinci Code is largely the story of The Holy Grail which most folks think is the cup or chalice that Jesus used at the last supper and was the same cup that supposedly caught his blood at the Cross. As the legend goes, to find this cup and drink out of it is supposed to give you eternal life—the fountain of youth, perpetual youth. But in the novel instead of the Holy Grail being a cup, it is actually a person. Specifically Mary Magdalene, whom Dan Brown says for a variety of reasons Leonardo Da Vinci actually painted into his famous painting of the Last Supper. According to him, she took the place of the Apostle John. Now Mary was a great apostle and a worker for Christ. She sat in the circle of elders. She was the first to carry forth the message of Christ’s resurrection. She was the most faithful of all Jesus’ followers and she was the only one who understood that he had to die and be resurrected. But I do not believe that this is Mary in this painting. Now he also supposedly says that Da Vinci left additional clues to the identity of Mary in other famous pieces of art, and he even suggests that the Mona Lisa is really Mary Magdalene.
 
In his novel Brown claims that Jesus was just a man and not the Messiah. He claims that Jesus was not God. Instead, Jesus’ divine status was given him by Emperor Constantine at the Council of Nicaea and the early church supposedly used Jesus’ divine status to maintain their power base of authority over the people.
 
Dan Brown writes, "Constantine needed to strengthen the new Christian tradition, and held a famous ecumenical gathering known as the Council of Nicaea…At this gathering...many aspects of Christianity were debated and voted upon... [including] the divinity of Jesus...until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet...a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal...not the Son of God." (The Da Vinci Code: Dan Brown, 232–233)
 
On page 235 Brown drops this bombshell: "Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false." (The Da Vinci Code: Dan Brown, 235)
 
And then on May 17, 2006, Ian McKellen, one of the actors in The Da Vinci Code (who was also in the movie, Lord of the Rings and who is also a homosexual) movie released worldwide, said in an interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show, "I’ve often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction." I’ve got a clip of that interview on the screen. Take a listen.
 
Http://newsbusters.org/stories/dv.html?q=node/5402

Da Vinci Code Actor: Bible Should Have ‘Fiction’ Disclaimer

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on May 17, 2006.
 
If "The Da Vinci Code" was already feeding the flames of controversy with its challenge to the basic tenets of Christianity, actor Ian McKellen managed to pour a refinery tank’s worth of gasoline on the fire on this morning’s ‘Today’ show, asserting that the Bible should carry a disclaimer saying that it is "fiction."
 
Matt Lauer, in his second day "On the Road with the Code," was in Cannes for the film festival, where the Code will have its debut. It has already been screened to some critics, who have given it decidedly mixed reviews.
 
As I reported here, NBC reporter Melissa Stark yesterday dipped a timid toe in the sea of controversy when she interviewed Code director Ron Howard, asking how he reacted to the controversy the movie has created . . . for the Church! Sounding more like a sensitivity trainer than a Hollywood director, Howard offered up some ambiguous prose about it being healthy thing for people to engage their beliefs.
Lauer took the bull of controversy more directly by the horns when he interviewed the cast and director Howard today. Said Lauer:
 
"There have been calls from some religious groups, they wanted a disclaimer at the beginning of this movie saying it is fiction because one of the themes in the book really knocks Christianity right on its ear, if Christ survived the crucifixion, he did not die for our sins and therefore was not resurrected. What I'm saying is, people wanted this to say ‘fiction, fiction, fiction.’ How would you all have felt if there was a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie? Would it have been okay with you?"
 
There was a pause, and then famed British actor Ian McKellen [Gandalf of Lord of the Rings] piped up:
 
"Well, I've often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction. I mean, walking on water, it takes an act of faith. And I have faith in this movie. Not that it's true, not that it's factual, but that it's a jolly good story. And I think audiences are clever enough and bright enough to separate out fact and fiction, and discuss the thing after they've seen it."
 
With the camera focused on McKellen, one could hear a distinctly nervous laugh in the background, seeming to come from either actor Tom Hanks or director Howard. McKellen's stunning bit of blasphemy is likely to test the adage that all publicity is good publicity.
 
Finkelstein, recently a guest on the Lars Larson Show, lives in the liberal haven of Ithaca, NY, where he hosts the award-winning public-access TV show 'Right Angle'.
Contact him at mark@gunhill.net
 
Well, Hollywood definitely thinks your Bible is just obviously a work of fiction as well. Now I just wanted you to see that little clip because it has more impact when you hear the guy say it. An that’s the way they think and this movie has affected millions of people I’m telling you right now.
 
Do you see why Christians around the world are rising up in Protest to the claims made in this book and now movie? It would be extremely irresponsible of us not to be prepared to give an answer for our faith! Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of 1 Peter 3:15 (The Message) says it this way,
 
1 Peter 3:15—"Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy."
 
That’s good advice right? And when we do speak up, you may notice a pattern emerging in the kinds of questions raised and responses given. Because the majority of the questions raised in The Da Vinci Code fall within two major categories.
 
Category #1 is the genuineness of the Bible. We addressed in the first four presentations:
 
"Was the Resurrection Real?" – We concluded it was.
 
"Does the Lord Have a Day?" - We concluded, yes, He does: The seventh-day Sabbath.
 
"Is the Old Testament Authentic?" – Without a doubt, it is.
 
"Is the New Testament Credible?" – We came to the conclusion that it is credible.
Category #2 Is what we’re going to address in the next three messages. The first one is today. The second category involves questions about the person of Jesus Christ. That is:
 
1. Did a man by the name of Jesus Christ really live and if He did who was He?
2. Was he the Messiah that the disciples and early followers say He was?
3. Was He 100% human and 100% man?
4. When was what the church thinks about Him finally settled?
 
These are the issues I want to talk about today and the next time, and the next time. Now let’s begin with a question: "Was Jesus the Messiah?" For us, as Protestant Christian Seventh-day Adventists, we believe that He was the Messiah! The Yeshua Hammashiach of the Jews. The Jews for centuries predicted a coming Messiah as the Savior of their people. And we believe that He was. Why? Because of eyewitness accounts that we witnessed and because of the promises from God the He gave us in the Bible.
 
As we alluded to last time, both groups of eyewitness: Christ followers and His critics, were most important in validating the authenticity and credibility of the New Testament (cf. Acts 2:22; 2 Peter 1:16; 1 John 1:3). Of those many eyewitnesses, I want to talk to you about two of them today who actually testified of Jesus’ literal birth. They are Simeon and Anna.
 
Luke gives us the testimony of Simeon in Luke 2:25-32 (NKJV) which reads, "And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 28he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: 29"Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word; 30For my eyes have seen Your salvation 31Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel."
 
Luke tells us that Simeon was "...waiting for the Consolation of Israel…" This simply means that Simeon was waiting expectantly for the coming Messiah, a coming Savior. Throughout the Bible there are numerous prophecies about Jesus being the Messiah – 456 of them to be exact. (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah: Alfred Edersheim, 980). Here’s just a handful.
 
Isaiah 7:14 (NKJV)—"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel."
Isaiah 9:6–7 (NKJV)—"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful…"
 
Now notice this about Jesus. The Trinity is in this verse if you would just open your eyes and see it.
 
"…His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 
Jesus is both the Father and the Son simultaneously, and the Spirit, all at once; plus there are three individuals there. There He is, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace all in the same verse. And it’s a beautiful verse isn’t it?
 
"7Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."
 
Jeremiah 23:5–6 (NKJV)—"‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 6In His days Judah will be saved [When Jesus died on the Cross, Judah was saved], and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’"
 
What a title! What a God!
 
Simeon was waiting for the One who would be the fulfillment of all these prophecies in Old Testament scripture. Then Luke tells us that through the Holy Spirit, God had revealed to Simeon that he would see the One who would be the fulfillment of Israel’s consolation..."the Lord’s Christ."
 
The phrase, "...the Lord’s Christ." is important to understand because Christ is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word "Messiah" and Messiah means "the anointed one." Based upon Simeon’s response to seeing baby Jesus, he obviously believed that Jesus was the Messiah.
 
Luke 2:30–32 (NKJV) says—"For my eyes have seen Your salvation [and only the Messiah is our salvation.] 31which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, 32a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.’"
 
Simeon was waiting expectantly for the coming Messiah, and God had revealed to Him that he would not die until he saw the anointed one. Once Simeon saw baby Jesus, he knew that He was the one.
 
The next eyewitness account comes from a woman named Anna. Luke records her testimony in chapter 2 verses 36- 38 (NLT), "Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, and was very old. She was a widow, for her husband had died when they had been married only seven years. 37She was now eighty- four years old. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. 38She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about Jesus to everyone who had been waiting for the promised King to come and deliver Jerusalem."
 
Obviously, like Simeon, Anna also believed that baby Jesus was the Messiah. But why? What had God revealed about this coming Messiah in the Old Testament that these two elderly, godly people would have known about? Well, that’s where God’s six promises come into play.
PROMISE #1 - The Messiah would be human, not an angel.
 
Genesis 3:15 (NKJV) says—"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."
 
This is the first reference to the Messiah in the Bible. The word "enmity" literally means "hostility or hatred." It’s a volatile word. In the Greek it is equivalent to "violent movements of air or water." We would use words like tornado, hurricane, or tidal wave to describe it. It’s a word of intense hatred, wrath, and hostility. And God said He was going to put that kind of violent hatred and hostility in that text.
 
What the Bible means by that is that Satan hates God and because we are made in God’s image, guess what? Satan hates you too! But let’s keep going because this is where it gets really important. The word "seed" is "zera" in Hebrew. It refers to the "seed of the woman." Which we’ll come back to in a few minutes. But the question right now is: why do all Christian scholars think the "seed" in Genesis 3:15 refers to the Messiah?
 
The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery explains. "The seed image often denotes human lineage or heritage...One central figurative use of the seed image involves the ‘seed’ of David and of Abraham. Paul refers to Jesus [Romans 1:3] as the ‘seed of David’, a well–established designation in Judaism for the awaited Messiah." (The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 771)
 
Paul specifically identifies Jesus as the "seed" in Galatians 3:16 (NKJV)—"Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘to Abraham and his Seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed’ who is Christ."
 
So that’s how we know the seed in Genesis 3:15 would be human not an angel. The seed is Jesus. And the seed comes from a woman.
PROMISE # 2 - The Seed, the Messiah, would be a Jew not a Gentile.
 
Why did God choose the Jewish people to be "His people?" Honestly, there was no good reason. Moses said to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 7:7 (NKJV) as to why He chose them. "The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers."
 
The "forefathers" referred to here are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Isaac was Abraham’s son, Jacob was Isaac’s son and the Bible is clear in Genesis 12¾ 28 that the roots of the Messiah are traced back through Isaac (Genesis 26:2-5), Jacob (Genesis 28:13–14) and originate in Abraham (Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18). But not only did God promise that the Messiah would be a Jew and not a Gentile, it gets even more specific than that.
PROMISE #3 - The Messiah would be from the tribe of Judah.
 
After God delivered the Israelites from bondage to Egypt, the children eventually landed in the Promised Land. By the way, did you guys see the newer version of the Charlton Heston’s classic movie The Ten Commandments? They aired it on TV around Easter this year. It was terrible! The older version was much better in my opinion. But I’m not going to digress into that. That would be a tangent, and I’m going to go on it!
 
But Promise #3 was that the Messiah would be through the tribe of Judah. Now, eventually, the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, arrived in the Promised Land, and they divided them into twelve tribes known as the tribes of Israel. Catchy, huh?
 
They are: Asher, Naphtali, Zebulun, Issachar, Manassah, Ephraim, Gad, Benjamin, Dan, Judah, Reuben, and Simeon.
 
And over the years, these 12 tribes had a bunch of Kings. The first king was Saul. The next was David; the next king was Solomon who was David’s son. Solomon ruled for 40 years and when he died, he was succeeded by his son Rehoboam. The book of 1 Kings in the Old Testament describes how Rehoboam had the opportunity to reduce the taxes of his father, increasing the child income tax credit (just kidding). Anyway, he asked the old men and the young men, and the old men said to reduce the taxes and all will go well. And the young men said, "You show them you’re even tougher than you’re dad"! Increase the taxes! Sadly, he listened to the young men, followed their advice, which was not good, and they rebelled and thus the two tribes split off from the other ten and God’s kingdom was split in two, and the tribes broke away under the leadership of Jeroboam.
 
Now God’s people are split and become two nations. One called Israel with 10 tribes in the north. And one called Judah with two tribes in the south. Now, the reason that this is important to our confirmation of Jesus being the Messiah is that God promised that the Messiah would come through the Tribe of Judah.
 
Genesis 49:10 (NKJV) proclaims—"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people."
 
So God promised the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah.
PROMISE #4 - The Messiah would specifically come from the family of David.
 
He narrows it down even more. The Messiah would come not only through the house of Judah, but through David. And there are numerous prophecies indicating the Messiah would come through the family of David.
 
Psalm 89:3–4 (NKJV)—"I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: ‘4Your seed I will establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations.’"
 
Psalm 132:11—"11The LORD has sworn in truth to David; He will not turn from it: ‘I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body.’"
 
Jeremiah 23:5 (NKJV)—"‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.’"
 
We know that that’s Jesus. Now how do we know that Jesus came from the tribe of David? Well, it just so happens that both Mary and Joseph come from the lineage of David! And it’s interesting we find that in Matthew and Luke record that Mary was a descendent of King David through his son Nathan and Joseph was a descendent of King David through his son Solomon.
 
Mary’s genealogy is found in Luke 3:23–37 and Joseph’s genealogy is found in Matthew 1:1-17.
 
Matthew’s genealogy presents a descending line, from Abraham through David, through Joseph, to Jesus, who is called Christ. Luke’s genealogy presents an ascending line, starting from Jesus and going back through David, Abraham, and even to ‘Adam, the son of God’
 
These boring genealogies are important because the Bible writers are using them to prove twice that Jesus came from the family of David in the tribe of Judah. That Jesus was more than perfectly qualified to take the throne of David. But it gets better than that!
PROMISE #5 - The Messiah would be born of a virgin.
 
Isaiah 7:14 (NKJV)—"14Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel."
 
Do you ever wonder why it seems like God is just making it harder and harder on Himself to make this whole Messiah thing happen? Not only does the Messiah have to be human not an angel, a Jew and not a Gentile, not only does He have to come through the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Not only does He have to come through the tribe of Judah. Specifically the family line of David...now, the Messiah has to be born of a virgin!
 
Matthew 1:18 (NKJV) fills us in. "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit."
 
Luke 1:30–35 adds, "Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And behold, you will conceive in your womb, bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS…"
 
Now that’s pretty specific. This baby’s going to be in your womb, Mary.
 
32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.’ 34Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?’" (Another version says, "Since I am a virgin.")
 
"35And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’"
 
Can you imagine the questions in Mary’s mind? If a Jewish girl got pregnant, they would take stones and kill her dead. They would stone her to death if she was pregnant out of wedlock. And so Joseph wanted to put her away privately. God reassured both Joseph and Mary that this birth would be miraculous.
 
Now how she get pregnant if she was a virgin?" The Bible says it was through the Holy Spirit! An invitro fertilization miracle. If God can create the heavens and the earth out of nothing, making a baby in Mary’s womb shouldn’t be a big problem! Right? But why in the world did God go through all the trouble for Jesus to be born of a virgin? I’ll tell you why. Have you ever heard of The Curse of Jeconiah? The Curse of Jeconiah meant that if Joseph was the literal father, had anything to do with the fatherhood of Jesus, He could not be the Messiah!
 
There are a couple of good reasons why Mary had to be a virgin. First of all, Jesus had to be born of a virgin to fulfill the promise in Isaiah 14. And secondly, and more importantly, God in His foreknowledge required Jesus to be born of a virgin to circumvent the Curse of Jeconiah. You need to know Jeconiah was a wicked King of the southern kingdom of Judah who did not listen to God’s words of judgment to the people. As a result of this, God cursed his line of decedents.
 
You can read all about it in Jeremiah 22. But summing up chapter 22 in verse 30 (NKJV) it reads—"Thus says the LORD: ‘Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah.’"
 
That, my friends, is an Old Testament putdown that has serious consequences. Consequences that would even prevent Jesus from being the Messiah! Why? Because Jesus’ earthly father was Joseph and Joseph was a descendent of Jeconiah! Now how do we know that?
 
Matthew 1:11—"Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon."
 
Scholars have noticed it, and here’s what they say about it. "Had Christ been a physical descendant of Joseph and not virgin–born, He would have been disqualified as Israel’s King. Luke presented the physical line of Christ through Mary, who was descended from David through the line of his son Nathan." (The Bible Knowledge Commentary: John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, 1158.)
 
So what’s the point? The point is Jesus couldn’t be the Messiah if He wasn’t virgin–born! Because Joseph’s genealogy traces Jesus’ Davidic lineage through Jeconiah who God forbade from ruling on David’s throne. So while Jesus’ legal descent from David, which was always traced through the father, came through Jeconiah to Joseph, scholars note, "His blood descent, and His human right to rule, came through Mary, who was not in Jeconiah’s lineage. Thus the curse on Jeconiah’s offspring was circumvented, while still maintaining the royal privilege." (John MacArthur's New Testament Commentary: John MacArthur, Matthew 1-7)
 
Isn’t that interesting? Isn’t it cool how God thinks of everything? How He covers all the bases? Bet you didn’t know there was that little sneaky little thing in the Old Testament that would have messed things up! But God knew all about it, and He made sure He got around it. And way he did it was by making Mary a virgin. How He goes above and beyond that which is required and thinks of everything and everyone, I don’t know, but it’s amazing!
PROMISE #6 - The Savior would be born in Bethlehem.
 
Micah 5:2 (NKJV) says—"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."
 
And of course, this was fulfilled in Luke 2:4-7 (NKJV)—"Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."
 
And I’ve been to that place several times. They know without a doubt where Jesus was born. It’s one of those beautiful places in the Holy Land that there is no doubt about; they know Jesus was born there. And it’s protected by one of the oldest churches in the Christian world dating back near the time of Christ. And the reason it wasn’t burned when the Muslims took over Bethlehem was because it had a mosaic of the three wise men on the front of the church, and so the Muslims thought it was a mosque because they were dressed in Persian dress, so they didn’t burn the church to the ground. So that was kind of neat that God kept that there.
 
So what have we learned today? We learned that the Messiah, the Savior of the world, would be born a human and not an angel. He would be a Jew not Gentile. That He would come from the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. From the tribe of Judah. Specifically through the family of David. That He would be miraculously born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem. Guess what? Jesus is the only One who has fulfilled every one of these promises of God! Simeon and Anna were right. Jesus is the Messiah! The Anointed One! The Savior of the world. And if you ask Him to be, He’ll come into your life and live in your heart. He’ll save and sanctify all who abide in Him and maintain a relationship with Him until He comes again.
 
Jesus says in Revelation 3:20 (NIV)—"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Is that your desire this morning?
If you would like Jesus to come into your heart, if you would like Him to be your Messiah – to forgive you for your sins, if you have even more faith and confidence that He really is the Messiah, the Savior of the world today, would you stand with me and sing Number 303 (Beneath The Cross Of Jesus, Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, 1991) at the foot of the Cross. And at the end of this song we’ll have a prayer of consecration to Jesus. As the door opens Jesus will come into our hearts to live and dwell with us through out all eternity.
 
Transcription: Wendy J. Riebel
 
* Special thanks to Pastor Mike Fortune for sharing his research with me and giving me permission to use the information in this message.
 

The Nicene Creed – As approved in amplified form at the Council of Constantinople (381), it is the profession of the Christian Faith common to the Catholic Church, to all the Eastern Churches separated from Rome, and to most of the Protestant denominations. Soon after the Council of Nicaea new formulas of faith were composed, most of them variations of the Nicene Symbol, to meet new phases of Arianism. There were at least four before the Council of Sardica in 341, and in that council a new form was presented and inserted in the Acts, though not accepted by the council. The Nicene Symbol, however, continued to be the only one in use among the defenders of the Faith. Gradually it came to be recognized as the proper profession of faith for candidates for baptism. Its alteration into the Nicene-Constantinopolitan formula, the one now in use, in usually ascribed to the Council of Constantinople, since the Council of Chalcedon (451), which designated this symbol as "The Creed of the Council of Constantinople of 381" had it twice read and inserted in its Acts. The historians Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret do not mention this, although they do record that the bishops who remained at the council after the departure of the Macedonians confirmed the Nicene faith. Hefele (II,9) admits the possibility of our present creed being a condensation of the "Tome" ( Gr. tomos), i.e. the exposition of the doctrines concerning the Trinity made by the Council of Constantinople; but he prefers the opinion of Rémi Ceillier and Tillemont tracing the new formula to the "Ancoratus" of Epiphanius written in 374. Hort, Caspari, Harnack, and others are of the opinion that the Constantinopolitan form did not originate at the Council of Constantinople, because it is not in the Acts of the council of 381, but was inserted there at a later date; because Gregory Nazianzen who was at the council mentions only the Nicene formula adverting to its incompleteness about the Holy Ghost, showing that he did not know of the Constantinopolitan form which supplies this deficiency; and because the Latin Fathers apparently know nothing of it before the middle of the fifth century.

 

The following is a literal translation of the Greek text of the Constantinopolitan form, the brackets indicating the words altered or added in the Western liturgical form in present use:
We believe (I believe) in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages. (God of God) light of light, true God of true God. Begotten not made, consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and was made man; was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried; and the third day rose again according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose Kingdom there shall be no end. And (I believe) in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father (and the Son), who together with the Father and the Son is to be adored and glorified, who spoke by the Prophets. And one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We confess (I confess) one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for (I look for) the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen."
In this form the Nicene article concerning the Holy Ghost is enlarged; several words, notably the two clauses "of the substance of the Father" and "God of God," are omitted as also are the anathemas; ten clauses are added; and in five places the words are differently located. In general the two forms contain what is common to all the baptismal formulas in the early Church. Vossius (1577-1649) was the first to detect the similarity between the creed set forth in the "Ancoratus" and the baptismal formula of the Church at Jerusalem. Hort (1876) held that the symbol is a revision of the Jerusalem formula, in which the most important Nicene statements concerning the Holy Ghost have been inserted. The author of the revision may have been St. Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386, q.v.). Various hypotheses are offered to account for the tradition that the Niceno-Constantinopolitan symbol originated with the Council of Constantinople, but none of them is satisfactory. Whatever be its origin, the fact is that the Council of Chalcedon (451) attributed it to the Council of Constantinople, and if it was not actually composed in that council, it was adopted and authorized by the Fathers assembled as a true expression of the Faith. The history of the creed is completed in the article Filioque. (See also: ARIUS; EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA) [Source:www.newadvent.org]
The Making of 'The Ten Commandments', April 7, 2006
Everyone who has ever seen "The Ten Commandments," starring Charlton Heston, remembers the spectacular parting of the Red Sea. Now, just in time for Easter, ABC is premiering an epic two-part, four-hour miniseries that is a new version of the biblical tale. Premiering on Monday, April 10, ABC will air Robert Halmi Sr.’s "The Ten Commandments," starring Dougray Scott as MOSES, and shot on location in Quarzazate, Morocco.
In any re-telling of the story of Moses, the show-stopper Red Sea parting is a must, and for the miniseries, the upgrade in technology has made that event even more spectacular than the Paramount Pictures classic, which is now available on DVD.
"What we did is a combination of real water, CGI water, going under and filming huge waterfalls," explains Halmi. "It's four minutes and 20 seconds in length, if I remember, of CGI and parting the Red Sea. And that alone cost $500,000. So it's a different ballgame today to do this. And once you do it, you have to do it perfectly. On the other hand, with some of the plagues, like the frogs, I had a thousand frogs. So no CGI frogs. So it's a combination of reality and movie magic. That's what really makes it good."
And while there was plenty of CGI water, for the actors, there was no green screen. "I just had to imagine it," Scott recalls. "You know, I was standing on the edge of a cliff [in Agadir, on the coast of Morocco]. So I have a very good imagination. That's what my mother tells me, anyway."
The producers may have had the biblical plagues under control, but that didn't prevent a modern-day scourge: The production was beset with a giant hail storm, which rained down on the location, destroying several huge sets. For their part, the actors were plagued by sand and grit!
"It was impossible to look at your fellow actor because of the grains of sand in the eye," comments "Lost" star Naveen Andrews, who plays Menerith.
The new "Ten Commandments" is still larger-than-life with an impressive cast, including thousands of extras, all of whom had to be dressed in authentic clothing.
"The costumes had to be real," Scott says. "The people were in the desert for 20 years. They had to look like they'd been in the desert 20 years."
That said, Andrews reveals that he really enjoyed his time in costume. "I love dressing up," he admits. "It gets back to the joy of doing school plays at five or six, being completely different."
"The Ten Commandments" recounts Moses' story, from his near-escape from death as a baby to the emancipation of the Hebrew slaves under Pharoah. In addition to Scott, the miniseries also stars Omar Sharif as Jethro, Linus Roache as Aaron, Mia Maestro as Zipporah and Padma Lakshmi as Princess Bithia.
"As an actor you have to make many leaps, which are sometimes very far away, but I tried to find the human side of Moses, and I found him to be a quite lonely figure," Scott says. "And whether by choice or whether by design, he was the only person who was able to speak to God, so he spent a lot of his life in solitude. I also thought it was quite interesting that Moses seems to be a man of massive contradictions, because on the one hand, he is an incredibly caring, compassionate man, and on the other hand, in today's terms, he would probably be considered a dictator."
Halmi's "The Ten Commandments" employs more than 450 advanced CGI special effects of the spectacular miracles from the Bible story, including the burning bush and the 10 plagues. For a sneak peek at the parting of the Red Sea, tune in to tonight's ET. Then catch "The Ten Commandments," premiering Monday, April 10, 9-11 p.m., and concluding Tuesday, April 11, also 9-11 p.m., on ABC.
"It's a story that still has a lot of meaning," Maestro comments. Cecil B. DeMille’s 'The Ten Commandments,' starring Charlton Heston, is now in stores. The 50th anniversary edition also features the original 1923 silent-film version and an in-depth six-part documentary.
 
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