The faith once delivered

By Frank Maguire

Friends, because of some yet to be diagnosed health things, I will on R&R for an undetermined period. (Trust me! I'm not campaigning for the honor of being Class Valetudinarian.) I want, here, to punctuate that which I tried to convey in my serial-articleon Truth and Justice, Religious Law and Civil Law.

I have received comments from persons gracious enough to give some thought to that which I tried to relate. And, I truly attempted to relate my thoughts in keeping with my own axioms: "Lord, should I write anything that is foolish I pray that those who read it are not fools." That "If the Lord is in the 'speaking,' the Lord will be in the 'hearing.'"I feel, also, the need to add a paraphrase to Scripture that is, I believe, faithful to Scripture — "Many will listen, but fewer will hear." Jesus told us that such is the nature of Man.

As I wrote in my series of III, I am thoroughly immersed, body and spirit, in one of the greatest biographies I have ever read: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by author Eric Metaxas. I feel that in the writing of this great book, Metaxas was but the amanuensis and that he was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Reading this a.m. on the 4th of July, 2011, the chapter (9) The Führer Principle, I came upon thoughts that I feel a need to pass on to you.The relevance to America's current condition should be apparent, mutatis mutandum — necessary changes being made. And it is particularly appropriate on this day of commemoration of America's independence, when our founders set out in our declared mission-statement to establish a nation "endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights."This declaration that is the keystone of our Constitution and Bill of Rights!

Metaxas writes, "On January 30, 1933, at noon, Adolf Hitler became the democratically elected chancellor of Germany. The land of Goethe, Schiller, and Bach would now be led by someone who consorted with crazies and criminals....The Third Reich has begun."

As a proem to his opening words in chapter 9 are these words written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. "The church has only one altar, the altar of the Almighty..before which all creatures must kneel. Whoever seeks something other than this must keep away, he cannot join us in the house of God...The church has only one pulpit, and from that pulpit, faith in Godwill be preached, and no other faith and no other will than the will of God, however well-intentioned."

"No other faith!"

Because I received some queries in re my series, I want to offer this "hymn" that I wrote some years back. I called it "The Faith Once Delivered." It is not simplistic in its concept. I have spent virtually my whole life "progressing" back to the simple faith.

To do so, I had to get clear of the entangled theologies, dogmas, and persistent battlings amongst the "higher critics" and the merely religious.

Those known as the early church fathers devoted much thought and energy, and, I assume, humble prayer, to their theological efforts. I have striven to do the same in order to understand the fundamentals of the Faith: Creator God and His son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, His Holy Word, and Holy Spirit. This is my absolute foundation — The "cornerstone" — The Stone of Great Price — of all that I am and hope to be. Where the "rainbow" ends.

The Faith Once Delivered
by Frank Maguire 2005

Music theme is an adaptation of the Welsh national song "Men of Harlech." It is written in ¾ time, in the key of E flat major, modulating to the key of E major in last chorus-repeat.

Chorus:The faith once delivered
Forever, for all —
Not subject to creeds
Nor to skeptic man's thrall.
The faith once delivered
By Spirit and Word,
How simple it is to be heard.

1. We stand in the faith once delivered.
We stand by the Truth of the Lord.
We stand on the Truth of the prophets,
And no other Truth we afford.

2. We stand on the Truth of the scripture,
A Truth that's revealed not just found.
The Truth of our Father and Savior,
We stand firm on this Holy Ground.

Chorus:

3. We stand on the witness of martyrs,
We stand on the Truth of the Cross.
This faith once for all that was written,
Without which our faith is our loss.

4. The faith that a child can acknowledge,
That man in his pride does confuse.
Confirmed by the Word and the Spirit,
That faith that the heart won't refuse

Chorus: The faith once delivered
Forever, for all —
Not subject to creeds
Nor to skeptic man's thrall,
The faith once delivered
By Spirit and Word,
How simple it is to be heard.
(modulate full step: Repeat...E major)

NOTE: Thrall: the state of being in another's power... a slave, servant, or captive.

Enthralled :filled with wonder, totally fascinated; held in slavery ; enthrall

v. captivate, fascinate; charm, enchant; enslave, subjugate

© Frank Maguire