Wednesday, November 13, 2024

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

It is the 13th of November 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

I'm going to let you behind the scenes on today’s show. I won't bore you with how I collect my topics- except for the yearly mailbag show where someone asks- but I will tell you I had a list on my whiteboard for the 13th of November.

And the one that was singing to me read the Second Council of Seville, 619.

Ooh, ok… I jump into my head and start scavenging around- we’d have the end of the Byzantine rule on that Peninsula the Greeks called ‘Iberia,” and the Romans called “Hispanic.” We’ve got Visigoths, we’ve got Isadore of Seville. And it’s a council! I’m always talking about those: it’s the way the early church made decisions together!

So I jumped into a few sources of the records of early church councils and friends…. I forgot how many “provincial” councils occurred. This is important. You may have heard of the “Seven Ecumenical Councils”… Nicea, Ephesus, Chalcedon. These were “ecumenical” because they wanted representatives from the whole household of faith to make the big decisions. The “Provincial” Councils were just that- binding only for certain “provinces.” Still good, just not as binding. But “Hispania,” or the Iberian Peninsula, went little nuts with these in the 7th century such that it was called the “siglo de concilios,” the “century of councils.” So, today’s show isn’t going to go into the details of the council but rather a bigger picture of what was going on here in this sometimes underserved corner of church history.  

This “underserved corner” is the European, thicker, reverse cousin of Florida- the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) jutting out into the Atlantic.  This particular location made them a seafaring people (see the 15th century and the New World) and open to the influence of North Africa.  

As the expansive Roman empire began to crumble in the 400s, various Gothic tribes began to establish footholds. By Gothic we don’t mean that kid in High School all dressed up like the Cure, but rather a people of Eastern German origin who were smushed into the Roman Empire by the invading Huns from the East. One of these groups, the Visigoths, were quick to establish themselves on that peninsula and to push out the last vestiges of the Roman Empire- especially any interference from Constantinople.  

But many of these Visigoths were Arian- they held to a position on the divinity of Christ that was out of line with the Ecumenical Councils up to the time. By the late 500s, the Arian Visigoths on the Peninsula had become Orthodox and, led by the scholar Isidore of Seville, held their own provincial councils. So, what comes down to us from this “Second Council of Seville,” and what might it tell us today? The major concern had to do with ordination and “headless Christians”.

The concern with proper ordination might strike us as strange, but it relates to “headless” Christians or the “Acephali”- “the headless ones.” But by headless, it meant they belonged to a church or sect “with no head.” The issue here at this seemingly obscure second council of Seville would echo through the centuries; it was the question of authority.  

“Who says?” And “Who is in charge?” At various times in the history of the church, these become the questions- any student of church history or observer of modern church issues sees this as fundamental.

This second council of Seville was concerned with bringing the “headless” into their fold but also fought against itself submitting needlessly to other church leaders. Here, we see an early balance being struck between centralized and local authority in the church. Sure, “Headless Christians” and “Goths” might sound creepy, but they become another lesson in how we see the church bring in foreign tribes and the perennial struggle over control and a balance struck not only in calling a council but in decreeing the balance in authority and submission to orthodox doctrines and not necessarily foreign authority.

Thus, the perhaps obscure Second Council of Seville that began on this day in 619 gives us another historical object lesson in the significance of unity, unity of doctrine, and balancing competing authorities- a good lesson for all times.

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary and from Luke 4, wherein Jesus preaches the shortest sermon of all time:

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,

19     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 13th of November 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who has personally asked for a little Almanac research into Psalty, the singing Psalter and his merry band… I am on it… He is  Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who wonders if some people started following Jesus that day because his sermon was so short… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.