Monday, September 5, 2016

En Theos


En Theos

One advantage of a Classical education is that I know a little Latin and Greek. This was a prerequisite in seminary and I struggled through it.  I even spent one summer school session at a monastery to get proficient. Although I don't use the languages any more they do come in handy when reading inscriptions on public buildings.

The phrase “en Theos” literally means “in God.” This Greek phrase is the root of our English word “enthusiasm”. Webster’s Dictionary defines enthusiasm as “a strong excitement about something; a belief in special revelation of the Holy Spirit.” From its root, enthusiasm literally means, “filled with God.”

Living at a time when evolution is taught as truth rather than theory, it is difficult to grasp that anything is filled with God. Now that our culture has successfully removed God from public life and relegated him to private devotion and Sunday church, any sense of God attachment to the real world is not politically correct. The explanation that everything and everyone evolved through the survival of the fittest leaves no room for the grandeur of God.

I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. People come from all over to see the majestic mountains, the fertile valleys and the teeming wildlife. Although there is great respect for the magnificence of nature, there is little recognition of its creator. All the credit is given to the complex evolving of a natural order. It seems that mankind is filled with itself and there is no room for the Other.

The Bible presents creation quite differently. Although Genesis 1-3 is often considered a myth, the biblical truth is that there is a creator who made it all and he did a mighty fine job of it. I like what the prophet Isaiah says: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”

The whole earth is filled with God. Can you see it?






No comments:

Post a Comment