On Monday the Seventh week of Easter our Church invites us to first read and reflect on a passage from the first letter of the apostle John (4:1-10) entitled "God has loved us first". Our treasure, which follows, is from a catechetical instruction by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop.
Cyril of Jerusalem was a theologian of the Early Church. About the end of AD 350, he succeeded Maximus as Bishop of Jerusalem, but was exiled on more than one occasion due to the enmity of Acacius of Caesarea, and the policies of various emperors, Raised in Jerusalem and well-educated, especially in the Scriptures, he was ordained a priest by the bishop of Jerusalem and given the task during Lent of catechizing those preparing for Baptism and catechizing the newly baptized during the Easter season. His Catechesis remain valuable as examples of the ritual and theology of the Church in the mid-fourth century. The crises that the Church faces today may seem minor when compared with the threat posed by the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ and almost overcame Christianity in the fourth century. Cyril was to be caught up in the controversy, accused of Arianism by Saint Jerome, and ultimately vindicated both by the men of his own time and by being declared a Doctor of the Church in 1822.
The purpose of the first letter of the apostle John is to combat certain false ideas, especially about Jesus, and to deepen the spiritual and social awareness of the Christian community. Some former members of the community refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ and denied that he was a true man. The specific heresy described in this letter cannot be identified exactly, but it is a form of Docetism or Gnosticism; the former doctrine denied the humanity of Christ to insure that his divinity was untainted, and the latter viewed the appearance of Christ as a mere stepping-stone to higher knowledge of God. These theological errors are rejected by an appeal to the reality and continuity of the apostolic witness to Jesus. The author affirms that authentic Christian love, ethics, and faith take place only within the historical revelation and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The fullness of Christian life as fellowship with the Father must be based on true belief and result in charitable living; knowledge of God and love for one another are inseparable, and error in one area inevitably affects the other. Although the author recognizes that Christian doctrine presents intangible mysteries of faith about Christ, he insists that the concrete Christian life brings to light the deeper realities of the gospel.
