Alpha & Omega Window

From my church to you.........another stained-glass window, this one depicting the symbols for Alpha and Omega, mentioned in the Bible, in the first chapter of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament.

I have The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, edited by Jay P. Green, Sr. I acquired it in order to have a literal, and possibly more accurate translation of the NT from the original Greek.

Here is the literal translation of Revelation, chapter 1, verse 8: (Jesus, speaking through an angel in John's vision [v.1]): "I am the Alpha and the Omega, Beginning and Ending, says the Lord, the (One) being and who was and is coming, the Almighty."

Click to read the Wikipedia entry for "Alpha & Omega". The two words signify the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet in the era when Revelation was written. Our letters "A" and "Z" are comparable.

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Today is Trinity Sunday, for those who follow the traditional Church Year calendar, as my Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod does.

Thus, a blessed Trinity Sunday to you!!

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Update: IF only I'd had my act together with enough foresight to have posted this Trinity window TODAY on Trinity Sunday instead of a couple weeks ago. Oh, well.

Today, as on Trinity Sunday every year, we recite the ATHANASIAN CREED. Yikes.......do any of you know what that is?? Its got to be the lengthiest creed in the whole world. For whatever reason, to counteract a heresy, no doubt, somebody back in the 4th century A.D. came up with this wordy creed in an attempt to clearly define the Trinity. It contains lines such as:

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".......we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance."

"......there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty."

".......there are not three Gods, but one God."

".......there are not three Lords, but one Lord."

"......the whole three persons are co-eternal with each other and co-equal."

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Perhaps you can tell that this creed is very repetitive. I grew up knowing of the Trinity......God in three persons, and didn't think beyond that very far concerning the subject. That's one gripe I have with the orthodox Lutheran faith.......it dissects everything concerning faith, like a surgeon studying the human body, or a mechanic taking apart a car's engine. They must examine the concept of the Trinity, and tell you exactly how to believe it.......the same with the bread and wine of Communion; according to Lutheran doctrine, you must view it exactly a certain way: the Body and Blood of Christ exists IN, WITH, and UNDER the bread and wine. Got that? And does it seem strange that Jesus Himself simply said, "This is my body.....this is my blood." That's what I believe, and my mind doesn't delve into it any further than that.