Goal of the Week!

This week has to be given to Jermaine Pennant, with considerable mentions to Michael Essien, without him this goal wouldnt have been possible, stupid Chelsea players, their money gets in the way of their brains.

EPL Weekend Review

Sorry for being later but there was a game on tuesday and i forgot about it yesterday. Anyways...

Two stories of the week, 1. Liverpool teach chelsea a lesson in playing as a team as we beat the rich kids 2 - 0, a game which features this weeks Goal of the Week. 2. Arsenal pull one outta their hats again and beat the mighty MAN USA, to goals in the last 10 mins, what happen ManU?

Heres the rest of the games as well as standings and top scorers:

Scores:

Liverpool Chelsea 2 - 0
Newcastle West Ham 2 - 2
Middlesbrough Bolton 5 - 1
Reading Sheff Utd 3 - 1
Portsmouth Charlton 0 - 1
Fulham Tottenham 1 - 1
Aston Villa Watford 2 - 0
Man. City Blackburn 0 - 3
Wigan Everton 0 - 2
Arsenal Man. United 2 - 1
Watford Blackburn 2 - 1

Standings:

Team Pld Pts
Man Utd 24 57
Chelsea 24 51
Liv'pool 24 46
Arsenal 24 45
Bolton 24 40
Portsm'h 24 37
Everton 24 35
Reading 24 34
Tot'ham 24 33
Blackb'n 24 31
M'brough 24 30
N'castle 24 30
Man City 24 30
A Villa 24 29
Fulham 24 29
Sheff U 24 24
Wigan 23 22
West Ham 24 20
Charlton 24 19
Watford 23 15

Top Scorers:

Didier Drogba Chelsea 14
Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United 13
Robin Van Persie Arsenal 11
Benni McCarthy Blackburn Rovers 10
Yakubu Aiyegbeni Middlesbrough 10
Kevin Doyle Reading 10
Thierry Henry Arsenal 9
Wayne Rooney Manchester United 9
Nwankwo Kanu Portsmouth 9
Gareth Barry Aston Villa 8

Church History...

Will continue next week im thinking as im trying to decide between 2 topics. So yeah it will have to wait till next week, sorry to the 2 people who read it.

UEFA Team of 2006

Here is the Team of 2006 From Uefa, it seems like the fans dont vote for Chelsea players cuz they all suck hard. This is a great team here.

Team of 2006
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
Gianluca Zambrotta (FC Barcelona)
Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid CF)
Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona)
Philipp Lahm (FC Bayern München)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool FC)
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal FC)
Kaká (AC Milan)
Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona)
Thierry Henry (Arsenal FC)
Samuel Eto'o (FC Barcelona)
Coach: Frank Rijkaard (FC Barcelona)

Steven Gerrard deserves his spot on here, and to pay a little tribute to him, i give the masses this video:



And this:

Goal of The Week!

Pure class from Henry, Drogba doesnt score goals like this.

EPL Weekend Review

Here is the weekend scores and standings.

Sun - 14 Jan 07

Everton 1 1 Reading

Tot'ham 2 3 N'castle

Sat - 13 Jan 07

Blackb'n 0 2 Arsenal

Bolton 0 0 Man City

Charlton 1 3 M'brough

Chelsea 4 0 Wigan

Man Utd 3 1 A Villa

Sheff U 1 1 Portsm'h

Watford 0 3 Liv'pool

West Ham 3 3 Fulham

Standings

Team Pld Pts
Man Utd 23 57
Chelsea 23 51
Liverpool 23 43
Arsenal 23 42
Bolton 23 40
Portsmouth 23 37
Everton 23 32
Tottenham 23 32
Reading 23 31
Man City 23 30
Newcastle 23 29
Blackburn 22 28
Fulham 23 28
M'brough 23 27
Aston Villa 23 26
Sheff Utd 23 24
Wigan 22 22
West Ham 23 19
Charlton 23 16
Watford 21 12

Top Scorers:

Didier Drogba Chelsea 14
Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United 13
Robin Van Persie Arsenal 10
Yakubu Aiyegbeni Middlesbrough 10
Kevin Doyle Reading 10
Benni McCarthy Blackburn Rovers 9
Nwankwo Kanu Portsmouth 9
Thierry Henry Arsenal 8
Gareth Barry Aston Villa 8
Darren Bent Charlton Athletic 8

Church History Part 2: The First Council

When Constantine defeated Emperor Licinius in 323 AD he ended the persecutions against the Christian church. Shortly afterwards Christians faced a trouble from within: the Arian controversy began and threatened to divide the church. The problem began in Alexandria, it started as a debate between the bishop Alexander and the
presbyter (pastor, or priest) Arius. Arius proposed that if the Father begat the Son,
the latter must have had a beginning, that there was a time when he was not, and that his substance was from nothing like the rest of creation. The Council of Nicea, a gathering similar to the one described in Acts 15:4-22, condemned the beliefs of
Arius and wrote the first version of the now famous creed proclaiming that the Son was "one in being with the Father" by use of the Greek word "homoousius."

There were some three hundred bishops gathered at the Council of Nicea from all around the world. Eusebius lists many of them and their country of origin in his writings. It should be remembered that many of those present had, because of the recent persecutions, suffered and had faced threat of death for their faith. These were not wishy-washy men. It might also be remarked, that they were extremely sensitive to details of doctrine. As evidence of this, the second major concern of the Council of Nicea was to address the hotly debated question of what the proper day was to celebrate the resurrection.

The bishops of the Council stopped their ears on hearing the words of Arius and immediately rejected his teaching as distant and alien from the belief of the Church. They tore to pieces a letter of Eusebius of Nicomedia containing Arius' teaching, as well as an Arian confession of faith.

Originally seventeen of those bishops gathered at the council were unwilling to sign the Creed penned by the Council, and all but three of these were convinced to sign by the end. It is thus apparent that the Arians were a distinct minority among the bishops. Initially there was some resistance to the Nicene Creed, not because of what it said but because of how it said it. Many objected to the use of the word "homoousias" in an official document because it was not used in Scripture, despite their agreement with the meaning it conveyed.
The Council interrogated Arius using Scripture, only to find that he had a new way of interpreting every verse they brought before him. Finally, they used the argument that Arius' view had to be wrong because it was new. Athanasius says, "But concerning matters of faith, they [the bishops assembled at Nicea] did not write: 'It has been decided,' but 'Thus the Catholic Church believes.' And thereupon confessed how they believed. This they did to show that their judgement was not of more recent origin, but was in fact of Apostolic times...". In this regard also, Athanasius askes rhetorically, "... how many fathers [in other words, the writings of the early Christians] can you cite for your phrases?"

It must be concluded, then, that the controversy was between a great majority who held the belief that the doctrine expressed by the Nicene Creed was ancient and Apostolic, and a minority who believed that Arius' new interpretation of the faith was correct .

The Nicene Creed introduced the word "homoousious" or "consubstantial" meaning "of one substance." This word was not invented at the Council. Eusebius writes that some of the "most learned and distinguished of the ancient bishops had made use of consubstantial in treating of the divinity of the Father and the Son" We do not have the sources that Eusebius must have had regarding the use of this word. Today, the only source is Origen who used the word in what seems the orthodox way. However, this phrase of Eusebius stands as a witness to the existence of wider use.
The bishops assembled at Nicea were careful to explain how they used the word, and what it meant. This is because it had been misused by Paul of Samosta. Regarding this unorthodox usage, St. Hilary and St. Basil say that it was said to be "unfit to describe the relation between the Father and the Son" at a council that met in Antioch. Apparently Paul of Samosta applied the word in a manner that implied division of nature, as several coins are from the same metal

The controversy greatly agitated Emperor Constantine, and he sent a letter to Arius and Alexander in an attempt to persuade them to lay aside their differences. He wrote, "This contention has not arisen respecting any important command of the law, nor has any new opinion been introduced with regard to the worship of God; but you both entertain the same sentiments, so that you may join in one communion. It is thought to be not only indecorous, but altogether unlawful, that so numerous a people of God should be governed and directed at your pleasure, while you are thus emulously contending with each other, and quarrelling about small and very trifling matters."
It has been suggested that because Constantine referred to the issue as "trifling" that he did not really understand it. Strangely, it is recorded in a letter by Eusebius of Caesarea that the Emperor suggested the key word "homoousious" that appears in the Nicene Creed. He says the Emperor explained the term as well, showing its difference from the heretical usage by Paul of Samosta. It has been speculated that the Emperor made his suggestion at the prompting of Hosius of Cordova, the Emperor's advisor and a man who was persecuted under Maximian.
Constantine did play an important role at the Council. Eusebius of Caesarea reports that he played an key part in calming, convincing, and bringing all to agreement on contested points. The account of Eusebius fairly glows in regard to the Emperor, and he is portrayed as a key figure. It is nowhere suggested, however, that he was permitted to vote with the bishops nor that he used any form of force to obtain an outcome.

It may be that the eloquence and glory of the Emperor had sway with some, however it should be remembered that he did eventually (years after the Council) support the Arian party. A few years after the Council of Nicea, Arius discovered a new way to interpret the word "homoousius" that agreed with his doctrines. He then asked to be readmitted to communion, but the Church refused. Arius then appealed to the Emperor. Emperor Constantine's favorite sister, Constantia, on her deathbed, implored Constantine to support Arius and he did so. A date was set for the forcing of the Church to readmit Arius, but while he was waiting for Constantine to arrive Arius stopped to relive himself and his bowels burst and he died

It is hard to imagine how a man who had supposedly argued with eloquence for the Nicene Creed and who supposedly formulated the key phrase and explained it would simply abandon it for a mere submission to the words and not the meaning of the Creed. It is also hard to imagine how the account of Eusebius can be reconciled to the Emperor's apparent failure to grasp the issue apparent in his letter. It is also hard to imagine how a man who had been such a humble servant of the Church at Nicea would attempt to force the Church to accept his decisions at this later date. It seems reasonable on these grounds to suppose that Eusebius of Caesarea wrote a less than accurate account designed to give credit and flattery to the emperor.

The Council of Nicea was historically significant because it was the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom. "It was the first occasion for the development of technical Christology". Further, "Constantine in convoking and presiding over the council signaled a measure of imperial control over the church." With the creation of the Nicene Creed, a precedent was established for subsequent general councils to create a statement of belief and canons which was intended to become orthodox for all Christians. It would serve to unify the Church and provide a clear guideline over disputed matters on what it meant to be a practicing Christian, a momentous event in the history of the Church and subsequent history of Europe.

The first rendition of the Nicene Creed:

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father, that is, of the substance of the Father, God of God, light of light, true God of true God, begotten not made, of the same substance with the Father, through whom all things were made both in heaven and on earth; who for us men and our salvation descended, was incarnate, and was made man, suffered and rose again the third day, ascended into heaven and cometh to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Ghost. Those who say: There was a time when He was not, and He was not before He was begotten; and that He was made our of nothing; or who maintain that He is of another hypostasis or another substance , or that the Son of God is created, or mutable, or subject to change, the Catholic Church anathematizes.

Recommended Research:
The Second Ecumenical Council -- Athanasius -- Macedonians -- Pneumatomachianism --

Church History Part 1: The Early Church

The early church commonly refers to the time between the death of Jesus, 33 A.D.(around there) and the first Ecumenical council, the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. This was a very important time in the history of the church as it was instrumental in the development later on. The Early church convened in synagogues and temples and peoples own homes in private. Early Christianity began as a Jewish sect of the followers of Jesus during the late Second Temple period of the 1st century. Other Jewish sects of that time were the Sadducees, the Essenes and the Pharisees, and a group recognised as Zealots. Christians' distinguishing mark from these other groups was their belief that Jesus was the figure known in Greek as the Χριστός, in Aramaic as the משיחא, words, from which are derived the English words "Christ" and "Messiah", that literally mean the "Anointed".

Among the earliest Christians, the apostles had an acknowledged leadership role, as shown, for instance, in the following episodes recounted in the Acts of the Apostles: it was in their teaching that the first Christians "continued steadfastly" (Acts 2:42); they sent envoys to inquire into novelties that arose (Acts 8:14); appeal was made to them, along with the elders, to settle a dispute about the obligations of Christians (Acts 15:2). Some of Jesus' relatives were also prominent early Christians, his mother being a notable follower, and two of his four named brothers from the New Testament: James the Just and Jude; and Simeon of Jerusalem were noted as leaders. Some identify James the Just with the apostle James the Less and Jude with the apostle Saint Jude and Simeon of Jerusalem with the apostle Simon the Zealot yet the New Testament also records conflict between Jesus and his family, such as Mark 3:21, see also Rejection of Jesus and Mark 3. Some see a negative view of Jesus' family as related to a confict between Paul of Tarsus and Jewish Christians.

From the beginning, Christians were subject to various persecutions. This involved even death for Christians such as Stephen (Acts 7:59) and James the brother of John (12:2). Saul, who later converted to Christianity and is best known as Paul of Tarsus, the "Apostle to the Gentiles" (Rom 11:13, Gal 2:8), was a vigorous agent (Acts 9:1-2, Acts 22:5) in the persecution by the Jerusalem authorities, having been present at the stoning of Stephen and approving it (Acts 7:57-8:3, Acts 22:19-20).

Christianity was still very Judaic in its ways. Christianity continued many of the patterns of Judaism, adapting to Christian use synagogue liturgical worship, prayer, use of Sacred Scripture, a priesthood, a religious calendar commemorating on certain days each year certain events and/or beliefs, use of music in worship, giving material support to the religious leadership, and practices such as fasting and almsgiving and baptism. Christians adopted as their Bible the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures known as the Septuagint and later also canonized the books of the New Testament. There are however many phrases which appear to be quotations and other statements of fact, in the early church fathers, which cannot be found in the Bible as we know it.

The first major problems in the church were attributed to a man named Arius. Arianism was a Christological view held by followers of Arius, a Christian priest who lived and taught in Alexandria, Egypt, in the early 4th century. Arius taught that God the Father and the Son were not always contemporary, seeing the pre-incarnate Jesus as a divine being but nonetheless created by (and consequently inferior to) the Father at some point, before which the Son did not exist. In English-language works, it is sometimes said that Arians believe that Jesus is or was a "creature"; in this context, the word is being used in its original sense of "created being."
The conflict between Arianism and the Trinitarian beliefs that have since become dominant in Christianity was the first important doctrinal difficulty in the Church after the legalization of Christianity by Emperor Constantine I. At one point in the conflict, Arianism held sway in the family of the Emperor and the Imperial nobility; later, because the Arian Ulfilas was the apostle to the Goths, the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths arrived in western Europe already Christianized, but as Arians.

This guy helped shape the way for the First ecumenical council, which will be the next part of this series to be discussed.

The Early Christian church has a lot of history, to much for me to write out to encompass it all so what i have laid out here is brief history of the early stages of Christianity and the church. For the next topic, the First Ecumenical council, I will go more in depth and include background and aftermath. Please feel free to discuss or correct anything i may have messed up. Cheers!

Recommended Readings/Research:

Research: Arianism -- Edict of Milan -- Hypostasis -- Pentarchy -- Monothelitism -- Filioque controversy

Upcoming Posts

Ive been thinking lately of some sort of series of posts that i could write that would have to do with some sort of subject. I think the subject has finally come to me, and it will be Church History. Being that history has always been my strongest subject and the most thought provoking area that has ever been for me, ive decided that i will start writing on it. It will start after the death of Jesus, as most people know how that happened, and if you dont, go pick up a Bible, and read either Matthew, Mark, or Luke. I find John might confuse a little more then the rest, i guess its a personal opinion. Ill try to focus on certain issues of the church and how it came to be, why church is the way it is today. Im going to go out on a limb and say that MOST Christians actually dont even know the history of the church, and accept the Bible as all the history they need. And while this may be the case in a technical sense it is, by no means the most fulfilling. I find learning about church history is an important tool in understanding God, and what his early people were like. Some issues ill cover will be the Ecumenical Counsels and their significances, important people, the Crusades and Islam and Christianity. I think it will be fun, i hope the 2 people that read this get something out of it (ha ha ha) Enjoy!

ROFL Watch This!

http://www.pekingmoon.com/

A Great Signing

What a awesome pick up for the Sens, had his first game last night and put up some decent numbers with 2 assists with 2 penalty minutes.

I havent talked alot about the NHL on here being that soccer takes control of my thoughts because of the fantasy leagues im in. But im glad to see my Canadiens doing very well this year, they could be a conference finals contender this year. Im not sure if they can contend for the cup this year but i guess we will see.

My other team, the Sens, are looking much better then the start of the season, they are finally working together and the signing of Mike Comrie has added a much needed boost with the likes of Fisher and Spezza out. And it always helps when Heater gets a hat trick. Oh how i love hockey.

Goal of the Week!

Crouchinho's Goal takes top Honors this week with Gerrards Goal an Honorable mention.

WoW!


Crazy commentators

EPL Review

So i missed one week of games, since they were so close i decided not to do one for the weekend one and just do the new years ones and stuff. Here it is!

Tue - 02 Jan 07

Arsenal 4 0 Charlton

A Villa 0 0 Chelsea

Mon - 01 Jan 07

Fulham 0 0 Watford

Liv'pool 3 0 Bolton

Man City 2 1 Everton

M'brough 3 1 Sheff U

N'castle 2 2 Man Utd

Portsm'h 1 1 Tot'ham

Reading 6 0 West Ham

Wigan 0 3 Blackb'n

The Standings

Team Pld Pts
Man Utd 22 54
Chelsea 22 48
Liverpool 22 40
Arsenal 22 39
Bolton 22 39
Portsmouth 22 36
Tottenham 22 32
Everton 22 31
Reading 22 30
Man City 22 29
Blackburn 21 28
Fulham 22 27
Aston Villa 22 26
Newcastle 22 26
M'brough 22 24
Sheff Utd 22 23
Wigan 21 22
West Ham 22 18
Charlton 22 16
Watford 20 12

Top Scorers

Player Team Goals

Didier Drogba Chelsea 13
Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United 12
Robin Van Persie Arsenal 10
Kevin Doyle Reading 10
Benni McCarthy Blackburn Rovers 9
Yakubu Aiyegbeni Middlesbrough 9
Nwankwo Kanu Portsmouth 9
Gareth Barry Aston Villa 8
Darren Bent Charlton Athletic 8
Wayne Rooney Manchester United 8