| A Time to Mourn | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1999 | |||
| Recorded | Toyland Recording Studio and The Operating Theatre, Melbourne | |||
| Genre | Death/doom metal | |||
| Length | 40:43 | |||
| Producer | Andrew Tompkins | |||
| Paramaecium chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| HM Magazine | [1] |
| Multiple reviewers | [2] |
A Time to Mourn is the third album by Paramaecium. It was released in 1999. According to Andrew Tompkins the album art is of a Los Angeles model, the band actually does not know who the woman is. [3]
A Time to Mourn explores themes such as betrayal ("Betrayed Again") and the album also deals with issues related to church life ("Live for the Day") and how we need to make sure that our commitment to a church doesn't override our commitment to God. It makes the point by telling the story of a woman who won't have to think for herself again because she's now a part of the church. [4]
The second song on the album, "I'm Not to Blame" is written from Jesus' perspective and is essentially a comment about the fact that Christians have a tendency to understate the importance of self-control, allowing sin to control their lives and crying out to God to forgive them over and over again without making any effort to alter the behaviour themselves. This is not the behaviour of a repentant individual even though, unfortunately, it is often the mark of a modern Christian. Many Christians cry out to Jesus to give them the strength to resist the temptation to sin. Then, when they succumb to temptation again, it seems to them that Jesus has let them down, that he's to blame. If you ask Jesus to give you the strength to resist sin but go on to sin, part of your mind concludes that Jesus didn't give you the strength. But scripture is clear that you won't be tempted beyond what you can bear which means that there is no excuse for sin. And, even though Christians will continue to sin on a daily basis in some way, the life of the Christian must be one of continual self-improvement: to seek to become more like Christ every single day. [4]
The songs which frame the album are the first and last songs on the CD: "A Moment" and "Unceasing". These songs deal with the paradox of the basis for the understanding of eternal life. Namely, that as Christians we accept that we are not merely mortal but have everlasting life, eternal life beyond the grave, and yet this also means that life as we know it on earth is viewed more as a drop in the ocean of eternity, or as a mere moment in time. Understanding this is one of the first things a new Christian must deal with and this it is the theme for the beginning and conclusion to the album. [4]
Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and separately caused by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and it is not caused by baptism in water. It is a core doctrine of the denominations of the Anabaptist, Moravian, Methodist, Baptist, Plymouth Brethren and Pentecostal Churches along with all other evangelical Christian denominations. All of these Churches strongly believe Jesus's words in the Gospels: "You must be born again before you can see, or enter, the Kingdom of Heaven." Their doctrines also mandate that to be both "born again" and "saved", one must have a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
Perseverance of the saints is a Christian teaching that asserts that once a person is truly "born of God" or "regenerated" by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they will continue doing good works and believing in God until the end of their life.
The Antichrist is a book by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, originally published in 1895. Although it was written in 1888, its content made Franz Overbeck and Heinrich Köselitz delay its publication, along with Ecce Homo. The German title can be translated into English as either The Anti-Christ or The Anti-Christian, depending on how the German word Christ is translated.
Paramaecium was an Australian death/doom metal band formed in 1991. There is use of instrumentation like flutes, cellos and violins on some albums. Paramaecium is one of the few doom metal bands that focus on Christian lyrical themes and Christian concepts. According to Doom-metal.com, "what sets Paramaecium apart from other bands in the doom metal scene, is the fact that they are the only Christian death/doom band that made it to the top of the genre."
In Christian hamartiology, eternal sin, the unforgivable sin, unpardonable sin, or ultimate sin is the sin which will not be forgiven by God. One eternal or unforgivable sin, also known as the sin unto death, is specified in several passages of the Synoptic Gospels, including Mark 3:28–29, Matthew 12:31–32, and Luke 12:10, as well as other New Testament passages including Hebrews 6:4–6, Hebrews 10:26–31, and 1 John 5:16.
The Words of Institution are words echoing those of Jesus himself at his Last Supper that, when consecrating bread and wine, Christian Eucharistic liturgies include in a narrative of that event. Eucharistic scholars sometimes refer to them simply as the verba.
Eternal security, also known as "once saved, always saved", is the belief that from the moment anyone becomes a Christian, they will be saved from hell, and will not lose salvation. Once a person is truly "born of God" or "regenerated" by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, nothing in heaven or earth "shall be able to separate (them) from the love of God" and thus nothing can reverse the condition of having become a Christian.
Unlimited atonement is a doctrine in Protestant Christianity that is normally associated with Amyraldism, as well as Arminianism and other non-Calvinist traditions. The doctrine states that Jesus died as a propitiation for the benefit of all humans without exception. It is a doctrine distinct from other elements of the Calvinist acronym TULIP and is contrary to the Calvinist doctrine of limited atonement.
The temptation of Christ is a biblical narrative detailed in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. After being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus was tempted by the devil after 40 days and nights of fasting in the Judaean Desert. At the time, Satan came to Jesus and tried to tempt him. Jesus having refused each temptation, Satan then departed and Jesus returned to Galilee to begin his ministry. During this entire time of spiritual battle, Jesus was fasting.
The Five Articles of Remonstrance or the Remonstrance were theological propositions advanced in 1610 by followers of Jacobus Arminius who had died in 1609, in disagreement with interpretations of the teaching of John Calvin then current in the Dutch Reformed Church. Those who supported them were called "Remonstrants".
The conditional preservation of the saints, or conditional perseverance of the saints, or commonly conditional security, is the Arminian Christian belief that believers are kept safe by God in their saving relationship with him upon the condition of a persevering faith in Christ. Arminians find the Scriptures describing both the initial act of faith in Christ, "whereby the relationship is effected", and the persevering faith in him "whereby the relationship is sustained." The relationship of "the believer to Christ is never a static relationship existing as the irrevocable consequence of a past decision, act, or experience." Rather, it is a living union "proceeding upon a living faith in a living Savior." This living union is captured in the simple command by Christ, "Remain in me, and I in you".
Apostasy in Christianity is the repudiation of Christ and the central teachings of Christianity by someone who formerly was a Christian (Christ-follower). The term apostasy comes from the Greek word apostasia meaning "rebellion", "state of apostasy", "abandonment", or "defection". It has been described as "a willful falling away from, or rebellion against, Christianity. Apostasy is the rejection of Christ by one who has been a Christian...." "Apostasy is a theological category describing those who have voluntarily and consciously abandoned their faith in the God of the covenant, who manifests himself most completely in Jesus Christ." "Apostasy is the antonym of conversion; it is deconversion."
The Confession of Faith of the Evangelical United Brethren Church is one of five established Doctrinal Standards of the United Methodist Church, along with the Articles of Religion, the General Rules of United Societies, the Standard Sermons of John Wesley, and John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on the New Testament. The United Methodist Church adopted the Confession of Faith in 1968 when the Methodist Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form the United Methodist Church. The Confession of Faith covers much of the same ground as the Articles of Religion, but it is shorter and the language is more contemporary. The Confession of Faith also contains an article on the Judgment and Future State which had not been present in the Methodist Articles of Religion.
The Sinner's prayer is an evangelical Christian term referring to any prayer of repentance, prayed by individuals who feel sin in their lives and have the desire to form or renew a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is a popular prayer in evangelical circles. It is not intended as liturgical like a creed or a confiteor said or chanted within the Catholic Mass, but rather, is intended to be an act of initial conversion to Christianity; at the same time, it is roughly analogous to the Catholic Act of Contrition, though the theology behind each is markedly different, due to the intrinsically different views of salvation between Catholicism and Protestantism. While some Christians see reciting the sinner's prayer as the moment defining one's salvation, others see it as a beginning step of one's lifelong faith journey.
In Christianity, the three evangelical counsels, or counsels of perfection, are chastity, poverty, and obedience. As stated by Jesus in the canonical gospels, they are counsels for those who desire to become "perfect". The Catholic Church interprets this to mean that they are not binding upon all, and hence not necessary conditions to attain eternal life (heaven), but that they are "acts of supererogation" exceeding the minimum stipulated in the biblical commandments. Catholics who have made a public profession to order their lives by the evangelical counsels, and confirmed this by public vows before their competent church authority, are recognised as members of the consecrated life.
Søren Kierkegaard asked how the burden can be light if the suffering is heavy in his 1847 book Edifying Discourses in Diverse Spirits. He also said the happiness of eternity still outweighs even the heaviest temporal suffering in the same book. These statements were paradoxical. A year later he said 1848 was his richest and most fruitful year he had experienced as an author. Christian Discourses was published April 26, 1848 under Kierkegaard's own name. He makes similar statements in this book. Hardship procures hope. The poorer you become the richer you make others. Adversity is prosperity. He also writes about the eminent pagan killing God and then flying high over the abyss and spiritual communism.
Good Friday Prayer can refer to any of the prayers prayed by Christians on Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, or to all such prayers collectively.
Catholic tradition includes specific prayers and devotions as acts of reparation for insults and blasphemies against Jesus Christ and the Holy Name of Jesus. These include the sufferings during the Passion of Jesus. Similar prayers as Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary and Acts of Reparation to The Holy Trinity also exist.
Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, rational analysis and argument. Theologians may undertake the study of Christian theology for a variety of reasons, such as in order to:
The Remonstrant Confession or literally the Confession or Declaration of the Pastors which are called Remonstrants refers to the confession of faith of the Remonstrant brotherhood, published in 1621.
