Tag Archive for 'bible'

Harper Collins Study Bible

Published on February 15, 2010 in liturgy. 2 Comments Tags: , .

The HarperCollins Study Bible: Fully Revised & Updated is produced by the 5500-member Society of Biblical Literature (representing practically every conceivable religious and scholarly perspective). It was fully revised and updated in 2006. It includes the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books. The version is the New Revised Standard Version. There are good-quality maps, tables, a timeline, articles about ways to read the scriptures, Israelite Religion, the Greco-Roman context of the New Testament, archaeology, and a concordance.

The original which this revises came out in 1997. New archaeological discoveries are incorporated into this revision.

The editors are Harold W. Attridge (General Editor, Revised); Wayne A. Meeks (General Editor, Original). The contributors tend to be associated with universities, seminaries, and theological colleges of the the “mainline” or Roman Catholic traditions. The often-extensive notes tend to be in the historical-critical approach, sensitive to both the person of faith and to those people who may be interested in the Bible primarily as literature. Often a new scholar has revised material from the earlier edition – the back cover says there is “over 25 percent new or revised material”.

For people who like to write in the margins – they are narrow.

If you collect study bibles, you will probably have this one on your shelf. If you are looking for a single, scholarly, reliable study bible – this one may be the one for you.

Anglican Covenant – strength of weak ties

Published on February 7, 2010 in liturgy. 17 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Bible Alone

It continues to intrigue me that those who hold to a Bible-Alone, sola scriptura position regularly continue to clamour in favour of the proposed Anglican Covenant. This more protestant, “reformed” end of the Anglican spectrum on the one hand claims the Bible Alone is totally sufficient for all our Christian needs, that the Bible is totally self-explanatory, and that the Bible does not need to be supplemented by any other documents. Yet on the other hand: these same people feel that Anglicanism cannot survive without the Anglican Covenant. Ie. the Bible alone is not sufficient. Make up your mind people: is the Bible alone sufficient or isn’t it?!

Completing the Reformation

Some pro-Anglican-Covenant people speak about the need to “complete the Reformation”. Certainly, many at the Reformation created confessional denominations increasingly dividing over disagreements over interpretations of their lists of beliefs. The Anglican Covenant will either include everyone currently Anglican (and so will alter nothing, have only delayed discussion about the real issue, and wasted jet-engine fuel). Or it will complete the Reformation’s tendency towards ever-increasing fragmentation by splintering the frail bonds that bind Anglicans together.

The Anglican Communion and the strength of weak ties

Without using theological-babble (or “Rowanspeak”) it is very hard to ascertain what those who are pro-the Covenant concretely want and expect from a “Communion”. Certainly we would hope a communicant anywhere is a communicant everywhere in the Communion. Even that principle has been stretched to breaking with some provinces communicating all the baptised, some needing a rite of “admission to communion” at an age of “understanding”, and some needing episcopal confirmation before receiving communion. I am sure that toddlers from the first option may have difficulty receiving communion in provinces with the last option. Another principle is the mutual recognition of ordination, so that clergy in one province can function as clergy in another province. That principle has long been broken with women clergy, and male clergy ordained by women bishops, from one province unable to function as clergy in other provinces. Attitudes to divorce and remarriage vary from province to province, affecting communicant status and acceptability of remarried clergy. All this will not change one iota should the Anglican Covenant be accepted.

Sociologist Mark Granovetter, in the highly influential 1973 paper on social networking “The Strength of Weak Ties”, argues our close friends will be quite similar to us. Acquaintances differ more from us and will have their own networks of close friends. We have strong ties to our friends, and weak ties to acquaintances. Granovetter argues persuasively for the value of having both strong and weak ties – they have different functions, enhancing both our flourishing and theirs.

Strong ties (friends) are like an Anglican province. Weak ties (acquaintances) are like our inter-provincial ties across the Anglican Communion. Many who are pro-Covenant appear unable to articulate a difference between a diocese, a province, and a communion – these appear to be seeking that the communion function essentially in the way that most of us understand a diocese to function (or possibly a province).

A previous post: the Anglican Covenant will not do what it is meant to do

A helpful site for deeper reflection is the World Anglicanism Forum run by Bruce Kaye, an Anglican theologian, Foundation editor of the Journal of Anglican Studies. Currently a Visiting Research Fellow in History at the University of New South Wales and a Professorial Associate in Theology at Charles Sturt University.

NRSV New Revised Standard Version

Published on February 5, 2010 in liturgy. 18 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

I intend to post reviews, from time to time, of different study bibles. Prior to commencing that series, I think it helpful if I write a little on the translation I would recommend if you do not read Hebrew and Greek. I  recommend the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), with the extra comment that, those not agile in the original biblical languages need to keep one eye on the footnotes provided.

History

William Tyndale’s New Testament translation of 1525 and the King James Bible set a standard of biblical English leading to a “Revised Version” in the late nineteenth century. This led to the “American Standard Version (ASV – 1901)” of which the “Revised Standard Version (RSV)” was the authorised revision. This last work was completely revised by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches as well as Jewish representation to form the NRSV (1989).

The NRSV was able to take advantage of scholarly developments since the RSV including the availablility of  the Dead Sea Scrolls and other manuscript discoveries.

Translation principles

Linguistically the NRSV stands intentionally in the Tyndale-King James tradition. The Hebrew text is primarily the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia with reference to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint. The Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical texts are from the Septuagint with reference to the Vulgate. The New Testament is a translation of the Novum Testamentum Graece 27th edition. The principle of translation is formal equivalence (as much as possible “word for word” rather than dynamic equivalence – “idea for idea”). Where the original clearly is intended to refer to both genders the translation has attempted to do this as smoothly as possible, clearly noting this in the footnotes. God retains the masculine pronoun. No attempt is made to alter masculine concepts of God such as “Lord” etc. In fact the Divine Tetragrammaton is translated as “LORD”. The archaic second person familiar forms (”thee”, “thou”), often confused as actually being polite forms, have been standardised to “you”, “your” etc. Many translations betray their theological presuppositions in soteriology (theories of salvation) or in hiding apparent biblical inconsistencies. NRSV can be trusted not to do that.

There is an edition following the Protestant canon, another including the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books; there is a Catholic Edition containing the First Testament books in the order of the Vulgate, and an anglicized edition which alters the text slightly to fit to British spelling and grammar. Other translations have been assiduous in marketing their product with a large variety of different presentations (teenage bibles, women’s bibles, men’s bibles, 12 step bibles, etc). NRSV has been notably weak in the variety of options available. Thankfully that is slowly improving.

The Episcopal Church and many Anglican provinces have approved the NRSV for worship. Common Worship (CofE) uses it as a standard. It is approved for Roman Catholic use and is the primary translation used in Catechism of the Catholic Church (the other being the RSV).

Conclusion

If you are looking for one translation and you are not confident in the biblical languages, the New Revised Standard Version is the one I would recommend.

Resources

Please remember this site has a collection of the best free, online resources to enhance your study of the scriptures. Beyond this website there is also:

The NRSV online

The NRSV online (an alternative site)

Search the NRSV online

Concise Concordance to NRSV online

SOAP Lectio Divina

Published on January 25, 2010 in liturgy, liturgy of the hours and spirituality. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , .

For all I know some readers of this post may wonder where I have been living all this time, or maybe that I move in far too small circles! Recently I was reading some comments of a woman who was taking for granted that all her readers knew what the “SOAP” Bible-reading method was. Well I had never heard of it. So I got in touch with her and she explained it stands for:

Scripture – pick your passage, follow a system, use a lectionary
Observation – what particularly touched you in the scripture passage?
Application – how can you apply your observation to your life?
Prayer

Recommendations are that all this be written in a journal – starting each section S, O, A, P
In my correspondence with her I mentioned how it has similarities to the great tradition of Lectio Divina, “Spiritual Reading”. She had never heard of that :-)

Lectio Divina has four movements
Lectio – read the passage
Meditatio – reflect on the passage
Oratio – respond in prayer
Contemplatio – rest in God

Previously I have written some more on Lectio Divina
There is also a good introduction to Lectio Divina here.

One comment I found suggested that the SOAP method started here.
A website for storing your SOAP is here.

A couple of final points: SOAP and Lectio Divina do not replace serious academic study of the scriptures – it prayerfully complements study. IMO the Christian spiritual life flourishes when there is a regular balance and variety of prayer styles: Eucharist, lectio divina, intercession, Daily Office, silent prayer,… There is a danger when only one or few from this list are present to nourish our spiritual life.

Comments below, as well as responding to this post, might include other ideas, websites, and resources.

Review Mosaic Bible

Published on November 13, 2009 in liturgy. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

I previewed the Mosaic Bible a little over a month ago. In the mean time I received the copy I ordered. There is actually very little that I need to add to my preview. It is magnificently produced, the images are stunning, the choice of material very wide (it is quite fun to see my own name there several times!) I was looking forward to seeing what the Hebrew and Greek word studies are like. In fact there are less than six pages on Hebrew words and similarly for Greek. The original script is not used – solely transliteration. I disagree with some analysis, eg. it states that ekklesia does not mean “called out of” (p.1198). Kudos to them for acknowledging hilasterion can mean expiation and translating appropriately.

Do not overstress the connection of this Bible to the lectionary. This works wellish in the main seasons (Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter) but in Ordinary Time don’t expect to find much if any connection – even the system of counting is eccentric. In summary my position hasn’t changed much from my preview. If you are seeking one Bible and one Bible translation this is not the one I recommend (that will be subject of another post). If you use several Bibles and several translations – certainly seriously consider adding this to your shelf. I am happy I spent the money to get this.

baptism confirmation ordination

Published on November 4, 2009 in liturgy. 17 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Maybe we have our weighting wrong.

Last weekend I was at an ordination. In our grand, full cathedral, with one of the world’s excellent choirs, with grand processions of robed clergy, coped archdeacons, billowing incense, and five splendidly attired bishops, with prostrations and much ceremony, the two hour service ordained four priests. The bishop, visiting from half a planet away, preached a sermon on the vocation to the ordained priesthood. Each new priest receives a sizeable certificate with the bishop’s personal signature and seal. It will probably be hung prominently in their study. After years of study, preparation, and prayer this is one of the most important days in their life …

Previously they would have been confirmed. Probably in their parish church – varying in quality. There might have been a choir doing its best. The church may even have been pretty full. Probably no incense. The bishop may have vested in cope and mitre or merely rochet and chimere. The service might have taken an hour or so. The sermon probably addressed the whole congregation. Kneeling rather than prostration. Each newly confirmed might have received a certificate no larger than an A5. Certainly no episcopal seal. If they were devout then, they may still have it. After weeks of preparation this was a special day…

Previously they were baptised. Sometimes baptised “in order to be confirmed” (some I know are confirmed “in order to be ordained”). Probably in the back of a church – sometimes the parish church, sometimes not. Maybe on a Sunday – that’s the norm now, but in their age-group it could just as easily have been with only the family on a Saturday afternoon. And it might have taken less than a quarter of an hour. The priest probably wore an alb and stole. There may have been no sermon. I hope they were given a certificate. I hope they still have it. After maybe a meeting to discuss this, this was a special moment…

In the Bible and in the early church, everything was the other way around. Baptism marked the great occasion. In the early church the lengthy baptism liturgy was celebrated throughout the Easter night with much drama after lengthy, intense preparation. Confirmation was integral to baptism, and ordination was the early-church equivalent of a little addition to a regular service.

Do you prominently display your baptism certificate?
Do you, year by year, celebrate the anniversary of your baptism (do you even know the date?!) and those in your household?

Bible alone – sola scriptura

Published on November 3, 2009 in liturgy. 24 Comments Tags: , , .

Today is the feast of Richard Hooker – a good day to reflect on the concept that the Bible alone is sufficient to determine what ought to be believed – sola scriptura. As far as I can ascertain the term goes back to Martin Luther, a sixteenth century human construct, philosophically in the early modern period of human history. Luther’s own high degree of confidence in the sole sufficiency of individualised Biblical reading was soon shattered even in his own lifetime when others started reading the Bible quite differently and found teachings there significantly different to what Luther himself read there.

The concept of “scripture only” is nowhere found in the scriptures. The scriptures regularly point readers beyond the list of scrolls. The scriptures do not present the concept of a coherent whole or closed canon. Furthermore, parts of the Bible quote from documents as if they are to be regarded as scripture – whereas these documents do not form part of our current canon!

2 Timothy 2:2 “what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.”

2 Thessalonians 2:15 “So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.”

1 Timothy 3:15 “if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.”

and so on…

The Early Church had no concept of sola scriptura, in fact could not have such a concept as there was no fixed canon. Hence, as sola scriptura is not part of “the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3) how can it form part of orthodox Christianity?

It is the early, undivided church which recognises the work of God’s Spirit in certain scrolls and holds them as providing God’s word within the ongoing life of the church. Richard Hooker argues against the puritan position of sola scriptura bringing reason and the tradition of the church into the dialogue. The councils of the undivided church clearly hold a special place in the life of the church. (As an aside, the FOCA’s Jerusalem Declaration “uphold the four Ecumenical Councils”. They give no indication which four they refer to, nor why they stop at four?! Normal church historians recognise seven ecumenical councils of the undivided church.)

Even the most casual examination of Christianity will underscore the failure of the puritan experiment and the inherently illogical nature of the Bible-alone position. People who actually claim sola scriptura disagree with other people who also claim sola scriptura about what we should believe – to the most fundamental issues. There are hundreds, no thousands of different Christian groups all claiming they have the correct beliefs, and all claiming that their beliefs are based on the Bible alone. This demonstrates, in the five centuries of its existence, sola scriptura cannot be made to work in practice. You can just about think of any crazy belief, and you can probably find a Bible verse to support it – and if you cannot find a group that supports your crazy belief, you can easily start one up and I’m sure you will soon find other people joining your new Bible-only believing group.

One of the scandals, certainly of English-speaking Christianity, is the dissatisfaction by some Christians with excellent biblical translations, and their financing of new “translations” which are not honest in following their declared purpose and method, but rather produce “translations” of the Bible to support a certain personal opinion. Rather than having the scriptures determine their beliefs, these people have their beliefs determine their “translation” of the scriptures.

With the advent of post-modern philosophical understanding there has been the growing realisation and acknowledgement that where one stands determines what one sees. There is no such thing as one objective reading on scriptural material. This is not a bad thing nor need it be the source of any scandal. It is merely a fact. One that would have been plain in the early church and one that poses no problem when it is understood, acknowledged and we respond together accordingly – hopefully a little more knowingly, and certainly a little more humbly.

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All Saints – Beatitudes

Published on November 1, 2009 in lectionary and liturgy. 3 Comments Tags: , , , .

Halloween – A Vigil for All Saints

Today on the feast of All Saints many read what are called the Beatitudes. They are probably one of the most famous passages in the Bible. We don’t use the word beatitude much – it comes from the Latin beatus meaning happy or blissful. More of that in a moment.

As with other famous, regularly repeated parts of the Bible – it is easily misunderstood. The Monty Python team in their film which is 30 years old this year, The Life of Brian, plays up the misunderstanding of Jesus teaching.

Blessed are the Meek, which means humble, patient, submissive, gentle; Blessed are the Meek – in the Life of Brian (M: language) a listener mishears it as: Blessed is the Greek – apparently he’s going to inherit the earth. When they finally get what Jesus actually says, a woman says “Oh it’s the Meek…blessed are the Meek! That’s nice, I’m glad they’re getting something, ’cause they have a hell of a time.” This is soon followed by the political activist and terrorist leader, Reg, saying “What Jesus blatantly fails to appreciate is that it’s the meek who are the problem.” This perfectly sums up the quickly growing annoyance of the violent with Jesus’ peaceful attitude.

Blessed are the peacemakers, is misunderstood in the Life of Brian as “Blessed are the cheesmakers” Gregory’s wife says, “what’s so special about the cheesemakers? To which Gregory replies: “Well, obviously it’s not meant to be taken literally; it refers to any manufacturers of dairy products.”

So the teachings of Jesus are quickly misunderstood. Even from the moment Jesus first gives them. Yet that ought not to be the case – we have a lived example of the teachings. Jesus is the embodiment of his teachings. Jesus is meek, a peacemaker, merciful, persecuted for righteousness’ sake. All Saints is a celebration of all who are like Jesus – the living and the dead.

The Beatitudes read today is the start of one of five long sermons that Jesus gives in Matthew’s Gospel. The people in Jesus day looked back to five scrolls they attributed to Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuternomy. So Matthew, in echoing these five scrolls in Jesus five sermons, reinforces the point he has already been making earlier in his Gospel, that Jesus is the new Moses. In Luke’s gospel Jesus gives this teaching on a plain, but Mathew wants to reinforce his point more. Just as Moses also goes up a mountain to receive a law; Jesus goes up a mountain to give a new law.

Jesus, Matthew says, sits down. We are used to teachers standing to teach – but that is relatively new. Traditionally a teacher would have sat to teach. Jesus disciples come to him. This is not, in Matthew, a message for the crowd – Jesus saw the crowd and left them going up the mountain. This is a message for Jesus’ close followers, for us his disciples.

Then the Greek text says three similar things: Jesus opened his mouth, he teaches them, he says.

We have left the crowd. We are privileged to be amongst his special disciples. He is clearly going to teach us authoritatively – and it is being reinforced we need to triply attend to what is going to be said.

But what Jesus says is shocking. The destitute, the sad, the meek, the merciful, and so on – these are blessed.

The Greek word is Makarios, translated here as blessed. Blessed is not a word we use a lot. It’s a very religious sounding word – and so it too easily flows over us. The Jerusalem Bible translated Makarios as “happy” – but that doesn’t really work does it: happy are the sad, happy are those who suffer, and so on. Yeah Right! So when they revised the Jerusalem Bible, the revision went back to “blessed” – Blessed are the merciful, and so on.

I recently found a translation for Makarios that I think fits much better without being the worn religious language we cannot hear any more. Makarios is “congratulations!”

As (in the Southern Hemisphere) students get close to exams and the congratulations inherent in our results, let us also remember the bigger picture of the examination that is our life:

Congratulations to the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Congratulations to those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Congratulations to the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Congratulations to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Congratulations to the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Congratulations to the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Congratulations to the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Congratulations to those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Congratulations to you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

God of the past,
on this feast of All Saints
we remember before you, with thanks,
the lives of those Christians who have gone before us:
the great leaders and thinkers,
those who have died for their faith,
those whose goodness transformed all they did;
Give us grace to follow their example and continue their work.

God of love
grant our prayer.

God of the present,
on this feast of All Saints
we remember before you
those who have more recently died,
giving thanks for their lives and example and for all that they have meant to us.
We pray for those who grieve
and for all who suffer throughout the world:
for the hungry, the sick, the victims of violence and persecution.

God of love
grant our prayer.

God of the future,
on this feast of All Saints
we remember before you the newest generation of your saints,
and pray for the future of the church
and for all who nurture and encourage faith.

God of love
grant our prayer.

We give you thanks
for the whole company of your saints
with whom in fellowship we join our prayers and praises
in the name of Jesus Christ
Amen.

Pope calls for daily meditation on Bible

Published on November 1, 2009 in liturgy and spirituality. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Wednesday’s General Audience to 15,000 people in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict called on Christians to learn from monasticism and set aside time every day to meditate on the Bible, “so that the Word of God will be the lamp that illuminates our daily path on earth.” Monastics “were devoted to the Sacred Scriptures and one of their main activities consisted in lectio divina, that is, a meditative reading of the Bible.” The pope reminded people that the Synod on the Word of God in 2008 recalled the importance of reading the Bible and said such reading must be built on monastic theology.

As monastic theology is listening to the Word of God, it is necessary to purify one’s heart to welcome it and, above all, one must be full of fervor to encounter the Lord. Theology therefore becomes meditation, prayer, a song of praise, and the impetus for sincere conversion.

More can be found on Lectio Divina here.

Lectio Divina

Published on October 31, 2009 in liturgy and spirituality. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

A video in which Fr. Matthew Moretz introduces Lectio Divina.
Click to find my take on Lectio Divina an ancient way of using scripture, the Bible, in prayer.

St James of Jerusalem brother of Jesus

Published on October 23, 2009 in liturgy. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Fillipa Hamilton photoshopped

Fillipa Hamilton photoshopped

In the early church there was a saying: In Christ, God became what we are so that we might become what Christ is. God became fully human so that we might become divine.

You may have seen the news last week that the American fashion label Ralph Lauren fired the model Filippa Hamilton because she was too heavy. Filippa Hamilton is 178cm tall (5 foot 10) and weighs 54 Kg. Recently Ralph Lauren photoshopped an advertisement with Filippa Hamilton in which she was made to look impossibly thin – in fact in the advertisement she looks absolutely gross. Her waist has been photoshopped to be the same size as her head. She looks like an alien. I cannot imagine any normal woman looking at those photographs and thinking – I’ll buy those clothes. Clearly most normal persons would not be able to fit into such clothes. Certainly Filippa Hamilton cannot.

What sort of people do we aspire to be like? What sort of role-models inspire you? Do you get inspired by people that are like you and have achieved more? Or do you think role-models should be unattainable, fantasy, impossibly unhuman.

Today we celebrate the feast of St James the brother of Jesus. A lot of Christians start to squirm when they hear “brother of Jesus”, it makes Jesus and his family and his background sound too normal. It must have been his cousin – some of them say. Well, unfortunately for you, Greek has a perfectly good word for cousin, and a perfectly good word for brother, and James was Jesus’ brother – as we hear in today’s reading.

In fact a lot of Christians, I would even go so far as to say most Christians cannot name Jesus’ brothers. And of course, what might be worse – is that no one can list off Jesus’ sisters – we know he had some, but the society of the time was so sexist that their names are not even recorded.

Jesus was the oldest in the family. And James was the next boy. When Jesus died, James took over running the movement Jesus had started and James stayed the boss in Jerusalem – we call him the first bishop of Jerusalem. He probably wrote the letter of James we find in the Bible. James is mentioned by the historian Josephus writing at the time. Josephus mentions James is the well-respected brother of Jesus. And that his enemies took advantage of an interval between Roman Governors in 62AD to have James executed.

So the reading today has Jesus growing up in an ordinary first century Mediterranean peasant family – of five boys: Jesus, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas, and at least a couple of girls.

In Christ, God became what we are so that we might become what Christ is.

Isn’t it funny how some people want our heroes to be different to us. Some people want models to look more glamorous than we will ever manage. And what’s the consequence of that? Well we will never be able to be like them – so we don’t even try. We won’t even need to try. We don’t even start out on the journey. We can give up before we start.

When models are a lot more like us, when heroes are a lot more like us, when spiritual leaders are a lot more like we are – then maybe we are challenged – scary eh! – to go on the same journey they went on. Or at least a similar one.

So in the reading, Jesus goes to his hometown and it says they “take offence at him.” Because this is the guy who grew up in their midst We’ve known him since he was a kid; he’s the carpenter’s son– that’s his carpenter’s shop down there; We know his Mum, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?” They get their noses all out of joint.

In Christ, God became what we are so that we might become what Christ is.

Jesus said: “Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house. A prophet is taken for granted, he is not accepted, in his hometown and his family.”

Look at the pictures we see of Jesus, the stained glass images. The Shroud of Turin notwithstanding – this is an image of Jesus pretty hard to live up to. But what if Jesus didn’t look like that.

We now know a lot more about Mediterranean peasant diet and lifestyle at the time of Jesus. We know more about their health, what they looked like. What if Jesus actually was short, and old looking, bald, and fat, with bad teeth and bad breath? That would not have been uncommon for a first century Mediterranean carpenter, a building-site labourer, a builder.

Jesus was essentially indistinguishable from the people of his day. He was one of them.

In Christ, God became what we are so that we might become what Christ is.

postscript: a useful alternative perspective on “brother of Jesus”
pps. untangle the different biblical James here

Mosaic Bible

Published on September 30, 2009 in liturgy. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

One of my followers on twitter, Keith Williams, recently sent me a tweet that a new Bible, the Mosaic Bible, was coming out. Keith is the editor of this Bible.

As soon as it became available I ordered my copy of the Mosaic Bible (it has not yet arrived – hence, clearly, this post is a preview, not a review). I have a good collection of translations, I have studied Hebrew and Koine Greek for my theology degree, and I have a number of study and devotional Bibles. I think the Mosaic Bible will be an interesting, and I hope at times useful, addition to my collection.

The Mosaic Bible (and the adjective refers, possibly surprisingly, certainly confusingly, not to Moses but to a composite picture) is a two column edition of the Living Bible Translation with minimal study tools. In the front of this Bible is a clearly separate section with images, quotes, reading suggestions, reflections, and space for notes linked to the church year. . Another of my followers tweeted me that I am quoted a couple of times and this website referenced in this Bible (some other bloggers received a free review copy – I’m not complaining that I didn’t – does that make my preview and possible future review less biased? :-) Or does my being quoted and referenced lead to bias…?)

Try Mosaic Online Now

We are promised excellent contemporary and historical writings chosen from Christians across the globe such as St. Augustine, Charles Wesley, and Henri Nouwen (and, apparently, Bosco Peters!). There are icons in the margins of the text to indicate which Scripture passages are linked to which writings. There is attractive full-colour art from contemporary and historical artists. I will be interested to see the Greek and Hebrew word studies resources in the back.

Liturgical Year

The liturgical year in the Mosaic Bible assigns some readings and a theme to each of 53 weeks in the year. Weeks are assigned in a fairly normal manner from Advent to Pentecost. But in contemporary lectionaries (RCL; 3 Year Lectionary) from Pentecost to Advent (about half the year) readings are not assigned by “Sunday’s after Pentecost” as in the Mosaic Bible, but by the Sunday’s date (closest to an assigned date). This means there may generally be no correlation between readings suggested in the Mosaic Bible and readings read in a majority of the world’s churches for that Sunday for half the year. Furthermore, these contemporary lectionaries (RCL; 3 Year Lectionary) do not work to or from a “theme” but, especially for the half year I am referring to, provide a smorgasbord of readings to nourish the faithful. Finally, contemporary lectionaries provide a three year cycle. The Mosaic Bible only provides a one year cycle – hence, the chances that the readings of the Mosaic Bible are the same as in church would only about one in six!

I do not understand, however, why the official site states “This is the 20th week of Pentecost (”Creativity”), pg m278“. Sunday September 27 was the 17th Sunday after Pentecost. That was “Proper 21″ in BCP (TEC USA) organisation of the lectionary – so until I have my hands on the actual Bible, I will have to wait and see how this all pans out – but for those of you holding the book, or looking to purchase it in a shop – these might be some of the questions you could be asking. This may be a way that those who have never experienced the Judaio-Christian discipline of lectionary and church year get a taster for it – but it may also be a major leap from this to contemporary practice in these areas. For those familiar with the contemporary lectionary this may feel very Lectionary Lite.

What we in the liturgical, lectionary tradition could find seriously useful is a Bible which indicated when a particular text is read in church within the text such as is done in The Orthodox Study Bible or differently in The CTS New Catholic Bible A reverse lectionary in the Bible.

New Living Translation

The Living Bible was published in 1971. It was a paraphrase of the American Standard Version of 1901 by Kenneth Taylor. It became highly popular in the early 70s. In 1996 a revision, this time based on the original Hebrew and Greek texts, was published as as the New Living Translation. A complete reworking of this translation, still with the same title, but now called the “second edition” was published in 2004. Even further revisions were made in 2007 – but not only has the title New Living Translation been retained, but this later revision is still, extremely confusingly, called the “second edition”. The “second edition” in the Mosaic Bible excludes the deuterocanonical/apocryphal books of the Bible (so cannot be seen to be the Bible for over half of the world’s Christians). Some quick checks of some important translation texts would get a reasonable but not excellent score from me. Isaiah 7:14 has the translation of the Greek Septuagint rather than the Hebrew Masoretic in the text (which they state is being used). There is a footnote indicating the alternative – but not as in other (nearby) footnotes where there is honesty about which is the Hebrew and which is the Greek. Verses on atonement have not been skewed through a particular theory of atonement. This is worth comparing with the NIV and ESV. My own standard, after the original texts, is the NRSV – keeping a good eye on its footnotes. (I must acknowledge a natural innate prejudice against our English-language tendency to keep multiplying translations; I question whom it profits, whom it glorifies; I question the motivation and the slanting; a handful of different translations following different methodology and for different purposes might be justified, but in English we are well beyond handsandfeetful!)

Conclusion

In this preview I suggest if you have a number of Bibles and are looking for one that has a different devotional approach, consider seriously adding this to your collection. If, however, you are looking for the ONE Bible that will be your primary Bible for study and devotion – then I think that might be a good topic for a future blog post. Meanwhile I enthusiastically look forward to my (non-free, non-review, LOL) copy arriving.

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hair spirituality

Published on September 19, 2009 in liturgy and spirituality. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Sixty-six teenage lads at Christ’s College, on their own initiative, sought sponsorship and had their head shaved and raised more than $14,000 for the Cancer Society. These are notes preparing for an address to the school about this.

There’s been remarks about how losing your hair means you look more similar to each other – lose some of your individuality. There’s been a mention that having shaved your hair you carry yourself with a stronger assurance. Or maybe it is that those less self-assured were less likely to offer themselves for this. The regular response to my talking with those of you who have had your head shaved is how sensitive it is; how cold it quickly feels. Some of you are wearing a beanie to bed.

There’s a lot to reflect on about hair. If you are later on looking for a doctorate topic – you could easily do one on hair and on the spirituality of hair. Our attitudes to hair, hair length, hair colour, going grey, long hair, going bald, dyeing hair. What is it like belonging to a school which restricts your hair length and style? Why do grown men shave off their facial hair? Presumably evolutionary psychologists should argue facial hair is attractive to women. When men shave are they making themselves look like pre-pubescent males or more feminine – why would they do that? Is male shaving going against nature? Is it going against what God intends?

In the 1960s there was the musical Hair – prior to the 60s men had short hair, women had long hair – now all that demarcation was mixed up. Gender roles were mixed up from that time also. Why is short hair still part of the military?

What about the religious significance of hair. I was in a Buddhist monastery for some days – learning from them – but left before I had to get my head shaven. Buddhist monks shave their heads. Their close relatives, Hindu sadhus, grow their hair long. Rastafarians have dreadlocks, Chassidic and other Jews do not cut their sideboards (uncut sideburns are called payot) and discourage shaving their beards. Sikhs never cut their hair. Christian women traditionally covered their head in worship and men kept heads uncovered.

The Bible has a great deal to say about hair. Samson’s strength was in his hair and he wasn’t to cut it. He lost his strength when his hair was cut. A Nazarite did not cut hair (Numbers 6:1-21). Jesus is generally imaged with long hair and a beard. But Paul calls long hair on a man degrading, and says it is disgraceful for a woman to cut her hair. Women are forbidden to braid or plat their hair.

Jesus reminds us we cannot change by willpower one hair on our head to turn it from white to black or vise versa. He reminds us that the God who names each of the trillions of stars in our universe has also numbered every hair upon your head. God knows each and every hair on your head.

I knew NIV was dodgy

Published on August 31, 2009 in liturgy. 9 Comments Tags: , , , .

The Book of Mark has 678 verses. The Book of “Mark” in the NIV (New International Version) has 666 verses! The NIV’s book of “Mark” contains the “mark” of the Beast 666! This proves who is behind these modern, phoney, satanic perversions of the Bible.

ps. LOL
pps. This is exactly the way I preach.
ppps. NOT!
pppps. Don’t trust a version that mistranslates Isaiah 7:14 (and doesn’t even put the Hebrew original in a footnote!)
ppppps. Don’t trust a version that cannot be used by over half of Christians because it excludes the Deuterocanonical books (”Apocrypha”).
pppppps. If you cannot read the originals – start with NRSV (and keep a good eye on the footnotes)
ppppppps. If you enjoyed this preaching style his “him that pisseth against the wall” sermon must stand for all time as a classic in this genre.
pppppppps. LOL
ppppppppps. H/t to Rev. Peter Carrell
pppppppppps. dividing the Greek text into verses as a scholarly device dates from the mid sixteenth century

The Lectionary (part 2)

Published on July 31, 2009 in liturgy. 9 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

In the last post on the lectionary I gave background to the RCL (Revised Common Lectionary) and highlighted that a community discipline of following the lectionary frees us from the vagaries and some of the eccentricities of allowing pastors total discretion to pick their own favourite Bible passages.

I think there is always a danger from some to turn liturgy into rubrical fundamentalism – always following the instructions of our liturgies to the letter solely because these instructions are there. I am far more interested in understanding the reasoning and principles underneath our rubrics (liturgical instructions). This post, hence, will look at some of the advantages of following the lectionary as well as examining some alternatives.

The Lectionary is part of Common Prayer

  • The lectionary is a whole church or denomination sharing a unified, common pattern of biblical proclamation. For example: the gospel book we are all focusing on together this year is Mark. This is the experience of over half the world’s Christians – a remarkable movement of the Holy Spirit in our own time.
  • The lectionary means that all in a community can prepare ahead: clergy, preachers, those worshipping in the congregation, musicians, Sunday School teachers, and so on.
  • Clergy, worship leaders, and preachers meet, discuss, and pray together, share resources and ideas around the lectionary. Because the lectionary is shared ecumenically, such meetings can happen locally between many churches and denominations, and even virtually online.
  • There are wonderful shared resources around the lectionary, ecumenically, internationally, and including online. These include preaching resources, commentaries, Sunday School material, and devotional resources.
  • Individuals and groups reflect prayerfully on the following Sunday readings in the style of Lectio Divina or systematic Bible study or other methods.
  • The lectionary provides a dynamic direction with a carefully thought out pathway and flow in the church’s seasons as well as in Ordinary Time.

The alternative

In my experience, the strongest criticism of RCL comes from those who claim they want to “preach through the whole Bible systematically.” For some time I have been involved with online and offline discussion and critique of RCL. One ordained minister criticised RCL for skipping gospel passages from one week to the next. I am sympathetic to this critique. But what interests me is that when I check that ordained minister’s community website it is noticeable that when the lectionary is abandoned 2 Peter 1:20-21 is followed the next week by John 14:1-6 then Luke 10:25-28 then Isaiah 53:5 then Matthew 23:1-37 then Hebrews 10:24-25! My point is that those who abandon the lectionary appear to have scripture-reading systems that are inestimably impoverished in comparison to the RCL which they criticise.

Another supposedly “systematic-Bible-preaching” site I examined, in a year apparently dedicated to preaching systematically through the book of Jeremiah, there were actually only 14 sermons and Sundays devoted to the Book of Jeremiah. That is, in fact, about the same number of Sundays that RCL devotes to Jeremiah. With a bit of planning, that community could have used the RCL AND had as good a preaching series on Jeremiah! Another similar style of site I visited had five Sundays devoted to Romans 1, another to Romans 2:1-16, nothing for Romans 2:17-3:8, a Sunday for Romans 3:9-31, and then… no more on Romans!

My challenge to those who abandon the lectionary is: show us how your community is doing something so stunning that the negatives of abandoning common prayer are outweighed by your own system.

The Protestant Bible has 1189 chapters. Read and preached on a chapter a week (the systematic manner that many RCL-criticisers mostly suggest) – this results in…. 23 years of preaching to get through the Bible! I can just visualise the Christian formation being provided to the University student attending your church for the three years of her degree when those years just happen to coincide with the systematic preaching through Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy!

The RCL as a preaching tool

Each Sunday the RCL provides a Gospel reading, another New Testament reading, a psalm, and normally two tracks for the Old Testament. One track of the Old Testament links it with the Gospel reading, the other follows the Old Testament semi-continuously in the same manner that the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament are read. [Consistency demands that once a community starts following one track, that is what is used at least for that liturgical year]. Those so inclined can see that these five biblical readings for three years provide fifteen years of exposition before one even needs to return to examine a text for a second time!

It may very well have been possible to have produced something better than this three year cycle we share with more than half the world’s Christians, but that opportunity has now passed. Whatever we alter in this treasure will lead to greater losses than gains in my opinion.

Whilst I rejoice at the liturgical renewal that has put the Eucharist back at the heart of the Christian community, this has not happened without some loss. The Eucharist is the jewel in the crown of Christian worship. For some (many?) that is all they experience – the jewel, no crown. The Eucharist, hence, becomes the sole place for worship, prayer, contemplation, education, fellowship, and so forth. This is a weight too much for the Eucharist to bear.

The Sunday Eucharist ought not to be the only encounter that Christians have with the scriptures. Christians ought regularly to be encouraged to read a book as a whole, for example. Mark’s gospel, our focus this year for example, takes only little more than an hour to read. A Christian community can provide other opportunities for encountering the scriptures in a deeper way – not just individually or in small groups, but online. I am amazed when communities are not providing online resources and discussions to facilitate the deeper, ongoing, systematic, continual working through the scriptures to complement what is provided Sunday by Sunday in their common worship.

RCL, then, is not merely one cool resource alongside others that people might choose from or create their own. Just to take the example of the NZ Anglican Church: the RCL was brought to General Synod where it was passed without amendment, then all the diocesan synods and Hui Amorangi unanimously passed it, then General Synod passed it for a second time, and then a year had to go by allowing for anyone to appeal this new formulary – plenty of opportunities for the sort of discussion and amending by the sort of people who now do not use it. Everything passed unanimously. Clergy promise and sign at their ordination that they will use only authorised material in leading services, and sign again each time they get a new position and licence. Our church’s pledging not to depart from formularies like this is even binding on us as a church by Act of Parliament.

The next post on the lectionary will provide links to some of the best online resources connected to the RCL.