According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
Jesus knew the tradition of Rabbi Hillel, as he proved in Mark 12:29-31. Christ stood within his Jewish tradition and within the school of Hillel, in particular. So, the Christian tradition of pitting Jesus against Judaism has always been erroneous.
After Rabbi Hillel quoted the same verses Jesus eventually quoted also, Hillel said:
The rest is commentary. God and learn it.
That ethos permeates Psalm 119, in which the Torah refers to divine instruction, with the Law incorporated into it. Traditional Christian disregard for the Law of Moses–a subsequent theological development–contradicts Psalm 119 and Deuteronomy 6:1-9.
Deuteronomy 6:1-9 drips with hindsight, irony, and melancholy. The author, reflecting centuries after the time in the wilderness, understood what had transpired in time and in Jewish folk religion, as opposed to Jewish priestly religion. This author, consistent with Deuteronomistic theology, affirmed that collective and national disaster was the inevitable result of this pattern.
As Christianity emerged from its Jewish roots, Christian theology developed along divergent paths. Part of the church, consistent with Judaism, never developed the theology of Original Sin and the Fall of Man, with the ensuing corruption of human nature. Augustinian theology, which postdates the Epistle to the Hebrews by centuries, could not have informed that document. The author of Hebrews–perhaps St. Apollos, although Origen wrote that only God knew the author’s identity–affirmed that Christ is the timeless, sinless high priest who covers sins and intercedes for sinners.
So, regardless of one’s opinion of Augustinian theology and the role of the Law of Moses, one can frolic in the good news that God is not chomping on the bit to throw lightning bolts at anyone. Christ intercedes for us. Do we even notice, though?
I, without minimizing or denying the importance of works in moral terms, choose not to walk the Pelagian path. Salvation is a process of grace, and God is in charge of the process. I also affirm Single Predestination, so some people sit on the chosen list. How one responds to grace remains an individual decision, with individual responsibility. Yet grace surrounds even this situation. The longer I live, the less inclined I am to think of any people as belonging in Hell. Matters of salvation and damnation are in the purview of God. I am not God. Neither are you, O reader.
We–like the author of Deuteronomy 6:1-9, possess hindsight. We–like the author of Deuteronomy 6:1-9–also live in something called the present. Therefore, we can have only so much hindsight. And even the most perceptive human hindsight is…human. God knows far more than we do.
Yet we can live according to love and mere decency. This is a certain way to embody divine love, honor God and human dignity, and get into trouble with some conventionally pious people and sometimes with legal authorities.
Nevertheless, this is one standard Jesus upheld in Mark 12:28-34. The Golden Rule should never be controversial, but it frequently is.
Our works matter morally. May we, by grace, make them count for as much good as possible.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 11, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE THIRTY-THIRD DAY OF EASTER
THE FEAST OF HENRY KNOX SHERRILL, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
THE FEAST OF BARBARA ANDREWS, FIRST FEMALE MINISTER IN THE AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH, 1970
THE FEAST OF SAINT GJON KODA, ALBANIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1947
THE FEAST OF JOHN JAMES MOMENT, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MATTEO RICCI, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY
THE FEAST OF SAINT MATTHÊÔ LÊ VAN GAM, VIETNAMESE ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, 1847
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
God (YHWH, Elohim, or whichever other name one prefers to use; a Christian term is God the Father) is one. God is sovereign. God is just. These characteristics come from the assigned readings from the Hebrew Bible, before I turn to Romans 8 and John 3.
The readings from Romans 8 and John 3 add Jesus and the Holy Spirit to the mix. Thus, we have all the ingredients for the formula of the Trinity. The word “Trinity” never appears in the New Testament. The ingredients of it do, however. The current, orthodox form of that doctrine is the result of successive councils and rebuttals against heresies during the first few centuries of Christianity.
I have read enough books and portions of books to know that every Trinitarian heresy began as a well-meaning attempt to explain the Trinity. So, I choose not to play that game. No, I embrace the mystery and focus on its meanings. One meaning is that, although God is one, God is complex, not simple.
In Christian terms, spiritual birth via the Holy Spirit is essential. This may be quiet or dramatic. Itay include an event one can mark as the time of spiritual renewal or it may sneak up on someone. I belong the company of people who have, within their active memory, always known God via Jesus. The dates I can mark on a timeline are mostly sacramental. They include one baptism, one confirmation, and three reaffirmations, with each of the last four occurring in the presence of a bishop in Apostolic Succession.
Lutheran minister and liturgist Philip H. Pfatteicher tells us that Trinity Sunday is:
not the feast of a doctrine but…the celebration of the richness of the being of God and the occasion of a thankful review of the now-completed mystery of salvation, which is the work of the Father thorugh the Holy Spirit.
—Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship: Lutheran Liturgy in Its Ecumenical Context (1990), 301
So, on Trinity Sunday, as well as all other days, may we thank God for the
now-completed mystery of salvation.
And, with the author of Psalm 96, may we ascribe glory and might to God. May our words, thoughts, and actions glorify God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 27, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-NINTH DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF CHARLES HENRY BRENT, EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY BISHOP OF THE PHILIPPINES, BISHOP OF WESTERN NEW YORK, AND ECUMENIST
THE FEAST OF SAINTS NICHOLAS OWEN, THOMAS GARNET, MARK BARKWORTH, EDWARD OLDCORNE, AND RALPH ASHLEY, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 1601-1608
THE FEAST OF PETER LUTKIN, EPISCOPAL COMPOSER, LITURGIST, AND MUSIC EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF ROBERT HALL BAYNES, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF MADAGASCAR
THE FEAST OF SAINT RUPERT OF SALZBURG, APOSTLE OF BAVARIA AND AUSTRIA
THE FEAST OF STANLEY ROTHER, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MISSIONARY, AND MARTYR IN GUATEMALA, 1981
For this post, O reader, we focus on two allegories.
Ezekiel 17 is the allegory of the eagles, the vine, and the cedar. For background, read 2 Kings 24-25; Jeremiah 21:14; Jeremiah 22:1-8, 20-30; Jeremiah 27-29; Jeremiah 34; Jeremiah 52; 2 Chronicles 36; 1 Esdras 1:43-58;
The allegory, by definition, uses symbols. The allegory tells the story of King Jehoiachin of Judah allying with Egypt against the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire, losing, and going into exile in 597 B.C.E. The allegory continues to describe King Zedekiah‘s failed rebellion, and his fate. The code of the allegory is as follows:
The great eagle = King Nebuchadnezzar II of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire (r. 605-562 B.C.E.) (v. 3).
Lebanon = Jerusalem (v. 3).
The topmost branch = Jehoiachin (r. 597 B.C.E.) (v. 3).
The land of merchants = Babylon (v. 4).
The native seed = Zedekiah (r. 597-586 B.C.E.) (v. 5).
Another great eagle = Pharoah Psammetichus II (r. 595-589 B.C.E.) (v. 7).
The vine = the Davidic Dynastry (vs. 7-8).
Ezekiel 17:18f and 2 Chronicles 36:13 argue that Zedekiah had violated his oath of vassalage by rebelling against King Nebuchadnezzar II, and thereby sinned against God. These texts also argue that Zedekiah earned his punishment. This position is consistent with the importance of oaths in the Bible (Genesis 24:7; Genesis 26:3, 28-31; Genesis 50:24; Exodus 13:5, 11; Exodus 20:7; Exodus 33:1; Leviticus 5:1-4; Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 5:17; Numbers 14:16, 30; Numbers 32:11; Deuteronomy 1:8, 35; Deuteronomy 6:10; Judges 11:11-40; 1 Kings 8:31-32; 1 Chronicles 12:19; 2 Chronicles 6:22-23; Psalm 16:4; Isaiah 62:8; Isaiah 144:8; Hosea 4:15; Amos 8:14; Matthew 5:36; et cetera).et cetera
Ezekiel 17 concludes on a note of future restoration (vs. 22-24). One Jewish interpretation of the final three verses holds that the construction of the Second Temple, under the supervision of Zerubbabel, of the House of David, fulfilled this prophecy (Haggai 2:20-23). That interpretation does not convince me. The prophecy concerns the restoration of the Jewish nation. My sense of the past tells me that one may not feasibly apply this prophecy to the events following 142 B.C.E. and 1948 B.C.E., given the absence of the Davidic Dynasty in Hasmonean Judea and modern Israel.
The emphasis on divine power and human weakness defines the end of Chapter 17.
Ezekiel 19, which uses the metaphors of the lion (the tribe of Judah; Genesis 49:9) and the vine (the nation of the Hebrews), is a lament for the fall of the Judean monarchy. For Ezekiel, priests properly outrank kings (34:24; 45:7-8), so Kings of Judah are “princes.” The first cub (v. 4) is King Jehoahaz of Judah (r. 609 B.C.E.). The second cub may be either King Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, or Zedekiah of Judah. The identity of the second cub is vague, but the prediction of the destruction of the monarchy of Judah is clear.
Leaders come and go. Kingdoms, empires, and nation-states rise and fall. All that is human is transitory. But God lasts forever.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 28, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN GERARD, ENGLISH JESUIT PRIEST; AND MARY WARD, FOUNDRESS OF THE INSTITUTE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
THE FEAST OF CLARA LOUISE MAASS, U.S. LUTHERAN NURSE AND MARTYR, 1901
THE FEAST OF SAINTS PLUTARCH, MARCELLA, POTANOMINAENA, AND BASILIDES OF ALEXANDRIA, MARTYRS, 202
THE FEAST OF SAINT TERESA MARIA MASTERS, FOUNDRESS OF THE INSTITUTE OF THE SISTERS OF THE HOLY FACE
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM AND JOHN MUNDY, ENGLISH COMPOSERS AND MUSICIANS
THE QUEST FOR FALSE SIGNIFICANCE IS A FORM OF IDOLATRY.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, “Master, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in; or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison, and come to see you?” “In solemn truth I tell you,” the King will answer them, “that inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you had done it unto me.”
–Matthew 25:37-40, Helen Barrett Montgomery, the Centenary Translation of the New Testament (1924)
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And lo, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.
–Luke 13:30, Helen Barrett Montgomery, the Centenary Translation of the New Testament (1924)
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The ethics and morals of Jesus of Nazareth shape my ethics and morals. I am a professing Christian, after all.
The increase in political extremism defined by hatred, xenophobia, nativism, and conspiracy theories concerns me deeply. This is a global problem. As one hears in this video clip, the “quest for significance” is one of the “pillars of radicalization.”
We are dealing with idolatry. Sin, in Augustinian terms, is disordered love. God deserves the most love. Many people, activities, ideas, et cetera, deserve lesser amounts of love. Others deserve no love. To love that which one should not love or to love someone or something more than one ought to do is to deny some love to God. One bears the image of God. One is, therefore, worthy of much love. In fact, Judaism and Christianity teach that one has a moral obligation to love others as one loves oneself, assuming that one loves oneself as one should (Leviticus 19:18; Tobit 4:15; Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 31:15; Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31). After all, the other human beings also bear the image of God. Judaism and Christianity also teach people to love God fully, and link love of God and love of other people (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Matthew 22:36-40). Therefore, true significance comes from loving God fully and loving God, as God is present in human beings, especially the “least of these.”
In 1 Maccabees 5:55-64, two Hasmonean military commanders named Zechariah and Azariah sought to make a name for themselves. They succeeded; they caused military defeat and won ignominy to define their names. However, in 1 Maccabees 6:42-47, Eleazar Avaran acted selflessly, in defense of his oppressed people and the Law of Moses. He died and won an honored name from his people. Those who sought honor earned disgrace. He who sacrificed himself gained honor.
I could quote or mention a plethora of Biblical verses and passages about the folly of seeking false significance. The Bible has so many of them because of the constancy of human nature. I could quote or mention more verses and passages, but to do so would be triply redundant.
Simply, true human significance comes from God, compared to whom we are all insignificant. That significance comes from bearing the image of God. The sooner more of us accept that truth, the better off the rest of us will be. The social, societal, economic, and political costs of the quest for false significance to extremely high.
The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A. Thank you very much.
The readings this week are about behavior, which is about attitudes. Revere God. Revere only God. Obey divine commandment reverently. Remember that, contrary to what Gordon Gecko said in Wall Street (1987), greed is not good. Do not give into hubris, which goes before the fall.
The love of money is the root of all evil, and in pursuit of it some have wandered from the faith and spiked themselves on many a painful thorn.
–1 Timothy 6:10, The Revised English Bible (1989)
Psychological research reveals that, to a certain extent, more money can reduce stress and increase happiness by improving one’s quality of life. When one can pay all one’s bills, afford all of one’s necessities, and reduce or eliminate debt, one feels better, of course. However, past a certain financial threshold, more money does not increase one’s happiness. In fact, in cases of extreme wealth, more money may decrease happiness and increase stress.
Money is a morally neutral tool. It is also worth what consensus decrees it is worth. Money is psychological. The moral aspects of money pertain to (1) how one uses it, and (2) how one relates to it. Money is one of the more common idols.
Revere only God, we read. Trust and obey God, we read. God is faithful. Are we?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 12, 2020 COMMON ERA
EASTER SUNDAY
THE FEAST OF HENRY SLOANE COFFIN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR; AND HIS NEPHEW, WILLIAM SLOANE COFFIN, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT DAVID URIBE-VELASCO, MEXICAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1927
THE FEAST OF GODFREY DIEKMANN, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, PRIEST, ECUMENIST, THEOLOGIAN, AND LITURGICAL SCHOLAR
The Law of God is permanent (Matthew 5:17f), according to Jesus, agreeing with Deuteronomy 30:11f.
How, then, are we supposed to interpret the Law-related conflicts between religious authorities and our Lord and Savior? He interpreted the Law more inwardly and rigorously. For example, he taught reconciliation, a principle at work in Acts 6:1-7.
Reconciliation, by definition, must involve more than one party. If I seek to reconcile with John Q. Public, that desire speaks well of me. If Mr. Public agrees to reconcile, we accomplish reconciliation. Yet if Mr. Public rejects my offer of reconciliation, he continues to carry his burden; I carry no burden, for I have laid it down. That result is positive for me, but reconciliation would be preferable.
Christ’s interpretation of the Law refuses to honor the letter of the Law while violating the spirit of the Law. Internalize the ethos of the Law, Jesus says, then act accordingly. This is an old teaching in 2019, as I type these words.
It was not unique to Jesus, though. Rabbi Hillel, who died when Jesus was a minor, quoted the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) when he summarized the Torah. He continued,
The rest is commentary. Go and learn it.
The wisdom of Hillel and Jesus continues to instruct those who pay attention.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 18, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF BARTHOLOMÉ DE LAS CASAS, “APOSTLE TO THE INDIANS”
THE FEAST OF ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, ANGLICAN DEAN OF WESTMINSTER, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF EDWARD WILLIAM LEINBACH, U.S. MORAVIAN MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH FERARD, FIRST DEACONESS IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
Abstract points of doctrine matter; I am no Pietist. The assigned readings for today–readings a Pietist would love–address practical matters of lived faith.
Teach and recite divine commandments then practice them.
Love God fully.
Do not surrender to desires that build up one in the short term, tear down others in all terms, and damage one in the long term.
Live according to the fruits of the Spirit–love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Imagine, O reader, a society in which the fruits of the Spirit are normative, expected rules governing human interactions. I want my society to become like that hypothetical society. I want the fruits of the Spirit to govern the political tactics of my nation-state and all other nation-states. I pray for the fruits of the Spirit to define the domestic and foreign policies of all nation-states. That would be a good world order. As reality stands, we can do better. For all the religious rhetoric in politics, we can seek to avoid hypocrisy, at least.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 17, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM WHITE, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
THE FEAST OF THE CARMELIT MARTYRS OF COMPIÈGNE, 1794
THE FEAST OF BENNETT J. SIMS, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF ATLANTA
THE FEAST OF NERSES LAMPRONATS, ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF TARSUS
The Law of Moses, unlike the older Code of Hammurabi, to which it bears some similarity, does not bring social class into consideration. No, the Law of Moses is impartial regarding the socio-economic status of both the victim and the perpetrator. In the Code of Hammurabi, for example, the same crime (theft or assault, for example) leads to a harsher penalty when the victim belongs to a higher social class. In the Law of Moses, however, the penalty is the same, regardless of anyone’s socio-economic status. That ethic of socio-economic impartiality carries over into James 2:1-7.
The Hillelian distillation of the Law of Moss comes from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (the Shema). How we love God, assuming that we do, manifests in how we treat each other. Hypocrisy is as old as human nature. Pious fronts belie both evil intentions and lesser disregard and carelessness. Often those who violate the Golden Rule do so while imagining that they are honoring God. Eliphaz the Temanite and the other so-called friends of Job (who remind me of, “with friends like these, who needs enemies?”) sound like the Book of Psalms much of the time. That fact complicates the interpretation of much of the Book of Job. The best answer I can offer is that what they said applied in certain circumstances, but not that one.
If we were less concerned about who is wright and about insisting that we are right, and if we were more concerned about being good friends to one another, we could fulfill the spirit of most of the assigned texts for today.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 14, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF CHARLES AUGUSTUS BRIGGS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR, AND ALLEGED HERETIC; AND HIS DAUGHTER, EMILIE GRACE BRIGGS, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR AND “HERETIC’S DAUGHTER”
THE FEAST OF SAINT METHODIUS I OF CONSTANTINOPLE, DEFENDER OF ICONS AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE; AND SAINT JOSEPH THE HYMNOGRAPHER, DEFENDER OF ICONS AND “SWEET-VOICED NIGHTINGALE OF THE CHURCH”
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM HIRAM FOULKES, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying “What is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
–Mark 1:28, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)
One may legitimately question whether Christ’s action in Mark 1:21-28 constituted a teaching. Assuming that it was, was it a new teaching?
Despite traditional Christian attempts to divorce Jesus from Judaism, one would have had a difficult time finding someone more Jewish than Jesus of Nazareth. Judaism was not monolithic two millennia ago. (Neither is it monolithic today.) Jesus was a man of his culture, place, and faith. With ease he quoted Deuteronomy, the various Isaiahs, and Rabbi Hillel. There was continuity from the Hebrew Bible (as in the Ten Commandments, repeated in Deuteronomy 5) to Jesus.
There is much continuity from the Hebrew Bible to the New Testament. The teaching to walk, not just talk, the talk, is present in both, as in the context of the Ten Commandments and the Letter of James. The theme of trusting in God, who cares about us (as in Psalm 40), is also present in the New Testament. As one considers the lilies of the field, one may recall that Job had a different opinion in Job 3. If each of us lives long enough, each of us also sometimes thinks that God does not care about us.
Occasionally, at the Oconee Campus of the University of North Georgia, where I teach, someone from a campus ministry politely asks me if I believe in God. I ask this person what he or she means, for the answer depends on the question. Many people used “believe in God” to mean “affirm the existence of God,” but belief, in the creedal sense, is trust. My answer is that I always affirm the existence of God and usually trust in God.
I (usually) trust in God, incarnate in the historical figure of Jesus of Nazareth, whose teachings were mostly old, in continuity with the Hebrew Bible. The Golden Rule and the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) are old, for example.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 13, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MILTON SMITH LITTLEFIELD, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN AND CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR
THE FEAST OF SIGISMUND VON BIRKEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, U.S. POET, JOURNALIST, AND HYMN WRITER
Christian Home Sunday, set on the second Sunday in May, takes the liturgical place of Mother’s Day (1908) and Father’s Day (1910), simultaneously commercial and socially conservative holidays with deep piety attached to them from the beginning.
The social conservatism in the United States of America at the time was of the sort that found women women influenced by feminism, breaking out of their separate spheres and republican motherhood–even daring to vote and to seek suffrage–a threat to traditional family structures and gender roles.
I am considerably more liberal than many of the early advocate of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Patriarchy is not the social good many have long imagined it to be. No, I prefer equality. And, unlike the author of Colossians 3, I also oppose slavery.
Even a merely cursory scan of the assigned readings reveals references to families in all of them. The readings from Deuteronomy and Colossians really get to the points: loving one another and nurturing piety. There is no cookie-cut-out formula for all families, but the two points from the previous sentence are timeless principles. They even apply when women vote and have careers.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 14, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHN AMOS COMENIUS, FATHER OF MODERN EDUCATION
THE FEAST OF THE CONSECRATION OF SAMUEL SEABURY, FIRST EPISCOPAL BISHOP
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM ROMANIS, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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