READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART VI

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 5:1-6:17

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We have a study in contrasts in this post.  Presumption and insincerity contrast with true friendship, just as true friendship contrasts with false friendship.  Backing up into this series by one post and picking up the theme of truth as “activated integrity” contextualizes this material well.

We humans are prone to presume wrongly.  Those who are rich may presume on their wealth.  Those who are prominent may presume on their social status.  Those who mistake God for an absentee landlord (see Psalms 14 and 53) may presume that they need not fear the consequences of their evil actions.  Those who presume on divine mercy underestimate divine judgment.  They miss the balance of divine judgment and mercy.

Insincerity begins internally and extends outwardly.  Such a person may be a false friend who refuses to help a person in trouble.  I write for myself when I tell you, O reader, that adversity has revealed the identities of my true friends.  I also tell you that have been such a friend for a special and beloved woman.  So, I understand what true friendship requires of one; it requires integrity, sincerity, love, endurance, and self-sacrifice.  You, O reader, may also understand, based on your experience.

A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter:

he that has found one has found a treasure.

There is nothing so precious as a faithful friend,

and no scales can measure his excellence.

A faithful friend is an elixir of life;

and those who fear the Lord find him.

Whoever fears the Lord directs his friendship right,

for as he is, so is his neighbor also.

–Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 6:14-17, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

Those are words to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 13, 2023 COMMON ERA

PROPER 14:  THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF JEREMY TAYLOR, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DOWN, CONNOR, AND DROMORE

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH PAYSON PRENTISS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT IRENE OF HUNGARY, HUNGARIAN PRINCESS AND BYZANTINE EMPRESS

THE FEAST OF OCTAVIA HILL, ENGLISH SOCIAL REFORMER

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READING THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON

PART II

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Wisdom of Solomon 1:1-2:24

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1:1-5 addresses rulers–not just Jewish 0nes, but mainly Gentiles.  Recall, O reader, that Pseudo-Solomon cast a broad net and sought to appeal to as many people as possible by fusing Judaism and Platonism in a Hellenistic context.  (FYI:  Platonism, influential in Christianity since the earliest years of Christianity, is less influential in Christianity than it used to be.  History tells us that Sts. Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas helped to raise the profile of Aristotle and his philosophy in Christianity in the Middle Ages.)  Based on 1:1, what does Pseudo-Solomon encourage those in authority to love?  My survey of sixteen translations–fourteen in English ad two in French–indicates the following results:

1. Righteousness–seven translations,
2. Justice–seven translations,
3. Uprightness–one translation, and
4. Virtue–one translation.

The survey reveals a tie between righteousness and justice, terms where are interchangeable in the Bible.  Recall, O reader, that righteousness is right relationship with God, self, others, and all of creation.  Allowing for the separation of religion and state–which I, as a devout person and a student of history, favor–governments must still respect human rights and liberties, as well as live in harmony with nature.  They are failing.

The germane notes in The Jerusalem Bible (1966) and The New Jerusalem Bible (1985) define righteousness/justice slightly differently:

…perfect accord of mind and act with the divine will as manifested in the precepts of the Law and the injunctions of conscience.

That definition assumes that someone has a conscience, of course.  Some in positions of leadership are narcissistic, pathological predators devoid of a conscience.

For perverse thoughts separate men from God,

and when his power is tested, it convicts the foolish;

because wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul,

nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin.

–Wisdom of Solomon 1:3-4, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

Historical accounts and current events confirm those words.

As we continue to read, we find that

…the Spirit of the Lord has filled the world….

–Wisdom of Solomon 1:7a, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

The Spirit of the Lord is impossible to avoid, we read.  It knows what people say, we read.  Furthermore, people doom themselves.  God, who does not delight in the death of the living, favors righteousness, which is immortal.  We also read all that through 1:15.

Yet godless/ungodly people–the fools/benighted men of Psalms 14 and 53–summon death upon themselves.  Their atheism, in context, is practical atheism; they reject divine interest in human activities, as well as any divine retribution.  They sound like Ecclesiastes minus the piety.  They lack all compunction against oppressing people–a violation of Biblical mutuality.  They know that they are predators, and target the inconvenient, righteous people.  These godless/ungodly people lack a conscience.  They even martyr some of these righteous people.  The wickedness of these godless/ungodly people blinds them morally.

To come full circle, 1:1-5 tells rulers not to be like that.  No, those in authority should feel ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness/injustice.

I choose my words carefully in these weblogs, for i seek to make my meaning plain.  However, even the plainest and most direct language cannot prevent all misunderstandings.  Nevertheless, I continue to try to be clear without attaching a lengthy disclaimer to every blog post.  Such a disclaimer would be ridiculous and not worth my time and effort.

With all that in mind, I state that people of good conscience may disagree about whether a given policy is just or unjust.  Some people are bound to be mistaken, and all of us possess moral blind spots.  Yet an evidence-based person with a conscience may admit error in the pursuit of righteousness/justice.  And such a person may change his or her mind regarding a given policy.  Results matter.  I, as one trained in historical methodology, affirm that evidence and objective reality matter.  I reserve my harshest condemnations for those who do not care about righteousness/justice.  I summon my fiercest moral outrage and tear into those who lack a sense of morality.  Their tribe is legion, unfortunately.  To paraphrase Jon Stewart, a shameless person commits the most shameful deeds.

Chapter 2 concludes with a bridge into chapter 3.  That bridge reads, in part:

…for God created man for incorruption,

and made him in the image of his own eternity,

but through the devil’s envy death entered the world,

and those who belong to his party experience it.

–Wisdom of Solomon 2:23-24, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

The alternative translations of God’s “eternity” are “nature” and “likeness.”  This definition fits with “eternal life” in the Gospel of John, where “eternal life” pertains to the nature of God and has no relation to time.  In the Johannine tradition, “eternal life” is knowing God via Jesus.  So, eternal life begins in this life and continues in the afterlife.  Elsewhere in the New Testament, though, “eternal life” refers to the afterlife.  Regardless of the translator’s choice in Wisdom of Solomon 2:23-24, the meaning is that God created people for immortality yet they are not immortal.  Human ethical conduct–defined by righteousness/justice–is full life in God.  The opposite–“death”–is total separation from God and virtue.

In the arena of the history of theology, I note that, by the time of the composition of the Wisdom of Solomon, the influence of Zoroastrianism upon Judaism had reached full flower.  Chapter 2 indicates that “the Satan” has completed his transformation from a loyal servant of God (as in Numbers 24) into a rogue.  This chapter, combined with the previous one and the next one, also affirms reward and punishment in the afterlife.  Sheol is out; divine retribution in the afterlife is in.

The history of theological development is a matter of evidence–written evidence, especially.  One can state objectively that theology has changed.  This fact upsets some people; I know this, based on their reactions to me after I have explained this.  Yet this fact need not upset anyone, unless objective reality upsets that person.  The truth of theology at any given stage of its development is not so easy to settle, however.  The question of theological truth–insofar as fact checks can neither confirm nor refute them–resides in the realm of faith.  Fact checks aside, history cannot evaluate many claims of faith.

Now I move into that realm of faith.  I step outside the territory of fact checks.  I hold that, by the time of the composition of the Wisdom of Solomon, Jewish theology had made strides in the direction of understanding Satan and divine reward and punishment in the afterlife correctly.  I agree that God condemns nobody to Hell; people condemn themselves.  Yet the story of Jesus preaching in Hades/Hell between the crucifixion and the Resurrection sticks in my mind.  What was the point of such preaching if damnation is necessarily permanent? So, I also affirm that those in Hell can still find salvation if they will accept it.  They can still go to Heaven if wickedness ceases to blind and bind them.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 2, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF GEORG WEISSEL, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF ANNA BERNADINE DOROTHY HOPPE, U.S. LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF CARROLL O’CONNOR, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC ACTOR AND SCREEN WRITER

THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN GOTTFRIED GEBBARD, GERMAN MORAVIAN COMPOSER AND MUSIC EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF FREDERICK WILLIAM FABER, ENGLISH MORAVIAN BISHOP, LITURGIST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER JULIAN EYMARD, FOUNDER OF THE PRIESTS OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT, THE SERVANTS OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT, AND THE PRIESTS’ EUCHARISTIC LEAGUE; AND ORGANIZER OF THE CONFRATERNITY OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

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READING THE BOOK OF PROVERBS

PART XIII

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Proverbs 24:1-22

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Proverbs 24:1-22 is the third section of the third collection in the Book of Proverbs, according to The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014), whose lead I am following.

1. A partial list of teachings from these verses follows:
2. Neither envy nor consort with those who are evil.
3. True power and prosperity derive from wisdom, not evil.
4. Actively resist injustice.
5. Learning wisdom should be a joy.
6. Never rejoice when others–even enemies–suffer.  (Some Psalmists needed to learn this lesson.)  God may punish you for your schadenfreude.
7. The prosperity of the wicked is temporary.

The evil and the wicked reject God’s ability or willingness to judge and intervene.  They may mistake God for an absentee landlord.  Therefore, they move rapidly into the error that the ends justify the means.  These are the “benighted men” (TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures) of Psalms 14 and 53 who think vainly that God does not care.  These are the people whom we should never envy and with whom we should never consort.  And these are the people whose prosperity is temporary.  God does care.  They will learn this lesson.

Proverbs harbors no ambiguity regarding this point.  However, Ecclesiastes does.  The dialectic between these two books of wisdom literature is worth exploring on one’s own time.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 25, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES BAR-ZEBEDEE. APOSTLE AND MARTYR

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READING THE BOOK OF PROVERBS

PART I

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Proverbs 1:1-33

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As Foster R. McCurley, Jr., and John Reumann tell us in Witness of the Word:  A Biblical Theology of the Gospel (1986), a range of genres exists in the Hebrew Bible.  Wisdom literature is one of these genres.

It seems that reason replaces drama in an attempt to deal with nature and God’s continuing world rule.

–228

The Book of Proverbs presents conventional piety, against which the Books of Job and Ecclesiastes (except for their tacked-on endings) protest.  The Book of Proverbs offers a “settled teaching,” to quote Walter Brueggemann and Tod Linafelt, An Introduction to the Old Testament:  The Canon and Christian Imagination, 3rd. Ed. (2020), 333.  The Books of Job and Ecclesiastes (except for their tacked-on endings) reflect an understanding that life is not settled.

The Book of Proverbs exists in tension with another strain in the Hebrew Bible.  The Torah (defined as the Books of Moses) holds that divine revelation is necessary.  However, the Book of Proverbs teaches that God gave people the rational capacity for wisdom, therefore divine revelation is not necessary.  People need merely to heed wisdom.  This does not represent hard tension the Torah, which also teaches that God planted the law within people, so keeping the Law is neither impossible nor unduly difficult.  Yet the Book of Proverbs does exist in tension with the Torah regarding the role and significance of Law as revealed teaching.

The Book of Proverbs contains six collections of wisdom sayings attributed to more than one author.  The final section (chapters 30 and 31) consists of four appendices.  The traditional attribution of much material to King Solomon is dubious, for the language and content of those verses does not fit Solomon’s time.  Regardless of authorship, these “memorable sayings” (literally) offer guides to life in community and originate from a range of centuries.  Scholarship dates the completion of the book to the time following the Babylonian Exile.

As we read the Book of Proverbs, may we ever remember the communal nature of the book.  My culture fixates on individualism, not communitarianism.  To bring Western assumptions antithetical to Biblical texts is easy to do.  One may do it unconsciously.  Assumptions can obscure the plan meanings of texts, which always exist in contexts.

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The first collection within the Book of Proverbs spans chapters 1-9.  The second collection spans 10:1-22:16.  Three other collections span 22:17 and the end of chapter 29.  However, the second collection may predate the first one.  We see an editor’s hand at work in the Book of Proverbs.  The arrangement of material as we find it is logical; chapters 1-9 function as an introduction to the rest of the book and provide interpretive context for the 10:1-22:16.

The voice in chapters 1-9 is that of a father lecturing his son.  Most lectures or discourses follow a three-part structure:

1. A call to attention,
2. A lesson, and
3. A conclusion.

The conclusion is absent sometimes.

Chapters 1-9 also include intervals between lectures or discourses.

1:2-6 explains the purpose of the Book of Proverbs:

…for education in wisdom and moral discipline, for the understanding of thoughtful speech, for training in discernment of what is right and proper and equitable; to sharpen the wits of the ignorant, to give youth knowledge and foresight (the scholar too may give heed and add to his store of knowledge, and the discerning man may find guidance); for the comprehension of proverb and metaphor, the words of the wise and their riddles.

—R. B. Y. Scott‘s translation (1965)

Then we arrive at 1:7.  Scott’s translation from the germane volume of The Anchor Bible reads:

The first principle of knowledge is to hold the Lord in awe;

They are fools who despise wisdom and instruction.

“Fools” here, as in Psalms 14 and 53, are morally defective.  In Psalms 14 and 53, fools deny that God cares.  They mistake God for an absentee landlord and imagine that they can get away with anything wrong.  In Proverbs 1:7, fools do not hold God in awe–or, in the familiar language, “fear God.”  Fear/awe/reverence of God is the first principle of Biblical wisdom.  Fear/awe/reverence of God is another term for conscience.  It grows within the pious and keeps them from evil.

“Evil,” in turn, is the attitude which refuses to recognize that God does care and is present, and that all people depend entirely upon God.  Evil leads to the mindset of “every man for himself” and the assumption that the ends justify the means.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.

Wisdom and reproof dolts despise.

–Robert Alter’s translation (2019) of Proverbs 1:7

In 1:8-19, the father instructs his son to obey both parents’ teaching.  The wife/mother is also a fountain of wisdom, albeit one channeled through the husband/father.  The counsel here is to keep company and to avoid gangs.  They victimize innocent people.  And, according to R. B. Y. Scott’s translation,

They are lurking against their own lives.

–1:18b

This advice, sadly, remains relevant.  Human nature is a constant force in society.  Whatever we do to others, we also do to ourselves.  This is a moral truth, one which irresponsible individualism and a lack of empathy (or sympathy, at least) ignore.

They shall eat the fruit of their ways,

And have their fill of their own counsels.

–Proverbs 1:31, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1999)

Or, to channel folk wisdom from a subsequent age, these scoffers will lie in the beds which they have made for themselves.

Notice, O reader, that the text personifies divine wisdom as feminine.  Later in the book, the text also personifies human folly as feminine.  Lady Folly is the counterpart to Lady Wisdom.  First, however, we meet Lady Wisdom.  Male voices provide instruction, but feminine wisdom speaks for herself in chapter 1.  I imagine that contributors to the genre of Hebrew wisdom literature–as in Proverbs, Ecclesiasticus/Sirach, and the Wisdom of Solomon–knew wise women in their families.

In 1:33, divine wisdom, personified as a woman, says:

But he who listens to me will dwell assured [in mind],

Untroubled by fear of calamity.

–R. B. Y. Scott’s translation (1965)

The problem with 1:33 is that reality does not support it.  The Books of Job and Ecclesiastes argue against the proposition until their tacked-on endings.  The long record of persecution and martyrdom also contradicts Proverbs 1:33.  In the Book of Tobit, the titular character suffers because he obeys divine commandments, in violation of human laws.  The New Testament and Jewish apocalyptic literature also understand that the pious may suffer for being pious.

I wish that life were as simple as Proverbs 1:33 pretends it is.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 4, 2023 COMMON ERA

INDEPENDENCE DAY (U.S.A.)

THE FEAST OF SAINTS ADALBERO AND ULRIC OF AUGSBURG, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS

THE FEAST OF CHARLES ALBERT DICKINSON, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT ELIZABETH OF PORTUGAL, QUEEN AND PEACEMAKER

THE FEAST OF JOHN CENNICK, BRITISH MORAVIAN EVANGELIST AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT PIER GIORGIO FRASSATI, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC SERVANT OF THE POOR AND OPPONENT OF FASCISM

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I covered 150 psalms in 82 posts.

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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XXI

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Psalms 27 and 36

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Psalms 27 and 36 share some themes.  Many psalms share themes, of course.  Yet writing this series of blog posts properly does require breaking off portions that are not too big.

Psalm 27 is purely individual.  The pious psalmist, beset by foes, trusts God.  He expects that God will preserve his life.  The psalmist anticipates remaining

in the land of the living

–not dying and going to Sheol.  In the last verse, the psalm changes voice; the singular first person–I, me, and my–addresses the reader.

Hope for the LORD!

Let your heart be firm and bold,

and hope for the LORD.

–Robert Alter

For the sake of thoroughness, I mention a dissenting interpretation of “the land of the living.”  Mitchell J. Dahood’s translation has

the land of life eternal

instead.  Hayyim denotes eternal life in Daniel 12:2. Dahood follows that usage and draws it back into the Late Bronze Age.  I find this argument unconvincing.

As we turn to Psalm 36, we read that crime, perversity, or transgression (depending on the translation) speaks within the heart of a wicked person.  This is the kind of human being who plans iniquity and lacks regard for God.  This person, like the “benighted man” of Psalms 14 and 53, fears no divine consequences of actions.

In contrast, we read, God is kind and just.  God grants the needs of beasts and human beings alike.  God is the fountain of life and the source of light.  The imagery is Edenic.  The wicked cannot reside in such a setting, so they cannot oppress the righteous in the new Eden.

We do not live in the new Eden, though.  We reside in the land of the living, but many wicked people do, too.  So, until we arrive in the new Eden, may God deliver the oppressed from oppressors.  And may they repent of their iniquity.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST

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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XIII

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Psalms 14 and 53

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Psalms 14 and 53 are nearly identical, hence their pairing in this blog post.  The record of interpretation provides a list of proposed geographical and temporal origins of Psalms 14 and 53.  According to the most likely hypothesis, Psalm 14 comes from the southern Kingdom of Judah and Psalm 53 comes from the northern Kingdom of Israel.  The textual evidence of YHWH in Psalm 14 and Elohim in Psalm 53 supports this theory.

Sometimes a literal translation does not convey the meaning of the words in a different context.  A meaning clear to a Jew millennia ago in the Near East may not be obvious to a Gentile Christian in North America in late 2022.

The scoundrel has said in his heart,

“There is no God.”

–Psalm 14:1a and Psalm 53:2, from Robert Alter’s translation

The point Alter makes in a note is a matter that TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985, 1999) makes partially clear in translation:

The benighted man thinks,

“God does not care.”

I will take each line in order.

The standard English translation describes this person as a fool.  Alter’s “scoundrel” is a better rendering, based on the following verses.  Yet I prefer “benighted man.”  As a note in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014) tells me, “benighted” carries moral overtones, as in the rape of Tamar (2 Samuel 13:13) by her half-brother, Amnon.  “Scoundrel” seems like a tame understatement.

The fool/scoundrel/benighted man is a practical atheist, not a dogmatic one.  Psalms 14 and 53 come from a time and a place in which dogmatic atheism was rare yet practical atheism was commonplace.  For evidence, consult the Hebrew prophetic denunciations of the poor and other vulnerable people, O reader.  Such malefactors still exist.  The attitude that leads to senseless violence and exploitation is timeless, sadly.  Such malefactors do not fear retribution.

Psalms 14 and 53 are about people who think of God as an apathetic and absent landlord.  Thus, we can read Mitchell J. Dahood’s translation of Psalm 53, in which the fool thinks in his heart that

God is not present.

TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures gets more to the point; this malefactor imagines vainly that

God does not care.

A note in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition gets to the point:

The claim of this benighted individual would invalidate two of the basic assumptions of Psalms:  the ability of God to hear prayers, and the ability of God to hear prayers, and the ability of God to punish the human wrongs that various psalmists lament.

–1281

And, as Alter tells us in one of his notes, the scoundrel lacks a conscience and acts with impunity.

As the entirety of the Jewish Bible and the various Christian canons of scripture attest, God cares deeply and is present.  God can also hear prayers and punish human wrongs.

Nobody can flee from the reality of God.  Hence it is foolish to attempt to do so.  Such an attempt must necessarily end in moral corruption; for it is the fruit of disobedience which results in the inability to do that which is good.  Where there is no sense of duty to God, there man goes astray and experiences already by that very fact that the hand of God the Judge is upon him, and he cannot escape.

–Artur Weiser, The Psalms:  A Commentary (1962), 165

My cultural context is one of the rise of fashionable agnosticism and atheism, accompanied by the decline in religious observance.  Meanwhile, bigotry, fascism, and Christian nationalism are openly part of vocal segments of the church.  The rise of agnosticism and atheism are partially backlashes against the latter point.

An Episcopal priest I know has a positive method of responding to people who tell him that they do not believe in God.  Father Dann asks them to describe the God in whom they do not believe.  He always hears a version of God in which he does not believe either.

I do not pretend to have formulated the definitive concept of God.  My faith is complicated, for I am complicated.  I cannot fathom having a simple faith, for I am who I am.  Anyhow, I affirm with the authors of Psalms 14 and 53 that God is present, that God cares, that God hears prayers, and that God can punish human wrongs.  And I have a conscience.  I pray that God may direct and, as necessary, reshape that conscience, for I have moral blind spots.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 25, 2022 COMMON ERA

CHRISTMAS DAY

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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above:  Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath, by Bartholomeus Breenbergh

Image in the Public Domain

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PART LXXI

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1 Kings 17:1-24

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And now, you kings, be wise;

be warned, you rulers of the earth.

Submit to the LORD with fear,

and with trembling bow before him;

Lest he be angry and you perish;

for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Happy are they all

who take refuge in him!

–Psalm 2:10-13, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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King Ahab of Israel (Reigned 873-852 B.C.E.)

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For a while, kings have occupied the forefront in the narrative.  From this point to 2 Kings 13, they will continue to do so much of the time.  However, monarchs will occupy the background instead from this point to 2 Kings 13.  Stories of Elijah start in 1 Kings 17 and terminate in 2 Kings 2.  Stories of Elisha begin in 1 Kings 19 and end in 2 Kings 13.  Some of the most famous Biblical stories come from 1 Kings 17-2 Kings 13.  Some of them are also repetitive, given the overlapping traditions regarding Elijah and Elisha.  1 Kings 17, for example, bears a striking resemblance to 2 Kings 4, the story of Elisha, the Shunammite woman, and her son.

The sneak preview is over.  Now I focus on 1 Kings 17:1-24.

The deification of nature is one of the oldest patterns in religion.  The multiplicity of gods and goddesses with specific portfolios (rain, the Moon, the Sun, et cetera) for thousands of years and in a plethora of cultures proves this assertion.  Old habits can be difficult to break, and monotheism is a relative latecomer to the party.  Also, attempting to appease the gods and goddesses or some of them, at least, without the strictures is relatively easy.  Lest we monotheists rest on our laurels, Psalm 14, Psalm 53, the Law of Moses, the testimony of Hebrew prophets, and the New Testament warn us not to mistake God for an absentee landlord.  The Gospels, for example, contain many cautions to the self-identified insiders that they may actually be outsiders.  

Baal Peor, a storm god, was powerless against a severe, multi-year drought.  Of course he was; Baal Peor was a figment of many imaginations.

The drought of 1 Kings 17:1-18:46 contains a call back to Deuteronomy 11:13-17.  (I like connecting the dots, so to speak, in the Bible.)  Speaking of connecting the dots, Jesus referred to God sending Elijah to the widow of Zarephath in the synagogue in Nazareth, to the great displeasure of his audience, in Luke 4:26.  The Gospel of Luke, addressed to Gentiles, included that reference, absent from parallel accounts of the rejection at Nazareth in Mark 6:1-6a and Matthew 13:54-58.

Zarephath was in Phoenician–Gentile–territory.  King Ahab of Israel had no jurisdiction there, but Queen Jezebel may have been familiar with the territory, given her origin.  The widow was especially vulnerable, given her precarious economic status.  Her faith contrasted with the evil Queen Jezebel and with the faithlessness of many Hebrews.

Whenever I read a text, I seek first to understand objectively what it says.  Then I interpret it.  The text describes Elijah as a wonder-worker.  The refilling jar of flour and jug of oil may stretch credulity, from a post-Enlightenment perspective.  The resurrection of the widow’s son does, certainly.  Yet, in the cultural context of 1 Kings 17, those elements fit in and give Elijah his bona fides.  If we understand that much, we grasp objectively what the text says.

Happy are all they who take refuge in God.  They may even include Gentiles and other alleged outsiders.  And many alleged insiders may really be outsiders.  The grace of God is for all people, although not everyone accepts it.  These are also themes prominent in both the Old and New Testaments.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 26, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ALFRED THE GREAT, KING OF THE WEST SAXONS

THE FEAST OF ARTHUR CAMPBELL AINGER, ENGLISH EDUCATOR, SCHOLAR, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF FRANCIS POTT, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF HENRY STANLEY OAKELEY, COMPOSER

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Never pay back evil for evil.

Above:  John the Baptist in the Desert

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year 1

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Lectionary from A Book of Worship for Free Churches (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States, 1948)

Collect from The Book of Worship (Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1947)

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O God, the Father of all truth and grace, who has called us out of darkness

into marvelous light by the glorious gospel of Thy Son;

grant unto us power, we beseech Thee, to walk worthy of this vocation,

with all lowliness and meekness, endeavoring to keep

the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace;

that we may have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Worship (1947), 127

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Isaiah 61:1-6

Psalm 27

Romans 12:10-21

Luke 3:1-22

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–Romans 12:17a, The Revised English Bible (1989)

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The reading from Romans 12 offers some challenging instructions:

1. Bless, not curse, one’s persecutors (v. 14).
2. Refrain from repaying evil with evil (v. 17).
3. Leave vengeance to God (v. 19).
4. Conquer evil with goodness.  Do not let evil conquer one (vs. 20-21).

Justice is one matter and revenge is another, St. Paul the Apostle understood.  He did not counsel people to live as doormats.  In the context of faith community–a minority population, actually–St. Paul encouraged his audience to take care of each other as they consciously depended entirely on God.  He urged them to be morally superior to their enemies.

The road to evil begins with the delusion that one can and must do x because God either does not exist or care.  (See Psalms 14 and 53, as well as what I have written about them.)  This delusion opens the portal to an approach to life according to which the ends justify the means.

When we, individually and collectively, trust in God, we are free to be better people than those who seek to destroy us unjustly.  We are free to be our best selves and communities.  We are free to take care of each other, individually and collectively.  We are free to refrain from exploiting and making excuses for exploitation.  We are free to gaze upon the loveliness of YHWH and to awake each dawn in the temple of YHWH.  We are free to be a covenant people.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 15, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF SAINT ZACHARY OF ROME, BISHOP OF ROME

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JAN ADALBERT BALICKI AND LADISLAUS FINDYSZ, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS IN POLAND

THE FEAST OF OZORA STEARNS DAVIS, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF VETHAPPAN SOLOMON, APOSTLE TO THE NICOBAR ISLANDS

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We pray that we may believe and believe that we may pray.

Above:  Jezebel and Ahab, by Frederic Leighton

Image in the Public Domain

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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Exodus 33:12-23 or 1 Kings 21:1-24

Psalm 61:1-5, 8

Hebrews 4:14-5:5, 7-9

Mark 9:14-29

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According to Psalms 14 and 53, the fool/benighted man, an amoral person, thinks incorrectly that God either does not care (TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures, 1985) or is absent (Mitchell J. Dahood, 1968).  The erroneous assumption of the fool/benighted man is that God either does not want to answer prayers or cannot do so.  Therefore, from that perspective, one must and can rely on one’s own powers and devices.  This is the root of evil.

God does care.  God is present.  God does answer prayers.  Sometimes the answer is “no,” which we may not like.  God loves us, but is not our vending machine.

St. Augustine of Hippo wrote,

We can simultaneously have faith and doubts.  I know this spiritual state.  Perhaps you do, too, O reader.  We can have enough faith to pray yet not enough to assume that God will answer as we desire.  To anyone who knows this spiritual state, I say,

Welcome to the human race.  You stand in the company of the communion of saints.

When we cannot pray, or be mindful of God, yet want to do so, we are not bereft.  That desire is a solid beginning, a foundation on which God can build.

We err when we place ourselves–individually and/or collectively–in the center of theology and spirituality.  God is the only proper center.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 25, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES BAR-ZEBEDEE, APOSTLE AND MARTYR

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2019/07/25/devotion-for-proper-21-year-b-humes/

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