Archive for the ‘Fundamentalism’ Tag
Above: Ruins of Nineveh
Image Source = Google Earth
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Psalm 62:6-14 (LBW) or Psalm 62:5-12 (LW)
1 Corinthians 7:39-31
Mark 1:14-20
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Almighty God, you sent your Son to proclaim your kingdom
and to teach with authority.
Anoint us with the power of your Spirit, that we, too,
may bring good news to the afflicted,
bind up the brokenhearted,
and proclaim liberty to the captive;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 15
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
O Lord God Almighty, because you have always supplied your servants
with the special gifts which come from your Holy Spirit alone,
leave also us not destitute of your manifold gifts nor of grace
to use them always to your honor and glory and the good of others;
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 24
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For the world in its present form is passing away.
–1 Corinthians 7:31b, The New American Bible–Revised Edition
Yet here I am in March 2023, typing words (in English translation) dictated in Greek in the fifties C.E. So, we may consider the marital advice in the verses before and after 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 in the context of an inaccurate prediction of the Second Coming of Jesus.
We read in Mark 1 that “the Kingdom of God has drawn near.” In the canonical Gospels, the Kingdom of God is simultaneously present and future. The Kingdom of God, partially realized, is present. The fully-realized Kingdom of God awaits. Nevertheless, I harbor much sympathy for Alfred Loisy’s lament:
Jesus foretold the kingdom, and what came was the Church.
Now we return to the Gospel of Mark:
The time has arrived; the kingdom of God is upon you. Repent, and believe the gospel.
–Mark 1:15, The Revised English Bible
David Bentley Hart translates a particular Greek verb not as “repent” but as “change your hearts.” Although “repent” is familiar, many people misunderstand it. Many think, for example, that repentance is remorse for sins. No, remorse precedes repentance.
In much of the Bible, repentance can prevent divine judgment. That is the sense in Mark 1:15.
Yet, in the brilliant and profound work of fiction called the Book of Jonah, the reluctant prophet does not offer repentance to his enemies. No, he predicts their destruction in the near future. Jonah seeks his foes’ annihilation. In the story, however, the population of Nineveh overturns it ways; it repents. God does not overthrow the city, much to Jonah’s distress.
I have read the Hebrew prophetic genre closely enough to understand that the genre is inconsistent regarding whether collective repentance will suffice to prevent destruction. Any given Hebrew prophetic book may contain several strata. So, for example, a layer from before the Babylonian Exile may state that the time for repentance has passed and that God will no longer forgive. Yet a stratum from during or following the Babylonian Exile may hold that repentance remains possible. This contradiction would bother me if I were an Evangelical or a fundamentalist. I have no such problem, fortunately.
I argue that repentance may remain a feasible option longer than many people may think. When repentance ceases to be a feasible option is for God to decree. I am not God.
But why wait to repent? Why wait to respond favorably and faithfully to God?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 10, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF MARIE-JOSEPH LAGRANGE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF SAINT AGRIPINNUS OF AUTUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; SAINT GERMANUS OF PARIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; AND SAINT DROCTOVEUS OF AUTUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF ALEXANDER CLARK, U.S. METHODIST PROTESTANT MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR
THE FEAST OF FOLLIOT SANDFORD PIERPOINT, ANGLICAN EDUCATOR, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN OGLIVIE, SCOTTISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1615
THE FEAST OF SAINT MACARIUS OF JERUSALEM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Archaia Korinthos, Greece
Image Source = Google Earth
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 Samuel 3:1-10
Psalm 67
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
John 1:43-51
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lord God, you showed your glory and
led many to faith by the works of your Son.
As he brought gladness and healing to his people,
grant us these same gifts and lead us also to perfect faith in him,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 15
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Almighty and eternal God,
Governor of all things in heaven and on earth,
mercifully hear the prayers of your people,
and grant us your peace in our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 22
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nathanael said to [Jesus], “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
–John 1:48, The New American Bible–Revised Edition
I begin with the proverbial low-hanging fruit: What was amazing about Jesus seeing St. Nathanael sitting under a fig tree? Father Raymond E. Brown, in the first volume of his two-volume commentary on the Gospel of John, lists one interpretation after another in a long endnote. Then he concludes:
We are far from exhausting the suggestions, all of which are pure speculation.
I do not presume to know more about the Gospel of John than Father Raymond E. Brown did.
++++++++++++++++
We all belong to God. We all need to serve God. Some of us may be so fortunate as (a) to know how to do that in circumstances, and (b) to be able to do that. If one continues to read after 1 Samuel 3:10, one finds that God sometimes tells us uncomfortable truths. Speaking these truths–even in love and tact–may be awkward.
The reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians requires context. Pagan temple prostitution did occur in ancient Corinth. And, given Platonic philosophy regarding the body and the soul, some Corinthian Christians may have excused sexual immorality (as with pagan temple prostitutes) as being justifiable. If the body was only a hindrance to the soul, why not?
Yet what if the body is not a hindrance to the soul? In Hebrew thought, continued in Pauline epistles, the Greek philosophical separation of body and soul does not exist. Rather, “soul” means “essential self,” one with the body. Furthermore, in Pauline theology, the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). The body, then, deserves great respect.
Without falling into the trap of fun-damn-mentalism and the excesses of Pietism and Puritanism, I affirm this timeless principle. We, who are in the flesh, serve God with our bodies and how we use them properly. How we treat others, in the flesh, is of great spiritual and moral importance. Whatever good we do to others in the flesh, we do to Jesus. Whatever good we do not to others in the flesh, we do not do to Jesus. Whatever evil we commit to others in the flesh, we do to Jesus.
I do not understand John 1:48, but I grasp this point well. It troubles me, for sins of omission are as real as sins of commission. Pray we me:
God of all mercy,
we confess that we have sinned against you,
opposing your will in our lives.
We have opposed your goodness in each other,
in ourselves, and in the world you have created.
We repent of the evil that enslaves us,
the evil we have done,
and the evil done on our behalf.
Forgive, restore, and strengthen us
through our Savior Jesus Christ;
that we may abide in your love
and serve only your will. Amen.
—Enriching Our Worship (1998), 19
The line about “the evil done on our behalf” indicts me every time. What response does that line elicit from you, O reader?
John 1:51 echoes Genesis 28:12 and reminds us that a better world is possible. Heaven and Earth can be one by divine action. In the meantime, may we, by grace, act both collectively and individually to leave the Earth better and made more just than we found it. The Golden Rule requires that of us.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 9, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE FOURTEENTH DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF HARRIET TUBMAN, U.S. ABOLITIONIST
THE FEAST OF EMANUEL CRONENWETT, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCES OF ROME, FOUNDER OF THE COLLATINES
THE FEAST OF JOHANN PACHELBEL, GERMAN LUTHERN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF SAINT PACIAN OF BARCELONA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF BARCELONA
THE FEAST OF SAINT SOPHRONIUS OF JERUSALEM, ROMAN CATHOLIC PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS
PART XIX
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Psalm 25
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Hebrew acrostic poetic form occurs in the Book of Lamentations and in nine psalms. Psalm 25 is one of those texts. Interestingly, the psalm omits two Hebrew letters and repeats two Hebrew letters in the acrostic pattern. This curious fact may indicate revision of the text in antiquity.
Many people around whom I live think of the Bible as a collection of texts dictated by God. Their attitude ignores the reality of extant ancient copies of the same Biblical texts that differ from each other, sometimes subtly. There is also the matter of the “seams” in Genesis-Judges. One can recognize the “seams” of the editing of different texts together if one pays very close attention. But what does fundamentalism have to do with facts? The attitude of those who regard Biblical authors as glorified secretaries would have been foreign to ancient Hebrews, who edited and revised texts. The last great editor, my reading tells me, was Ezra, whom we can thank for the current form of much of the Hebrew Bible.
Another fascinating tidbit is that Psalm 25:16 is the last time until 142:5 that a psalmist claims to be alone. We read a personal lament. The psalmist is alone, in human terms. He pleads with God and has many enemies. The psalmist prays for the forgiveness of his sins and affirms the hesed–steadfast love–of God. The psalmist trusts in God. He is not alone; God is with him.
What will preserve or watch over the psalmist? Comparing translations proves helpful in answering that question. Mitchell J. Dahood and TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures read:
integrity and uprightness.
Robert Alter’s translation reads:
uprightness, wholeness.
Alter, preferring to maintain the rhythm of the Hebrew text, proposes that the synonyms, bracketed together, convey one concept. He identifies that concept as:
absolute integrity.
Psalm 25 concludes on a national focus:
O God, redeem Israel
from all its distress.
–Psalm 25:22, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures
Such a turn from the individual focus to the national focus occurs frequently in the Book of Psalms. The individual’s troubles are real. They are also a microcosm of the problems of the collective. Yet the interpretive difficulty in Psalm 25 comes into sharp relief with verse 22. The text is the lament of a pious individual through verse 21. As other parts of the Hebrew Bible attest, such assertions of piety cannot apply to the people as a whole. So, we find more evidence of editorial alteration in antiquity.
Nevertheless, the placement of the ills of the individual within the context of the community makes sense to me. I cannot be whole in a sick and divided community. The actions and attitudes of others affect me, just as I influence my community. Also, the decisions of others may restrict or expand my options, regardless of the scope of my talents, abilities, and ambitions. So, the ills of the community are my problems, too.
May we–both individually and collectively–revere God and take care of each other. May we, by grace, build up and maintain the common good. May we encourage all our members and enable them to achieve their full potential. May God’s absolute integrity, protecting us, inspire us to lead lives of absolute integrity, both collectively and individually.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 26, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT STEPHEN, FIRST MARTYR
THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, by Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow (1788-1862)
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Amos 5:18-24
Psalm 63:1-8 (LBW) or Psalm 84:1-7 (LW)
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (15-18)
Matthew 25:1-13 (LBW, LW) or Matthew 23:37-39 (LW)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lord, when the day of wrath comes
we have no hope except in your grace.
Make us so to watch for the last days
that the consumation of our hope may be
the joy of the marriage feast of your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 29
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
O Lord, we pray that the visitation of your grace
may so cleanse our thoughts and minds
that your Son Jesus, when he shall come,
may find us a fit dwelling place;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 89
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
We have, in the church calendar, turned toward Advent. The tone in readings has shifted toward the Day of the Lord (Old Testament) and the Second Coming of Jesus (New Testament). In Matthew, both options, set in the days leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, have taken a dark turn.
The Psalms are the most upbeat readings.
Amos 5:18-24 issues a collective warning. Putting on airs of piety while perpetuating and/or excusing social injustice–especially economic injustice, given the rest of the Book of Amos–does not impress God. It angers God, in fact. Sacred rituals–part of the Law of Moses–are not properly talismans.
Matthew 23:37-39 includes a denunciation of supposedly pious people executing messengers God has sent. We readers know that Jesus was about to meet the same fate. We also read Jesus likening himself to a mother hen–being willing to sacrifice himself for the metaphorical chicks.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) teaches individual spiritual responsibility. This is consistent with the collective spiritual authority in Amos 5 and Mattthew 23. Despite the reality of collective spiritual authority, there are some tasks to which one must attend.
My position on how much of the Church–Evangelicalism and fundamentalism, especially–approaches the Second Coming of Jesus and teaches regarding that matter is on record at this weblog. Evangelicalism and fundamentalism get eschatology wrong. The rapture is a nineteenth-century invention and a heresy. Dispensationalism is bunk. The books of Daniel and Revelation no more predict the future than a bald man needs a comb.
I affirm that the Second Coming will occur eventually. In the meantime, we need to be busy living the Golden Rule collectively and individually. In the meantime, we need to increase social justice and decrease social injustice–especially of the economic variety–collectively and individually. In the meantime, we need to work–collectively and individually–at leaving the world better than we found it. We can do that much, by grace.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 23, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS MARTIN DE PORRES AND JUAN MACIAS, HUMANITARIANS AND DOMINICAN LAY BROTHERS; SAINT ROSE OF LIMA, HUMANITARIAN AND DOMINICAN SISTER; AND SAINT TURIBIUS OF MOGREVEJO, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF LIMA
THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCISZEK DACHTERA, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1944
THE FEAST OF THEODORE O. WEDEL, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; AND HIS WIFE, CYNTHIA CLARK WEDEL, U.S. PSYCHOLOGIST AND EPISCOPAL ECUMENIST
THE FEAST OF THOMAS AUGUSTINE JUDGE, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST; FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARY SERVANTS OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY, THE MISSIONARY SERVANTS OF THE MOST BLESSED TRINITY, AND THE MISSIONARY CENACLE APOSTOLATE
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Tango Postcard, 1920
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Psalm 105:1-7
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Almighty God, we have celebrated with joy
the festival of our Lord’s resurrection.
Graciously help us to show the power of the resurrection
in all that we say and do;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 21
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant, almighty God,
that we who have celebrated the mystery of the Lord’s resurrection
may by the help of your grace bring forth
the fruits thereof in our life and conduct;
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 50
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Given that I have written lectionary-based devotions for more than a decade, I choose not to use this post to focus on a passage that may not seem like the obvious bullseye.
John 20:30-31 is probably the original conclusion to the Fourth Gospel. That conclusion ends:
…that through this belief [that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God] you may have life in his name.
—The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
This theme, present also in the readings from Acts and 1 Peter, is where I dwell today, instead of defending St. Thomas the Apostle again. Two words attract my attention:
- Belief, in the full, Biblical sense, is trust. Whenever someone asks me if I believe in God, I ask what that person means. In vernacular English, “believe” indicates acceptance of a preposition. In the English-language vernacular, to believe in God is to affirm the existence of God. I always affirm the existence of God. I usually trust in God. Likewise, to believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God is to trust that he is both of those.
- “Life” refers to eternal life. In Johannine theology, eternal life is knowing God via Jesus. Logically, beginning with Johannine theological assumptions, to trust that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God leads to eternal life. If x, then y.
These are articles of faith; we have no evidence for them or against them. When trust in God is required, the quest for certainty constitutes idolatry. Certainty feels comforting. We can be certain of much, either by proving or disproving propositions. Yet much falls into the gray zone of faith; we have it or lack it. That uncertainty may unnerve us. Fundamentalism undercuts trust in God by offering the crutch of false certainty.
Somewhere, years ago, I heard an intriguing spiritual metaphor–performing a daring dance with God. That daring dance is the dance of trust, of faith. It is daring from a human perspective. May God have this dance?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 18, 2022 COMMON ERA
MONDAY IN EASTER WEEK
THE FEAST OF ROGER WILLIAMS, FOUNDER OF RHODE ISLAND; AND ANNE HUTCHINSON, REBELLIOUS PURITAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT CORNELIA CONNELLY, FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF THE HOLY CHILD JESUS
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARY ANNA BLONDIN, FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE SISTERS OF SAINT ANNE
THE FEAST OF MARY C. COLLINS, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MISSIONARY AND MINISTER
THE FEAST OF SAINTS MURIN OF FAHAN, LASERIAN OF LEIGHLIN, GOBAN OF PICARDIE, FOILLAN OF FOSSES, AND ULTAN OF PERONNE, ABBOTS; SAINTS FURSEY OF PERONNE AND BLITHARIOUS OF SEGANNE, MONKS
THE FEAST OF SAINT ROMAN ARCHUTOWSKI, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1943
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Icon of the Ascension, by Andrei Rublev
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING LUKE-ACTS, PART LIII
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Luke 24:50-53
Acts 1:1-11
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Given that I have written numerous blog posts about the Ascension, and given that they are available at this weblog, I do not seek to replicate them in this post.
As I continue through Luke-Acts, I notice a narrative contradiction. Luke 24:50-53, read within the narrative context of chapter 24, dates the Ascension to Easter Day. Yet Acts 1:3 dates the Ascension to forty days after Easter Day. Interpretations of this discrepancy include:
- “Forty days” is symbolic,
- The forty days fill out the calendar, and
- Acts 1:3 corrects Luke 24 after St. Luke the Evangelist uncovered more information than he had when he wrote the Gospel of Luke.
I am not a fundamentalist. Biblical inerrancy and infallibility are utter nonsense. If St. Luke changed his mind, so be it. If “forty days” is symbolic, so be it. I do not know which interpretation is corect.
Forty is frequently a symbolic number in the Bible. One may recall that the reign of King David lasted for about forty years, that the Hebrews wandered in the desert for forty years, that Jesus spent forty days in the desert, and that the mythical Great Flood lasted for forty days and forty nights. Forty is a sacred number in the Bible. It, therefore, recurs in the Bible for many more examples than i have cited. Forty, symbolically, is a round number that designates a fairly long time in terms of human existence or endurance.
So, even if the forty days (Acts 1:3) are symbolic, they still contradict Luke 24, with Jesus’s resurrection and the Ascension occurring on the same day.
Anyway, “ascension” may not be the most accurate word for Jesus’ departure. “Assumption” may be better. Christ’s departure resembles the assumptions of Elijah (2 Kings 2:9-11; Sirach 48:9) and Enoch (Genesis 5:23-24; Sirach 49:14b), with apocalyptic imagery added.
The priestly gestures and blessings of Jesus before his departure, followed by worship, close the Gospel of Luke fittingly. Recall Luke 1:20-23, O reader: the priest Zechariah could not pronounce a blessing.
The Lukan accounts of the Ascension of Jesus also draw from Sirach 50:1-21, about the high priest Simon II. The account of Simon II depicts him as the culmination of Israel’s history, at the point of the composition of that book. Luke-Acts, which postdates Sirach, depicts Jesus as the culmination of Israel’s history.
In Luke 24, the Ascension is the fitting end of the story of Jesus. In Acts 1, however, the Ascension is the beginning of the story of the mission of the Church. Placing the two Lukan interpretations side-by-side provides the full picture.
I also detect one of St. Luke’s organizing principles in Luke 24 and Acts 1. Luke-Acts finishes focusing on one story before focusing on another one, although the stories may overlap. Consider the focus on St. John the Baptist (Luke 3) before the focus on Jesus (Luke 4-24), O reader. Then we come to a different focus, starting in Acts 1.
The story of the mission of the Church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, follows.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 2, 2022 COMMON ERA
ASH WEDNESDAY
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: The Last Judgment
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING REVELATION, PART XIV
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Revelation 20:1-15
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
In Revelation, 1000 symbolizes a large, uncountable quantity.
Interpretations of the millennium vary.
- Premillennialism flourishes during unsettled, difficult times, such as 1914f.
- Postmillennialism is more popular during good, relatively peaceful times. My great-grandfather, George Washington Barrett (1873-1956), was a minister in the old Methodist Episcopal Church, South (extant 1845-1939), then Methodist Church (extant 1939-1968). He came of age during La Belle Epoque, which World War I terminated. My great-grandfather was a Postmillennialist.
- Amillennialism interprets the millennium allegorically, understanding “1000” to be symbolic in Revelation 20.
- John Nelson Darby’s Dispensationalism, one of the pillars of C. I. Scofield’s study Bible, the “manual of fundamentalism,” is rank heresy, as is fundamentalism. The rapture is absent from historic Christianity. The rapture also entails two Second Comings of Jesus. Would not the second Second Coming be the Third Coming?
I am an Amillennialist. The only number in Revelation I take literally in Revelation occurs in the first three chapters; I count messages to seven (more than six and fewer than eight) congregations. After chapter 3, all numbers are symbolic, and seven indicates perfection. Anyhow, Amillennialism holds that the present time is the “Millennium.” One may notice that the “Millennium” has been in progress for longer than 1000 years.
In Revelation 20, God, having temporarily subdued evil, finally vanquishes it. In the meantime, the martyrs reign.
Revelation 20 refers to the resurrection of the dead, a doctrine unambiguously present in Judaism since at least the first century B.C.E. (Daniel 12). This doctrine, imported from Zoroastrianism, exists in other ancient Jewish and Christian texts, both canonical and otherwise. Examples include:
- 1 Corinthians 15:50;
- 2 Baruch 49-51;
- 1 Enoch 5:1; 61:5; 62:15-16; and
- 2 Esdras/4 Ezra 7:32.
Revelation 20 is both similar to and different from certain Pseudepigraphal texts. The Messiah, sitting on the throne, judges in 1 Enoch 45:3; 69:27-29; and 2 Baruch 72:2-6. Yet God sits on the throne and judges in Revelation 20:13.
SPIRITUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY
I have always been religiously calm. The fires of revivalism have never appealed to me. No, I have immersed myself in scripture, ecclesiastical tradition, proper liturgy, and intellectualism. The Presbyterian motto,
decently and in order,
is “my song,” so to speak. (Yet I have defined “order” to include The Book of Common Prayer.) My dominant spiritual path has been that of intellectual discipleship–Thomism. I have always been “cool,” not “hot,” in particular connotations of these words. I have frequently been an outlier, relative to religious subcultures around me.
I am a product of my personality and milieu. My experiences shape me, but do does a path that fits me naturally. I hope you, O reader, interpret what follows in the manner in which I intend it:
I know too much to hold certain beliefs. Also, certain experiences turn me off from some doctrines.
Regarding details of divine judgment and mercy, as well as the divine conquest of evil (the sooner the better, I say), I assert that these reside entirely within the purview of God. I am content to leave them there.
I stand within Western Christianity. I also critique my tradition. One of the characteristics of Western Christianity that frustrates me is the tendency to explain too much. I prefer the Eastern Christian practice of leaving mysteries mysterious. God is in charge. I can relax about many matters, given this. God knows x, y, and z; that much suffices. God has done a, b, and c. So be it. Why should I want to explain how God did it?
As I age, this intellectual is turning into something of a mystic. Life is replete with surprises.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 19, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF NORTH AMERICA, 1642-1649
THE FEAST OF CLAUDIA FRANCES IBOTSON HERNAMAN, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF JERZY POPIELUSZKO, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1984
THE FEAST OF SAINT PAUL OF THE CROSS, FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF DISCALED CLERKS OF THE MOST HOLY CROSS AND PASSION
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Revelation Title (French)
Scanned by Kenneth Randolph Taylor from a copy of the Louis Segond revised translation (1910) of the Bible
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING REVELATION, PART I
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Revelation 1:1-20
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Rev[elation] is widely popular for the wrong reasons, for a great number of people read it as a guide to how the world will end, assuming that the author was given by Christ detailed knowledge of the future he communicated in coded symbols.
—Father Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament (1997), 773
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
…Revelation does not speak about our time, it does speak to it.
–M. Eugene Boring, Revelation (1989), 62
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THE APOCALYPTIC GENRE
Reading a book within its genre matters.
Consider the apocalypse in Daniel 7-12, for example, O reader. The author wrote in the first century B.C.E. He mostly wrote history as prophecy. But when the author started writing about the future (relative to him), he got details wrong. This was par for the course, given the genre.
Apocalyptic literature, written in images and symbols, is politically subversive of tyranny. The genre offers hope during difficult times, encourages the faithful to remain faithful, and contrasts the world order with the divine order. Apocalyptic literature uses the future as away to address the present.
I lay my theological cards on the table at the beginning of this project, O reader.
- I am a left-of-center Episcopalian.
- I am a student of history.
- I am an intellectual.
- I know the historical record of failed predictions of Christ’s Second Coming and failed identifications of the Antichrist.
- I tell you, O reader, that the rapture is a fiction from the mind of John Nelson Darby (1800-1882).
- I know that Darby’s Dispensationalism, popularized further in C. I. Scofield‘s study Bible, the “manual of fundamentalism,” remains a widespread interpretive system.
- I affirm that Christ will eventually return, but only once. The rapture requires two Second Comings.
- I have no interest in prophecy conferences, but care deeply about loving like Jesus daily.
Apocalyptic literature has much to say about our present. This content remains politically subversive. That is fine. I approve of subverting injustice, tyranny, slavery, economic exploitation, and needless violence. They are antithetical to the Kingdom of God.
Apocalyptic literature is also optimistic. In the darkness, the genre proclaims hope that God and good will triumph in the end. Apocalyptic literature, therefore, stiffens the spines of discouraged, faithful people. Good news of the deliverance of oppressed people doubles as judgment of the oppressors. The genre invites us to ask ourselves:
Whose side am I on?
In summary, apocalyptic literature immediately moves past preaching and gets to meddling.
THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN AND RESISTANCE TO TYRANNY
Certain passages of the Old and New Testaments, in their contexts, support submission to earthly authority. The Apocalypse of John has none of that. Revelation tells us that the Roman Empire was evil, antithetical to the Kingdom of God. This is the message that made the text treasonous long ago and still inspires many people to resist tyranny. One may read, for example, of Christian opponents of Apartheid (in South Africa) drawing inspiration from the Apocalypse of John, even as the national government prosecuted and persecuted them. Today, in dictatorships, certain Christians are reading Revelation as they emerge in their struggles for justice.
REVELATION IN THE BIBLE AND LECTIONARIES
Revelation is a liturgical hot potato. The major lectionaries include little of it. The Eastern Orthodox lectionary excludes the Apocalypse of John. The Orthodox Study Bible (2008) explains:
While seen as canonical and inspired by God, the Revelation is the only New Testament book not publicly read in the services of the Orthodox Church. This is partly because the book was only gradually accepted as canonical in many parts of Christendom. In addition, in the second and third centuries Revelation was widely twisted and sensationally misinterpreted, and the erroneous teachings brought troublesome confusion to Christians–a trend that continues to this day.
Genesis and Revelation constitute fitting bookends of the Christian Bible. Genesis opens with mythology–the creation of an earthly paradise, followed by the end of that paradise–to be precise (Genesis 1-3). Revelation concludes with a vision of God, having finally defeated evil once and for all, restoring that earthly paradise and establishing the fully-realized Kingdom of God (Revelation 21-22).
THE ORIGIN OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN
Revelation came from 92 to 96 C.E., at the end of the reign of the Emperor Domitian. Emperor-worship and the worship of the goddess Roma (Rome personified) were parts of conventional Roman patriotism and civic life. The Christian refusal to participate in these cults made Christians seem unpatriotic at best and treasonous at worst. Persecution was generally sporadic and regional at the time, but it was a constant threat. “John of Patmos” (whoever he was) wrote to seven churches in commercial cities in western Asia Minor.
The elaborate symbolism–including numerology–in apocalyptic literature prevented the uninitiated–in this case, Roman censors–from understanding the texts.
SYMBOLISM AND MEANING IN REVELATION 1
The only instance in which to interpret any number in the Apocalypse of John literally pertains to the seven churches in western Asia Minor.
Revelation 1 plunges us into the symbolic aspect of apocalyptic literature immediately. Stars (at the end of the chapter) represent angels and lamp-stands represent churches. Earlier in the chapter, Jesus has white hair, indicating holiness. His eyes, like a burning flame, pierce to the heart of all things. Christ’s “feet like burnished bronze” are stable and steadfast. His voice, “like the sound of the ocean,” is the convergence of the truth of God in the Hebrew Bible. Jesus holds the Church–then a vulnerable group of house congregations–in his hand. From Christ’s mouth emerges a two-edged sword (speech). His face shines like the sun. Christ is victorious, resurrected, ascended, and priestly.
The Roman Empire may have seemed to have had all the power and glory. It did not. The Roman Empire had executed Jesus. Yet he had risen; his tomb was empty. The power of the Roman Empire was nothing compared to the power of God in Christ.
That was treasonous, for, according to Roman coinage, the emperor was the “Son of God.”
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 6, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF GEORGE EDWARD LYNCH COTTON, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF CALCUTTA
THE FEAST OF HEINRICH ALBERT, GERMAN LUTHERAN COMPOSER AND POET
THE FEAST OF HERBERT G. MAY, U.S. BIBLICAL SCHOLAR AND TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF JOHN ERNEST BODE, ANGLICAN PRIEST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM TYNDALE, ENGLISH REFORMER, BIBLE TRANSLATOR, AND MARTYR, 1536; AND MILES COVERDALE, ENGLISH REFORMER, BIBLE TRANSLATOR, AND BISHOP OF EXETER
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Martin Luther
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING SECOND ISAIAH, PART VII
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Isaiah 48:1-49:26
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Before I get to the meat of this post, I must clarify one point: the meaning of “word of God,” in the context of Isaiah 48:1-49:26. Pay attention to the difference between “word of God” and “Word of God” in writing, O reader. I live in the Bible Belt of the United States of America. Here, many fundamentalists (fun-damn-mentalists) and Evangelicals mistake the “Word of God” for being the Bible. I, with my Barthian tendencies, affirm that Jesus is the “Word of God” and that the Bible is the “word of God,” in the broad sense. Yet, in the narrow sense–in the context of Isaiah 48:1-49:26, for example–the “word of God” is whatever God says in a particular setting. One of the highlights of Reformed (Christian) theology is the concept of the “book of nature,” by which God also speaks.
In Isaiah 48, Hebrew exiles (in general) were faithless people who swore insincerely and falsely in the name of YHWH. Their word was not reliable and powerful. The people were stubborn and prone to commit idolatry. Yet God’s word was faithful and powerful. And, as in the Book of Ezekiel, God was faithful not for the sake of the covenant people, but for God’s own sake (48:11):
For My sake, My own sake, I do act–
Lest [My name] be dishonored!
I will not give My glory to another.
—TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
We also read the Babylonian Exile was punishment the population earned, and that God (for God’s own sake) balanced judgment–and mercy–did not destroy the rebellious Hebrews (48:9-11). We read that the exile was a form of education in the ways of heeding divine commandments (48:17-19). We read, too, that the Babylonian Exile was about to end (48:20-22).
What I wrote while blogging through the Book of Ezekiel holds. I still find this self-centered God-concept repugnant. I understand the cultural-historical context. I know that Ezekiel and Second Isaiah asserted the sovereignty of God in the context of the widely-held assumption that Marduk and the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian pantheon had conquered YHWH in 586 B.C.E. Yet I am also a Christian. As one, I affirm the Incarnation, that Jesus of Nazareth (who lived, who breathed, and who dined with people) was God with skin on. I affirm that the real, flesh-and-blood person, Jesus, being God (however the mechanics of the Incarnation worked) revealed the character of God. I recall reading in the four canonical Gospels about Jesus healing and feeding people out of compassion and pity, not concerns about burnishing his reputation.
Isaiah 49:1-6 is the Second Servant Song. The servant speaks. The servant’s mission predates the servant’s birth. The servant’s mission is to announce the divine restoration of the covenant relationship with YHWH, by YHWH, that the covenant people may be a light to the nations. Salvation will, therefore, reach the ends of the earth via the covenant people. As with the First Servant Song, the identity is not a matter of unanimous agreement. Most likely, as in the case of the First Servant Song, the servant is the covenant people–the exiles, about to be free to go home. The idea is that the end of the Babylonian Exile will lead to all the (known) world recognizing YHWH.
That prediction proved to overly optimistic.
The covenant people’s mission is to model a just society grounded in divine law. The Law of Moses contains timeless principles and many culturally-specific examples of those principles. Legalism results when people mistake culturally-specific examples for timeless principles. Context is also crucial, as it always is. Many people neglect or misunderstand context when interpreting verses and passages. They mean well, but miss the point(s). Mutuality, in the context of the recognition of complete dependence on God, informs many of the culturally-specific examples in the Law of Moses. We human beings are responsible to God, to each other, and for each other. We have a divine mandate to treat one another accordingly. Creating and maintaining a society built on that truth is a high and difficult calling. It is possible via grace and free will.
The prediction of the Jewish homeland as paradise on Earth after the Babylonian Exile also proved overly optimistic. Dealing with disappointment over that fact was one of the tasks of Third Isaiah (24-27, 56-66).
The people were faithless, but God was faithful. Martin Luther, counseling practicing, baptized Christians concerned they would go to Hell for their sins, advised them to trust in the faithfulness of God. he was correct about that.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 9, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF AUGUSTUS TOLTON, PIONEERING AFRICAN-AMERICAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
THE FEAST OF JOHANN RUDOLPH AHLE AND JOHANN GEORG AHLE, GERMAN LUTHERAN ORGANISTS AND COMPOSERS
THE FEAST OF JOHANN SCHEFFLER, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF GORKUM, HOLLAND, 1572
THE FEAST OF ROBERT GRANT, BRITISH MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT AND HYMN WRITER
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Map Showing the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING SECOND ISAIAH, PART II
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Isaiah 34-35
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Hebrew prophetic books are repetitive. I recall, recently, reading Ezekiel 25-32, in which YHWH denounced various Gentile nations for opposing the Jewish people. I read that same theme in Isaiah 34. The chapter opens by addressing the nations and peoples of the (known) world.
For the LORD is angry at all the nations,
Furious at all their host;….
–Isaiah 34:2a, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
In the fifth verse, however, the focus narrows to Edom, that frequently hostile cousin people of the Hebrews.
I have already read the oracles of divine judgment against Edom in Amos 1:11-12; Isaiah 21:11-12; Jeremiah 49:7-22; Ezekiel 25:12-14; and Ezekiel 35:1-15.
The oracles against Edom in the Book of Obadiah awaits me, after I complete my blogging through Second Isaiah.
For it is the LORD’s day of retribution,
The year of vindication for Zion’s cause.
–Isaiah 34:8, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Isaiah 34 and 35 contrast the fates of Edom and the Hebrew exiles in the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. We read of the destruction of Edom (which happened). We also read of the renewal and return of Hebrew exiles. We read of the impending end of the Babylonian Exile. We read of a reverse exodus, an exodus from Babylon:
And a highway shall appear there,
which shall be called the Sacred Way.
No one unclean shall pass along it,
But it shall be for them.
No traveler, not ever fools, shall go astray.
No lion shall be there,
No ferocious beast shall set foot on it–
These shall not be found there.
But the redeemed shall walk it.
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,
And come with shouting to Zion,
Crowned with joy everlasting.
They shall attain joy and gladness,
While sorrow and sighing flee.
–Isaiah 35:8-10, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Second Isaiah introduces the themes of the end the Babylonian Exile, the return to the homeland, and the restoration of the covenant relationship with YHWH. These themes, not unique to Second Isaiah, permeate other portions of Hebrew prophetic literature, too. And they are on the forefront of Second Isaiah.
I also notice the presence of the themes of exile and exodus. Walter Brueggemann writes that exile and exodus are the two major themes in the Hebrew Bible.
Just as the Hebrew prophetic literature is repetitive, so must I be. I come to this point by a reading project that has taken me through, in order:
- Hosea,
- Amos,
- Micah,
- First Isaiah (1-23, 28-33),
- Zephaniah,
- Nahum,
- Habakkuk,
- Jeremiah,
- Lamentations, and
- Ezekiel.
I am not parachuting into Isaiah 34 and 35. I do not pretend to know what that balance is or where it should be. I will not get too big for my theological britches, at least not in that matter.
Neither am I a fundamentalist. I acknowledge that Second Isaiah and other prophets projected their attitudes onto God some of the time. As Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel wrote, prophets were people, not microphones. I admit that I project my attitudes onto God. I confess that I need to know that I do this, and to stop doing that, as much as possible.
I also acknowledge that divine mercy upon and deliverance of the oppressed may be catastrophic for the oppressors and their allies. One may describe this in several ways, including divine judgment and karma. As the Bible teaches, people will reap what they have sown.
Nevertheless, I take no pleasure in the fate of Edom.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 7, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS RALPH MILNER, ROGER DICKINSON, AND LAWRENCE HUMPHREY, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 1591
THE FEAST OF FRANCES FLORENTINE HAGEN, U.S. MORAVIAN MINISTER AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF SAINT HEDDA OF WESSEX, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF LEO SOWERBY, EPISCOPAL COMPOSER AND “DEAN OF CHURCH MUSIC”
THE FEAST OF THOMAS HELMORE, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND ARRANGER AND COMPOSER OF HYMN TUNES
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
You must be logged in to post a comment.