Archive for the ‘Homosexuality’ Tag
Above: Joel
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JOEL, PART II
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Joel 1:2-2:17
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Alas for the day!
For the day of the LORD is near;
It shall come like havoc from Shaddai.
–Joel 1:15, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
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Locusts have been afflictions in northern Africa and the Near East since antiquity. They have consumed food and grapes, and devastated lives and livelihoods.
Despite some exegetical interpretations of the locusts in Joel 1:2-2:17 as metaphors for invading armies, one may reasonably read “locusts” as referring to locusts. The four names for locusts have a rhetorical effect and refer to the life cycle and/or manner of eating of locusts. The infestation of locusts in Joel 1:2-2:17 is especially devastating. It is so severe that the text likens the swarm to an invading army on the feared Day of the LORD.
The text calls on priests to lament before God, whom the text portrays as following divine orders. The text explains the swarm of locusts as divine punishment for human sins, hence the calls for lamentation and repentance (2:12-14).
I object strongly. I recall certain right-wing, homophobic televangelists explaining the devastation of Hurricane Katrina (2005) as divine wrath for alleged moral laxity. Locusts go where they will. God does not direct the paths of hurricanes. I doubt that any deity who would six hurricanes or swarms of locusts on populations is capable of being merciful.
Joel’s concept of God is not my concept of God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 16, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE RIGHTEOUS GENTILES
THE FEAST OF CATHERINE LOUISA MARTHENS, FIRST LUTHERAN DEACONESS CONSECRATED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1850
THE FEAST OF GEORGE ALFRED TAYLOR RYGH, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HENRY WILLIAMS, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY IN NEW ZEALAND; HIS WIFE, MARIANNE WILLIAMS, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY AND EDUCATOR IN NEW ZEALAND; HER SISTER-IN-LAW, JANE WILLIAMS, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY AND EDUCATOR IN NEW ZEALAND; AND HER HUSBAND AND HENRY’S BROTHER, WILLIAM WILLAMS, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF WAIAPU
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARY MAGDALEN POSTEL, FOUNDER OF THE POOR DAUGHTERS OF MERCY
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Above: Nahum
Image in the Public Domain
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READING NAHUM, PART IV
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Nahum 3:1-19
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I recommend reading the Book of Nahum aloud. Choose a translation or translations with fine literary quality, O reader. Why should the Bible not function as high literature, as well as scripture?
The vivid imagery of Nahum 3:1-19 is disturbing.
- It describes the massacre of civilians in Nineveh. The targeting of civilians in warfare should disturb anyone.
- The cultural lens of mysogyny in verse 13 (“Truly, the troops within you are women….”) would do more than raise eyebrows in more churches if the Revised Common Lectionary included Nahum 3:13. Without being a cultural reactionary and a mysogynist, I read such passages through the lens of historical analysis. A given text includes the words it includes, in a particular set of contexts. I interpret within those contexts. Ancient texts may not reflect contemporary sensibilities. I cannot change this reality.
I can and do read through ancient mysogyny and the explicit metaphors of sexual shaming. They exist throughout the Bible. I argue with those cultural assumptions, but I do not alter the texts to suit my sensibilities. I take greater umbrage to the slaughter of civilians. Nahum 1-3 tell us that God approved of the slaughter of civilians in Nineveh in 612 B.C.E. I accept that the texts tell me this, but I disagree with the texts.
Jennifer Wright Knust, a theology professor, a minister in the American Baptist Churches USA, and the author of Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s Surprising Contradictions about Sex and Desire (2011), made a cogent point during an interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Radio years ago. Knust spoke of perceiving an unfortunate tendency in some of her students. They affirmed ideas they would otherwise consider repugnant if they did not believe that the Bible supported these ideas.
High regard for scripture is fine, abstractly. It can be fine in application. High regard for scripture can, however, easily turn into a slippery slope toward disobeying the Golden Rule. Consider the long and shameful historical record of parts of the Church quoting the Bible to bolster slavery, racism, racial segregation, economic exploitation, mysogyny, nativism, xenophobia, and homophobia, O reader. Sadly, much of this remains in the present tense. Many devout Christians justify the unjustifiable partially out of high regard for scripture.
Sometimes the faithful response is to argue against a text. Does this passage violate the Golden Rule? If so, how should one, the Church, whatever–interpret this passage?
The Book of Nahum concludes on an ironic note. “Nahum” means “comfort” or “consolation.” Yet there is nobody to console Nineveh (3:7). 3:19 offers no pity:
There is no healing for your hurt,
and your wound is fatal.
All who hear this news of you
clap their hands over you;
For who has not suffered
under your endless malice?”
—The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.
Thank you, O reader, for joining me on this journey through the Book of Nahum. I invite you to continue with me as I move along to my next destination, the Book of Habakkuk.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 5, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT DOROTHEUS OF TYRE, BISHOP OF TYRE, AND MARTYR, CIRCA 362
THE FEAST OF BLISS WIANT, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER, MISSIONARY, MUSICIAN, MUSIC EDUCATOR, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR, ARRANGER, AND HARMONIZER; AND HIS WIFE, MILDRED ARTZ WIANT, U.S. METHODIST MISSIONARY, MUSICIAN, MUSIC EDUCATOR, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF INI KOPURIA, FOUNDER OF THE MELANESIAN BROTHERHOOD
THE FEAST OF MAURICE BLONDEL, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PHILOSOPHER AND FORERUNNER OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
THE FEAST OF ORLANDO GIBBONS, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER; THE “ENGLISH PALESTRINA”
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Above: The Calling of Saint Matthew, by Caravaggio
Image in the Public Domain
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For the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year 2, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970
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Lord, open our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of thy Law,
and open our hearts that we may receive the gift of thy saving love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 119
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Jeremiah 7:1-7
Colossians 3:12-17
Mark 2:1-17
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Jeremiah 7:1-7 and Mark 2:1-17 contain offensive speech and actions. They qualify as offensive not because of any profane nature but because, in real time, some people found them offensive. The antidote to taking offense wrongly in such cases is following the advice in Colossians 3:12-17.
How quickly and easily do we take offense at that which is good and kind? Yes, difficult truths offend us, but, in many circumstances, the warning of judgment is an opportunity for repentance. We ought to welcome such opportunities, which are mercies.
Life is more pleasant when we take offense only when appropriate to do so. Exploitation, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, nativism, pollution, unnecessary violence, and disregard for human life should, for example, always offend us. They ought to offend us so much that we act collectively to alter our societies in the direction of what Theodore Parker (1810-1860), the maverick Unitarian minister, a prominent abolitionist, and an advocate of civil disobedience in the context of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, referred to as the moral arc of the universe that bends toward justice.
Some on the Right pretend that the Left has a monopoly on snowflakism. I know from experience that conservative snowflakes also exist, for I have offended some of them by, for example, politely disagreeing with them. In the classroom I have experience offending others by presenting objective, confirmed facts about ancient comparative religion. I also offend many to my left by maintaining the singular-plural binary, thereby refusing to use “them,” “they,” “themselves,” and “their” as singular pronouns. If any of this offends, so be it; I have done nothing wrong.
Neither did Jesus or Jeremiah, who were focusing on weightier issues.
If Jesus offends us, that is our fault, not his.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 15, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHN ELLERTON, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF CARL HEINRICH VON BOGATSKY, HUNGARIAN-GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF DOROTHY FRANCES BLOMFIELD GURNEY, ENGLISH POET AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT LANDELINUS OF VAUX, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; SAINT AUBERT OF CAMBRAI, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; SAINT URSMAR OF LOBBES, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND MISSIONARY BISHOP; AND SAINTS DOMITIAN, HADELIN, AND DODO OF LOBBES, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS
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Above: Joseph Reveals His Identity, by Peter von Cornelius
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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Genesis 45 or Isaiah 56:1-8
Psalm 31:9-18
1 Corinthians 11:17-34
Matthew 18:15-35
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Dealing with people can be difficult for various reasons, not the least of which is that some people are difficult. Many are toxic, emotionally and spiritually.
Consider the family of Jacob, O reader. The happy turn of events does not negate the perfidy of previous chapters. Do you not, O reader, know that eventually Jacob confronted those sons of his who had told him years prior that Joseph was dead? That is not a conversation recorded in Genesis.
Yet forgiveness carried the day. And why not? How often have we prayed to God for forgiveness and not been forgiving, of others or ourselves? The hyperbolic debt of 10,000 talents (150,000 years’ worth of wages for a laborer) was impossible to repay. Those who have received forgiveness have always incurred the obligation to forgive. Forgiving others and self has always been the best policy for another reason also; grudges have always hurt those who have nurtured them.
God, in Isaiah 56:1-8, is quite inclusive, abolishing many barriers. All those who believe in God and keep the divine commandments may participate in the future messianic salvation. Foreigners may participate. Eunuchs (excluded in Deuteronomy 23:2) may participate.
But we human beings tend to like exclusionary categories God rejects, do we not? Divine grace seeks people like us and dissimilar from us. It welcomes those who, regardless of any one of a set of factors, we might exclude, but whom God also loves. The standard is a faithful response.
I have long been a churchy person. Yet I have felt more spiritual kinship with refugees from organized religion than with certain other churchy people. Many of the former group have been more receptive to grace than many of the latter group, the ones who made them feel unwelcome in the church. These refugees from church have included homosexuals and people who have asked too many questions. I, as a churchy heterosexual who enjoys questions, have sat among them and shown them that many Christians harbor attitudes that welcome them.
Eucharist in the Corinthian Church in the 50s C.E. was apparently not always welcoming. It was a potluck meal upon which many of the poorer members depended. Yet some of the more prosperous members ate ahead of time, did not contribute to the common meal, and took the occasion to become intoxicated. All of these practices were abuses.
From the beginning of Christianity the Church has been rife with abuses. Human nature has not changed over time, after all. Ecclesiastical partisanship has not ceased. Exploitation has not ceased. However, God has not ceased to bely our ecclesiastical sins either.
May we pay closer attention to that last point.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, SEPTEMBER 15, 1963
THE FEAST OF CHARLES EDWARD OAKLEY, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JAMES CHISHOLM, EPISCOPAL PRIEST
THE FEAST OF SAINTS PHILIBERT AND AICARDUS OF JUMIEGES, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOTS
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2018/09/15/devotion-for-proper-22-year-a-humes/
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Above: The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, by John Martin
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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Genesis 19:1-8, 15-26, 30-38
Psalm 11
2 Peter 2:4-10a
Matthew 11:20-24
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David Ackerman continues his grand tour of difficult passages of scripture. The theme this time is judgment and mercy.
One should be careful to examine a passage of scripture closely. In Genesis 19, for example, we read of (A) an equal-opportunity rape gang and (B) the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The gang members do not care if their conquests are male, female, or angelic. Furthermore, Lot, while being hospitable to his house guests, offers his two daughters to the gang instead. Fortunately for the daughters, the gang had become fixated on “fresh fish.” One might reasonably surmise, however, that Lot knew the character of his neighbors. One might also question the character of the daughters, who went on to get their father drunk, seduce him, and have children with him. Lot and his family are a disturbing group of people in Genesis.
Elsewhere in the assigned lessons we read of divine judgment on false teachers and those who follow them. This judgment falls on the unrepentant, whether Jewish or Gentile. Yet there is also mercy for the repentant, whether Jewish or Gentile.
These readings contain much material to make one squirm. I refer to what is there, not what we merely think is present. Genesis 19 is partially an origin story of the Amorites and the Moabites, whose founders were the products of subterfuge, drunkenness, and incest. It is also partially a cautionary tale about the lack of hospitality. What could be more inhospitable than seeking to seeking to rape someone?
Divine judgment and mercy are real, as are human misinterpretation of Bible stories. May we turn of the autopilot mode that prevents us from studying passages seriously and transform us into false teachers.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 15, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHN ELLERTON, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF CARL HEINRICH VON BOGATSKY, HUNGARIAN-GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINTS LANDELINUS OF VAUX, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AUBERT OF CAMBRAI, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; URSMAR OF LOBBES, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND MISSIONARY BISHOP; AND DOMITIAN, HADELIN, AND DODO OF LOBBES, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2017/06/15/devotion-for-proper-4-ackerman/
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Above: High Priest Offering Incense on an Altar
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
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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The Assigned Readings:
Leviticus 18:19-22; 19:19, 27-28
Psalm 118:5-9
Romans 1:8-2:11
Mark 10:32-34
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While the reading from Mark 10 marks the movement of Jesus toward his death and Psalm 118 reminds us of the wisdom of trusting in God and not in flesh, we read frequently misinterpreted passages from Leviticus and Romans. Although the homosexual orientation has existed since antiquity, the recognition of its reality is much more recent. The assumption in the readings, therefore, is that there is no such thing as the homosexual orientation, hence the allegedly unnatural nature of the acts. Furthermore, Leviticus also condemns wearing clothing (except in fringes and in priestly vestments) made of two or more types of cloth and recognizes the existence of slavery. The illicit sexual encounter in Leviticus 19:20 is allegedly wrong–and a capital offense–because someone has reserved the slave woman for another man. As for combining linen and wool (except when one is supposed to do so), mixing them is wrong in the text, as are mixing seeds of two plants in the same field and breeding animals across species barriers.
The real theme seems to be mixing. As Everett Fox summarizes,
Mixtures in the Bible seem to be reserved for the divine sphere alone.
—The Five Books of Moses (1997), page 603
And God mandates some mixing in the Torah, as I have indicated. Exodus 28:6 and 39:29 prescribe the mixing of different types of cloth in priestly vestments and Numbers 15:37-40 commands fringes on clothing.
Mixing has long obsessed many people. Race mixing has long occurred in the United States, for example. It was ubiquitous on plantations–often via the rape of slave women by masters. The social offense was getting caught. Consensual race mixing via marriage used to be illegal in 27 states, until 1967.
The truth, of course, is that many of us are genetic hodge-podges. I am, for example, somewhat Cherokee, although my ancestry is mostly British and Irish, with contributions from elsewhere in Western Europe. Purity is not a matter of ethnicity or of any other form of identity, despite the fact that many people insist that it is. Thinking vainly that is otherwise exemplifies claiming to be wise yet really being a fool.
The real point of the reading from Romans is not to judge others for doing what one also does (2:1). Besides, judgment resides in the divine purview alone. In Pauline theology to break one part of the Law of Moses is to violate the entire code–a thought worthy of consideration in the context of divine patience, meant to lead people to repentance.
Guilt in the reading from Roman 1-2 is both individual and collective. Individual sins are staples of much of the theology of Protestantism, which does not handle collective sins as well as Judaism and Roman Catholicism do. To focus on personal peccadilloes to the marginalization or denial of collective sins is to mis the point and the means of correcting the relevant social problem or problems. And all of us are partially responsible for faults in our societies. Will we accept that reality and act accordingly?
The natural conclusion to this post comes from Psalm 118. Rely on God, not on flesh. God is faithful, but flesh fails.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 7, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK LUCIAN HOSMER, U.S. UNITARIAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTHONY MARY GIANELLI, FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARIES OF SAINT ALPHONSUS LUGUORI AND THE SISTERS OF MARY DELL’ORTO
THE FEAST OF CHARLES AUGUSTUS BRIGGS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER THEN EPISCOPAL PRIEST
THE FEAST OF SAINT ROBERT OF NEWMINSTER, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND PRIEST
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Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/devotion-for-the-fourth-sunday-in-lent-ackerman/
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Above: Lot and His Daughters, by Lucas van Leyden
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Merciful God, gracious and benevolent,
through your Son you invite all the world to a meal of mercy.
Grant that we may eagerly follow this call,
and bring us with all your saints into your life of justice and joy,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 52
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The Assigned Readings:
Nehemiah 13:1-3, 23-31 (Monday)
Zechariah 7:1-14 (Tuesday)
Psalm 50 (Both Days)
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 (Monday)
Jude 5-21 (Tuesday)
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“When you see a thief, you make him your friend,
and you cast your lot in with adulterers.
You have loosed your lips for evil,
and harnessed your tongue to a lie.
You are always speaking evil of your brother
and slandering your own mother’s son.
These things you have done, and I kept still,
and you thought that I am like you.”
–Psalm 50:18-21, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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The Law of Moses teaches that, among other things:
- We humans depend on God for everything,
- We depend on each other also,
- We have no right to exploit each other,
- We are responsible to each other, and
- We are responsible for each other.
Thus hospitality is a great virtue, for it can make the difference between someone coming to harm or avoiding harm, as well as the difference between someone dying or living.
My summary of the forbidden behaviors in these days’ readings is that they are generally activities that harm others. I note that, in post-exilic zeal to obey the Law of Moses, many people went too far with regard to the treatment of foreigners. The Book of Jonah pushes back against such excesses. The Book of Ruth, in which a Moabite woman marries a Hebrew man and becomes an ancestor of King David, is probably another protest against such zealousness-turned-xenophobia, such as that praised in Nehemiah 13:1.
As for homosexual behavior (as opposed to homosexuality as a sexual preference, an understanding which did not exist until recent centuries), Jude 7 is the only verse in the Bible to make explicit the link between homosexual conduct and the story of Sodom in Genesis 19. In that chapter Lot, who has lived in the city since Genesis 13, presumably knows his neighbors well enough to understand what they like. Lot has taken in two angels. A mob gathers outside his door and demands that he send them outside to that they can gang rape the angels. Lot refuses the demands and offers to send his two virgin daughters out instead. (Bad father!) Fortunately for Lot’s daughters, the mob is not interested and the angels have a plan to save Lot and his family from the imminent destruction of the city. In the context of Genesis 19 the planned sexual activity is rape, not anything consensual; may nobody miss that point. The standard Biblical condemnations of the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah are like those in Ezekiel 16:48-50 and 3 Maccabees 2:5-6, where one reads that the cities’ sins were notorious and the people were arrogant and brazen in their iniquity. Ezekiel 16 adds to that description the neglect of the poor and the hungry–a lack of hospitality.
Zechariah 7:8-14 states that the pre-exilic Kingdoms of Israel and Judah violated the basic requirements of the Law of Moses, and paid the price. The societies, generally speaking, did not administer true justice and act kindly and compassionately. No, it oppressed widows, orphans, the poor, and resident aliens. The societies were unrepentant, and divine patience ran out.
Society is people. It shapes its members, who also influence it. May we–you, O reader, and I–influence society for the better–to care for the vulnerable, to resist bullying and corruption, to favor kindness and compassion, and to seek and find the proper balance between individual and collective responsibility. May we eschew bigotry in all forms, for we have a divine mandate to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. May we seek to love God and each other fully, manifesting respect for the image of God in each other, seeking to build each other up, for that is not only the path to the common good but is also godly.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 31, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE VISITATION OF MARY TO ELIZABETH
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/devotion-for-monday-and-tuesday-after-proper-26-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: One of My Crucifixes, Hanging in the Biblical Studies Section of My Library, January 19, 2016
Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor
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For with you is the well of life,
and in your light we see light.
–Psalm 36:9, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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Each of us is, to some extent, a product of his or her upbringing. I, for example, grew up in a bookish family, a fact for which I give thanks. One should not be surprised that I have converted my living space into a library or that I prefer to consult books for information when possible. Such tendencies are natural for me.
I grew up as a fish out of water. My father was a United Methodist minister in rural southern Georgia, U.S.A., in the Bible Belt. Yet I have never been an Evangelical Christian nor wanted to become one. In fact, I came into the world predisposed to become an intellectual, ritualistic Episcopalian, which I have been for more years than I was a Methodist. Experiences from my youth continue to affect me positively and negatively. I give thanks for my grounding the scriptures as I bristle at every accusation of committing heresy. Fortunately, few of those come my way these days, for I have chosen a faith community in which I am unlikely to encounter such allegations.
I have noticed that, after my experimental theological phase in the 1990s and early 2000s, I have settled into a theological position slightly to the right of that yet definitely left of the theological center and in close proximity to that center. I am, according to the standards of traditionalists of various types, heretical. At the same time I am, according to postmodernists, conservative. I remain a product of the Northern Renaissance and the Enlightenment, with the former having a greater influence than the latter. I am closer theologically to N. T. Wright than to John Dominic Crossan. I seek to respect the image of God in my fellow human beings, a standard which straddles the left-right divide. I support marriage equality, shun any phobia aimed at human beings, understand the Biblical mandate for economic justice, and have a cautious attitude toward abortion, which I understand to be a medical necessity in extreme cases, in which it is the least bad decision. In other circumstances I favor alternatives to abortion. The most effective and ethical way to make that manifest is not always via legislation. Furthermore, I see no conflict between sound theology and good science. In that respect I stand in the best of Roman Catholic tradition.
I stand right of the center liturgically. I favor, for example, The Book of Common Prayer (1979), the use of modern English in liturgies and Biblical translations, and the singing of verbose, theologically dense hymns. Praise choruses (“seven-eleven songs,” to use a common term), screens, PowerPoint, guitars, and praise bands disturb me deeply. Worship is worship, and entertainment is entertainment. To use language from Marva Dawn, the church should not dumb down to reach out.
There is tradition, and there is tradition. Some are more important and flexible than others. The fact that a practice is a tradition or an innovation does not constitute a valid reason to embrace or reject it. The proper standard is function. How does a practice work? Is it the most functional practice for a particular purpose? Some traditions hold up better over time than others. And, as one learns by reading the history of liturgy, ancient traditions began as innovations.
Just as tradition is not infallible, neither are scripture and reason. My careful studies of the Bible have revealed inconsistencies, such as many doublets in the Old Testament and minor details in the four Gospels. For example, one reads two sets of instructions regarding how many animals to take on Noah’s Ark, two stories of Saul and David falling out with other, two stories of creation, two accounts of the announcement of the birth of Isaac, et cetera. Consider also the anointing of Jesus in the four Gospels. Did the woman have a name, and how much do we know about her? In whose house did this happen? And which parts of Jesus did she anoint? The Gospels offer differing answers to those questions. Nevertheless, the core details of those four accounts are identical. Biblical inconsistencies do nothing to damage my faith, for I have never expected consistency in every detail of scripture. I emphasize the forest, not the trees. As for reason, it is a gift from God can take one far. One ought to make the most of the best possible uses of it. Nevertheless, since we mere mortals are fallible, so is our reason. The balance of scripture, tradition, and reason is a virtue.
The great infallible depository knowledge of God is God, whom we can know partially yet intimately. Regardless of how well one knows God, there remain limits, for the nature of deity is quite different from human realities. Most of the nature of deity exceeds the human capacity to comprehend it.
In God alone I place my trust regarding matters of salvation, which I understand to be a process, not an event. As Martin Luther said well, we who turn to God can trust in the faithfulness of God. I, as a Christian, affirm that the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the historical, incarnated form of the Second Person of the Trinity (whatever that means; I have learned not to try to untangle the knot of the Trinity) constituted a unique event, the breaking of God into human history as one of us. Our Lord and Savior’s life–complete with the crucifixion and resurrection–was the means of atonement for sins. Unfortunately, Hell remains a reality, for many people have rejected the offer of redemption and the accompanying responsibilities.
Here I stand.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 19, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SARGENT SHRIVER, U.S. STATESMAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT CAESARIUS OF ARLES, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP, AND SAINT SAINT CAESARIA OF ARLES, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBESS
THE FEAST OF HENRY AUGUSTINE COLLINS, ANGLICAN THEN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF RICHARD ROLLE, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC SPIRITUAL WRITER
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Above: Flevit Super Illam (He Wept Over It), by Enrique Simonet
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Almighty and ever-living God,
increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and love;
and that we may obtain what you promise,
make us love what you command,
through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 23
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The Assigned Readings:
Jeremiah 1:11-19
Psalm 56
Luke 19:41-44
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Be kind to me, God, for men are persecuting me,
continually assailants oppress me.
My adversaries persecute me all day long,
indeed those who attack me are many.
Though each day I am afraid of fierce enemies
still I put my trust in you.
–Psalm 56:1-3, The Psalms Introduced and Newly Translated for Today’s Readers (1989), by Harry Mowvley
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The main two readings for today are unhappy. The prophet Jeremiah, having just accepted God’s call, receives his commission, complete with the following promise:
They will attack you,
But they shall not overcome you;
For I am with you–declares the LORD–to save you.
–Jeremiah 1:19, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Jeremiah spent much time on the run from the law, in custody, and finally, in exile.
Jesus, just a few days away from his death, lamented over Jerusalem. Then he cleansed the Temple of merchants profiteering from the upcoming Passover. Certainly the memory of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. informed the telling of that story, but one did not need to be a seer or a genius to predict that, in time, yet another rebellion by Jews would lead to Roman forces destroying the city. The account is historically plausible.
In both readings the cause of the disaster is the same–prolonged, systematic, and societal failure to recognize God and to act accordingly. One might interpret the resulting disaster not so much as God being vengeful as the proverbial chickens coming home to roost. Actions have consequences. We know that the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah strayed far from the societal vision of mutuality underpinning the Law of Moses, and that idolatry was ubiquitous. In the case of the reading from Luke, the Temple establishment was in league with the occupying Roman forces. Perhaps the wrath of God in these cases, if one chooses to interpret the doom as such, was as simple as,
You have made your bed. Now sleep in it.
I am cautious in addressing this matter, for I seek to avoid committing certain errors. Within my memory during the last decade and more, certain prominent professing Christian evangelists have brought reproach on Christianity by blaming some natural disasters (frustrated by human shortsightedness in matters such as civil engineering) on God, whom they have portrayed as vengeful. Was Hurricane Katrina (2005) God’s wrath for toleration and acceptance of homosexuality? Of course not! How dare anyone suggest that it was! Despite my caution, I recognize that there is such a thing as the wrath of God, and that it frequently takes the form of having to deal with the consequences of one’s actions and inactions. My concept of God differs greatly from that of those who worship the gangster God of whom all people should stand in terror and whom nobody can possibly belove.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 5, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF DAVID NITSCHMANN, SR., “FATHER NITSCHMANN,” MORAVIAN MISSIONARY; MELCHIOR NITSCHMANN, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND MARTYR; JOHANN NITSCHMANN, JR., MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND BISHOP; ANNA NITSCHMANN, MORAVIAN ELDRESS; AND DAVID NITSCHMANN, MISSIONARY AND FIRST BISHOP OF THE RENEWED MORAVIAN CHURCH
THE FEAST OF BRADFORD TORREY, U.S. ORNITHOLOGIST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HARRY EMERSON FOSDICK, NORTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR AND OPPONENT OF FUNDAMENTALISM
THE FEAST OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH, 1972
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Adapted from this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/devotion-for-wednesday-after-the-fourth-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: A Racist Rally at the State Capitol, Little Rock, Arkansas, August 20, 1959
Photographer = John T. Bledsoe
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ppmsca-19754
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The Collect:
God of heaven and earth,
before the foundation of the universe and the beginning of time
you are the triune God:
Author of creation, eternal Word of creation, life-giving Spirit of wisdom.
Guide us to all truth by your Spirit,
that we may proclaim all that Christ has revealed
and rejoice in the glory he shares with us.
Glory and praise to you,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 37
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The Assigned Readings:
Isaiah 5:15-24
Psalm 29
John 15:18-20, 26-27
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The voice of the LORD is a powerful voice;
the voice of the LORD is a voice of splendor.
–Psalm 29:4, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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Ah,
Those who call evil good
And good evil;
Who present darkness as light
And light as darkness;
Who prevent bitter as sweet
And sweet as bitter!
–Isaiah 5:20, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
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I am a student of history, especially that of the ecclesiastical variety. Much of that content troubles me. In my library I have documents justifying perfidy in the name of Jesus and more broadly in the name of God. I think of a sermon, “God the Original Segregationist” (1954), which the minister continued to sell via mail as late as 1971. I think also of sermons defending chattel slavery while quoting the Bible. And I own a reprint of an article from the magazine of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1960 arguing that no Roman Catholic should serve as the President of the United States.
I consider my family tree, which includes a slaveholder and Georgia state senator who, in the 1860s, complained in writing to Governor Joseph Brown that the state had drafted his (the senator’s) slaves’ labor yet been slow to compensate the senator for their work. My relative was a deacon of the Fort Gaines Baptist Church, Fort Gaines, Georgia. I assume that he thought of himself as a good Christian.
Fortunately, overt racism has fallen out of favor in many quarters, but covert racism remains ubiquitous. Slavery, furthermore, has few prominent defenders of which I am aware in American Christianity. Nevertheless, some prominent American Evangelicals defended the Crusades–orgies of violence, religious intolerance, and even some cannibalism–with much energy recently.
Dressing up darkness as light is an ancient sin which remains contemporary. Even many who condemn slavery commit homophobia. Some are malevolent, saying openly that homosexuals ought to have fewer civil rights and liberties than heterosexuals. Certain malevolent homophobes go as far as to advocate executing or imprisoning homosexuals. Others, however, act out of outdated mindsets based on erroneous assumptions and are not malevolent. They are still wrong, of course.
The biblical call to justice, present in the works of the prophets and elsewhere requires us to reject the forms of bigotry we have learned from cultures. To love our neighbors as we love ourselves and act toward them as we would have them behave toward us entails laying aside our negative biases and recognizing the image of God in them then acting accordingly. This can prove risky when cultures, governments, and social institutions perpetuate bigotry and discrimination.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world–therefore the world hates you.
–John 15:19, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
I have learned negative biases and unlearned some of them. The main difficulty when dealing with one’s assumptions is trying to recognize one’s moral blind spots, especially those which are socially unacceptable. Defense mechanisms interfere with this process, perpetuating the illusion that one is holier than one actually is. Yet a faithful pilgrimage with God requires that one, by grace, face oneself honestly. Hopefully this will result in an accurate self-appraisal and lead to repentance, that is, changing one’s mind, turning around. That can be difficult, but it is possible via the power of God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 14, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MATHILDA, QUEEN OF GERMANY
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/devotion-for-saturday-before-trinity-sunday-year-b-elca-daily-lectionary/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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