Archive for the ‘Origen’ Tag
Above: The First Paragraph of the Shema
Image in the Public Domain
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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
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Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Psalm 119:1-16 (LBW) or Psalm 119:121-128 (LW)
Hebrews 7:23-28
Mark 12:28-34 (35-37)
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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
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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
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Jesus knew the tradition of Rabbi Hillel, as he proved in Mark 12:29-31. Christ stood within his Jewish tradition and within the school of Hillel, in particular. So, the Christian tradition of pitting Jesus against Judaism has always been erroneous.
After Rabbi Hillel quoted the same verses Jesus eventually quoted also, Hillel said:
The rest is commentary. God and learn it.
That ethos permeates Psalm 119, in which the Torah refers to divine instruction, with the Law incorporated into it. Traditional Christian disregard for the Law of Moses–a subsequent theological development–contradicts Psalm 119 and Deuteronomy 6:1-9.
Deuteronomy 6:1-9 drips with hindsight, irony, and melancholy. The author, reflecting centuries after the time in the wilderness, understood what had transpired in time and in Jewish folk religion, as opposed to Jewish priestly religion. This author, consistent with Deuteronomistic theology, affirmed that collective and national disaster was the inevitable result of this pattern.
As Christianity emerged from its Jewish roots, Christian theology developed along divergent paths. Part of the church, consistent with Judaism, never developed the theology of Original Sin and the Fall of Man, with the ensuing corruption of human nature. Augustinian theology, which postdates the Epistle to the Hebrews by centuries, could not have informed that document. The author of Hebrews–perhaps St. Apollos, although Origen wrote that only God knew the author’s identity–affirmed that Christ is the timeless, sinless high priest who covers sins and intercedes for sinners.
So, regardless of one’s opinion of Augustinian theology and the role of the Law of Moses, one can frolic in the good news that God is not chomping on the bit to throw lightning bolts at anyone. Christ intercedes for us. Do we even notice, though?
I, without minimizing or denying the importance of works in moral terms, choose not to walk the Pelagian path. Salvation is a process of grace, and God is in charge of the process. I also affirm Single Predestination, so some people sit on the chosen list. How one responds to grace remains an individual decision, with individual responsibility. Yet grace surrounds even this situation. The longer I live, the less inclined I am to think of any people as belonging in Hell. Matters of salvation and damnation are in the purview of God. I am not God. Neither are you, O reader.
We–like the author of Deuteronomy 6:1-9, possess hindsight. We–like the author of Deuteronomy 6:1-9–also live in something called the present. Therefore, we can have only so much hindsight. And even the most perceptive human hindsight is…human. God knows far more than we do.
Yet we can live according to love and mere decency. This is a certain way to embody divine love, honor God and human dignity, and get into trouble with some conventionally pious people and sometimes with legal authorities.
Nevertheless, this is one standard Jesus upheld in Mark 12:28-34. The Golden Rule should never be controversial, but it frequently is.
Our works matter morally. May we, by grace, make them count for as much good as possible.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 11, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE THIRTY-THIRD DAY OF EASTER
THE FEAST OF HENRY KNOX SHERRILL, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
THE FEAST OF BARBARA ANDREWS, FIRST FEMALE MINISTER IN THE AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH, 1970
THE FEAST OF SAINT GJON KODA, ALBANIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1947
THE FEAST OF JOHN JAMES MOMENT, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MATTEO RICCI, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY
THE FEAST OF SAINT MATTHÊÔ LÊ VAN GAM, VIETNAMESE ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, 1847
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Adapted from this post
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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS
PART LIX
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Psalms 85 and 86
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Psalm 85 flows from a deep spring of communal ennui from either the Babylonian Exile or the period immediately following it. Either timeframe of origin is plausible. The text assumes that divine forgiveness of collective sins (understood as the main cause of the Babylonian Exile in Deuteronomistic theology) is requisite for the divine restoration of the Jewish people and their ancestral homeland.
Truth must precede reconciliation. Remorse for sins must precede amendment of life. These statements apply in both communal and individual cases.
Psalm 86 follows a familiar formula for a personal lament, which may reflect communal, postexilic concerns. An observant reader of the Book of Psalms may identify certain motifs readily, These include a plea for deliverance, an expression of confidence in divine mercy, an assertion of divine sovereignty, and a sense that God is not listening. Why else would the psalmists try to attract divine attention?
Walter Brueggemann notes the “unusual nature of uses of the second person pronouns” in Psalm 86. The scholar concludes:
This repeated use makes an appeal that presents the situation of trouble as squarely Yahweh’s problem…. This psalm is concerned for God’s will or intentionality, and so it engages in persuasion.
—The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary (1984), 62
The interpretation of Psalm 86 as reflecting communal concerns in the wake of the Babylonian Exile makes sense to me, given the content of Third Isaiah (Isaiah 24-27 and 56-66), as well as the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. This is hardly a unanimous scholarly opinion. For example, Father Mitchell J. Dahood, S.J.’s notes indicate that he thought Psalm 86 was a prayer for an Israelite king. And other exegetes interpret the text as an individual lament, but not a lament of a monarch. The citing of Exodus 32-34 (in which God forgave a disobedient people) in Psalm 86 bolsters the communal interpretation.
Imagine the situation, O reader; try a thought experiment. Imagine being a Jewish exile at the end of the Babylonian Exile. Perhaps you are elderly and recall your homeland from half a century prior. Or maybe you, born in the Chaldean Empire, have no memories of the ancestral homeland. Imagine feeling excited about the prospect of ceasing to live in exile. You have high hopes of what that land will be like. Imagine the disappointment you felt upon settling in that homeland and not finding the verdant paradise prophets had predicted. Imagine the frustration over having to struggle with politics over issues as basic as rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem as well as the Temple. Imagine the communal ennui.
Individual faith is an appropriate focus much of the time. Indeed, this is a prominent topic in the Bible. So is communal faith, a topic to which my individualistic culture gives short shrift. The faith of a people or of a congregation is a matter entire books of the Bible address.
Imagine the collective malaise in the wake of the Babylonian Exile. Then notice that, despite concerns that God may not be listening, Psalm 86 indicates hope that God will listen then act consistent with hesed–steadfast love.
The longer I live, the less confident I become regarding alleged certainties I learned in childhood. This is fine; an adult should have a mature faith, not an immature one. The longer I live, the more comfortable I become with uncertainty. Trusting in God can be difficult, even when God does not seem to be remote. Yet this move is essential; the quest for certainty is idolatrous when God requires faith.
Now, O reader, apply these themes to communal faith. Perhaps a congregation has been struggling faithfully for years or decades. Maybe hardships have been a group’s reality for decades or centuries. God may have seemed remote for a long time. Why has God not delivered these groups? And to whom can these groups turn for help?
Faithfulness to God–communal or individual–does not guarantee success as “the world” measures it. Consider the case of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (213-268) and his flock, O reader.
St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, whom Origen had converted to Christianity, was a lawyer in Neocaesarea, Pontus, Asia Minor, Roman Empire (now Turkey). The church in Neocaesarea consisted of seventeen people when it elected him Bishop of Neocaesarea. St. Gregory served dutifully for decades, during which he shephereded his flock through plagues, natural disasters, the Gothic invasion, and the Decian Persecution. When St. Gregory died, his flock still numbered seventeen.
May we, as groups, live into our best possible character in God. May we discern what God calls us to do and to be. May we disregard prejudices which we may have learned yet which violate the Golden Rule. And may we always trust in God, even when doing so is difficult.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
FEBRUARY 2, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE
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READING THE GENERAL EPISTLES, PART I
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This post opens a new series, one about the General (or Catholic or Universal) Epistles. This category dates to circa 325 C.E., from the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius of Caesarea.
MY GERMANE OPERATIONAL BIASES AND ASSUMPTIONS
Know, O reader, that my academic background is in history. I think historically, regardless of the topic du jour. The past tenses constitute my usual temporal perspective. Some people tell me that I ought not to think this way when considering the Bible or a television series that ceased production years or decades ago. These individuals are wrong. I defy them.
Some people tell me that the historical backgrounds of Biblical books do not matter or are of minimal importance. The messages for today is what matters, they say. The messages for today do matter; I agree with that much. Yet the definition of those messages depend greatly on the historical contexts from which these texts emerged. With regard to the General Epistles, whether one assumes relatively early or relatively late composition affects the interpretation.
I operate from the assumptions that (a) James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, and Jude are pseudonymous, and (b) they date to relatively late periods. These two assumptions relate to each other. The first assumption leads to the second. In terms of logic, if x, then y. Simultaneously, internal evidence supports the second assumption, which leads backward, to the first.
CONTEXTS
The General Epistles, composed between 70 and 140 C.E., came from particular societal and political contexts. The Roman Empire was strong. Religious persecutions of Christianity were mostly sporadic and regional. Christianity was a young, marginalized, sect (of Judaism, through 135 C.E.) unable to influence society and the imperial order. Christian doctrine was in an early phase of development. Even the definition of the Christian canon of scripture was in flux.
I, reading, pondering, and writing in late 2021, benefit from centuries of theological development, ecumenical councils, and the definition of the New Testament. I, as an Episcopalian, use scripture, tradition, and reason. I interpret any one of these three factors through the lenses of the other two. I, as a student of the past, acknowledge that scripture emerged from tradition.
The importance of theological orthodoxy was a major concern in the background of the General Epistles. That made sense; ecclesiastical unity, threatened by heresy, was a major concern for the young, small, and growing sect. Yet, as time passed and the Church’s fortunes improved, the definition of orthodoxy changed. Some of the Ante-Nicene Fathers (notably Origen) were orthodox, by the standards of their time. After 325 C.E., however, some of these men (notably Origen) became heretics postmortem and ex post facto.
Orthopraxy was another concern in the General Epistles. Orthopraxy related to orthodoxy. The lack of orthopraxy led to needless schisms and the exploitation of the poor, for example. As time passed and the Church became dominant in parts of the world, the Church fell short on the standard of orthopraxy, as defined by the Golden Rule. As Alfred Loisy (1857-1940), an excommunicated modernist Roman Catholic theologian, lamented:
Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God and what came was the Church.
Lest anyone misunderstand me, I affirm that theological orthodoxy exists. God defines it. We mere mortals and our theologies are all partially heretical. We cannot help that. Salvation is a matter of grace, not passing a canonical examination. Also, the Golden Rule is the finest standard according to which to measure orthopraxy. Orthopraxy is a matter of faithful response, which grace demands. Grace is free, not cheap.
BRIEF INTRODUCTIONS FOR EACH OF THE GENERAL EPISTLES
The Epistle of James dates to 70-110 C.E. The analysis of Father Raymond E. Brown (1928-1998) suggests that composition in the 80s or 90s was probable. The “epistle,” actually a homily, used the genre of diatribe to address Jewish Christians who lived outside of Palestine. James is perhaps the ultimate “shape up and fly right” Christian text. James may also correct misconceptions regarding Pauline theology.
The First Epistle of Peter, composed in Rome between 70 and 90 C.E., is a text originally for churches in northern Asia Minor. The majority scholarly opinion holds that First Peter is a unified text. A minority scholarly opinion holds that 1:3-4:11 and 4:12-5:11 are distinct documents.
The Epistle of Jude, composed between 90 and 100 C.E., may have have come from Palestine. Jude was also a source for Second Peter, mainly the second chapter thereof.
The Second Epistle of Peter is the last book of the New Testament composed. Second Peter, probably composed between 120 and 140 C.E., addresses a general audience in eastern Asia Minor. The second chapter expands on Jude.
The First Epistle of John is not an epistle. No, it is a homily or a tract. First John, composed circa 100 C.E., belongs to the Johannine tradition. Anyone who has belonged to a congregation that has suffered a schism may relate to the context of First John.
The author of the Second and Third Epistles of John (both from circa 100 C.E.) may have written First John. Or not. “The Elder” (the author of Second and Third John) speaks down the corridors of time in the contexts of ecclesiastical schisms and personality conflicts. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I invite you, O reader, to remain with me as I embark on a journey through the Epistle of James first.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 19, 2021 COMMON ERA
PROPER 20: THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF GERARD MOULTRIE, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS
THE FEAST OF SAINT CLARENCE ALPHONSUS WALWORTH, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, POET, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND HYMN WRITER; CO-FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE (THE PAULIST FATHERS)
THE FEAST OF SAINT EMILY DE RODAT, FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE HOLY FAMILY OF VILLEFRANCHE
THE FEAST OF WALTER CHALMERS SMITH, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM DALRYMPLE MACLAGAN, ARCHBISHOP OF YORK, AND HYMN WRITER
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Above: Zeno of Citium
Image in the Public Domain
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READING 1, 2 AND 4 MACCABEES
PART IV
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4 Maccabees 1:1-3:18; 13:1-14:10; 18:20-24
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The Fourth Book of the Maccabees, composed in 20-54 C.E., perhaps in Antioch, is a treatise. It interprets Judaism in terms of Greek philosophy–Stoicism and Platonism, to be precise. 4 Maccabees elaborates on the story of the martyrdom of the seven brothers and their mother, covered relatively succinctly in 2 Maccabees 7:1-42, and set prior to the Hasmonean Rebellion.
Fourth Maccabees, composed by an anonymous Hellenistic Jew and addressed to other Hellenistic Jews, has two purposes:
- To exhort them to obey the Law of Moses (18:1), and
- To proclaim that devout reason is the master of all emotions (1:1-2; 18:2).
Cultural assimilation was a common temptation for Hellenistic Jews. “Keep the faith,” the author urged more verbosely than my paraphrase. For him, devout reason was a reason informed by the Law of Moses. Devout reason, in the author’s mind, the highest form of reason was the sole province of faithful Jews.
Vicarious suffering is also a theme in 4 Maccabees. In this book, the suffering and death of the martyrs purifies the land (1:11; 6:29; 17:21), vindicates the Jewish nation (17:10), and atones for the sins of the people (6:29; 17:22). The last point presages Penal Substitutionary Atonement, one of several Christian theologies of the atonement via Jesus.
The blending of Jewish religion and Greek philosophy is evident also in the treatment of the afterlife. The Second Book of the Maccabees teaches bodily resurrection (7:9, 11, 14, 23, and 29). One can find bodily resurrection elsewhere in Jewish writings (Daniel 12:2; 1 Enoch 5:1-2; 4 Ezra/2 Esdras 7:42; 2 Baruch 50:2-3). The Fourth Book of the Maccabees, however, similar to the Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-4, teaches instant immortality, with reward or punishment. The martyrs achieve instant instant immortality with reward (4 Maccabees 9:9, 22; 10:15; 14:15; 15:7; 16:13, 25; 17:12, 18; 18:23). Antiochus IV Epiphanes, however, goes to everlasting torment (9:9, 29, 32; 10:11, 15; 11:3, 23; 12:18; 18:5).
Stoicism, in the Greek philosophical sense, has a different meaning than the average layperson may assume. It is not holding one’s feelings inside oneself. Properly, Stoicism teaches that virtue is the only god and vice is the only evil. The wise are indifferent to pain and pleasure, to wealth and poverty, and to success and misfortune. A Stoic, accepting that he or she could change x, y, and z, yet not t, u, and v. No, a Stoic works to change x, y, and z. A Stoic, therefore, is content in the midst of difficulty. If this sounds familiar, O reader, you may be thinking of St. Paul the Apostle being content in pleasant and in unpleasant circumstances (Philippians 4:11-12).
Stoicism shows up elsewhere in the New Testament and in early Christianity, too. It is in the mouth of St. Paul in Athens (Acts 17:28). Stoicism is also evident in the writings of St. Ambrose of Milan (337-397), mentor of St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430). Why would it not be in the writings of St. Ambrose? Greek philosophy informed the development of early Christian theology. Greek philosophy continues to exist in sermons, Sunday School lessons, and Biblical commentaries. Greek philosophy permeates the Gospel of John and the Letter to the Hebrews. Greek philosophy is part of the Christian patrimony.
Platonism was the favorite form of Greek philosophy in the Roman Catholic Church for centuries. Platonism permeated the works of St. Clement of Alexandria (circa 150-circa 210/215) and his star pupil, Origen (185-254), for example. Eventually, though, St. Albert the Great (circa 1200-1280) and his star pupil, St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), successfully made the case for Aristotle over Plato. Holy Mother Church changed her mind after the deaths of Sts. Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas. The Church, having embraced Aristotle over Plato, eventually rescinded the pre-Congregation canonization of St. Clement of Alexandria. And the Church has never canonized Origen. I have, however, read news stories of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland trying to convince The Episcopal Church to add Origen to the calendar of saints. (The Episcopal Church already recognizes St. Clement of Alexandria as a saint.)
Platonism and Stoicism have four cardinal virtues–rational judgment, self-control, justice, and courage. These appear in 4 Maccabees 1:2-4. As I read these verses, I recognize merit in them. Some emotions do hinder self-control. Other emotions to work for injustice and obstruct courage. News reports provide daily documentation of this. Other emotions further the causes of justice and courage. News reports also provide daily documentation of this.
I also affirm that reason should govern emotions. I cite news stories about irrationality. Emotions need borders, and must submit to objectivity and reason, for the best results.
4 Maccabees takes the reader on a grand tour of the Hebrew Bible to support this conclusion. One reads, for example, of Joseph (Genesis 39:7-12; 4 Maccabees 2:1-6), Simeon and Levi (Genesis 49:7; 4 Maccabees 2:19-20), Moses (Numbers 16:1-35; Sirach 45:18; 4 Maccabees 2:17), David (2 Samuel 23:13-17; 1 Chronicles 11:15-19; 4 Maccabees 3:6-18).
Reason can effect self-control, which works for higher purposes. One of these higher purposes is
the affection of brotherhood.
–4 Maccabees 13:19, Revised Standard Version–Second Edition (1971)
In the case of the seven martyred brothers, as the author of 4 Maccabees told their story, these holy martyrs used rational judgment and self-control to remain firm in their faith. Those brothers did not
fear him who thinks he is killing us….
–4 Maccabees 13:14, Revised Standard Version–Second Edition (1971)
That is the same courage and conviction present in Christian martyrs, from antiquity to the present day.
One may think of another passage:
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
–Matthew 10:28, Revised Standard Version–Second Edition (1971)
Not surprisingly, many persecuted Christians derived much comfort and encouragement from 4 Maccabees. These Christians had to rely on each other, just as the seven brothers did in 4 Maccabees.
Mutuality is a virtue in the Law of Moses and in Christianity.
I have spent the first four posts in this series laying the groundwork for the First, Second, and Fourth Books of Maccabees. I have provided introductory material for these books.
Next, I will start the narrative countdown to the Hasmonean Rebellion.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
FEBRUARY 4, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT CORNELIUS THE CENTURION
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Above: A Crucifix
Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor
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For Holy Wednesday, Year 1, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970
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Everlasting God, who delivered the Children of Israel from cruel captivity:
may we be delivered from sin and death by your mighty power,
and celebrate the hope of life eternal within your promised kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
—The Worshipbook–Services and Hymns (1972), 145
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Hebrews 5:5-10
Luke 22:24-34
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The author of the misnamed Epistle to the Hebrews (neither an epistle nor to Hebrews), whoever he was (Origen said that only God knew who wrote it) did not read the Gospel of John. The most probable reason for this was that the “Epistle to the Hebrews” predated the Fourth Gospel.
The reading from Hebrews 5 may mystify a Christian shaped by the Johannine Gospel. What does it mean that Christ learned obedience via his sufferings? And what about Christ being perfected? The divine passive in the latter case indicates that God was the actor, the one who perfected Christ. But was not Jesus already perfect–always perfect? The confusion does not cease even when one realizes the particular meaning of perfection in this case–suitability to be the ultimate sacrifice.
None of this inconsistency constitutes a difficulty for me, for I am not a fundamentalist. I acknowledge the obvious fact–that the New Testament contains mutually exclusive points of view presented and authoritatively. I prefer the Johannine perspective to that of the author of the “Epistle to the Hebrews” when the two contradict each other.
Both readings (Luke 22 and Hebrews 5) agree on the priority of obeying God. The ethic of service (from Luke 22) fits hand-in-glove with the obedience of Jesus (Hebrews 5). One may also ponder John 12:26 (from the previous post‘s readings), about following Jesus, who loved us all the way to an ignominious execution–his execution, in the Gospel of John.
Robert C. Wright, the Episcopal Bishop of Atlanta, likes to say,
Love like Jesus.
When one considers that statement in the full context of Christ’s life, one realizes that this is no feel-good slogan, but a challenge to discipleship, to cross-bearing.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 13, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF HENRY MARTYN DEXTER, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HISTORIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT ABBO OF FLEURY, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF SAINT BRICE OF TOURS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS TAVELIC AND HIS COMPANIONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS
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Then [Jesus] called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”
–Matthew 15:10-11, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
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If Jesus were speaking today, he would include websites and social media in that statement.
I used to be a news junkie. In the middle and late 1980s, I could recognize the names of most of the United States Senators. In 2015 and 2016, however, I began to choose being sane over being thoroughly informed. I also decided to tend to my spiritual life more; certain public figures were bad for it, increasing exponentially my use of profanities (in private, under my breath, of course). I did not grow up using that kind of language routinely.
I have been monitoring the news during the last few days and becoming more horrified with each passing day. The news stories from Charlottesville, Virginia, and now from Spain have not ceased to develop, but I have collected enough information to make a few informed and moral statements.
Racism is a sin, one that I learned by societal osmosis. Fortunately, my parents raised me well, to reject racism.
Whenever the sin of racism raises its ugly head in my thoughts (which is to say, often), I reject it and take it to God in confessional mode. I make no excuses for racism in myself or anyone else. Related to that ethic, I reject all biases directed at people–on the basis of religion, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, gender, et cetera. Each of us bears the image of God, and therefore carries inherent dignity. This is a morally consistent position, regardless of the mixed political labels attached to it.
Furthermore, I condemn almost all violence, for most of it is unnecessary and morally wrong. I do understand defense of oneself and others, however. Human nature is flawed and the world is imperfect, after all. Certainly I condemn the violence of the racist thugs at Charlottesville last Saturday and the terrorists in Spain yesterday. I do so without any hesitation and backtracking. The political causes differ, but the problem of violent radicalization is the same. The reality of the killing and injuring of innocent people is also consistent, as is the use of vehicles as deadly weapons.
Contrary to the unscripted words of the increasingly politically isolated inhabitant of the White House, he who has professed to care about getting facts straight then who, in the wake of the attacks in Spain, has tweeted a lie about General John J. Pershing killing Muslims with bullets dipped in the blood of pigs, there was no moral equivalence between Klansmen and neo-Nazis on one side and anti-racist protesters on the other. One of the chants of the violent racists at Charlottesville was
The Jews will not replace us.
How could there, in Trump’s words, have been
very fine people
on both sides? This week Trump seems to have prompted many prominent Republicans in Congress to do what I had thought impossible: grow spines. True, based on news reports, the Vice President, based on his public comments, seems to remain an invertebrate, but the list of prominent Republican vertebrates grows longer with each passing day.
I propose a simple test for one’s denunciations of neo-Nazis and Klansmen, the sort of people who chant
The Jews will not replace us.
The condemnation must be unequivocal and focused. Klansmen and neo-Nazis must hear it and find in it no reason to agree with any of it or take comfort in it. None of this describes Trump’s unscripted remarks, the ones that preceded his scripted remarks, the ones he retracted.
Trump could have averted this Charlottesville-related political firestorm easily. All he had to do was make an unequivocal statement condemning Klansmen, neo-Nazis, and other white supremacists as well as their violence then be consistent. But he did not do that. He has also blamed others for the mess he made for himself. Trump has also been more eager to condemn journalists (calling them enemies) and CEOs with social consciences (accusing them of grandstanding) than Klansmen and neo-Nazis.
Everything is wrong with this picture.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 18, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ERDMANN NEUMEISTER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM PORCHER DUBOSE, EPISCOPAL THEOLOGIAN
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Adapted from this post:
https://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2017/08/18/deplorables/
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Above: Icon of St. Paul, by Theophanes the Cretan
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Stir up the wills of your faithful people, Lord God,
and open our ears to the preaching of John, that
rejoicing in your salvation, we may bring forth the fruits of repentance;
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 19
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The Assigned Readings:
Numbers 16:1-19 (Monday)
Numbers 16:20-35 (Tuesday)
Micah 4:8-13 (Wednesday)
Isaiah 11:1-9 (All Days)
Hebrews 13:7-17 (Monday)
Acts 28:23-31 (Tuesday)
Luke 7:31-35 (Wednesday)
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But a shoot shall grow out of the stump of Jesse,
A twig shall sprout from his stock.
The spirit of the LORD shall alight upon him:
A spirit of wisdom and insight,
A spirit of counsel and valor,
A spirit of devotion and reverence for the LORD.
He shall sense the truth by his reverence for the LORD:
He shall not judge by what his eyes behold,
Nor decide by what his ears perceive.
Thus he shall judge the poor with equity
And decide with justice for the lowly of the land.
He shall strike down a land with the rod of his mouth
And slay the wicked with the breath of his lips.
Justice shall be the girdle of his loins,
And faithfulness the girdle of his waist.
The wolf shall lay down with the lamb,
The leopard lie down with the kid;
The calf, the beast of prey, and the fatling together,
With a little boy to herd them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
Their young shall lie down together;
And the lion, like the ox, shall eat straw.
A babe shall play
Over a viper’s hole,
And an infant pass his hand
Over an adder’s den.
In all of My sacred mount
Nothing evil or vile shall be done;
For the land shall be filled with devotion to the LORD
As water covers the sea.
–Isaiah 11:1-9, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
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In the Torah Moses was God’s choice to lead the Hebrews for many years. To oppose Moses, therefore, was to sin, according to that extended narrative, as it has come down to us in its final form. Disobedience to the principles of the Law of Moses, according to the theology of subsequent biblical books, led to the destruction of two Hebrews kingdoms. Yet, texts indicated, restoration and good times would follow the Babylonian Exile.
The theology of obeying religious leaders, which occurs in Hebrews 13, meshes well with the composite pericope from Numbers 16. The historical context of Christian calls to obey approved religious leaders, present in the Bible as well as in early Christian writings from subsequent centuries, occurred in the context of doctrinal formation. Doctrines did not fall from Heaven or appear magically, fully formed. No, human beings debated them and sometimes even fought (literally) over them. Orthodoxy, as approved church leaders have defined it, has changed over time. For example, Origen (185-254 C.E.) was orthodox by most of the standards of his time. Yet he became a heretic ex post facto and postmortem because the First Council of Nicaea (325 C.E.) contradicted elements of his Trinitarian theology.
Throughout the Christian past orthodox leaders have disagreed with each other and with those they have labeled heretics (often accurately) in real time. This raises a legitimate question: Whom is one supposed to regard as authoritative. This is an old problem. The ultimate answer has ways been God, but even heretics have tended to agree with that answer. Early Christianity was quite diverse–more so than historians of Christianity understood for centuries. How was one supposed to avoid following a false teacher? St. Paul the Apostle understood the answer as being to listen to him and his associates. Apostolic succession was another way of establishing orthodox credentials. There were always critics of orthodox leaders (who were no less imperfect than heretics), as there had been of Jesus and St. John the Baptist before them.
The question of who speaks for God remains a difficult one much of the time. I think, for example, that I am generally on the right path theologically, but I know people who disagree with that opinion strongly. My best answer to the difficult question is to evaluate people and their messages according to certain criteria, such as the following:
- Do they teach and practice love of others, focusing on the building up of community without sacrificing the individual to the collective?
- Do they teach and practice respecting the image of God in their fellow human beings, even while allowing for the reality of difficult moral quandaries relative to that issue?
- Do they focus on the lived example of Jesus, leading people to God via him, instead of focusing on any human personality, especially that of a living person?
- Do they teach and practice compassion, as opposed to legalism?
Salvation, which is for both the community and the individual, is a matter of God’s grace and human obedience. That grace demands much of its recipients. Go, take up your cross and follow Jesus, it says. Share your blessings and take risks for the glory of God and the benefit of others, it requires. Fortunately, it does not command that I have an answer for the question of whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son or just from the Father.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 20, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHN BAJUS, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
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Adapted from this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2015/08/20/devotion-for-monday-tuesday-and-wednesday-after-the-third-sunday-of-advent-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: Christ, the Good Shepherd
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
O God, powerful and compassionate,
you shepherd your people, faithfully feeding and protecting us.
Heal each of us, and make us a whole people,
that we may embody the justice and peace of your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 42
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The Assigned Readings:
Jeremiah 50:1-7 (Monday)
Zechariah 9:14-10:2 (Tuesday)
2 Samuel 5:1-12 (Wednesday)
Psalm 100 (All Days)
Hebrews 13:17-25 (Monday)
Acts 20:17-38 (Tuesday)
Luke 15:1-7 (Wednesday)
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Shout joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
Know that the LORD is God,
he made us, we belong to him,
we are his people, the flock he shepherds.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name;
good indeed is the LORD,
his faithfulness lasts through every generation.
–Psalm 100, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2010)
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All of the assigned readings for these three days speak of sheep and shepherds:
- God is the shepherd in Psalm 100.
- God is the shepherd-divine warrior who will end the Babylonian Exile in Jeremiah 50:1-7 and Zechariah 9:14-10:2.
- David, a troublesome character, is the shepherd-king in 2 Samuel 5:1-12.
- Jesus is the Good Shepherd in Luke 15:1-7.
- St. Paul the Apostle is the shepherd warning of “fierce wolves” in Acts 20:17-38.
- Faithful church leaders are the shepherds worthy of obedience in Hebrews 13:17-25.
Now I proceed to unpack some themes:
- The core of church doctrine, as in the question of the nature of Christ, developed over centuries, during which debates, arguments, and street brawls, and knife fights occurred in the name of sorting out proper theology. Much of what we Christians take for granted these days came about over five centuries, give or take a few years. Even the latest book in the New Testament did not exist until the end of the first century of the Common Era, and consensus regarding canonical status required more time to form. In that context obeying orthodox bishops made a great deal of sense, although the definition of orthodoxy shifted over time. Origen, for example, was orthodox in his day yet heterodox ex post facto.
- The parable from Luke 15:1-7 assumes a team of shepherds, so one shepherd could leave to seek a lost sheep without fear of losing more animals.
- That parable tells us that all people matter to Jesus. They should, therefore, matter to us also.
- One metaphor for kings in the Bible is shepherds. Some shepherds are good, but others are bad, unfortunately. Good kings do what is best for all the people, especially the vulnerable ones.
- God is the best shepherd, protecting the flock, seeking an unbroken and unforgotten covenant with it, and searching for the lost sheep. The flock can be bigger, and we can, by grace, function well as junior shepherds, subordinate to God, the senior shepherd.
I notice the community theme inherent in the metaphor of the flock. We depend upon God, the ultimate shepherd, and upon the other shepherds in the team. We also depend upon and bear responsibilities toward each other, for we follow the lead of others–often the lead of fellow sheep. Sometimes this is for better, but often it is for worse. Sticking together and following the proper leader is essential for group survival and for individual survival.
May we, by grace, recognize the voice of God, our ultimate shepherd, and follow it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 5, 2015 COMMON ERA
EASTER SUNDAY, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF MILNER BALL, PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, LAW PROFESSOR, WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, AND HUMANITARIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT NOKTER BALBULUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2015/04/05/devotion-for-monday-tuesday-and-wednesday-after-proper-11-year-b-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: Astarte (1902), by John Singer Sargent
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-USZ62-133676
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The Collect:
Almighty and ever-living God, you revealed the incarnation
of your Son by the brilliant shining of a star.
Shine the light of your justice always in our hearts and over all lands,
and accept our lives as the treasure we offer in your praise and for your service,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 21
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The Assigned Readings:
Micah 5:2-9 (Protestant Versification)/Micah 5:1-8 (Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Versification)
Psalm 72
Luke 13:31-35
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Some Related Posts:
Luke 13:
http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/second-sunday-in-lent-year-c/
http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/devotion-for-the-thirty-fourth-and-thirty-fifth-days-of-easter-lcms-daily-lectionary/
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/week-of-proper-25-thursday-year-1/
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Blessed are you, O Lord our God:
for you alone do marvellous things.
Blessed be your glorious name for ever:
let the whole earth be filled
with your glory. Amen. Amen.
–Psalm 72:19-20, A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989)
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The reading from Luke 13 prompts me to think of the Classic Theory of the Atonement, a.k.a. the Conquest of Satan and Christus Victor. This interpretation dates to early Christianity, for Origen, St. Irenaeus, and St. Justin Martyr argued for it. I have read more recent iterations of it in the works of Gustav Aulen and N. T. Wright. As St. Irenaeus (died 202 C.E.) wrote:
The Word of God was made flesh in order that He might destroy death and bring men to life, for we were tied and bound in sin, we were born in sin and live under the dominion of death.
–Quoted in Linwood Urban, A Short History of Christian Thought, Revised and Expanded Edition (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1995), page 109
Perfidious men–men, not people generically (I like to use gendered language precisely)–plotted to kill Jesus. They succeeded in that goal. Yet our Lord and Savior did not remain dead for long. So those perfidious men failed ultimately.
God wins ultimately, despite our best human attempts to thwart that result. Such is the best definition of the sovereignty of God I can muster.
Micah 5:1-8/5:2-9 (depending on the versification in the translation one reads) sounds reassuring for the Hebrew nation in the late eighth century B.C.E.-early seventh century B.C.E., the timeframe for Isaiah 1-39. Woe be unto any Assyrian invaders, it says. If one continues to read, however, one discovers that the Assyrians are not the only ones who should quake in fear of divine retribution, which will fall also on the homefront as well:
In anger and fury I shall wreak vengeance
on the nations who disobey me.
–Micah 5:15, The Revised English Bible
The disobedience in Micah 5 took various forms, including idolatry.
Idols range from false deities to anything which anyone lets stand between him or her and God. I live in Athens, Georgia, a football-mad town. Often I note the tone of reverence regarding University of Georgia athletics in the local press. And frequently have I heard sports fans liken sports to religion. It is one for many of them. And, ironically, the Bible functions as an idol for many honest seekers of God. The Scriptures are supposed to be as icons, through which people see God, but their function varies according to the user thereof.
Religion is a basic human need. Even many militant fundamentalist Atheists possess the same irritating zeal as do many fundamentalists of theistic varieties. I stand in the middle, rejecting both excessive skepticism and misplaced certainty, overboard materialism and rationality with the haunting fear that having sex standing up will lead to (gasp!) dancing. So I reject idols on either side of my position while know that I need to examine my own position for the presence of idols, as abstract as they might be.
Perhaps the greatest spiritual challenge is to identify and reject all idols, which do not seem as what they are to us because the most basic assumptions people carry do not look like assumptions to us. Thus we justify ourselves to ourselves while we stand in serious error. Sometimes our idols and false assumptions, combined with fears, lead us commit violence–frequently in the name of God or an imagined deity, perhaps understood as being loving.
We are really messed up. Fortunately, there is abundant grace available to us. But can we recognize that if idolatry blinds us spiritually?
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KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 2, 2013 COMMON ERA
LABOR DAY (U.S.A.)
THE FEAST OF HANNAH, MOTHER OF SAMUEL
THE FEAST OF DAVID CHARLES, WELSH CALVINISTIC METHODIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF NEW GUINEA
THE FEAST OF SAINT WILLIAM OF ROSKILDE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
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Adapted from this post:
http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/devotion-for-january-9-year-a-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: Christ Pantocrator
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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 everlasting 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:
Exodus 8:1-32
Psalm 84 (Morning)
Psalms 42 and 32 (Evening)
Hebrews 1:1-14
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Some Related Posts:
Hebrews 1:
http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/week-of-1-epiphany-monday-year-1/
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/proper-22-year-b/
Prayer:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/prayer-for-monday-of-passion-weekholy-week/
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TECHNICAL NOTE:
Exodus 7:26-8:28 in Jewish and Roman Catholic Bibles equals Exodus 8:1-32 in Protestant ones. So the Exodus citation in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod daily lectionary refers to the Protestant versification.
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With this post I turn to that part of the LCMS daily lectionary (2006 version) which pairs the Book of Exodus and the Letter to the Hebrews. The epistle belongs to the Pauline tradition without St. Paul being its author. Origen, my favorite excommunicated theologian, wrote in the 200s,
As to who wrote the epistle, only God knows.
The epistle opens by explaining the superiority of Jesus:
He is the reflection of God’s glory and bears the impress of God’s own being, sustaining all things by his powerful command; and now that he has purged sins away, he has taken his seat at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high.
–1:3, The New Jerusalem Bible
Meanwhile, in the Book of Exodus, the plagues continue. Frogs, lice or gnats (depending on the translation one consults), and flies overrun Egypt. But the Pharaoh is stubborn. He is the same uncaring character who, in 7:23-24, went home as common Egyptians, desperate for drinking water, dug wells.
How is one supposed to tie these two readings together? Psalm 32:10 (The New Jerusalem Bible) reads
Countless troubles are in store for the wicked,
but one who trusts in Yahweh is enfolded in his faithful love.
Were the ordinary Egyptians wicked? No, course not! They were no more or less sinful than anyone else. So I have difficulty reconciling the God concept in Exodus 8 with the one in Hebrews 1. Is the God who inflicts plagues on innocent civilians the same one whose impress Jesus bears?
I think that a series of natural disasters befell Egypt in rapid succession and that the Hebrews escaped in the process. I think that authors of now-canonical texts interpreted these disasters as acts of God. But I do not think that God victimized innocent civilians. No, that is not the God whose glory I see in Jesus of Nazareth, who sacrificed himself out of love rather than betray it. We have begun Holy Week. May we not proceed through it with a concept of God who attacks innocent populations.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 29, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE FIRST U.S. PRESBYTERIAN BOOK OF CONFESSIONS, 1967
THE FEAST OF JIRI TRANOVSKY, HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINTS LUKE KIRBY, THOMAS COTTAM, WILLIAM FILBY, AND LAURENCE RICHARDSON, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS
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Adapted from this post:
http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/devotion-for-the-sunday-of-the-passion-palm-sunday-lcms-daily-lectionary/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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