Category Archives: Bible

Bible, Worship

Lectionary loops: one year or three?

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Sarah Dylan Breuer, of Dylan’s lectionary blog fame will be transitioning this Sunday from blogging from the Episcopal Church’s lectionary to the Revised Common Lectionary. (RCL) This makes sense: each lectionary is on a three-year cycle and she started her blog three years ago. Finish one lectionary, start another. That and the RCL is becoming the norm (or a norm) for the Episcopal Church, so just as well to start fresh with it. In practice, there’s lots of overlap anyway, so no tears, please.

The RCL is a point of pride for Unitarian Universalist Christians. While modeled based on the Roman Catholic post-Vatican II lectionary and developed for US Protestants, the RCL has been adopted by churches globally. The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship and the Council of Christian Churches in the Unitarian Universalist Association have representatives on the council that established the RCL and related ecumenical documents.

But I wonder if there might not be options for churches. Many pre-Vatican II Protestant lectionaries cycled readings over a single year. Yes, a one-year lectionary has less of the Bible covered than a three-year lectionary (and in being “revised” effectively doubled the number of Old Testament readings) but I can imagine that a well-selected one-year lectionary might be more helpful for occasional attendees and those just learning Christian faith. There’s something about the longer lectionary readings that test my patience and I suspect mystify those who don’t understand the use or function of longer readings. And then there’s the live question if public, liturgical reading is the best way to impart an understanding of the Bible.

With changing patterns of church membership (and its meaning) and literacy, and more complex understandings of learning styles, I have to wonder if a simpler, shorter “reading list” might not be useful.

This is article #1600. 

Bible, District of Columbia

Free top-notch religion lectures in DC

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PeaceBang is all about the boots a certain religion academic will be wearing for the American Academy of Religion/Society for Biblical Literature meeting here in Washington this week.

I had all but forgotten about that meeting, even though it will be within walking distance of Chez BitB. And — Gott im Himmel! — several important sections will be free and open to the public. See you there.
The list. 

Art and culture, Bible

Bible exhibit at Smithsonian Asian art museum

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Hubby and I spent more than an hour at the Sackler Gallery, one of the Smithsonian museums (with its twin, the Freer) that gets less than its fair share of visitors despite it having some of the most interesting ancient and modern art installations. When you think Asian art, think the Freer and Sackler.

But when you think of Asian art, do you think of the Bible? Most of the Bible was written in Asia, and so come also many of the oldest texts and associated illuminations and covers found at In the Beginning: Bibles before the Year 1000. Indeed, the African art museum across the courtyard would have right to be proud of the Coptic texts and examples come from as far afield as Georgia, Britain and Ireland.

But Hubby and I were pushed out at closing time. Give yourself at least an hour and a half — more if you try to pick out letters and words from the texts — plus another half hour in line. The exhibit is free but is so popular as to have controlled entry.

Until January 7, 2007.

Bible, Political life

Ford’s Bible verse

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Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN) lost his bid for the Senate, but there was something dignified and stirring in his concession speech. We’ll see more of him.

But I wanted to note the biblical passage he quoted and used as a slogan for the campaign:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers

That’s Ephesians 6:12a, King James Version. The rest of the verse follows

against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

That will keep you strong in these hard times.

Bible, Preaching

HRC starts preaching, Bible resource

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The Human Rights Campaign — the largest US lesbian, bi, trans and gay organization for civil rights; headquartered in my neighborhood, by the way — has started up a Revised Common lectionary-based resource, as reported by the United Church of Christ News (link):

The Human Rights Campaign has launched a weekly online preaching resource to provide insights into the Bible from a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and straight-supportive perspective.

“Out in Scripture” is being touted as the first and only major online preaching resource devoted to helping clergy with planning gay-affirming sermons and spiritual discussion groups. The website’s developers say they hope it will prove valuable in building welcoming and inclusive congregations.

An interesting strategy, seeing as GLBT rights — GLBT well-being, really — is so often assaulted from pulpits without much critical resolve about how contorted, culture-biased or hypocrital the theology behind it is. Pro-GLBT secularists are more likely than not to make a “Christian=antigay” calculation, and where does that put Christian and other faithful persons who can see a healthy and responsible way for GLBT persons within their faith. (Note there are parallels with Christianity and ecology as perceived “enemies” too.)

I’ve signed up to get mailings about it. WIll keep you posted.

That link again: Out in Scripture (HRC) link fixed

Bible, Open, Technology, Ubuntu Linux

Using GnomeSword to tease out biblical citations

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Y’all know I love Ubuntu Linux and use it exclusively on my home computer. I wanted to highlight a piece of software I’ve been using on it: GnomeSword, the Bible and related texts reader for the Gnome desktop. (I’m using it to identify the introits in the old Evangelical and Reformed Church The Hymnal lectionary. More about that later.)

The only thing I use it for is looking up King James Version references, and to date there are no English modules for copyrighted Bible translations. But a robust format is there for this. John Wesley’s notes on the Bible, Brother Lawrence’s Practice and other texts are available. Seeing Universalist commentaries would be nice, but probably a waste of time. (The Linux using, Bible researching Unversalist community is pretty small.)
The main project. The SWORD Project: Open Source Bible Software

Bible, Ministerial practice, Unitarian Universalist Association, Worship

Accidential clericalism

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There’s a curious Unitarian Universalist practice where a good number of ministers use the writings of other Unitarian Universalist ministers “as a reading” for the pulpit, elevating to the defacto level of scripture. Much of what follows also applies to the endless references to popular writers and poets I heard used in Unitarian Universalist sermons.

I know the intent is to bring fresh ideas to the pulpit. I can appreciate that, if not adopt the practice. It seems to drastically compress the process by which ideas are tested as being normative for a group. Next, it allows preachers to cherry-pick agreeable ideas, leading to insularity. Last — and perhaps most pressing — it establishes the insider’s view and rewards prestige and power.

A funny conundrum, that. I’ll stick to the Bible.