It actually is time. Today. Congratulations everyone.
20 responses to “Which bits of the Bible do you miss out?”
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I think that I’m with you Father K, there is a time and place for everything and a service where the problems of a problematic passage can’t be addressed easily is not the place to read it, lectionary be hanged.
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My favourite bits of the Bible are the Song of Songs (which, in the medieval period, was interpreted by both Jews and Christians as an allegory of the soul’s relationship with God); the book of Ruth; the book of Esther; the story of David and Jonathan; Amos & Micah. Most of the New Testament leaves me completely cold, and some of it is actually offensive, especially the account of the silver-smiths of Ephesus, and the way that Paul appropriates pagan poetry in the marketplace of Athens.
I think the solution to your problem is not to read the “difficult” bits without some sort of homily about a better way to understand them, and how to read the Bible in general as a collection of texts situated in a particular historical situation.
Previous Posts
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Sermon preached on 30 May 2010
Here is what I said yesterday for Trinity. Text below. Ah, Trinity Sunday – every preacher’s favourite. How are we to understand it, is always the cry. Well, as usual, if that’s the cry, the sermon is unlikely to provide an adequate answer. However, Trinity Sunday is an invitation to think about the nature of…
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Another Day, Another Mission Strategy is launched
Ah, a new day brings with it a new mission strategy. All the stipendiary clergy in the diocese have been sent a set of questions that will lead to the next grand plan for the diocese. Usually, I can muster a fair amount of cynicism at these exercises. Not so with this one though. No…
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Sermon for Affirmation Scotland – 23 May 2010
This is what I had to say in Edinburgh on Sunday afternoon at the Affirmation Scotland service: Thank you for inviting me here. It is wonderful to discover that God seems to be raising up people in denomination after denomination the world over to proclaim that the time has come to proclaim publicly and proudly…
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One Million Tiny Plays about Britain – Citz
Rating: A very last minute dash took me to the theatre last night, having won a pair of tickets on twitter earlier in the afternoon. (I’m fast becoming fixed in my opinion that theatre and opera should, like the NHS, be free at the point of delivery). The dash was rewarded with an evening of…
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