I saw this painting recently in London. It purports to be St Monica being handed her newly born son who was to become Augustine of Hippo.
It seems to me that this painting explains much.
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.
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Ascension tomorrow
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LGBT Booklist
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Christos Anesti! Alleluia!
Christ is risen for our orthodox friends. The silliness of the churches having two different Easter days bothers me more as the years go by. We waste our time on other silly controversies when the date of Easter remains unresolved. There was a plan some years ago to unite the churches by those who currently…
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Preaching tomorrow evening in Ayr
Just to note that I’m preaching tomorrow evening in Ayr at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. They are celebrating 100 years since the church was consecrated. Kick off is at 6.30 pm. All welcome.
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