


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.
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.
Prompted by writing the last post, I’ve just updated the 100 things post.
I’ve received the following comment via the feedback form, in relation to something that I wrote in the 100 things about me. Number 18 of those things was: “I believe that there is no God worth believing in, who sends people to hell” My correspondent says: Hi Kelvin, I don’t think there can be a…
Last night’s service was very enjoyable. Almost twice as many people turning out as I was expecting. Quite a few saying that it was the plainsong which tempted them out. It being the Transfiguration, I did think that a rousing chorus of Shine, Jesus Shine might have helped at the end, but I managed to…
It is the Feast of the Transfiguration today. The top 10 reasons for coming to the Transfiguration service tonight at 7.30 pm in St Mary’s are: It is the festival of change – an auspicious day to come to church to pray about something you would like to change in your life. We are singing…
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