Listened to a real live Cambridge DD
yesterday, used to the lecture podium rather than the pulpit thus
seemed slightly embarrassed at having to put on the old shepherd garb
and wave his arms suitably. It was instructive to be reminded of
Theology 101 – the almost painful dumbing down was well-concealed
but palpable. Being stuck in the minor prophets is probably better
than being stuck with a major liturgical catastrophe thus despite the
fact that there's a lot to be said for the use of a lectionary cycle
but it tends to presuppose, rather than to foster, a broad
understanding of the biblical story. Lectionaries were designed for
use in societies that were already implicitly Christian – societies
in which the rhythms of the liturgical year, and the broad sweep of
the biblical narrative, could be more or less taken for granted - the
theological subtlety with which the OT and NT readings are often
connected - a subtlety that is quite lost on anybody without a good
working knowledge of scripture and liturgical tradition, which, quite
frankly, is most of us. And preachers only exacerbate the problem when
they take these subtle liturgico-theological connections as
the theme of their proclamation, instead of preaching from the texts
themselves. Preachers, do try to remember that the content of your
proclamation is not the liturgical calendar or flashy exegesis, but the Word of God. Rhema. Plus Logos.
Could not agree more. Those for it claim that the whole Bible gets covered over a period of time, but I don't believe this to be the case. Also they claim that it prevents a preacher only doing their favourite bits. What it does deny is the development of any long term themes such as marriage, holy living, giving etc. It also forces the reading of scripture in a way that was never intended - i.e. paragraphs taken on their own and often out of context rather than the letter, book etc. as an entire entity and instruction with a particular emphasis. Alan D
My formative years were spent being taught the Scriptures, mostly prophetically. Listening to a theologian brought back memories of College and the aridity of knowledge without what the Bible quaintly calls 'wisdom'.
Could not agree more. Those for it claim that the whole Bible gets covered over a period of time, but I don't believe this to be the case. Also they claim that it prevents a preacher only doing their favourite bits. What it does deny is the development of any long term themes such as marriage, holy living, giving etc. It also forces the reading of scripture in a way that was never intended - i.e. paragraphs taken on their own and often out of context rather than the letter, book etc. as an entire entity and instruction with a particular emphasis. Alan D
ReplyDeleteMy formative years were spent being taught the Scriptures, mostly prophetically. Listening to a theologian brought back memories of College and the aridity of knowledge without what the Bible quaintly calls 'wisdom'.
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