Does anyone other than me see a problem here? I will reassure you that the gate goes all the way across and so does the mountain of dirt. The only through traffic will be the road destruction equipment.
Author: henry
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All Saints Day – Cycle B
Believe it or not, I do regularly read the weekly lectionary passages. Finding time to write about them is another matter. This week I’m going to start by providng some links to previous discussions of lectionary passages.
First, I have a write-up on Isaiah 26 which discusses the structure of the entire chapter. I think it’s worthwhile to look at passages in context, especially here. In this case, John the Revelator uses material from the Isaiah passage in our New Testament epistle reading, Revelation 21:1-6a. I use a series of scenes to illuminate the structure of Revelation in my study guide, and you can find an outline of these combined with my draft translation. Reading the two side by side, and then expanding the context of the Isaiah passage by reading the whole chapter will give you some insight into the use of the Old Testament in the New.
Later in the week I hope to post some audio of my previous teaching on the gospel of John.
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Ben Witherington on Women in Ministry
Ben Witherington is taking on Biblical arguments against women in ministry in an article titles Why Arguments against Women in Ministry Aren’t Biblical. (HT: Dr. Platypus.)
I personally find his first and second arguments quite good, while I tend to be less convinced by his arguments regarding the specific texts. It seems to me that if, as he notes at the beginning of the argument, the New Testament is moving away from patriarchy, that is the overarching argument. Witherington says:
… As I have argued at length, the patriarchal family was the existing reality in the NT world, and what you discover when you compare what is in the NT and what is outside the NT, is that Paul and others are working hard to change the existing structures in a more Christian direction….
Thus I would regard his point #2 as the controlling factor in reading the texts cited in #3. The exegesis seems a bit too tortured for me, even when I want to agree with the conclusion. I’d prefer to say that these instructions were correct for the churches and the times to which they were addressed, and did mean that Paul did not permit women to teach at those places and times. I think Witherington’s argument in point #2 suggests that those commands do not apply universally, as the trajectory is toward more rather than less equality.
I’m glad to see someone of Dr. Witherington’s stature address this issue. Too often those of us who are in churches that accept women in ministry as a matter of course don’t bother to even examine the Biblical arguments. As long as this is not discussed, we have no way to build unity with those of our brothers and sisters who disagree.
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Purpose of Discussion Section
Watch here for announcements related to this book and links to other information on the web related to the study of the book of Revelation.
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Ed Brayton on Fox News Bashing
… here, and for the most part I agree with him. I think there is a certain justification for media bashing, simply because journalists keep expecting us to regard them as unbiased when they are not. But the bashing isn’t unbiased either … and so on ad infinitum.
One of the key skills required today, I think is distinguishing the data points from the opinion and the framing, and then trying to reframe the issue for yourself from the data points. Of course, learning how to fact check is also quite useful.
But Ed is quite correct–there is no such thing as purely objective reporting.
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Welcome 32 New Planets to the Known Universe
They were obviously there before, but they’re more important because we know about them. I do love this sort of discovery. (See Greg Laden’s Blog for more.)
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Facing Detours
Having made plenty of detours in both my physical and spiritual life, I really appreciated this post from Pen of the Wayfarer.