Sacreligious People Actually Repent This Time

It was one of those "Odd News" stories you hear from time to time--filler on the evening news, the butt of Leno's jokes and a "sign of the apocalypse" from conservative bloggers: a couple in Italy had...relations in a confessional...and were caught. Police were called, people were outraged, the Bishop came to sanctify the church once again.

I would have ignored it if they story ended there. Sadly, it's not too uncommon to read stories that stop at this point. But this time there's an epilogue. The couple repented, asking forgiveness from the Bishop. He granted it. Apparently they weren't Satanists, druggies, heathens, nor were they opposed to authority, Church-haters, or even selfish secularists oblivious and insensate to holy things.

They sinned. They apparently have some spiritual issues. They were overcome with lust, drunkenness and general foolishness. But in this they don't differ from any of us who are overcome by our passions and sin--always foolishly, sometimes egregiously. And they were moved to contrition, apologizing and repenting to the Bishop. And like all of us who repent, they were forgiven. It's a good Christian story, apart from the unseemliness of it.

The Orthodox Study Bible: First Impressions

Back in December I discussed the (then) forthcoming The Orthodox Study Bible. I ordered the leather-bound version and waited. For some reason it was available from other retailers back in February, but Amazon didn't ship mine until this week. I received it last night and spent a good amount of time with it so far.

Presentation
First things first, it smelled nice. (I'm an enthusiastic book-smeller) I'm also in favor of leather bindings, as they tend to wear better, and I side with the woman with the alabaster flask (Mar. 14:3) when it comes to Holy things. I was impressed with its thickness; it's not nearly as thick as some study Bibles are. But the pages seem very thin, and are a little more translucent than I prefer. I worried that it would be hard to read with the text bleeding-through, but after using it this morning I didn't notice it at all. I still am concerned that the pages may tear, especially if I am flipping pages while teaching. The Bible features some nice color plates of icons interspersed throughout the text. The icons vary a bit in style, being written by different hands and that variation is good.

Study Content
The study helps are excellent for the most part. The introduction provides a short explanation of the text used for the Old Testament and the philosophy behind what kinds of notes and study aids were provided. The purpose of the Study Bible is given too: "The prayer of the editors and contributors...is that is presents an understandable Bible text and commentary to (1) English-speaking Orthodox Christians the world over and to (2) non-Orthodox readers interested in learning more about the faith of the historic Orthodox Church." Following that is handy chart showing the listings of the books of the Bible in both this edition, Roman Catholic Bibles and Protestant Bibles.

An "Overview of Books of the Bible" follows--brief summaries of the books of the Bible. The author of this essay, Bishop BASIL of Wichita and the Mid-America, takes special care throughout to relate the summaries to Christ. "Introducing the Orthodox Church" follows this, a crash-course in Christian History that could be very helpful to many readers. One should be aware that this section is written in a persuasive style, attempting to convince the reader that the Orthodox Church alone has preserved the apostolic doctrine. Fair enough, given the purpose and prayer of the editors. I do think it goes too far at the conclusion, inviting readers of the Study Bible to attend Orthodox worship. At this point the essay feels more like a Gospel-tract, if you know what I mean.

Throughout the text the Bible includes mini-essays on doctrinal topics with generous quotations from Scripture and Church Fathers. In my limited reading so far, it doesn't seem to include as many quotes from the Fathers as I had hoped, but the notes provided seem quite good so far. One outstanding feature is that every Biblical text used in Orthodox liturgies throughout the church year are noted with a special symbol. The notes below the text tell the reader at what service they are read. The effect this has is to affirm just how much Scripture is used in the Eastern Rite liturgy. It's staggering. I wonder if the forthcoming Lutheran study Bible would benefit from doing this. I also wonder if Lutherans could boast of so much Scripture used!

After Revelation the Study Bible includes two essays, the first entitled "The Bible:God's Revelation to Man," written by Bishop JOSEPH, Bishop of Los Angeles and the West; the second, "How to Read the Bible," by Bishop KALLISTOS, Bishop of Diokleia. I've only read the latter so far and found it delightful. I don't recall any liturgical Christian who would object to this essay. Following that is a Lectionary, arranged roughly according to the Eastern Rite Orthodox liturgical year, an Eastern Rite order for Morning and Evening Prayer, a glossary, index, and the obligatory maps.

The Translation
As I discussed last year, one of the great benefits to this Study Bible is that the text of the Greek (Septuagint) Old Testament. So what is it like reading this? I'm not sure at this point, having only read a few short chapters. So far its hard to tell what differs due to translation and what differs due to a different original text. The language is easy to read, the print is good, the notes are helpful, but in some ways it's almost like seeing your house through a mirror; everything looks familiar, but things seem somehow different. After a few months I may be able to share more.


Who Should Have it?
1. Anyone interested in a readable English translation of the Greek OT, used by Christ and the Apostles and generations of Christians since (all the reasons I blogged about before).

2. Those who don't mind receiving some excellent insight and information about Orthodoxy (even at Concordia Seminary we learned vast amounts about Roman Catholicism and other Protestants; the Orthodox Church was virtually ignored!).

3. Those who are using a Protestant Study Bible (such as the Zonervan, Thompson, Life Application, MacArthur, etc) The Orthodox Study Bible is to be greatly preferred, as it shares a similar liturgical, sacramental, Christ-centered reading and understanding of Scripture as Lutherans.

Bible Study Teaching Frenzy

I've got a real problem teaching my adult Bible Study. I have a hard time knowing when to quit, when to hold back on giving information. If I know it, and especially if someone asks a question, I'll give the answer, no matter how complicated and technical it may be.

The result is that I think I loose a lot of people. There I am discussing the Nag Hammadi texts, adoptionism, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (as opposed to the Nicene Creed proper), the rule of faith and Catholicity of the Church--all in a forty-five minute period, and I realize that some are there just want to know about some Bible stories.

I've got a problem.

In my defense, the reason I brought up those somewhat disparate topics was that people asked the questions. I have a very hard time not answering a question posed. A question deserves an answer if there is one. And since we don't have a set schedule or syllabus, I can't say, "We don't have time to discuss that in this class. Take H-340 next semester and your question will be answered."

Plus, I love this stuff. I want people to know what proleptic eschatology is and how the Fathers made use of typology. I want people to know about the Rule of Faith and Athanasius contra mundi.

I suspect some people simply put up with it. It's the pastor's Bible study and they are going to be there whether they like it or not. There are a few who really enjoy it, I know; they're the ones asking the questions.

So, pastors and other teachers in parochial settings, how do you "turn off the floodgates" or do you? How do you manage to keep the subject matter at the appropriate level? Do you intentionally keep it simple, or do you give 'em all you got?

Obama's Creepy Soeteriology

Which is a fancy way of saying, "Some people think B. Hussein Obama is a kind of Messiah." Or The Messiah. Or a New Age "Lightbringer." Most of these people are kooks. This article addresses the latest developments. What is really creepy is how Obama himself uses messianic language in his speeches.

I've nothing more substantive to write. It simply gives me the willies.

Back to the Regularly Scheduled Program

The week off was nice. My parents were in town and it was good to spend time with them. Instead of doing all kinds of projects and wearing ourselves out, Dad and I spent a few days planning projects that will wear ourselves out for their next visit in October.

I've got about 12 sheets of bad siding. After much measuring and calculating, we decided the two of us could do it and set a date in October. We also planned out how to renovate the fence without tearing it all down. You see, a concrete footer had been poured under the existing fence, so replacing the entire fence would not only be expensive, but labor intensive to dig out the footer. Our plan avoids all of that be shifting the fence in about six inches and power-washing the cedar boards. He also showed me how to fix our sagging deck rail.

We visited the Railroad Museum, I took the kids to the local waterpark, and generally had a good time. I was hankering to get back to work on Wednesday, but got over it eventually.

Thanks for sticking around here!

What Character Am I??

I'm not sure about this one. We do share skinniness...and the convoluted speech sometimes.

Judge me by my size, do you? And well you should not - for my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us, and binds us. Luminescent beings are we, not this crude matter! You must feel the Force around you, everywhere.

Vacation this Week

I'm taking a few days off, so the posts will continue to be more infrequent until next week.

Answer to "Who Said it?"

St. Maximos the Confessor.

(From Two Hundred Texts on Theology and the Incarnate Dispensation of the Son of God Written for Thalassios; Philokalia, v.2, II Century, 90)


Obviously St. Maximos, while sounding like Walther, was defining terms differently, speaking in an allegorical fashion, as the context suggests.

Thanks to everyone who guessed!