Schubert Holy Holy Practice

Videos for practicing Schubert's "Holy Holy" (from the Deutsche Messe) in parts, intended especially for congregational singing:

Soprano

(alto, tenor, and bass follow)

Doxology Practice

Sheet music- Link
Videos for congregational singing practice of the Doxology (set to the "old 100th"):

Soprano

(alto, tenor, and bass follow)

Gloria Patri practice

Videos for practicing congregational singing for Gloria Patri (Greatorex):

Soprano and Alto

Tenor and Bass

Congregational Singing Index

I've created a number of videos to help congregations (like our own) which are interested in singing in parts practice a few basic pieces.  There is nothing beautiful about these videos - rather to the contrary - but they should help anyone who can use help in singing in parts.  With each video, one or two of the four parts is emphasized with a "brighter" voice/tone in a louder volume, with the other parts in the background, with the notes to the musical parts displayed as the music progresses.

Doxology

Gloria Patri

Schubert Sanctus (Holy Holy)

For Passion Week (Easter):
Part-specific practice vids for "Holy, Holy, Holy" from youtube user Choirparts - I didn't make these vids:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Choirparts/videos?query=Nicaea
Sheet music for Holy Holy Holy:
http://www.ccwatershed.org/pdfs/209-holy-holy-holy-lord-god-almighty-nicaea/download/

Part-specific practice vids for "O Sacred Head": http://www.youtube.com/user/Choirparts/videos?query=Sacred+Head

Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bonds (not a practice-type video; simply a choir singing this piece): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA3P244DSss

Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (I)

Bach's manuscript of Nun komm

Today's church people are missing a beautiful gift of inestimable worth.

In Bach's age, all Christians who regularly attended church would have known Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland.  This is a simple hymn about the coming of Christ.

Just hearing the tune evokes the profound message of the hymn:

Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland,
Der Jungfrauen Kind erkannt!
Dass sich wundre alle Welt,
Gott solch' Geburt ihm bestellt.

Now come, Saviour of the gentiles,
recognised as the child of the Virgin,
so that all the world is amazed
God ordained such a birth for him.

The hymn itself is by Martin Luther (German text and English translation); it is largely based upon the hymn Veni, Redemptor Gentium ("Come, Redeemer of the Earth" - Latin text and English translation) - by St. Ambrose - the bishop of Milan who had a profound influence upon St. Augustine of Hippo.

Anglican Report with Kevin Kallsen and George Conger

From Today's Morning Prayer: Psalm 2, Quare fremuerunt gentes

Camille Saint-Saëns: Quare fremuerunt gentes

il Concerto di Natale del Coro Polifonico di San Nicola, Pisa Coro Polifonico San Nicola di Pisa, Tuscan Chamber Orchestra; conducted by Stefano Barandoni

This is a boldly tempestuous rendition of Psalm 2, which is quite a tempestuous Psalm:

Why do the nations conspire
   and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth rise up
   and the rulers band together
   against the LORD and against his anointed, saying,

“Let us break their chains
   and throw off their shackles.”

Latin text and translation of Psalm 2 

Interestingly enough, it is a part of a larger Christmas Oratorio.

Of course, this should be no mystery; the plight of mankind lost in sin is an essential element of the Incarnation - and should be a part of any musical Christmas narration.  It's also present in Händel's Messiah.  Today, however, we don't tend to expect such in Christmas music.

The King's English: Sackcloth and Ashes

Jonah mosaic at St. Anne Melkite Church

Glen Scrivener writes over at The King's English:

Could Jonah be the most successful evangelist in the Bible?  In Hebrew the report of his sermon consists of 5 words.  And yet, in response, the 120 000 residents of Nineveh cover themselves in sackcloth and ashes and turn to the LORD.

Throughout 2011, Glen Scrivener has been calling our attention to various English language expressions which are largely due to the influence of the 1611 Authorized Version or "King James" Translation.  A delightful project indeed - allowing us not only to contemplate the beauty of the English language, but also important bits of theology and history which have since become obscured by many intervening layers of ideological sediment.  His blog is called The King's English.

This latest blog posting caught my attention in particular because of its appropriateness for the Anglican Communion today.

Fabián Pérez Ximeno (16th C, Mexico): Kyrie from Missa de la Batalla

Ximeno (c1595-1654) was born in Mexico City; known as a composer and organist - maestro de capilla of the Mexico City Cathedral.  He's known for his antiphonal polychoral works.  This is the Kyrie (first movement) if his Missa de la Batalla (battle mass?) performed by Angelicum de Puebla, conducted by Benjamin Juarez Echenique.  Thanks to youtube user hotkikee, who posts some excellent renaissance and baroque sacred music from colonial regions (mostly South and Central America) on his channel.

R.I.P., Punk

Founder of Angle Park Exploitations and cultural commentator Martin Baumgartner alerts us to some clear evidence of culture "moving on":

Martin Baumgartner's moving commentary:

Well, I guess this makes it official. 1975 - 2011. RIP, Punk.
(O'Hare Terminal 3 Starbucks. She's stirring a chai.)

My own obituary:

You were a beautiful thing while you lasted. A bit vile and stinky yes, but many beautiful things are. You were more fragile than you seemed to be; we really should have noticed that more. But protecting you would have been an oxymoron, and would have only hurried your demise.

You were a cute baby skunk that got run over by a Macy's truck. You were a pale, skinny, nasal-voiced drama-queen beauty; squashed by a garantuanly obese paramour in his pursuit of things exotic and weird.

R.I.P., Punk

(The photo itself is the poetry here; not the parting words) 

Johann Kuhnau - Ihr Himmel jubiliert von oben

an Ascension Day Cantata  

"Therefore rejoice, you heavens
   and you who dwell in them!"

- Revelation 12:12

A Tanzanian reaction to possible episcopal election fraud; and US / African comparison

Possible election fraud in bishop of Tanzanian Anglican Church - arrest warrant for Primate of ACT. Very likely election fraud for American Presiding Bishop - virtually no one notices. What does this say of western Anglican church governance?

From Tanzania, we have news of a possible election fraud.  The province of Tanzania has been rent over the ethical question of the permissibility of condom use in the prevention of HIV/AIDS.  It was largely thought that the installation of a new bishop - the Rev. Stanley Hotay - for the Diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro would effectively end the division on this matter.

Unfortunately, it has become more complicated than this.  Some laypeople of the diocese have alleged that the age of Rev. Stanley Hotay was falsified.  There was a court order issued which was aimed at blocking Hotay's being seated as Bishop of the diocese of Mount  Kilimanjaro, pending adjudication.  I could not find the exact wording of the court order, but evidently it has prompted quite some drama in Tanzania.  Archbishop Valentino Mokiwa went forward with the consecration of the Rev. Hotay, though the Rev. Hotay was not installed as Bishop of Mount Kilimanjaro.  A warrant was issued for the arrest of Archbishop Valentino Mokiwa.  It has not yet been executed, police in Arusha replying to a reporter that they have not yet received the warrant.

It does sound like the situation is remaining peaceful.

“I don’t protest the court order, but the public should understand that someone is missing the point here… we actually honoured the order not to install the new bishop. What we did was to consecrate him as a new bishop… as of now he does not belong to any diocese,” said Dr Chilongani [Anglican Church of Tanzania Secretary General]. - The Citizen, " Police yet to arrest Mokiwa despite order"

Notes from the ground make it sound as if there's a little drama to the story.  An Episcopal Priest, the Rev. Dr. Douglas Richnow, reports that the police had been tracking Archbishop Mokiwa via his cellphone, and that he was advised to dispose of the SIM card.  We shall see how this story unfolds.

See also George Conger's excellent reporting on the matter for The Church of England Newspaper, here and here.

It is interesting to compare the current situation in Tanzania to the situation of the very likely election fraud in the TEC 2006 election.  Here, we have the election of a diocesan bishop being investigated by the government, because of alleged misinformation about his age.  The situation escalates to the issuing a warrant of arrest for the head of the church.  In the United States, the election of the very head of the church is marred by misinformation regarding her career - the false information that she was, for six years, dean of a school of theology.  Far be it from the government having interest in the likely fraud - the church itself fails to investigate, even though it had spent $200,000 on a committee tasked with nominating and vetting candidates.

New Zealand Anglicans: a call to consistently ethical behavior

Anglicans marginalize groups engaging in hate-speech about Muslims; they need to be more consistent about speech targeting other groups, as well.
What does the lack of critical engagement regarding the initial St. Matthew's 2009 media campaign have to say about the sensibilities of so-called "orthodox" Anglicans?

I'm surprised and saddened that New Zealand Anglicans feel they need to respond to a call made by St. Matthew's-in-the-City. It seems to me that St. Matthew's is best ignored (until such a time as it has shown that it has significantly changed). I don't wish to address the cause itself, but simply point out: if the cause is worth responding to, it should be carried forward by a different mouthpiece.  And as long as it's strongly associated with St. Matthew's, it is best ignored.

On the one occasion in which Glynn Cardy was able to manufacture a media storm guaranteeing that millions of the world's eyes would turned upon himself and St. Matthew's - Mr. Cardy chose to engage in hate speech.

From the sermon (note how he begins - "To make the news at Christmas ..." - Cardy clearly knew what he was doing):

"Christian fundamentalism believes a supernatural male God who lived above sent his sperm into the womb of the virgin Mary. Although there were a series of miraculous events surrounding Jesus’ birth – like wandering stars and angelic choirs – the real miracle was his death and literal resurrection 33 years later."

Cardy is encouraging us to classify a group of Christians as "fundamentalists" - as epistemologist Alvin Plantinga has noted, "fundamentalism" is a cognitively relatively empty word; but yet highly pejorative. "Fundamentalism" is always defined differently; one must look at context to see who the speaker is referring to. Amongst the things he associates with such fundamentalism are:

• something having to do with the Virgin Mary
  
• a literal resurrection

These "fundamentalists" are contrasted to "Progressive Christianity," which according to Cardy believes that the Christmas narrative is fictitious. It's common enough for groups of Christians to be perjorized and marginalized by referring to them as "Fundamentalists," but what's unique here is that Cardy actually goes so far as to teach his congregation and the world what those people believe. And he's teaching them that these people believe in divine sperm.

Jefferts-Schori and Corvallisgate: Electoral justice is also a “justice issue”

Last month I posted an article on the Jefferts-Schori election coverup.

It occurred to me since that though The Episcopal Church is focused on "justice issues" as few churches ever have been - to many Episcopalians, it probably hasn't yet registered that electoral justice is also a "justice issue."

Why this election matters - and why it may be a lot worse than the Watergate scandal decades ago.

In 1973, many Americans were confronted with unpleasant news.  The President of the country they dearly loved was being investigated.  To many, the subject of investigation must have seemed odd and far-fetched: the question was being asked whether the President knew if a group of five men had broken into a building used by the Democratic Party as its headquarters, and whether he had engaged in activity to cover up the incident of this break in.  Many probably ironically wondered why Congress wasn't investigating the burglaries of their own homes, given how endemic burglary had become to American urban life.  The theft of an automobile or cash under one's mattress can have real and dire implications for a family's well-being; but what was alleged as stolen here was merely a party's “secrets.” No children go unfed because of such melodramatic news in the ongoing scuffle between political parties plotting to outdo one other in painting a brighter picture of America and winning America's votes.

But to the more perceptive, something much greater was at stake than five men breaking, entering, and stealing: what was at stake was a seemingly abstract issue we call “electoral justice.”  It's about polities which hold to democratic process, and the diligence they must maintain in preserving the fairness and honesty of elections.  It's about the consciousness that even when we elect a great man with great ideas, passion for justice, and loving charisma, who may very likely improve the lives of everyone – that if we do so  by means of a dishonest election, we are also undermining our very democratic sensibilities, and the principles which unite us as a people who live and work together.  And this seemingly abstract issue has very real consequences when we permit electoral injustice to occur with uncritical eyes: we begin to lose hope in fairness and transparency of governance, and are likely to slide into a form of political cynicism in which tyrants flourish – a situation in which the people so ruled have little say in things.

Katharine Jefferts-Schori, the first female Primate of the Anglican Communion, is a woman thousands of Episcopalians and other Anglicans have grown to love and appreciate over the last five years.  On the basis of her performance amongst Episcopalians, I have no doubt that were a vote to be held tomorrow for the office, that she would win by a wide margin.  Unfortunately, however, her election as Presiding Bishop was marred by a significant anomaly – one which might have begun innocently enough.  What is clear is that the end result of the election is a situation in which it is likely that the Presiding Bishop was elected under false pretenses, and in which significant election fraud very likely took place.  It is also clear that Jefferts-Schori herself knew this to be the case.

Matt Kennedy on knowledge of God vs. saving knowledge of Christ

This comes from a Facebook status update of Fr. Matthew Kennedy, an Anglican priest in New York, from about a week ago.  I found it worth deserving more attention and thought, and have thus taken the liberty of posting it here.  I think it's likely that you will find it stimulating further reflection, and that it's worth coming back to from time to time.

The NT logic is: saving knowledge of Christ alone leads to a true knowledge of God.  Problems come in contemporary universalist/inclusivist thinking when that logic is reversed so that it becomes: any kind of knowledge of God = saving knowledge of Christ.  Scripture never goes there. People are to be drawn to God through the proclamation of Christ because without Christ there can be no saving knowledge of God.

A great opportunity to excommunicate Mugabe

Cranmer and Peter Carrell have both written about what an opportune moment this is - during ARCIC III, an ecumenical gathering between Anglicans and Catholics - for the Roman Catholic Church to excommunicate Mugabe.

At the moment, it seems everything in the Communion is about ecclesiology and homosexuality.  The case with Mugabe and Kunonga is no exception - previously Anglican bishop of Harare, now excommunicated, but vying for control of the Anglican Church of Zimbabwe with Mugabe's support.  Kunonga initially claimed that the Church of Zimbabwe was ravaged by homosexuality, and because of this, purported to withdraw the diocese of Harare from the Anglican Church of Zimbabwe, creating his own church.  It was widely speculated that this was a nonsense claim, to rationalize moving the diocese in a grasp for power.  He is now strongly supported by Mugabe.  There has been a murder and a rape, death threats, much intimidation, and many put out of their churches.  Mugabe has ordered that in the diocese of Harare, church services are to be held under order by Kunonga.  Home church services are being held in defiance of the order, even though police are enforcing Mugabe's and Kunonga's wishes.  The situation has recently escalated.

This would indeed be a good time for Rome to excommunicate Mugabe.

Congregational singing

Though many congregations once knew how to sing in parts and read music, the art of congregational singing is being lost as many churches move to "praise bands."

One might notice that churches in films which are portrayed positively, tend to sing hymns in parts.  By pointing this out, I mean no judgment upon the vast majority of churches which don't; but simply: good congregational singing is in no sense something which estranges new people or visitors.  In fact, I'd think that it generally would be seen as a lovely thing by newcomers - as evidenced by mainstream media's selection of congregational singing for evoking positive images.  I believe "praise band" music to be popular largely because small children more easily understand it, its being so similar to the songs they hear on the radio and in shopping malls.  Unfortunately, praise band style music in many churches is likely to be experienced as odd by many newcomers, and is experienced by many as an acquired taste (and not always easily acquired).

Congregational singing in parts is, on the other hand, a beautiful demonstration of the harmonious diversity within the body of Christ, with the congregation itself being the main instrument of praise, rather then being like "back up singers" for the band standing in front.

This is a hymn sung by a Mennonite church.  Not bad at all for congregational singing.  It's part of Youtube user w3tno's collection of videos - mostly of congregational singing.  It is a valuable resource if your own congregation is interested in congregational singing - either to inspire them, or for listening to how other congregations have sung these hymns as an aide to learning them.

Autumn

As autumn rolls
brown with brown,
As unleashed leaves consummate
a slow gravity love

The wind snatches some
with a quickening life
And reels them around
in the rest of the light

Green leaves
would never dance so.

(ca. 1991)

A Trucker's Poem

Little feet, in the air;
little tail, stuck on the pavement.

Road kill, I pity you.
But not very much.

(ca. 1989)

More ethnic cleansing in Sudan, open war on the horizon

Veteran journalist Arne Fjeldstadt reports on the current situation in Sudan, Sudan stumbles toward open war.  Tanks and troops from the north have occupied an oil-rich area, killing and burning.

Without an international peace-keeping force, the situation in post-referendum Sudan appears to be dire.

The Diocese of Europe in the Church of England approves the Anglican Covenant

I am very happy to read the news that the Synod of the Diocese of Europe in the Church of England has approved the Anglican Covenant.

The actual motion was:
"This Synod approves the draft Act of Synod adopting the Anglican Communion Covenant"

Unfortunately I can't find the text of what was actually approved by Synod on the site; presumably language here was clear and not qualified.

The votes:
Laity - In favour  20         Opposed 3     Abstentions 0
Clergy - In favour  21         Opposed 1     Abstentions 2
Bishops - In favour  2


An interesting address of Bishop Rowell:

Regarding pressure to hasten the process regarding women bishops in order to "get over it":
"We should not have to address polity and process at the same time."

"To try to provide resolution prematurely, so one side is victorious ... produces no resolution.  That is a recipe for increasing conflict and increasing anger."

Music for Rogation Monday and Memorial Day: Lamentations

Today is both Rogation Monday, and Memorial Day for Americans.

In honoring soldiers, we must also remember the horror they have confronted, and are trained to confront: that is, the horror of war.  Soldiers, whose careers are molded around the problem of war, tend to have a much more attuned consciousness to the horrors of war than civilians.  They know that confronting the spectre of war is necessary; and they gladly give their lives to this phenomenally ugly side of human existence.  Let us therefore be thankful that they do this for us - with all the attendant unpleasantness, sacrifice, and occupation of the imagination with things unseemly.  For because they take this burden upon themselves, we civilians are free of it.

Few have understood how awful war can be as the residents of Dresden at the close of the Second World War - amongst them, Rudolf Mauersberger, a composer and cantor at the Dresden Kreuzkirche.  When the church was bombed, Mauersberger lost eleven young choir members.  He wrote a motet, How Lonely Sits the City - Wie liegt die stadt - which was performed for the first time at the Kreuzkirche in August, 1945.

Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst,
die voll Volks war.
Alle ihre Tore stehen öde.
Wie liegen die Steine des Heiligtums vorn auf allen Gassen zerstreut.
Er hat ein Feuer aus der Höhe in meine Gebeine gesandt
und es lassen walten.
Ist das die Stadt, von der man sagt,
sie sei die allerschönste,
der sich das ganze Land freuet?

How lonely sits the city that was full of people.
All her gates are desolate.
The holy stones lie scattered at the head of every street.
From on high he sent fire;
into my bones he made it descend.
Is this the city, which was called the perfection of beauty,
the joy of all the earth?

The text is based on Lamentations.


Another setting of this text, by Matthias Weckmann (17th century) is also fine listening and fit for today

More Katharine Jefferts-Schori cover-up: hiding evidence after Wiki-wacks

Update to this article: see bottom of page.
See also my follow-up editorial on this issue:
Jefferts-Schori and Corvallisgate: Electoral justice is also a “justice issue”

A few months ago, the online biography of Katharine Jefferts-Schori was edited by an Episcopal Church Center staff worker at her behest - noted here and here.  The staff worker removed in its entirety, without providing any reason for this removal, a paragraph about how the description of candidates for election for Presiding Bishop contained information about Jefferts-Schori which was false - namely, that she was "Pastoral Associate and Dean, Good Samaritan School of Theology, Corvallis, OR." It turned out that at that time, she was merely in charge of her parish's adult education program - and not a very large parish, at that.  This was revealed shortly after the election, before her installation as bishop.

Jefferts-Schori most certainly was aware of the election materials; we have no evidence that she warned the House of Bishops or General Convention of the falsity; and as evidence to the contrary, one of the General Convention delegates blogged about the discovery.  To date, there has been no public inquest regarding this rather astounding election anomaly.


To this day, perhaps the greatest story here is the lack of a story: that after so many years, we still haven't heard of an inquest,  despite the significant likelihood of election fraud in a church which prides itself so in its electoral process. The Episcopal News Service hasn't even bothered to issue a retraction of their original story about Jefferts-Schori, based on this same, false information, which was repeated in hundreds of news sources.

On the Wikipedia discussion page, it was pointed out that TEC Church Offices should have known about the ethics of Wikipedia editing, and that one musn't remove items without reason - since in 2007, Barbara Alton had been so persistent in removing items from Bishop Bennison's Wikipedia page, after having been warned, that her account had been deleted, and this was reported in an international news source (as well as various Anglican news outlets).  It was pointed out that an EpiscopalLife article on the site of EpiscopalChurch.org noted that Alton "never received an order from Jefferts Schori."  Though the article quotes the Church Times for this information, Episcopal Life is a branch of TEC's media department at Episcopal Church Center; so Episcopal Church Center was at the very least informed of this incident, as they themselves reported on it.  So Episcopal Church center should have known better than to simply edit without providing information as to why the information was false (which it seems, it wasn't).

Hell as congitively and imaginatively resistant and repulsive: consequences for us

Interactions elsewhere on the net with regard to my comments on N.T. Wright's response to Rob Bell have led me to realize I'm being largely misunderstood.  Matt Kennedy of StandFirm seems to take my stance as being that we should not be particularly attentive of the things Christ told us about hell; this is far from the case.

When we begin to imagine and understand hell, we are so violently repulsed by the horror of the spectre of the lack of God's presence, that we quickly come to the realization that we do not belong there, and that we are in great need of God's presence. This should have the effect of us immediately calling out to God, and fleeing from the imagining of hell, with our realization that we weren't "really there," and that this imagination was but a futile, human attempt at imagining something which we couldn't possibly imagine in any realistic, vivid sense.

If we do not experience this, we are merely fooling ourselves in thinking that we have somehow imagined or conceptually grasped hell.

There are topics where our knowledge of A and B can lead us by inference to truths C and D. My point here is: that which we know - in no clear, and distinct manner from scripture about hell - should never lead us on to C and D unless we do so with great care and prayer, and when we discuss these things with others, this should also be characterized by prayer and care.

At times, our engaging in this debate about Rob Bell and hell was not adequately characterized by prayer and care, nor proper respect of our own finitude, and how these matters of such great importance utterly dwarf our imagination and reason - how they condition us, our thinking, and our thoughts - instead of us being able to produce cogent, rational descriptions of such things.

So I'd say, for hell especially, when we teach about this topic, and think about it, let us be especially solicitous in using Christ's own words and those of the apostles - without engaging in too much "embroidering" upon them.   These words should be enough.  The Holy Spirit will convict as necessary, without our having to rub people's noses in the awful fate of what awaits them in the unredeemed state.

When Jesus was on earth, and demons proclaimed His name ... He told them to shut up.  It is interesting to note how Jesus seems to not have wanted people to learn about Him from demons, even if what they said was true.  If Jesus did not want people to learn truth about Him from demons ... how much more dangerous is it for us to pretend to learn about God from hell, when our very imaginations of hell are more likely to be conditioned by our own dark fantasies and nightmares, as we are really totally unable to imagine hell, since hell is so tied up with ultimate judgment, which is one of “God’s things” and not ours?

It's possible that further reflecting about the place of hell in cognition, imagination, and theology could help bring peace to the still-divided "pro-Bell" and "anti-Bell" camps.  Perhaps hell is something where we more profitably reflect about the reflection, than try to reflect directly (except, of course, in reflecting upon Christ's own words and those of the apostles).

A few notes on things which make it impossible for us to conceptually or imaginatively grasp hell:

1) Agency (what we do, what we are responsible for) is never a “simple” question - it is a complicated issue.  I hit your car, your car rams into the car in front of it.  Did “you” ram into that car, where is the agency, who is responsible?  When God created man - God gave man freedom and agency.  This alone is a thing which is in many ways beyond our imaginitive and conceptual grasp - God's creation of moral agents, and the awesome (and terrifying) responsibility which belongs to such agents - which God could not withdraw from these agents, without their ceasing to be agents (and, perhaps - in doing so - corrupting justice - though I would add, even trying to imagine such is so far removed from human comprehensibility, that this notion also resists cognition and imagination).

2) Our abilities to think and imagine, and everything about the world in which we do so, are suffused with God’s natural grace, ordered according to His will.  This is why we can think, talk, etc. etc..  We have no knowledge of what God’s natural grace will be like in hell.  Or what “is left over” if we are in absence of such grace.  What a person who is “in hell” is, for us, a rather meaningless thing other than what we are told in Scripture. 

(Note: some philosophically-inclined readers might read in this something of Kant's notion of the sublime in aesthetics.  This is a posting for more of a popular audience so I won't comment on that here, but comments on this are welcome)

Consequences of gender-selective abortion in India

Recent census data from India indicates that many more females are killed by being aborted than males.

The conventional wisdom has held that such anti-female attitudes prevail in rural parts and are therefore linked to poverty. But the 2011 Census report smashed this myth.

It showed that the western states of Maharashtra – which hosts India’s financial capital Mumbai – and Gujarat, which is seen as a model state for economic growth, recorded lower sex ratios than the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, two of the country’s poorest states.

There are already rather restrictive laws in place aimed at preventing gender-selective abortion.  The statistics seem to indicate that should these laws be loosened and gender-selective abortion become more accessible to those living in poor areas, the gender ratio in India would become even more inequitable, with many, many more girls killed.

Read the whole article: One Million Girls Missing in India

American Hell

Carson Clark has posted a video of N.T. Wright commenting on the American spectacle of Rob Bell's book on hell and the Christian response to it.

Wright on Hell & Bell from The Work Of The People on Vimeo.
My remarks:

There is something both fascinating and gruesome about how we have dealt with all this Rob Bell stuff. It says a great deal more about us, I think, than it does about God, or hell.

John Dyer has an excellent analysis of the situation from before the book was released: Love Wins and Truth Prevails but speed kills ‘em both. He also wrote a version of this for Christianity Today entitled “Not Many of You Should Presume to Be Bloggers: How Social Media Changed Theological Debate” – and points out, lusciously: “The commenters seemed to agree with the post by attempting to enact its main point.”

I was terribly taken aback by this whole “perfect storm” Dyer describes, realizing that the way the video was released, its content, the book blurb preview, a few chapters released to reviewers but not the whole book … was about to set the Christian community into Jerry Springer mode. We would have a lot of yelling, and very little substance.

Reviews of the book seemed to indicate that it was rather fast and loose in hermeneutics and other areas. I haven’t had a chance to read it.
I was tremendously impressed with Rob Bell’s fielding of questions at his interview with Lisa Miller. He is an incredibly talented man, when he’s working a field where he’s adept. But getting into the larger issues of Christian faith is not his thing; he is much better at imaginitively beckoning us to consider the awesome expansiveness of God’s love, and its implication for ourselves and those with whom we interact.

In this interview, Bell set out one of the founding premises of his book, and I think also, the presupposition behind much of the American argument:
That hell tells us a lot about God’s character; and that a person’s view of hell says a lot about what they think of God.

I would agree here in a qualified sense, but primarily disagree.



Hell would tell us a lot about God’s character if we knew quite a bit about hell, and were able to understandingly discuss it. What we think about hell does tell us something important about our our belief in God, if we allow this belief to be important in conditioning our view of God – e.g., if we dwell on it.
I would argue, very simply:

We can not imagine hell, or that which rightly belongs to God, in matters of judgment which are “ultimate” from our perspective as embodied humans in our present state here on earth. It seems to me that Christ’s words on judgment, His few words on hell, and the general literary qualities of His words, and those of the apostles, should indicate to us: “This is way beyond our grasp … the categories which we use to try to understand these things are simply not cut out for such things … we will end up in contradictions and probably many false classifications if we try to move too far in this territory.”

Thus: we should not dwell on hell, nor should we hold detailed beliefs regarding hell, nor should whatever beliefs we have in hell, be particularly important in conditioning our ideas about God, or “telling” us what we believe about God – simply since we must acknowledge, this is beyond our capacity of thinking, imagining, and perceiving.

A correlary: does what we think about the physical nature of the cosmos, tell us a lot about who we are, who God is, or what justice is?

I would say: “No. It doesn’t matter if we think that over billions of years it is expanding or contracting; whether it has edges, or somehow folds upon itself in a single, circle-like continuum; this breaks the very boundaries of our imaginations. Whatever our beliefs about this, we still tend to agree on how to treat our neighbours, what we need to do in life, etc. etc.. Changing from one viewpoint to the other is not likely to have serious consequences for the important aspects of one’s world view.”

So I am in profound agreement here with N.T. Wright. I think that dispensationalism and “literal” readings of prophesies somehow found their ways into American consciousness in a way that is rather unique – not only amongst those who consciously believe in such things, but even amongst atheists. It’s a part of Americans’ shared imagination, as it were – effecting the imagination at a deep level. All Trinitarian churches have believed in hell; most have abided by Scripture’s implicit warnings in the language regarding hell, and the explicit warnings regarding arrogance, preventing detailed speculation regarding hell itself from becoming an important part of the collective imagination or the way in which we tend to view things.
Americans tend to be pioneers – thinking no territory can’t be mapped out and fruitfully occupied. There is something very admirable in some of the ventures of the imagination where Americans have dared to go, where others have not. But not all exercises of the imagination are profitable; some most certainly blight the soul, or numb the mind. And I would suggest that hell is somewhere our minds and imaginations don’t need to go.
People of other cultures tend to respect boundaries more; and are more aware of “proprieties” – that our very finitude demands of us that we respect certain limits. Americans with their pioneering mentality seem to think that all limits are equally surmountable.

With hell, this is simply not the case.

To a fierce advocate of LGBT issues in the Anglican Communion: Christology and the future of LGBT activism

This is a note to a retired priest in New Zealand who is a very zealous proponent of a particular interpretation of sexual ethics within the church. I left it originally as a comment here, and have slightly edited it (removed one paragraph which was too specific in nature). It seems to me like it could be relevant to a great many advocates of LGBT issues in the Anglican Communion; so I post it here.

Fr. Ron,

As passionate as you are about the LGBT community – I’d urge you to turn your passion also to understanding how the Christology of The Episcopal Church (TEC) effectively places it outside of Trinitarian Christianity. This is one of the reasons why “dissidents” left – because, unfortunately, TEC has been showing itself as a dissident with regard to Christ Himself. And it’s likely, in the long run, to undermine much of what you are trying to achieve with regard to LGBT rights as other churches decide their positions on this matter given what occurs in the midst of us Anglicans. However, I don’t wish so much to engage you in your thoughts regarding these “dissidents,” but rather to speak to your love of Christ and of LGBT people.

Your voice is heard in the LGBT community and within TEC – you could help advocate a returning of TEC to faith in Christ – e.g., acknowledging Christ as God incarnate in human flesh – instead of this all generally being a set of edifying metaphors for the purpose of directing person’s actions toward various causes for social justice.

No matter how important the cause of LGBT inclusion in the church may be … this is not “the same thing” as Jesus Himself – we must recognize Jesus as The Risen Christ to whom we must turn in seeking transformation of life – and not as various metaphors for doing various good things.

Rapturous Indulgences: Let's think while we chuckle

The snark-fest around one man's batty ideas regarding "the rapture" is showing that Christian culture is not immune to unhealthy irony

A dear friend, one of the few true masters of irony of this age, Matthew Huggins, recently sent me a note about the spectacle Christians all over the world are now appreciating and taking part in: contributing ironic remarks regarding one individual's view that "the rapture" will occur shortly.

Quite correctly, he pointed out the dangers of contributing to this irony fest.  "Ironically," I had been in the middle of composing my own snarky contribution to this generally festering snark fest.  There are many Christians who have legitimate reasons for believing in a "rapture," very few of whom think that this will be occuring in a day or two's time.  I am not one of them; I tend to be rather agnostic regarding eschatological speculation, and open to various interpretations of Scripture regarding such issues.

Very perceptively (and - ironically), Matthew notes:

I find it unfortunate that the appearance of Rob Bell's book urging a more inclusive eschatology should be accompanied by mockery and marginalization by some fans of Bell's book of those who hold less enlightened views of the life to come (including those who anticipate a sudden, imminent "rapture" of believers from the Earth).

I can include myself amongst those who have been rationally critical of some types of eschatological thinking which involve a "rapture."  But I am very thankful to Matthew for calling me to reflect on what I was doing in jumping into this snark fest.

Back in the 1980's, I was a great fan of the Utne Reader and read most pages of each issue.  Anyone wanting informed but also snarky commentary about the grand march of cultural progress could find in this little publication a wealth of highly reflective and ironic analysis.

The article which struck me the most was about irony itself.  The author's thesis was that we were ironizing ourselves to death - that irony was becoming exaggerated and unhealthy.  This, back during the "conservative" days of Reaganomics, still in the midst of the cold war.

It seems that someone has died ... thus, a funeral cantata

I am receiving many reports from my facebook and twitter feeds that someone has died.

This is a great opportunity to remember: Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit (God's time is the very best time).  A notion which while redirecting our thoughts toward God, should also prompt us to reconsider our simplistic notions of temporality.

Bach's cantata opens with Acts 17:28 -
for in Him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your poets have said: 'For we also are His offspring.'

Text:
   German and English, with English in a very "literalistic" translation
   English, with notes about Scripture references
 

It is interesting that Bach takes this thought of having our being in God, and decides to begin with a conclusion about time: that we should consider God's time, and our participation in it ... and that this time is "the very best time."  Reflecting for a moment on a few things N.T. Wright has said - God certainly "inhabits" our time, time in the way that we tend to experience and perceive it ... He is most certainly "connected" with it somehow.  He does not exist in complete isolation of our own temporality.  We should not say, "God is outside of time" - it is understandable that people express themselves this way, but it is very inaccurate and can cause some to conclude that God is not at all related to our own time.

God's time is the very best time.

However, God's "own time" - which would be in a sense the very essence of temporality - is not necessarily the same as our own perception of time, or how our own movement through constitutes our perceptions.  We know that God is eternal.  Since this does not "fit" into our own time, it is our own perception of time which we must see as localized and not necessarily applicable to God ... rather than trying to shoehorn God into our own experiences of time.

God's time is the very best time.

Apparently many are also speaking these days of something they refer to as "the afterlife."  I've always found this word odd and problematic.  Anyways, if we are to think of such an "afterlife," I believe that Bach has done well in expressing what one of our primary attitudes toward it should be:

That God's time is the very best time.

We believe that God is sovereign; the "where" and "what" regarding those who died as a result of the 9/11 incident, all those who have died since then in the aftermath of various reactions ... and this latest death ... we believe that God is just and good, and trust Him that He has done rightly and justly with all.

God's time is the very best time.

"For in Him we live and move and have our being."

Viderunt Omnes

"Viiiiiiiiiiiiii -------!"

Why Viderunt Omnes?  Many reasons.  Too many for a short posting.  Someday I'll have to write up why Viderunt Omnes is such a lovely bit of the Psalms for jubilating in God's glory, and the amazing story of Perotin's twelfth-century setting of it - but for the moment, one can simply enjoy Viderunt Omnes without my elaboratory verbiage.  And when you read this blog, may there always in the back of your mind be that lovely ... "Viiiii -----!".

Inclusion Gone Wrong: A Case Study

In my last post, I discussed the dangers inherent in the inclusion / exclusion paradigm when it is elevated to the level of one of the dominant features of church discourse.

Allow me here to give a "real life" situation I've seen where "inclusion/exclusion" has been the predominant paradigm of thinking within the church. Situation is real; names & other info has been changed to protect the identity of those involved. Call this, as it were, a bit of "field work."

Sam is an Episcopalian, is involved in local church leadership, comes from a church whose church life and theology is closely bound with the National Church. Sam knows a lot about liturgical colors, about civil rights, about poverty issues, and is quite vocal, but he really doesn't know very much at all about Scripture or theology. But Sam loves talking about the sacred, and believes firmly in the sacred, and in helping people. Sam likes Spong, but finds it difficult to say why other than that Spong helps him think. But Sam is very dedicated to the church, and incredibly eager to help. Sam is very liberal in politics. Sam is respected since he's so vocal in supporting the rights of the oppressed, and in defending social justice issues against the attacks of right-wingers which he's read about in the papers. If you want to know how to help convince your neighbors that gun control is a good idea, Sam is a very good person to go to, with statistics, voting records, and a lot of helpful information about what some of those wacko right-wingers are up to.

Joe is a non-denominational type Christian, and has quite a substantial knowledge of the Bible and of church doctrine; much of this through self-study. Joe has been hurt in the church, and tends to be skeptical of churches and clergy in general. Joe often makes comments at gatherings about scripture and theology which overly critical and not terribly helpful, sometimes "cherry-picking" Scripture to make a point. Joe doesn't know that much about civil rights or poverty issues. Joe doesn't believe that partnered gay people should be clergy, but doesn't believe in gay-bashing, either. Joe is very conservative in some specific points of theology, similar to some more conservative Baptists.

At an official church gathering where scripture and theology are discussed, Sam makes some remarks which are rather revealing of how little Sam knows about either Scripture or theology. Sam tends to think that if he feels something about Scripture or theology, there's no point in his not saying it at such a gathering. In other Episcopal church settings, people have been interested enough in what Sam says about the sacred. But often enough, in this setting, Sam says things which reveal that Sam doesn't know much about Scripture or theology. But Sam doesn't think it's relevant whether he has the "book knowledge" or not, and that his personal faith validates what he says, and that it's not all that important if he's, e.g., talking about what the Bible says about Adam and Eve, and it turns out he's made a mistake, that this is should be normal for any Christian, since Christians shouldn't be "obsessive" about Scripture or doctrine.

Inclusion as dominant paradigm in church discourse

I was recently in a discussion on a forum board of predominantly Episcopalians, asking the question: "Can we be totally inclusive?"

The question is interesting because in some quarters, especially congregations which are supportive of the National Church, the notion of "inclusion" has become so predominant in discourse that it functions as a major paradigm in regulating thought and discourse - more important than just about any theolgical notion (with the exception of "love").

When our discourse about the church becomes dominated by the notion of "inclusion," we are not looking in the right place - and we are in danger of flirting with exclusivism.

When we are so focused on inclusion, the basic question that we are asking is, "Who belongs inside, and who belongs outside?" As this question grows to predominate our church consciousness and our ways of speaking about things, it means that we tend to try to answer this question before answering other questions - or to answer those other questions on the basis of our answer to this one.

The danger is that we start providing answers which are patently silly, destructive, or otherwise unacceptable - because we are then likely to see a simple "flip-flop" - where, still focussed on the same question, we begin thinking, "We have way too many people in here, a lot of them don't belong! Which ones do we need to push out?" We've seen this type of thought in this thread already, in speaking of "tolerating the intolerant" and the danger of this attitude. When "tolerating" and "inclusion" become such an incessant and insular focus, it's only natural for us to start to logically begin flailing about and contradicting ourselves. The answer isn't within the narrow margins of the question "inclusion or exclusion?" - it needs to be found elsewhere.

Late Night Meditations on the Resurrection

I have responded to some comments regarding the resurrection which I thought to share here.  They more or less flowed from the initial question, and further reflection on the matter.  Reflection extended as far as considering possible relevance of Jesus in signification and cognition in the relation between phenomenon and noumenon, and then an application of Kant's response to the ontological argument, concluding with some thoughts about the possible relationship between life and being.  That is to say, thoughts which flew all over the map from epistemology to ontology in one virtually unedited flow of thought.  Things get incredibly speculative, at times naïvely speculative; but the whole exercise might help some in imagining what Paul in Ephesians 1 describes as "the power of the resurrection."  I would be curious to hear anyone's comments.  I'm grateful to our Bible study with whom we studied the book of Ephesians for helping inspire these thoughts.