Weekly Meanderings, 11 April 2015

Last updated on: April 11, 2015 at 6:40 am by Scot McKnight

Weekly Meanderings, 11 April 2015 2015-04-11T06:40:55-05:00 Scot McKnight

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Folks, I think this week marked 10 years of blogging at Jesus Creed! Woop, woop. Here was the first post, used without permission from the only one who can deny permission!

In the last three or so years I have been struck, through my reading of the most influential writers on Christian spiritual formation, by how many of them were committed to the “divine offices”. “Divine offices” refers to a rhythmical prayer life. These Christians prayed three times a day (in the monastic traditions even more often), but in so doing they didn’t just sit down to pray. Instead, they prayed “set” prayers and did so with a community committed to this form of praying.

This pattern of praying goes back to Judaism and the world of Jesus. Psalm 55:18 tells us that the psalmist complained and lamented three times a day, and we know this refers to “evening, morning, and midday” set times of prayer. Daniel 6:10 tells us that Daniel prayed three times and day. And Jesus was incensed with those who used “midday” prayers as an opportunity to demonstrate their piety by finding themselves, rather conveniently, at a public place at the hour of prayer. Acts 3:1 tells us that Peter and John went to the Temple at the “hour of prayer” (=midday prayers). And a first century document, called Didache, tells us that the early Christians prayed the Lord’s Prayer three times a day.

Now, the original Jewish practice included reciting the Shema (pronounced “sheMAH”) twice a day (morning and evening), and that at midday they may have said this same confession but also prayed a standard Jewish prayer of requests (called The Eighteen Benedictions). So, it is not hard for us to know that the early Christians used the “Lord’s Prayer” instead of the Eighteen Benedictions, or maybe some did both.

What struck me in reading the spiritual masters of the Christian tradition is that they carried on this ancient rhythm of praying.

So, my wife and I have adopted this practice and now say, as often as we can, the prayers that Phyllis Tickle has composed for us, in her book “The Divine Hours”. Her book combines the great prayer traditions of the Church and has become a source of comfort for us.

On top of this, we get the sense as we carry on this “sacred rhythm” that we are joined by millions throughout the world who pause, three times a day, to turn to God and orient their hearts and minds and affections toward God.

[This post became Praying with the Church!]

How to avoid the high-stakes standardized tests? Private schools, acc to Valerie Strauss:

Thousands of public school parents around the country are opting their children out of taking high-stakes standardized tests this spring, tired of the emphasis on high-stakes testing and concerned about the validity of the assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards or similar standards. A growing number of principals and superintendents are supporting parents in this decision, though pushback is getting strongerfrom others. But, says educator Alan Singer, there is another way to opt out your child from standardized testing — send them, if you can afford it, to a private school that doesn’t give them.

The Obamas, for example, send their two daughters to the elite Sidwell Friends School, a private Quaker preK-12 school with campuses in Washington D.C., and Bethesda, Md. Sidwell, like other independent schools, does not bombard its students with high-stakes standardized tests. (It also doesn’t evaluate teachers by the test scores of their students, a policy promoted by the Obama administration.)

Need a shed, a back studio? Kanga room, anyone?

The Death of Abraham Lincoln and the Jews of DC, by Meir Y. Soloveichik:

As America prepares to mark the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s death on April 15, fresh insight into the events that occurred a century and a half ago can be gleaned by seeing that entire week through the eyes of America’s Jews, and especially of those Jews who attended America’s oldest and most historically distinguished congregation….

Conveyed by telegraph, the news soon reached the rest of the country. Jews heard it from their fellow Americans on the day of the celebratory service held on the Sabbath during Passover. Bertram Korn, in his American Jewry and the Civil War, describes the scene:

Jews were on their way to synagogue or already worshipping when tidings of the assassination reached them. . . . Jews who had not planned on attending services hastened to join their brethren in the sanctuaries where they could find comfort in the hour of grief. The Rabbis put their sermon notes aside and spoke extemporaneously, haltingly, reaching out for the words to express their deep sorrow. . . . Samuel Adler of Temple Emmanuel in New York began to deliver a sermon but he was so overcome that he could not continue. Alfred T. Jones, Parnas of Beth El-emeth Congregation of Philadelphia, asked [the well-known Jewish scholar and writer] Isaac Leeser to say something to comfort the worshippers; he did, but it was so disconnected that he had to apologize: “the dreadful news and its suddenness have in a great measure overcome my usual composure, and my thoughts refuse to arrange themselves in their wonted order.”

Because the president died on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, the first utterances from the pulpit in response to the assassination were heard in synagogues, as Isaac Marken explains in Abraham Lincoln and the Jews. One of the most striking—and indeed, controversial—moments took place in Congregation Shearith Israel, in New York, the oldest Jewish congregation in America. There, Marken recounts, “the rabbi recited the Hashkabah (prayer for the dead) for Lincoln. This, according to theJewish Messenger, was the first time that this prayer had been said in a Jewish house of worship for any other than those professing the Jewish religion.” This seeming deviation from tradition in Shearith Israel—known to this day for its fierce devotion to preserving religious and liturgical tradition—was noted by many, and defended by the aforementioned Isaac Leeser, who also edited American Jewry’s most prominent newspaper:

Sad to read this about Tom Oord:

Academics at Christian colleges who believe in evolution (and who believe that doesn’t make them any less Christian) have become deeply concerned about the recent move by Northwest Nazarene University to eliminate the job of Thomas Jay Oord, a tenured theologian there.

Oord has written numerous books and articles that (sympathetically) examine the way Christians are able to embrace evolution while maintaining their faith. Oord has drawn attention to the views of many Nazarene scholars and rank-and-file believers who accept evolution, suggesting that there is much to be learned scientifically from sources other than the Bible.

These views appear to contradict Northwest Nazarene’s statement of faith, which states: “The Old and New Testament Scriptures, given by plenary inspiration, contain all truth necessary to faith and Christian living.” Traditionalist Nazarene blogs have also regularly criticized Oord’s work,accusing him of “false teachings” and urging the church’s universities to reject “evolution’s lies.”

The university would not confirm that Oord is losing his job, but did confirm that two theologians are having their positions eliminated. A spokeswoman for the university said that declining enrollments in theology made it necessary to eliminate two positions, even though Northwest Nazarene is, in her words, “financially strong.” Asked if Oord’s views on evolution had any role in the decision, she said via email: “The university made these decisions unrelated to performance. Declining student enrollment in the departments affected requires laying off two faculty and four staff members.”

What Bonhoeffer said.

We need “nature dose”, by Ariana Eunjung Cha:

Stop and smell the roses along the way, American singer-songwriter Mac Davis advised in a top 10 hit in the 1970s. In the more than three decades Davis imparted that wisdom, numerous studies have confirmed the link between exposure to nature and improved physical, psychological and social well-being. They have shown that greenery has been associated with reduced levels of asthma, improved healing times and even with making people more likely to exercise….

To address this demographic trend, a team of scientists has begun to study how to define a “nature dose” in an effort to develop recommendations for minimum levels of exposure in the same way doctors do for things like Vitamin D, vegetables or medicines. At a macro level, that information could be used by public health experts, ecologists, sociologists, and urban planners to help figure out how to plan and manage cities in a way that could boost health outcomes.

NT Wright on the meaning of the resurrection:

The church has often been content to do two things side by side: first, to “prove” the resurrection by a more or less rationalistic argument; second, to say that, therefore, “Jesus is alive today, and we can get to know him” or even, “Jesus is therefore the second person of the Trinity.” One also frequently hears, especially around Easter, “Jesus has been raised, therefore we too are going to heaven.”

Interestingly, however, we find that the New Testament does not make those connections in the same way. There is a real danger that we will simply short-circuit the process and force the resurrection to mean what we want it to mean, without paying close attention to what the first Christians actually said.

In the closing chapters of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and in the opening chapter of Acts, we do not find anyone saying that because Jesus is alive again we can now get to know him, or that he is the second person of the Trinity (though Thomas does say, “My Lord and my God!”). We do not, in particular, hear anyone in the gospels saying that because Jesus has been raised we are assured of our place in heaven. What we do hear, loud and clear in the resurrection narratives and in the early theology of Paul, is something like this.

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