Jim Taylor's Columns - 'Soft Edges' and 'Sharp Edges'

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Published on Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Picking verses to fit our preferences

It never fails to amuse me, to puzzle me, and sometimes to infuriate me -- what various people treat as absolutely authoritative in the Bible.
Every Christian church in the world, as far as I know, considers the Trinity foundational. Yet only one verse in the whole Bible refers to the baptismal formula, “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Everywhere else, the notion of a divinity that can be known in three ways is implied, not spelled out.
Some Christians insist that the Bible condemns homosexuality. But only seven verses scattered through the Bible’s 66 books actually censure it. Wikipedia says that the Bible contains 31,102 verses -- I haven’t tried counting them myself -- which means only a quarter of one percent deal with homosexuality.
Other sources claim that up to 25 verses may refer to homosexuality. Still a tiny fraction.
By contrast, hardly anyone considers the Jubilee Year authoritative. The Jubilee Year? Had you even heard of it? The book of Leviticus devotes most of a chapter to the Jubilee Year -- 49 verses of explicit instructions. Plus about another 20 references in other books of the Jewish scriptures.
And there are hundreds of additional verses about the Sabbath, a closely related concept.
Essentially, you see, the Jubilee Year was a Sabbath of Sabbath years. The original Sabbath was, and is, the seventh day of the week. When God created the world, says Genesis, God worked for six days; on the seventh day, God rested. We are ordered to follow the same pattern: “Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy,” says the third of the Ten Commandments.
Ummm… Well… Maybe they didn’t have shopping malls open seven days a week. And professional sports. To say nothing of emergency staff on 24/7 shifts.
Then the pattern of sevens got extended. Every seven years, farmers were to leave their fields un-tilled, their vines un-pruned, their trees un-picked. The earth deserved a rest too.
It was called, of course, a Sabbath year.
And after seven of those seven-year cycles came a Jubilee year. In the 50th year, not only were fields left fallow and fruit left on trees, but old injustices were un-done. Debts were cancelled. Slaves were freed. Property was restored to its original owners.
Somehow, I don’t think the missionaries who brought the Bible to Canada’s aboriginal peoples mentioned that aspect of the Jubilee Year. Nor did government agents include it when they negotiated treaties that turned millions of miles of aboriginal land over to white settlers.
The Bible offered only one exception to the Jubilee rule -- home ownership. Those didn’t necessarily revert to their original owners. But the Jubilee texts are as precise as any legal document -- the exception applied only to houses inside walled cities. Mississauga First Nations might note: Toronto wouldn’t qualify.
But, you may argue, that practice belongs to a different time, a different culture, a different context.
And other verses don’t? What makes some verses universally applicable, and others relevant only to their own time?
It seems to me that the verses people choose as authoritative say more about chooser’s own presumptions and prejudices than about God’s intentions.
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Copyright © 2016 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups, and links from other blogs, welcomed; all other rights reserved.
To comment on this column, write jimt@quixotic.ca
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YOUR TURN

Fran Ota took “one teeny exception” to last week’s column about seeing Princess Elizabeth before he became Queen: “You said ‘Seeing them won't make any difference in our life.’ If you watched the news, you watched a tiny little 4-yr-old girl with bright red hair, in a purple dress, awestruck by Will, and presenting flowers to Kate. That was my granddaughter Yoshimi! She has talked of *nothing* else since she found out in early September that she was selected to give the flowers. Will it make a difference in her life, and the lives of the other children who were there? Or the lives of the seniors and disabled who share that facility with the day care? I like to think it will.”

Ted Wilson also disagreed about it making no difference: “It did make difference. It left you with a memory you still treasure, at least enough to share with us over 60 years later.”

Helen Arnott called the column “a lovely, gentle piece.” She added, “We recall that people also line up to view movie stars and heads of state. This is a touch of glory for us every day folk, an affirmation of your piece.”

John Hatchard made the same point as Helen: “Royal watching? No different from film or pop star gawking, or the President… Can't be bothered myself.”

Tom Watson: “I loved your ‘up a tree’ story. You and Zaccheus both royal-watching.
“[But] there could be, I think, a distinction made between Jesus and the royals. From what I read, Jesus did not proclaim himself to be royalty; whatever people made of him was of their making. The royal family proclaim themselves to be that.
“And maybe that's why I have no particular interest in them, and am not in the monarchist camp. Not only will they not make any difference in my life, I have never understood how any family could proclaim itself to be the royal family and remain such in perpetuity. My reading of history suggests that often kings and queens have been quite a sketchy lot.”

Isabel Gibson wrote, “I, too, remember seeing Elizabeth as a young woman -- in my case, in 1959 when she visited Edmonton. As an adult, I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to see royalty, although I admire what Elizabeth has done with the hand she was dealt.”

Don Nazrude was in Edmonton at the same time: “I saw the Queen when I was a boy too. She proceeded down Kingsway Ave. in Edmonton. I remember asking our teacher why we do not have our own flag? She said maybe one day.
“My father told me Churchill went to Norway to thank the people for their support in the war. He asked ‘where are my body guards?’ The King of Norway said ‘All those people out there are your body guards.’ Are we not to be body guards for the Prince of Peace--Jesus? 
“Peace is what I do not see enough in this world at these times. So I demonstrated against the War in Viet Nam, was called a communist and spat and kicked at but survived.”

PSALM PARAPHRASES

Psalm 119 goes on and on and on… Fortunately we’re only expected to read verses 97-104 this Sunday. 

97   In the maze of modern life, it helps to have clear directions.
98   A clear vision of how things ought to be gives me a great advantage.
99   I don’t have to balance this against that.
I don’t have to constantly choose the lesser of two evils.
You give me a goal.
100   The world is changing so fast, the wisdom of old age isn’t always applicable;
But your wisdom is, always.
101    Our ways are not always your ways, nor is our wisdom always your wisdom.
102   You have taught me how to discern the difference.
103   And what a difference that makes!
104   You help me see more clearly;
With your guidance, I can grope my way through the murk.

For paraphrases of most of the psalms used by the Revised Common Lectionary, you can order my book Everyday Psalms from Wood Lake Publishing, info@woodlake.com.

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YOU SCRATCH MY BACK…
Ralph Milton has a new project, called Sing Hallelujah -- the world’s first video hymnal. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at www.singhallelujah.ca
Isabel Gibson's thoughtful and well-written blog, www.traditionaliconoclast.com
Wayne Irwin's "Churchweb Canada," an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://www.churchwebcanada.ca>
Alva Wood's satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town are not particularly religious, but they are fun; write alvawood@gmail.com to get onto her mailing list.
Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” – ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at twatson@sentex.net

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TECHNICAL STUFF

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I write a second column each Sunday called Sharp Edges, which tends to be somewhat more cutting about social and justice issues. To sign up for Sharp Edges, write to me directly, jimt@quixotic.ca, or send a note to sharpedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca

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Author: Jim Taylor

Categories: Soft Edges

Tags: verses, preferences

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