tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post3847189325941174426..comments2024-03-28T06:00:18.802-07:00Comments on bionic mosquito: Power Claims and Culture Wars bionic mosquitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-6346288367574981952021-07-06T14:11:05.549-07:002021-07-06T14:11:05.549-07:00Regarding the teaching of the Scriptures in the Ca...Regarding the teaching of the Scriptures in the Catholic Church and in the Orthodox tradition, my experience teaching in a nominally Catholic University is that the Catholic undergraduates are ill grounded in the Bible. And that is despite the reforms (maybe because of them) of Vatican 2. Part of the liturgical reform of Vatican 2 involved mandating variable readings, on a three year cycle, from the Old Testament, the Epistles, and the Gospels on the Sundays and major feasts, with a weekday variable Gospel reading and a first lesson from either the OT or the Epistles/Revelation for the Eucharist. When I was a child, the Tridentine Use stipulated the same Epistle reading and Gospel for every Sunday of the year, repeated during the week when no feast/saint's day occurred. The current Orthodox practice is similar, with Old Testament readings provided for certain Vespers and Matins. In the older Roman use, the rest of the Bible was read in Matins of the Divine Office, similar to the scheme for Morning and Evening Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer. Ask any Catholic coming from a Vatican 2 Eucharist what the lessons were, and I would be surprised if even the Gospel passage was remembered. Though not exposed the whole of the Scriptures, the Tridentine Catholic would have known the Gospel text well from yearly repetition. Memory is an important faculty exercised in any rule of Prayer: assistance in probing the depth of the familiar. Ask any Orthodox Christian about the texts for the Sunday of the Final Judgment, few will fail to recall its details, since, from childhood, they have heard this passage. Ms. Kennedy from Fox news made a joke about goats going to Hell, which any Orthodox would easily find funny in the context of that Sunday. The Tridentine Use and Orthodox current practice provide variety, but also familiarity, an at-home-ness with certain Biblical passages which have become life long companions. IMHO, the new Catholic approach to liturgical Scriptural reading is an instance of roller skating through the Louvre: you have been exposed to much, but little time is given for digestion, comprehension.Deacon Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07708653111827647244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-39724203730976126742021-07-06T12:33:29.356-07:002021-07-06T12:33:29.356-07:00I think it would help if the Bible was not taken i...I think it would help if the Bible was not taken in a historical / scientific way throughout. Certainly, much of it is history, but much of it can be read in other ways - even multiple ways.<br /><br />I think the idea of "proof texts" ("see, this proves it"), is valuable but can be overused. On many topics, there cannot be such certainty, as holders of a different view also have their "proof texts." Jehovah's Witnesses can point to text to demonstrate that Jesus was just a man.<br /><br />I think more leaning on the early Church fathers would help. We have the work of some who were disciples of the original disciples. For many centuries, they lived in a culture that better understood the times of Jesus while He was on earth. Sola Scriptura is valuable, but interpretation requires context, and these early church fathers lived in the context.<br /><br />Having said all of that, my experience in both a Protestant church and an Orthodox church has shown me that the latter should do much more teaching of Scripture, beginning with the young.<br /><br />Those are just some initial thoughts.<br /><br />bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-45967558324790733522021-07-06T12:13:47.594-07:002021-07-06T12:13:47.594-07:00What are ways a Protestant church can become more ...What are ways a Protestant church can become more non-Cartesian in your view?RMBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13603112499567064214noreply@blogger.com