tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.comments2023-10-14T16:42:53.597+01:00New Kid on the BlogAlastairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00117533964126439556noreply@blogger.comBlogger1322125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-36928925749131206922020-10-14T20:12:11.240+01:002020-10-14T20:12:11.240+01:00Thank you for your ramblings so far. Lots of helpf...Thank you for your ramblings so far. Lots of helpful thoughts. One aspect that is a challenge to think about is the massive foundation of the Hebrew Scriptures that the story of Jesus sits on. Equally huge is the literature leading up to the writing of the New Testament. I find most Christian scholars concentrate on Greek and the ideas that were emerging in Jewish apocalyptic reflections in the centuries surrounding the life of Jesus. This has not been my study. In true fundamentalist fashion I decided to study the Hebrew background - running the risk of using words too rigidly. I wonder if you have thought about the relationship between Jesus and the name that comes first after the expulsion from the garden from the mouth of Eve. I referenced a Torah commentary on this in my <a href="https://meafar.blogspot.com/2020/10/eves-children.html" rel="nofollow">last post</a>. <br /><br />The great background question for me as for many growing up in the shadow of the Shoa is - what do we make of this vast tradition of writing that we used against the community that has been dedicated to copying it? How in other words, to return to the theology question, does the 'Christian' Jesus relate to the Hebrew Yeshua reflecting the name of 'the LORD'? So much confusion. I read a Jewish commentary on this years ago Jesus and Yahweh, by Harold Bloom - perhaps more of a literary critic than a theologian. I am unconvinced by his portrait. <br /><br />This <a href="https://peteenns.com/rediscovering-jonah-part-2/" rel="nofollow">longer podcast</a> on the book of Jonah (I confess I only read the transcript) suggests a use of the names of God in this little book that I find convincing. But I must make the connection between Jesus and Jonah (the only sign...) on the way to connecting Yahweh, the means of salvation, with the one we follow. Yes - in spite of my now 16 year intensive study and translation of Tanakh for its word recurrence patterns and its embedded music, I am still a follower of Jesus. If he had let me go my own ways I would not be here to follow.Bob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-88291356035616974702020-10-11T00:37:22.760+01:002020-10-11T00:37:22.760+01:00Good stuff!! Good stuff!! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-15419828163489239312020-10-02T01:53:18.266+01:002020-10-02T01:53:18.266+01:00Thanks Bob - yup, I get the safety and welcome - b...Thanks Bob - yup, I get the safety and welcome - but the story goes 'only X will keep people safe' - and that's the skew we're experiencin: those who actually study and live this stuff say that building walls and fences encourages encroachment and a sense of security for criminality rather than a sense of haven. There are other ways to tell a story, and at the moment one of them is dominant to the exclusion of actually hearing clearer, compassionate, experienced voices.<br /><br />But the post wasn't meant to just be about our issues, but about the wider concept of listening to more than one story, and the danger of only hearing one. I think there's often a fair amount of confirmation bias if we can't reach out to embrace the multi-strand process. Alastairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00117533964126439556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-44268377570494232322020-10-02T01:43:09.404+01:002020-10-02T01:43:09.404+01:00Hi Alastair, It's been a while. I am continual...Hi Alastair, It's been a while. I am continually surprised by the ways in which I can have my mind changed. As if I could skew my narrative as required. I continue to concentrate on the Hebrew Bible - mostly from a technical than a conceptual point of view. And theology is hardly my strong point. I am currently studying word forms in pointed and more modern unpointed newspaper style Hebrew - a crazy pandemic project. And I am using the accents in the Hebrew text to construct and arrange music some of which I hope you will hear soon because David and the choral scholars are working on it.<br /><br />So I am fully unqualified and somewhat distant to consider parish conflicts. Yet my prayer is always with those parishes that I am close to. And particularly St John's. <br /><br />What struck me recently was how my horror at 'Fortress church' has been turned around recently. 'A safe stronghold' is 'a fortress church'. That's a good thing. Nothing unclean shall enter it - as that ancient epistle Revelation has it at the end of the story. And it has walls - 144 cubits high, built of diamond and gold. And it has 12 gates of course - remember that amazing Chanticleer song. And the gates are never shut by day and there is no night there. So much for sleep!<br /><br />When I was in Jamaica, all the stores had barriers. The cashier was like those in an old bank - perhaps like the teller in a police station here. Protected. Not open. Too much theft and violence in the city.<br /><br />I protested in my heart against the locked doors here - but I drifted away and ignored them - and buzzed the buzzer like Winnie the Pooh at Wol's house, and waited for an answer. Now I could justify, by this random appeal to Revelation, a book outside my knowledge and area of study, that the fortress can stand. God builds walls. The ones who enter the open gate should not be afraid for their safety. The unclean must be cleansed - hard though this is - and so full of pitfalls. Strange - there is 'an inside' and 'an outside'. <br /><br />Even Yahweh does not want to walk around the camp and put his foot in a mess. (Deuteronomy 23:13-14) Perhaps we should give everyone a shovel. But I find I could build a wall as required. Much as I can rail against self-protection. If there is no home left, there is no place for the necessary cleansing and the positive therapeutic value. Safety is the other side of welcome.Bob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-66241463963801502202019-08-01T17:14:16.939+01:002019-08-01T17:14:16.939+01:00I have to admit, that while watching your Marriage...I have to admit, that while watching your Marriage via the Facebook link how much I enjoyed it, but it was when you got to The Lord's Prayer I thought this is wrong its not the Lord's Prayer I know, it was some while later I realised it was the modern version and I went looking for my Common Worship and I found the modern version as I am so used to using the Traditional version which if i am honest I do prefer, I can not remember the last time i said the modern version it certainly made me stop and think as I know i am guilty of saying the communion service parrot fashion due to my long service as an Altar Server like a lot of people are as i do not always have a book in front of me mr freeze59https://www.blogger.com/profile/11349409041152538006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-46597688004680949212019-07-26T07:13:25.460+01:002019-07-26T07:13:25.460+01:00You are not alone among the clergy in blogging - t...You are not alone among the clergy in blogging - though many come and go. Your colleague Christopher Page has recently stopped - whether for a while or for ever - who can say?<br /><br />I have blogged and written since the late 1990s from before blogging software was invented. I am on a bit of a hiatus too, having finished the daily blogging I did while translating the Hebrew Bible. Since then I have started composing based on the melodies of the accents of the Hebrew Bible. Crazy! I should take some refresher courses in composition first - don't you think! My training is 50+ years old though I have dabbled in composition over the years. (David S had a look at some of my music - you can ask him if you wish.)<br /><br />One very thoughtful blogger (blogging less often since tragedy hit his family) is Jim Gordon (not Anglican!) e.g. livingwittily.typepad.com/my_weblog/2019/07/some-important-metaphors-in-the-moral-grammar-book.html". I occasionally share his posts to Facebook. Another retired pastor is Tim Bulkeley from NZ - has several blogs including the amusingly named sansblogue. He too is blogging less these days.<br /><br />Anyway - good luck and good writing. And may your visit to India be the eye and ear opener it is bound to be!Bob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-29845595703665944132017-08-25T12:03:16.269+01:002017-08-25T12:03:16.269+01:00What you're saying is completely true. I know ...What you're saying is completely true. I know that everybody must say the same thing, but I just think that you put it in a way that everyone can understand. I'm sure you'll reach so many people with what you've got to say.<br />Digital Marketing Agency Delhihttp://www.defuzed.in/digital-marketingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-90500267806961247692017-07-27T07:11:14.136+01:002017-07-27T07:11:14.136+01:00Yet - it's all in one letter, the connector va...<i>Yet</i> - it's all in one letter, the connector vav, a vertical line, ו. And it is incredibly flexible as a connector - <i>and, or, but, when, then, yet, so</i> and so on. What does a vav mean? There are almost no words stems in Hebrew that begin with vav, except the word vav itself which we could gloss as <i>hook</i>. But there are over 51,000 words in the Hebrew Bible, about 1/6th, that begin with vav, that ubiquitous connector. Here are some of the counts - very rough - of what I have done so far: not counting the times I leave out the gloss for this letter entirely.<br />24131 and <br />963 but <br />494 so <br />357 or <br />299 then <br />253 that <br />65 when <br />60 for <br />55 nor <br />22 as <br />20 yet <br />9 though <br />8 while <br /><br />a sampling...<br /><br />The Psalm I think is a kind of piling on of rhythm, reflecting the continuous effort of G-d to initiate and continue the process of instruction to the recalcitrant human. I rendered it as 'and' in this case, neither so not yet.<br /><br />This is early work from probably 5 years ago - I would make some slight differences today I think - but maybe just another 'and' or comma<br /><br />18<br />And they tempted God in their heart,<br />by asking food for themselves.<br />19<br />They spoke against God.<br />They said, Is God able,<br />to arrange a table in the wilderness?<br />20C<br />Hey! he struck a rock and out gushed water and the torrents overflowed.<br />Is he even able to give bread?<br />Or will he prepare meat for his people?<br />21<br />So Yahweh heard and he was furious, and fire was ignited in Jacob,<br />and even anger ascended against Israel.<br />22C<br />For they did not believe in God,<br />and they did not trust in his salvation.<br />23<br />For he had commanded the skies from above,<br />and the gateways of heaven he opened.<br />24<br />And he rained on them manna to eat,<br />and the grain of heaven he gave to them.<br /><br />25B<br />The bread of the mighty each ate.<br />Victuals he sent among them to satiation.<br />26<br />He sprung an east wind in the heavens,<br />and drove a south wind in his strength.<br />27<br />And he rained meat on them as dust,<br />and winged fowl as the sand of the seas.<br />28g<br />And he made it fall within their camp,<br />surrounding their dwellings.<br />29<br />And they ate and were sated utterly,<br />and he let their desires come to them.Bob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-26090867457640548942017-07-04T01:03:35.664+01:002017-07-04T01:03:35.664+01:00Sorry - should have put in the link https://meafar...Sorry - should have put in the link https://meafar.blogspot.ca/2017/06/genesis-50.html is where I deal with the translation problem. The KJV reduces no less than 6 differing Hebrew stems to punishment.Bob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-34706958974930779452017-07-04T01:01:44.758+01:002017-07-04T01:01:44.758+01:00Curiously enough, I had also posted on punishment ...Curiously enough, I had also posted on punishment a few days ago. In my first 56% of the Bible read in Hebrew, rendered in English, I have not once used the word punish. I conclude 'no wonder the Christian world is distorted by the notion of penal substitution. But it will not do to stop there, or say 'this Scripture is not for me'. The death of Jesus is my salvation and my rebirth. It is similar to this akedah story of Abraham that we are reading, Hebrew roots of Christian sacrifice. Without this, there is nothing. The Abraham-God (and it is God not Yahweh) is the cornerstone for the cornerstone. We are thorough sinners (as is Abraham) but I agree that punish is the wrong metaphor for the solution. Absolutely wrong. The model of punishment lead directly to the holocaust, not just to the near holocaust of Isaac or Ishmael. There must be a power behind our lives or we will succumb to the state of sin we find ourselves in. That power for Abraham is in God's command and his hearing it. It may be that we would be better off without God. But the impact of this story like that of Job cannot be removed from our mix.Bob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-87850794122301599882017-07-03T22:26:41.403+01:002017-07-03T22:26:41.403+01:00I read this yesterday in response to Greg Jenks po...I read this yesterday in response to Greg Jenks posting from Australia - you can find my reading <a href="https://meafar.blogspot.ca/2017/07/genesis-22.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>.Bob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-50075790896987371972016-03-28T20:22:00.864+01:002016-03-28T20:22:00.864+01:00Exactly! There is a time to dissect, disentangle a...Exactly! There is a time to dissect, disentangle and discern what we really believe and sing it - and there is a time to sink into the cloud of witnesses and sing what has been given to us. May we never insist on only one or the other. Otherwise, we slowly but surely begin to replace Christ with ourselves.<br />Linnea Goodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07816630824971391658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-63424533525736759382016-03-19T23:32:41.338+00:002016-03-19T23:32:41.338+00:00More to say. Well done. The many facets of atoneme...More to say. Well done. The many facets of atonement will prove their worth. Bob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-42995100425631421662016-03-16T14:00:19.156+00:002016-03-16T14:00:19.156+00:00Lord of the Dance, Jerusalem and ????There is a Gr...Lord of the Dance, Jerusalem and ????There is a Green Hill?<br />Hear, hear. You have put into words so eloquently that which I could never do over here in Blighty, where the banal, literal and frankly uninspiring seem to not only prevail but grow. Salva me, O Christe! Added to your points is the fact that if children are never exposed to older verse or language, they will struggle when studying the likes of Shakespeare, Chaucer, Coleridge, Keates. Let's not deprive them of their rich heritage for the sake of literality!Judy Micknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-19954341303295163782015-04-19T11:23:06.589+01:002015-04-19T11:23:06.589+01:00I am very much moved and interested by your accoun...I am very much moved and interested by your account of this reconciliation.<br /><br />Thanks.Montaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00017648070522030951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-72241867462087218382015-04-01T23:14:20.568+01:002015-04-01T23:14:20.568+01:00Thanks Eloise - apologies for leaving it a while t...Thanks Eloise - apologies for leaving it a while to respond! I agree, I think Scripture challenges us with it's not always PC language, and calls us to confront the violence within us. Jesus' example of turn the other cheek seems to challenge the assumption that - on a personal level - force is ever justified (there's a whole other conversation to be had with regards to the wider issues of pacifism in that respect). To use force, it could be argued, even to save one's lunch, is to buy into a cycle of violence that perhaps itself needs confronting....? I know reality doesn't fit comfortably with that, but it seems that some of the greatest examples from history, including Jesus himself, of peacemakers didn't resist the violence that was visited upon him...Alastairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00117533964126439556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-60950570056651899912015-02-12T02:24:47.295+00:002015-02-12T02:24:47.295+00:00In my studies of Compassionate Communication some ...In my studies of Compassionate Communication some years ago with Sister Judy, one of the Sisters of St Ann who was also the Chaplin at William Head Penitentiary we learned compassionate ways of expressing appropriate boundaries.There were men from the prison in the class. I am so grateful they were there because we also learned that they needed to invoke the protective use of force. Sometimes language is not enough and one has to hit somebody or have their lunch taken. So perhaps a Bible without violence and militarism would not be a true reflection of the realities of life. Just a thought! Eloise Gladdersnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-23202204239564118282014-12-03T21:10:11.995+00:002014-12-03T21:10:11.995+00:00I heard you deliver this but did not get to see yo...I heard you deliver this but did not get to see you on the way out after the service. I have just listened to it again.<br />I bet this was a struggle to write but I cannot better the description of my neighbour - fairly new to the church - in the 3rd pew who leaned over and said "Bloody brilliant."<br />Chris Evenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-27118691155831550632014-11-07T06:04:23.619+00:002014-11-07T06:04:23.619+00:00If we have faith , we trust God and if we trust Go...If we have faith , we trust God and if we trust God we have everything in life. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and words of wisdom.<br /> <br /><a href="http://www.triciajoy.com" rel="nofollow">arci</a><br /><br />www.triciajoy.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-22182920484519464662014-09-20T02:22:04.646+01:002014-09-20T02:22:04.646+01:00Thanks Bob, great comment. I find myself challenge...Thanks Bob, great comment. I find myself challenged by the violence and militarism throughout Scripture and the language we use in the church. It's an ongoing question and something I need to address in myself, and my understanding of the God of love I understand to be revealed through Scripture!Alastairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00117533964126439556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-56555819535007381942014-09-19T15:58:02.058+01:002014-09-19T15:58:02.058+01:00Thanks for this, Alastair (a typo)!
Thanks for this, Alastair (a typo)!<br />Bob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-34513851172634855262014-09-19T15:56:55.405+01:002014-09-19T15:56:55.405+01:00Thanks for the Alastair, It parallels my comments ...Thanks for the Alastair, It parallels my comments on the book Religion without God by Ronald Dworkin I reviewed (after a fashion) recently, but you are clearer in your outline of the issue.<br /><br />From within the church, I am asked the hard question on violence in the psalms again and again. I get such questions from the lectionary when we leave out the real corkers. I get the question from the prayer book when it leaves out Psalm 58, most of Psalm 109, and the last two verses of Psalm 137. I get the question from priests who leave out further verses so as not to disturb the congregation. I get it directly from priest and people.<br /><br />It is a similar problem to the cherry picking that the non-religious spiritual being can do - but they too are hit with violence and they call it an act of God - the insurance tern you cannot protect yourself from.<br /><br />There is indeed, as you note, a wider story of which we (within Christendom) are a part, whether we are inside or outside the current church. <br /><br />The question of how we deal with violence focuses us on the reality of violence in our society and in our foreign policies. <br /><br />The story in the Psalms is the history of Israel, a place which still figures large in the religious flareups that we hear of in the media.<br /><br />When I look at the violence I am dependent on for my current life in the world (police, army, US drone strokes, etc), I wonder how the modern poet will drink the cup to the dregs (Psalm 75) so that the fire-brands of bow, shield, sword, and battle can be shattered (Psalm 76) and enemy and avenger be given rest (Sabbath) (Psalm 8).<br /><br />Without the violent passages in the Psalms, I could not be assured that my own violence is dealt with by offering it even from within my own weakness as part of the burnt offering and ascension that is ours in Christ. I tried to express this in the introduction to my book (page 15): <br /><br />"If one believes in the nature of God, say for analogy, the infinite, as opposed to our own perceived finitude, then when one prays in, to, or from such a presence, it becomes impossible to take violence into one’s own hands."<br /><br />This is not an ad - but thanks for the stimulus - again.Bob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-44723260120996625752014-09-13T22:27:08.338+01:002014-09-13T22:27:08.338+01:00You have hit the nail on the head. One of the reas...You have hit the nail on the head. One of the reasons that I really love your preaching is that you don't just speak, you communicate. That means listening as well as talking - back and forth. You also don't limit it to Sunday in the pulpit. You blog, you write, you use social media, you chat, you do it all. In other words, you live with us not above us. Result -- we grow.<br /><br />You are on the right path, Alastair. Keep it up, and so will I.Cannukhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17007000434271046821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-41676942418655699032014-06-05T01:52:35.075+01:002014-06-05T01:52:35.075+01:00I have no trouble with Unicode Greek or Hebrew or ...I have no trouble with Unicode Greek or Hebrew or anything else in blogger - it should work fine. If you're stuck, there may be some work-arounds.Bob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7902992.post-38074886508026357982014-06-04T15:38:05.567+01:002014-06-04T15:38:05.567+01:00It's timely given this week's reading from...It's timely given this week's reading from Numbers 11. The juxtaposition of quail with the sharing of Moses' spirit with the 70 elders underlines how difficult the pastoral role is. I did a little meditation on the music in the Hebrew text here. http://meafar.blogspot.ca/2014/06/pentecost-dove-and-quail.htmlBob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.com