On Jameis Winston’s future – Part II

Jameis Winston Is Not A Victim

Jameis Winston … On the long road to redemption?

I ended Jameis Winston’s future (Part I) with a discussion of the article Jameis Winston Is Not A Victim. That post discussed the “Not A Victim” writer’s saying the odds of being falsely accused of rape “are basically the same as the odds that you or someone in your family will be struck by lightning.” This post will start with that writer’s chastising Winston for saying the “only thing as vicious as rape is falsely accusing someone of rape.” (Note the “cottage industry of Jameis-bashing” mentioned in “Part I.”)

Note also that Winston said these words at the end of a long “student conduct” hearing, which itself was preceded a year before by a criminal investigation by State Attorney Willie Meggs.

See Jameis Winston’s hearing concludes; ruling expected in 2-3 weeks, which noted, “Over two days and approximately 12 hours, former Florida Supreme Court [Chief Justice] Major Harding heard testimony from witnesses presented by the university, Winston and the woman. Armed with that and voluminous records provided by FSU … Harding now must decide if Winston is responsible of any of four violations of the code of conduct.” (He was cleared.)

Leaving aside the heat of the moment factor, Not A Victim said “Winston’s statement is truly remarkable in its self-victimization.” It noted that despite “very good odds that Winston is guilty,” he is “projected as a first round draft pick in the NFL draft, where he’d be guaranteed millions of dollars.” Thus the writer concluded, “I ask you, is it fair for Jameis Winston to draw an equivalence between himself and a rape victim?”

Let’s start off with the fact that under Florida law, such rape is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years prison. The judge is required by law to impose a minimum sentence of 34½ months in prison, and must also impose “sex offender probation:”

A person convicted of Sexual Battery or Rape would not only be placed on sex offender probation, but would also be declared a sexual offender… As a result, they would be required to comply with sexual offender registration laws in Florida and throughout the United States for the remainder of their lives.

See Florida Sex Crimes: Sexual Battery or Rape. So the fact that Winston didn’t end up in prison for 15 years, and have to spend the rest of his life after that trying to comply with the mandates of sex-offender probation apparently didn’t factor into the Not A Victim equation.

But what does the Bible say? (Remember, we’re trying to make this a Bible-teaching moment!)

For one thing, there’s Number Nine of the Ten Commandments. See Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The Hebrew Bible contains a number prohibitions of false witness, lying, spreading false reports, etc… [W]here false testimony was suspected, the judges were to make a thorough investigation, and if false testimony were proven, the false witness was to receive the punishment he had intended to bring on the person falsely accused. For example, since murder was a capital crime, giving false testimony in a murder case was subject to the death penalty. Those eager to receive or listen to false testimony were also subject to punishment.

Emphasis added. (Which raises the question: How many people “eager to listen to and condemn” – based son what they hear in the media – now face such punishment?)

Note that rape itself isn’t mentioned in the Ten Commandments. (Possibly because in Bible times women were treated as chattel, but that too is a “whole ‘nother subject.”)

Note too the “equal punishment clause” was based on Deuteronomy 19:16-21:

If a malicious witness comes forward to accuse someone of wrongdoing … the judges shall make a thorough inquiry. If the witness is a false witness … then you shall do to the false witness just as the false witness had meant to do to the other… Show no pity…

(Emphasis added.) Accordingly, reasonable people could say Winston was eminently correct in claiming that being falsely accused is as bad as rape itself. “The Bible says so.” Under the code of the Bible, the two crimes were punished equally. The “false accuser” got the same punishment that he – or she – intended to bring on the person falsely accused.

So, we were talking about the four main themes of the Bible: creation, sin, judgment and redemption. We covered the creation and sin, but we’re not quite finished with judgment.

On that note, lots of people got a big kick out of Winston and his team being humiliated in the first round of the college football playoffs on January 1st. See for example The internet explodes with hilarious Jameis Winston memes, and also Jameis Winston May Have Lost The Rose Bowl, But His Memes Won the Internet. The latter site noted, “The talented, troublesome Florida State star was front and center in his team’s College Football Playoff meltdown at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.”

On the other hand, there are still those who think Jameis is a person worth saving…

On that note – and in case you were wondering – I’m biased.

My writings on FSU football make up an entire category: “God’s Favorite Team”. I’ve covered Winston’s legal troubles in prior posts like On “guilty until proven innocent”. I’ve also covered the current cult of vigilante justice in “Gone Girl” movie review and Media Frenzy.

For better or worse, Jameis Winston is larger than life. And so, for better or worse he has a chance to be a great role model in the future. For that to happen, there must be redemption.

I happen to believe he’ll work out that redemption, in the fullness of time.

He’s a talented young man, full of testosterone as young men tend to be. He’s brash, cocky and full of himself, which of course annoys the hell out of the losers among us. And he has that rare and highly marketable ability to bring out the best in his teammates on the football field.

And so, how might that redemption occur? It could have happened by Jameis staying at FSU, leading an exemplary life over the next year and beyond, leading his team to another national title, but that never was likely. He has now “declared for the NFL,” and may end up drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (They have the first-round pick.)

That – in my humble opinion – would be a perfect fit for both parties. (Reasons include but aren’t limited to the fact his on-field exploits could again be described by the dulcet tones of Gene Deckerhoff. He does the radio play-by-play for both FSU football and the Buccaneers.) Then too the 2014 Bucs were “on the cusp.” Despite going 2-14, they were in most games. They lost four games by seven points or less, five by three points or less, and one by one point.

Winston would almost certainly help put the Bucs “over the hump.”

But wait! Winning alone still wouldn’t convince the doubters and haters among us…

For that to happen Jameis would have to give back to the community somehow.

It could be something like Payton Walks! See also FSU helps fan Payton Poulin walk – Tallahassee Democrat and Florida State fan Payton Poulin walks with, inspires Noles.

Those articles were published in December 2014, a day or two before the Rose Bowl debacle that had so many cackling with glee. It seems there was a young man from St. Cloud, who overcame tremendous obstacles just to get admitted to Florida State. As a child he was expected to “be a vegetable” or die at a young age. But he got into FSU, and once there he was adopted by the team; “The Florida State University freshman loves his job cheering on his family. ‘I love the team because they accepted me as a brother,’ said Poulin.”

The “Payton Walks” link shows an “emotional scene at the end of practice as honorary Seminole Payton Poulin was walked from the 50 yard line to the end zone.” And there, in the middle of the crowd of football players stands the tall Number 5, Jameis Winston.

I wonder why there were no cackling internet “memes” about that?

The upper image is courtesy of article Jameis Winston Is Not A Victim.

Re: Gene Deckerhoff. See Gene Deckerhoff (genedeckerhoff.com), and Gene Deckerhoff – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. And for a break from the current FSU drama and a glance back at better times, see also 2013 FSU National Title Final Radio Call – Gene Deckerhoff – YouTube.

The lower image is courtesy of Florida State fan Payton Poulin walks with, inspires Noles, with the caption: “Florida State fan Payton Poulin, who according to media reports suffers from schizencephaly, which is similar to cerebral palsy, walked dozens of yards with the team after Tuesday’s practice. Coach Jimbo Fisher spoke about the touching moment afterward.” The full video shows Payton walking with Jameis Winston holding him up by his left arm.

Going back to the topic of false accusations discussed in “Part I,” see also Community of the Wrongly Accused: Oregon Coach Mark Helfrich Applauded For Disciplining Players Who Taunted Jameis Winston, which noted: “Because of the sexual assault accusation, Winston has been the whipping boy of the media (you may recall Heather Cox of ESPN’s disgraceful ‘gotcha!’ moment; Clay Travis’s disgraceful rush to judgment; and Geraldo’s cherry-picking facts).”

On the matter of such “prophecies,” see New American Standard Bible: “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” But see also Deuteronomy 18:20: “But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”

So this is where I say – along with Ben Johnson as Sergeant Tyree in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon – “Of course I’m just guessin’ you understand…”

Finally, note the story in the USA TODAY: Latest World and US News – USATODAY.com, for Friday, January 9, 2015, Armour: Hernandez saga a warning athletes should heed. The story begins, “The Aaron Hernandez trial should be required viewing for every athlete who thinks the rules don’t apply.” Ms. Armour did mention Winston, but relegated him to a virtual footnote:

What incentive was there for Jameis Winston to act like an adult when Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher was there to defend him at every turn? Marshall Henderson’s boorishness was tolerated so long as he was keeping Ole Miss in contention for a coveted NCAA tournament bid. And on and on and on it goes…

Who knows? It may be progress when Jameis-bashing is moved from front-page news to being sandwiched between Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, Adrian Peterson and Johnny Manziel on the one hand, and Marshall Henderson on the other. Armour also described Cam Newton’s post-college-football saga: “Newton would leave Florida … and eventually wind up at Auburn, where he won the Heisman Trophy and the national title. He would be the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NFL draft and has been, by all accounts, a model citizen.” For more see Nancy Armour – USA Today.

The same issue had another story on 1-C, Ohio State, Oregon recover quickly after major NCAA sanctions. See Dan Wolken – USATODAY. It may be that – for whichever team wins the national title – it’s already started! On a possibly related note see Enough Celebrity Bashing! Psychology Today, with the subtitle, “Let’s stop holding everyone but ourselves to impossible standards.”

“Jameis Winston latest news”

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09-14-15-Winston-Bucs

This post is about Jameis Winston’s future in the NFL.

On February 8, 2015, I edited the title of this post-column – to “Jameis Winston latest news” – in a blatant attempt to get more readers by paraphrasing the first phrase that comes up when you start typing into your search engine, “J-A-M-E-I…” I’ll let you know how that turns out.

Briefly, here’s my prognostication about Jameis’ future: If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft Jameis Winston, they’ll win another Super Bowl within 3 years…

Moving right along, if you mention Jameis Winston – the former quarterback for FSU – what comes to mind? One thing that comes to my mind are the following four words:

Creation. Sin. Judgment. Redemption.

These are the four main themes of the Bible. In the saga of Winston’s college football career at Florida State, we’ve only seen the first three play out. So far. So: Let’s make this a Bible-teaching moment! But first, note that part of his “redemption” has started, at least as that term is defined by our popular culture. Aside from the “JW” categories noted below, Winston has spawned another new cottage industry. Just type in “jameis winston greeting cards.” You’ll get a host of new sites exploiting his image, like “Jameis Winston Winner’s Smile” Greeting Cards & Postcards, Jameis Winston: T-Shirts & Hoodies, and even the slightly humorous Rottenecards – Went to Red Lobster for Crabfest….Jameis Winston beat me to it. Simply put: He’s become good for the economy! (As in the cottage industry of “Jameis-bashing…”) But enough about the shallow world of popular culture. (See The shallow world of Popular Culture. – The Escapist.) Let’s get back to the subject at hand.

So again: Let’s make this a Bible-teaching moment!

Before we get into that, there may be some who ask: “What the heck does college football have to do with a Bible blog?” Simply this. I started the Mystic Quest that led to this blog in an effort to help my favorite team win football games. That is, in the summer of 1992 I started reading the Bible on a daily basis, using the Daily Office. (See WHAT’S A DOR?) I also started trying to perfect the “ritual sacrifice” that would also help my team win. In that I was not unlike Moses holding his arms up at the Battle of Rephidim. (See On “God’s Favorite Team” – Part II, and also Exodus 17 – Bible Gateway, and especially verses 11-13.) 22 years and 10 trips through the Bible later – and 33 to 40 trips through the Psalms and Gospels as well – I’m still at it. I’m still learning spiritual lessons through that Quest…

* * * *

But let’s get back to the Bible-teaching moment.

Creation is about “how we got here.” In Winston’s case, we got here when Jameis burst onto the college football scene in 2013 as a redshirt freshman. He then led a dominating FSU team to a national title win in a game of the century against Auburn, one short year ago.

But as we all know, “there’s got to be a morning after…” Put another way, after every mountain-top experience there’s usually “a valley experience… We can’t stay on the mountain top all the time.” See The Valley Experience, which added, “they return back to the valley of their world [and] come under attack from the enemy.” (But that’s a whole ‘nother post-subject entirely…) Which leads to the second great theme of the Bible: Sin. Sin?

By now the American public has been inundated with Winston’s real and imagined sins. Start typing “J-a-m-e-i” in your computer. You’ll get at least the following results: Jameis Winston latest news, Jameis Winston hearing, Jameis Winston accuser, Jameis Winston fumble, Jameis Winston memes, Jameis Winston hearing results, and Jameis Winston rape case. An example of the last category includes: Jameis Winston Is Not A Victim – Deadspin. The writer gave facts and figures ostensibly showing – in essence – that “women never lie about rape.” He added, “one must be extraordinarily unlucky to be falsely accused of rape.” He then said, “the odds that you will be falsely accused of rape are basically the same as the odds that you or someone in your family will be struck by lightning.”

Really? Former football player Brian Banks might have a different take. He served five years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit. See Exonerated Brian Banks signs with Atlanta Falcons – CNN.com, which noted that Banks was only released from prison after his accuser “recanted.” Then there was the “Duke lacrosse case” in 2006. See Duke Lacrosse Player Still Outrunning His Past | Vanity Fair, which described the lingering after-effects of such a “scandal,” then noted:

When three Duke University lacrosse players were falsely accused of rape, in 2006, the media descended on Durham, North Carolina, quickly turning the case into a story of race and privilege. Most of the country all but assumed their guilt…

Some things never change, and it seems that popular “assuming guilt” is one of them. (But here’s a thought. As noted in Part II, the Bible punishes both those who make false accusations and “those eager to receive or listen to false testimony.” The Bible does not seem to punish those who “believe in their fellow man” and/or give him the benefit of doubt…) See also Duke lacrosse case – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, about “what proved to be a false accusation of rape made against three members of the men’s lacrosse team at Duke University… The fallout from the case’s resolution led to public discussion of reverse racism, among other things, and the resignation and disbarment of lead prosecutor Michael Nifong.” Then there was the scandal that came up just a month ago about the University of Virginia. See A Rape on Campus – Wikipedia. An article in the December 2014 Rolling Stone “alleged a vicious gang rape at a fraternity at the University of Virginia against a victim identified as ‘Jackie.'” However, other journalists started finding “significant discrepancies,” after which Rolling Stone had to issue multiple apologies, especially about it’s “vetting:”

The story was included in a Columbia Journalism Review feature, “The Worst Journalism of 2014,” where it was described as winning “this year’s media-fail sweepstakes.”

See also 8 Campus Rape Hoaxes Like UVA Rape Story | The Daily Caller: “With very little effort at all, The Daily Caller has found eight twisted, totally false and especially astonishing rape hoaxes proffered over the years by female college students.” Of course the writer of Jameis Winston Is Not A Victim is entitled to his opinion. However, readily-available data show otherwise. At the very least, reasonable people could disagree. Beyond all that, the Bible tells us such false accusations go at least as far back as 3,500 years ago. That was the time of Joseph, son of Israel, the Old Testament patriarch “formerly known as Jacob.” See Potiphar – Wikipedia, which told what happened after Joseph’s brothers faked his death but actually sold him into slavery in Egypt. In the fullness of time the slave Joseph was bought by Potiphar, captain of the Pharoah’s palace guard:

Potiphar makes Joseph the head of his household, but Potiphar’s wife, furious at Joseph for resisting her attempts to seduce him, accuses him falsely of attempted rape. Potiphar casts Joseph into prison, from where he later comes to the notice of Pharaoh through his ability to interpret the dreams of other prisoners.

See also Joseph (patriarch) – Wikipedia: “Angered by his running away from her, she made a false claim that he tried to rape her, and thus assured his imprisonment. (Genesis 39:1-20).” The incident proved fertile ground for artistic minds, if not license – especially in the 1600s – as seen in the image below. (One of the few not too “racy” for a blog like this.) One point to be gleaned could be: this was “all part of God’s plan.” Joseph eventually found redemption. And who knows? Maybe the same will be true of Jameis…

This essay is continued in On Jameis Winston’s future – Part II. That post will expand on the fourth-of-four great themes of the Bible – redemption – and on the “prophecy” that if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft Winston, they’ll win a Super Bowl in three years.

The upper image is courtesy of ‘Jameis Winston is a bust’ and other Week 1 overreactions in the NFL. I added this photo on October 9, 2015, along with the article-link.

Re: “Four central themes.” See Course Content, under The First Year – The Old Testament, line 2, “The Book of Genesis – The Themes of Creation, Sin, Judgment and Redemption.” See also The Central Theme of the Bible – Covenant Worldview Institute. Re: “Creation” definition. See How did we get here? – Christian Apologetics and Research.

Re: “Winston’s real and imagined sins.” The most infamous charge involved an alleged rape in 2012. On or about December 5 2013, State Attorney Willie Meggs announced no charges would be filed. He did not feel “we had sufficient evidence to go forward to trial to prove it was not consensual.” See Cleared a year ago, developments threaten to envelop Jameis Winston. Similarly – and as noted in Part II – on or about December 21, 2014, former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Major B. Harding concluded a “student conduct” hearing. His finding? “The preponderance of the evidence has not shown that you are responsible for any of the charged violations of the code.” See FSU hearing clears quarterback Jameis Winston – CNN.com.

Some further FYI: 1) Willie Meggs began his career in 1965 as a police officer, moved up to deputy-sheriff sergeant, then to Invesigator for the Tallahassee Police Department. He was first elected State Attorney in 1985 and has been serving ever since. 2) Major B. Harding, former Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, was born in1935. He received his “undergraduate and law degrees from Wake Forest University. He also holds a Master of Laws in Judicial Process from the University of Virginia.” He began serving as a judge in 1968 in the juvenile court. See State Attorney’s Office, 2nd Judicial Circuit. See also Major B. Harding – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Major B. Harding, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and The Justice Major B. Harding American Inn of Court, which noted:

American Inns of Court (AIC) are designed to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar. An American Inn of Court is an amalgam of judges, lawyers, and in some cases, law professors and law students. Each Inn meets approximately once a month to hold programs and discussions on matters of ethics, skills and professionalism.

3) The preponderance of evidence standard is met “if the proposition is more likely to be true than not true. Effectively, the standard is satisfied if there is greater than 50 percent chance that the proposition is true.” See Legal burden of proof – Wikipedia. 4) Misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance are types of failure to discharge public obligations existing by common law, custom, or statute. See Misfeasance – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Under Florida Statute 838.022, “Official misconduct” is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. See Chapter 838 Section 022 – 2011 Florida Statutes, and also Fifty State Survey of Official Misconduct Statutes. Re: “Morning after.” See also The Morning After (Maureen McGovern song) – Wikipedia. Re: Brian Banks. See also Brian Banks (American football) – Wikipedia, which noted:

Banks was a standout high school football star at Polytechnic High School (Poly) in Long Beach, California, and in 2002 had verbally committed to play for USC. After being falsely accused of rape by a classmate, he spent more than five years in prison, but had his conviction overturned in 2012 after his accuser was secretly recorded admitting she had fabricated the story. (E.A.)

Thus the “recanted” in quotation marks. Re: “Vetting.” See Vetting – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: “To vet was originally a horse-racing term, referring to the requirement that a horse be checked for health and soundness by a veterinarian before being allowed to race. Thus, it has taken the general meaning ‘to check.'”

The lower image is courtesy of Potiphar – Wikipedia. The caption: “Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, by Guido Reni 1630.” The point being that Potiphar’s wife made a false accusation of rape, and that despite his being innocent, Joseph got thrown into prison.

On the 12 Days of Christmas

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“Twelfth Night (The King Drinks)…”

The Scribe left town at 5:00 on the afternoon of Sunday December 21, thinking that he had already published this post on the “12 Days of Christmas.” But somewhere along the line he dropped the ball – metaphorically or otherwise – and here it is, Sunday, January 4th.

So here in its original form is the post I planned to publish two weeks ago…

* * * *

I’m heading north to face the icy arctic blasts of Yankee-land for Christmas. I need to cover the week or so until my return, so here’s an ode to the “12 days of Christmas.” That’s both a festive Christian season and title of a host of songs and spin-offs (including one on a Mustang GT):

The Twelve Days of Christmas is the festive Christian season, beginning on Christmas Day (25 December), that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, as the Son of God. This period is also known as Christmastide… The Feast of the Epiphany is on 6 January [and] celebrates the visit of the Wise Men (Magi) and their bringing of gifts to the child Jesus. In some traditions, the feast of Epiphany and Twelfth Day overlap.

See Twelve days of Christmas, which is included within the article The Twelve Days of Christmas (song) – Wikipedia. The song began as an English Christmas Carol – thought to be of French origin – first published in 1780. It’s a “cumulative song,” meaning each verse “is built on top of the previous verses.” Each verse describes a gift from “my true love” on one of the 12 days of Christmas. And as most people know – by hearing them ad nauseum starting weeks before Thanksgiving – there are “many variations in the lyrics.”

One common theory is that the original lyrics were part of a “secret Catholic code:”

In 1979, a Canadian hymnologist, Hugh D. McKellar, published an article, “How to Decode the Twelve Days of Christmas”, claiming that [the] lyrics were intended as a catechism song to help young Catholics learn their faith… McKellar offered no evidence for his claim and subsequently admitted that the purported associations were his own invention. The idea was further popularized by a Catholic priest, Fr. Hal Stockert, in an article he wrote in 1982… In 1987 and 1992, Fr. James Gilhooley, chaplain of Mount Saint Mary College of Newburgh, New York, repeated these claims. None of the enumerated items would distinguish Catholics from Protestants, and so would hardly need to be secretly encoded.

See Twelve Days (above), and also 12 Things You Might Not Know About “The Twelve Days”. The latter noted the story that “from the 16th to the 19th century, when being a Catholic was a crime in Protestant England,” Catholic children used the song to learn their faith.

But for one thing, all 12 gifts in the code – “the books of the Bible, the six days of creation, etc.” – were revered by Protestants as much as they were by Catholics. “For another thing, this rumor seems to have popped up in the last 25 years, and then spread like wildfire, as such things do, on the interwebs [sic], without reference to any original sources.” (On a related noted, see On “Gone Girl” and Lazy Cusses – Part I, about things “spreading like wildfire” in today’s media, with the Biblical example of the Apostle Paul almost being lynched by rioters in Jerusalem.)

I discussed the festival of the 12 Days of Christmas back on November 21, in On coming home from a pilgrimage and the coming holidays. That post included such topics as the “old-time winter festival that started on Halloween and ends on January 6, also called Plough Monday.” It also discussed the fact that Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night “expanded on the musical interludes and riotous disorder expected of the occasion,” that is, the “occasion of the ‘drunken revelry’ of 12th Night,” as shown by the King drinks painting above.

So here’s wishing you a happy and prosperous 12th Night, Plough Monday, and/or whole New Year!

“Plough Monday,” which ends the full Season of Christmas, on January 6…

The upper image is courtesy of The Twelve days of Christmas, with caption, “Twelfth Night (The King Drinks) by David Teniers c. 1634-1640.”

The lower image is courtesy of Plough Monday – The Hymns and Carols of Christmas. See also Plough Monday – Wikipedia.

* On the subject of meditating on the Bible, see for example Psalm 1:2, “Their delight is in the law of the Lord, and they meditate on His law day and night;” Psalm 77:12, “I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds;” Psalm 119:15, “I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways;” Psalm 119:23, “The evil have been sitting and plotting against me, but I have been meditating upon your commandments;” and Psalm 119:48, “I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.”

Incidentally, Psalm 119 – where three of the five quotes above came from – “is the longest psalm as well as the longest chapter in the Bible… It is the prayer of one who delights in and lives by the Torah, the sacred law. With its 176 verses, Psalm 119 has more verses than 14 Old Testament Books and 17 New Testament Books.” See Psalm 119 – Wikipedia.

Sources for this post include Twelve Days of Christmas (song) – Wikipedia and The Twelve days of Christmas added that many different saint feast days fall within the twelve days of Christmas, “but they are not part of the Twelve Days themselves… St. Stephen’s Day, for example, is 26 December in the Western Church and 27 December in the Eastern Church. 28 December is Childermas/Feast of the Holy Innocents.” In Great Britain and it’s “former colonies, 26 December is also known as Boxing Day, a secular holiday.” Finally, the “12 Days” are celebrated differently throughout the world: “Some give gifts only on Christmas Day, some only on Twelfth Night, and some each of the twelve nights.”

See also December solstice – Time and Date: “Even Christmas celebrations are closely linked to the observance of the December solstice.” For example, “Although winter was regarded as the season of dormancy, darkness and cold, the coming of lighter days after the winter solstice brought on a more festive mood. To many people, this return of the light was a reason to celebrate that nature’s cycle was continuing.” Further, “Some believe that celebrating the birth of the ‘true light of the world’ was set in synchronization with the December solstice because from that point onwards, the days began to have more daylight in the Northern Hemisphere.” Note too that the term Yule “may have derived from the Norse word jól, referring to the pre-Christian winter solstice festival.”

And finally – for the sake of completeness – see Jeff Foxworthy – Redneck 12 Days Of Christmas Lyrics, and/or 12 Redneck Days of Christmas by Jeff Foxworthy – YouTube.

On the readings for December 21

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The “Annunciation by El Greco,” subject of today’s Gospel…

In this regular feature I meditate* on Bible readings for the Sunday coming up, as determined by the “RCL.” Those readings for Sunday December 21 – the Fourth Sunday of Advent – are 2d Samuel 7:1-11;16, followed by what would normally be the psalm-reading; in this case either Canticle 15 (the Magnificat) or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26.

For more on those psalm-choices, see On the psalms up to December 21. The New Testament reading is Romans 16:25-27, followed by the Gospel, Luke 1:26-38. The full readings are at Fourth Sunday of Advent. Here are some highlights.

As to the First and Second Books of Samuel, the International Bible Commentary (IBC) noted they covered the same time period as First and Second Kings, but with different emphases. Second Samuel follows the death of King Saul and the rise of David as King of Israel.

Today’s reading is about “the latest” in a long line of covenants or contracts between God and His Chosen People. The contracts began with Noah, then on to Abraham, then came up to the Contract with Moses. This latest contract was between God and David (and his line, on to Jesus).

2 Samuel 7:1-11;16 begins with David saying to the prophet Nathan that he will “build a house for God.” (Up to then God had been “staying in a tent” since the days of Moses, metaphorically anyway.) But that’s followed by God appearing to David (via Nathan) and saying – basically – “You think you’re going to build a house for me? I’ll build a house for you!”

I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went… Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

This was a matter of considerable importance. It’s why Matthew and Luke included genealogies to show Jesus was David’s direct descendant. “Both aim to establish a direct descent of Jesus from David, and thus [His] legal inheritance of the throne of Israel.” (Genealogy of Jesus – Wikipedia, which added that the two genealogies appear markedly different.)

Since the reading from Romans 16:25-27 is so short, it can be included in its entirety:

Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith – to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.

For a further explanation of this concluding section of the Epistle see Romans 16 Commentary, which “waxed poetic” on Paul’s unique ability to maintain the difficult balance between being wise as a serpent yet harmless as a dove. (Referring to Matthew 10:16.) Note also that except for the “Amen” at the end, that was all one sentence. (Paul was basically a lawyer – a “rabbinic” lawyer anyway – and certainly wrote like one. See 2 Peter 3:16.)

Turning to the Gospel reading, Luke 1:26-38 tells of the Annunciation, of the angel Gabriel to Mary, that she would bear Jesus. That is, the Annunciation is “the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus, the Son of God, marking his Incarnation.” See Annunciation – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Today’s Gospel begins, “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary….”

Which is of course “the reason for the season!”

The upper image is courtesy of Annunciation – Wikipedia, noted above, which added that the painter El Greco, (born Doménikos Theotokópoulos; 1541-1614) “was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance.” He lived and worked in Spain from 1577 until his death, and his nickname (“The Greek”) was ostensibly a reference to his birth-place, but he was actually “born in Crete, which was at that time part of the Republic of Venice.)

As to the “RCL,” see Revised Common Lectionary, and also Revised Common Lectionary – Wikipedia.

As to both Samuel and Kings, both “sets of two books” were originally one book – actually one “scroll” – and both scrolls were so long that they had to be cut in two, for ease of handling and reading, eventually in the local synagogue. See for example Books of Kings – Wikipedia.

As to Romans 16 Commentary – Commentary Critical and Explanatory, vis-a-vis the New Testament reading for today, the author noted in pertinent part:

In every age … there have been real Christians whose excessive study of the serpent’s wisdom has … at times [excited] the distressing apprehension that they were no better than wolves in sheep’s clothing. Nor is it to be denied, on the other hand, that, either from inaptitude or indisposition … many eminently simple, spiritual, devoted Christians, have throughout life exercised little or no influence on any section of society around them. (E.A.)

Which may be another way of saying: “If it was easy, anybody could do it!!“

The lower image is courtesy of a “fellow blog” at afterthealtarcall.com/2012/12/05/seven-scriptures-to-remind-us-that-Jesus-is-the-Real-Reason-for-the-Season. The blogger (Ms. Holmes) has a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from the University of Georgia, “has lived in the metro Atlanta area since she was six years old and considers Atlanta her home.” Her home page lists professional experience “writing and working for an assortment of newspapers, magazines, websites and other publications,” as well as a commitment to her church, having served as “Sunday School teacher, Vacation Bible School and play director in addition to serving on numerous committees.”

On the psalms up to December 21

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Mary’s Magnificat

“(Le magnificat)”

“James Tissot – Brooklyn Museum”

In this regular feature I focus on the psalm-reading for the upcoming Sunday, and try to post that meditation-on-a-psalm by the Wednesday leading up to that upcoming Sunday. I also meditate on and highlight the psalms in the Daily Office Readings (DORs) for the week leading up to that Wednesday posting. (Confused about “DORs?” See What’s a DOR?)

That means this week the highlighted DOR psalms will be chosen from the The Lectionary – Satucket readings from Wednesday December 10 through Tuesday December 16. (And at this point there may be some readers asking, “What, the psalms again? Why pay so much attention to the Psalms?” For the simple answer to this question, see On the psalms.)

The Lectionary has two choices for Sunday December 21, either Canticle 15 (the Song of Mary also known as The Magnificat) or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26, discussed further below. The DOR psalms are from the readings for Wednesday December 10 up to Tuesday December 16.

Here are some highlights from those past-week Daily Office readings.

From Thursday December 11, Psalm 37:14 and 17: “The Lord laughs at the wicked, because He sees that their day will come,” and “The little that the righteous has is better than great riches of the wicked.” On the note of God having a sense of humor (He “laughs at the wicked”), see On the readings for Pentecost (6/8/14), citing Psalm 104:27: “There move the ships, and there is that Leviathan, which [God] made for the sport of it.”

From Friday December 12, Psalm 31:5: “Into your hands I commend my spirit, for you have redeemed me, O Lord, O God of truth.” Jesus quoted that verse on the cross, at Luke 23:46: “Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When he had said this, he breathed his last.” (See also Acts 7:59.)

The readings for Sunday December 14, included Psalm 63, known to some as “Patton’s psalm,” a psalm at once both “humble and defiant.” See On Patton, Sunday School teacher. They also included Psalm 98:1, “Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things.” On that note see On the DORs for July 20, which asked the musical question:

How can we do greater works than Jesus if we interpret the Bible in a cramped, narrow, strict and/or limiting manner? For that matter, why does the Bible so often tell us to “sing to the Lord a new song?” (For example, Isaiah 42:10 and Psalms 96:1, 98:1, and 144:9.)

Or use the Search-box above right and just type in “sing Lord new song.”

And finally, the DORs for Monday December 15 included Psalm 41:1: “Happy are they who consider the poor and needy! The Lord will deliver them in time of trouble.” Note also the GOD’S WORD® Translation, which reads, “Blessed is the one who has concern for helpless people. The LORD will rescue him in times of trouble.”

Either way, that sentiment is particularly appropriate at this time of year.

As to the psalms for December 21, the first Lectionary choice is Canticle 15, also known as the Song of Mary or the Magnificat, which begins, “My soul doth magnify the Lord…”

As noted in Magnificat – Wikipedia, the text of the canticle is from the Luke 1:46-55, “where it is spoken by the Virgin Mary upon the occasion of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth.” When Mary greeted Elizabeth – “pregnant with the future John the Baptist” – the child (John) moved within Elizabeth’s womb, and when “Elizabeth praises Mary for her faith, Mary sings what is now known as the Magnificat in response:”

Mary’s Magnificat, celebrated only in Luke’s Gospel, [is] distilled from a collection of early Jewish-Christian canticles [and] patterned on the “hymns of praise” in Israel’s Psalter… Mary symbolizes both ancient Israel and the Lucan faith-community as the author/singer of the Magnificat… The canticle echoes several Old Testament biblical passages [including] the Song of Hannah, from the Books of Samuel (1Samuel 2:1-10). Scriptural echoes from the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings complement the main allusions to Hannah’s “magnificat of rejoicing” in l Samuel 2:1-10.

The alternate choice is Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26, which begins in a similar vein: “Your love, O LORD, for ever will I sing; from age to age my mouth will proclaim your faithfulness.”

Psalms 89 – Matthew Henry Commentary summarized Psalm 89 like this:

Many psalms that begin with complaint and prayer end with joy and praise, but this [psalm] begins with joy and praise and ends with sad complaints and petitions… It is uncertain when it was penned; only, in general, that it was at a time when the house of David was woefully eclipsed; some think it was at the time of the captivity of Babylon, when king Zedekiah was insulted over, and abused, by Nebuchadnezzar… (E.A.)

And the International Bible Commentary (IBC) said this psalm illustrates faith’s perplexity: “Nowhere is the paradox of faith and sight, divine promise and human experience, more pronounced.” Further on the IBC said the psalm as a whole alternated the “glorious revelation” of God with the “ugly reality” of everyday life.

But the verses in today’s psalm focus on the positive. Verses 3-4 read: “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn an oath to David my servant: ‘I will establish your line for ever, and preserve your throne for all generations.'” And verses 25-26 close on a positive note for the line of King David (seen below): “I shall make his dominion extend from the Great Sea to the River. He will say to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.'”

The upper image is courtesy of Magnificat – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Re: “Happy are they who consider the poor and needy!” See also Deuteronomy 15:10, Ruth 2:19, Psalm 82:3, Psalm 82:4, Proverbs 14:21, Proverbs 29:7, and Daniel 4:27.

Re: canticle. A”hymn, psalm or other song of praise taken from biblical texts other than the Psalms,” derived from the “Latin canticulum, a diminutive of canticum, ‘song.'” See Canticle – Wikipedia.

The lower image was prompted by the web article King David misunderstood says Yale scholar, with the rest of the headline reading: “Politician, psalmist, adulterer and more.” The Old Testament scholar in question is Doctor Joel Baden, whose work – including his The Historical David: The Real Life of an Invented Hero – “ruined King David” according to some Yale divinity students.

his new book, The Historical David: The Real Life of an Invented Hero, – See more at: http://jonathanmerritt.religionnews.com/2013/10/31/king-david-misunderstood-baden/#sthash.INaBDzx7.dpuf

Politician, psalmist, adulterer and more

Baden said as a result of his research he “found someone more animated than the glorified felt-board action hero many have come to know.” He added that even though David was an authentically-important historical figure who literally changed the course of history, that glorification came at a price: We’ve since lost sight of David as a real-life “living breathing human being” with all our inherent faults and flaws. Baden went on to say of his methods:

The starting point is the biblical text itself. I try to understand not only what the biblical authors were saying, but why they were saying it. That is to say, what was their purpose in writing these stories the way that they did? I take very seriously what they actually wrote: what they included (and didn’t include)… The second important step is to view David not as a character in the Bible, but as a living, breathing man in the early first millennium BCE… The portrayal of David I put forward in the book is thus a combination of these two approaches: a close reading of the biblical text filled out with the background of the ancient world as we now understand it. It is an attempt to find the real David moving beneath the veneer of the Bible’s own interpretation of his life. (E.A.)

Which is pretty much what I’m trying to do in and with this blog, under the theory that the Bible was not written by super-heroes who aren’t remotely like us, but rather that it was written by people just like us – “with all our inherent faults and flaws” – but we digress…

The starting point is the biblical text itself. I try to understand not only what the biblical authors were saying, but why they were saying it. That is to say, what was their purpose in writing these stories the way that they did? I take very seriously what they actually wrote: what they included (and didn’t include), what they must have known of David’s life (and what they could not have known). The life of David as we have it in the books of Samuel and Kings is not presented as a mere rehearsal of historical facts. There is a consistent portrayal of David, and those around him, that leads to a very specific interpretation of his life.

Throughout, the elements that support this interpretation are those that, from a purely historical perspective, are most unverifiable: private moments and dialogues, secret divine pronouncements, and the like. In other words, the tools of an author writing a story intended to convince his readers. And convincing they have certainly been. But for just that reason, I want to try to understand the arc of David’s life without the interpretive overlay provided by the biblical authors. Which is not to say that everything they suggest is necessarily false, by any means. But it is not necessarily the most likely explanation either.

The second important step is to view David not as a character in the Bible, but as a living, breathing man in the early first millennium BCE. Archaeological and historical work has gone a long way toward filling in the gaps in our knowledge of this period, though there is always more to be done. But we are no longer at the mercy of the Bible in trying to reconstruct the world that David inhabited. We know plenty about ancient Israel and its neighboring cultures – especially their politics, economy, and religion – and this knowledge allows us to make at least some reasonable guesses as to what sort of life David would have lived.

The portrayal of David I put forward in the book is thus a combination of these two approaches: a close reading of the biblical text filled out with the background of the ancient world as we now understand it. It is an attempt to find the real David moving beneath the veneer of the Bible’s own interpretation of his life.

– See more at: http://jonathanmerritt.religionnews.com/2013/10/31/king-david-misunderstood-baden/#sthash.INaBDzx7.dpuf

I.e., the lower image itself is courtesy of File: Gerard van Honthorst – King David Playing the Harp. The artist (1590-1656) was a “Dutch Golden Age painter” who early in life visited Rome, where he found success “painting in a style influenced by Caravaggio. Following his return to the Netherlands he became a leading portrait painter.” See Gerard van Honthorst – Wikipedia.

he found someone more animated than the glorified felt-board action hero many have come to know. – See more at: http://jonathanmerritt.religionnews.com/2013/10/31/king-david-misunderstood-baden/#sthash.INaBDzx7.dpuf

On Amanuenses…

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The caption is “Paul Writing His Epistles,” but he really had an amanuensis. (See Romans 16:22.)

The New Testament reading in the Daily Office for Saturday December 13 is from Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians 3:6-18. (If you’re puzzled about that see What’s a DOR?)

Here’s what Paul said in 2d Thessalonians 3:17: “I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write.” On that note, here’s what “Pulpit Commentary” said about Paul writing one of the verses in his own hand:

The apostle usually dictated his Epistles to an amanuensis, but wrote the concluding words with his own hand. Thus Tertius was his amanuensis when he wrote the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 16:22). [See also (Galatians 6:11), (Philemon 1:19), (1 Corinthians 16:21), and Colossians 4:18)…] Such authentication was especially necessary in the case of the Thessalonians, as it would seem that a forged epistle had been circulated among them…

See the parallel commentaries in 2 Thessalonians 3:17 I, Paul, write this greeting (emphasis added, with (2 Thessalonians 2:2 cited as to a possible forgery: “Now we request you, brethren … that you not be … disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us.”)

I briefly discussed amanuenses in the notes to On the readings for August 31- Part II, citing among other sources Amanuensis – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. But it seems that such amanuenses may have played a much larger role in writing the Bible.

See for example Were Some Of The Biblical Books Actually Written By A Scribe, which gave a positive “yes” answer: “In the ancient world many books were written by a person dictating his thoughts to a scribe.” The author noted the prophet Jeremiah dictated to his secretary Baruch, and that Paul too dictated his letters, noting the “seal of authenticity” given in 2d Thessalonians 3:17, noted above. The article then noted that even though Paul himself “did not actually do the physical writing,” that had “nothing to do with the divine inspiration of the finished product… [T]he key is where did the words originate – not who put them down in written form.”

It should come as no surprise to us … that not every word purported to appear in certain books was written by the original author whose name may appear on the book. A very simple example of this concerns the death of Moses, which is referenced in a narrative text found in Deuteronomy 34. While this text is certainly a part of the Mosaic body literature … it is clear that this text is added by some type of an authorized secretarial figure. This is just one place where we find this phenomenon taking place. (E.A.)

Martin said it appears “whole books which bear the names of certain persons” were in fact written by others, “known as “amanuenses.” Then too the article The Authorship of Second Peter | Bible.org says Second Peter is a prime example of so-called pseudepigrapha:

Most conservative evangelicals hold to the traditional view that Peter was the author, but historical and literary critics have almost unanimously concluded that to be impossible… The result of this debate is that 2 Peter is concluded by most critical scholars to be pseudepigraphal literature. But the evangelical world rejects the critics’ claims. Conservatives say this has serious ramifications for the doctrines of inspiration and inerrancy. The critics, on the other hand, claim this was standard procedure and therefore not dishonest. (E.A.)

See also Pseudepigrapha – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, which said the term can apply to either: 1) falsely attributed works, or 2) texts whose claimed author is represented by a separate author, or 3) a work “whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.”

I talked about the idea that – to some people – every word of the Bible must be taken as literally true in On snake-handling, Fundamentalism and suicide – Part II, in On broadminded, spelled “s-i-n”, and in On dissin’ the Prez. (The latter post also raises the possible issue of “selective enforcement” by some…) I also discussed the more reasonable approach – promoted by such scholars as John R. W. Stott – in On Job, the not-so-patient, which noted this:

“…requiring every word of the Bible to be inerrant” brings to mind what Jesus said in Matthew 23:4, as He chastised the scribes and Pharisees. The Easy-to-Read translation says … that such people “make strict rules that are hard for people to obey. They try to force others to obey all their rules. But they themselves will not try to follow any of those rules.”

All of which is another way of saying it’s always easier to follow the letter of any given law, rather than trying to follow its “life-giving spirit,” as people like Isaac Asimov have noted:

The priesthood, then as always, was primarily interested in the minutiae of ritual. This was something that could easily be followed by anyone and generally presented no difficulties. It might be a tedious way of gaining God’s favor, but it was not really painful… The prophets, however, were likely to disdain ritual and to insist, instead, on a high ethical code of behavior, something that could present serious difficulties… (E.A.)

Asimov wrote about the prophet Isaiah, but other prophets who shared the same idea included one Jesus of Nazareth, as noted in Woes of the Pharisees – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: “The woes mostly criticise the Pharisees for hypocrisy and perjury. They illustrate the differences between inner and outer moral states.”

Which brings up the question of inspiration and inerrancy, noted above: Can the Bible inspire you if you must believe – on pain of hellfire and damnation – that every word in that Bible is inerrant? Most people would say “probably not,” which is one of the themes of this blog.

Another theme is that you can get far more out of the Bible by approaching it with an open mind, and on occasion even “suspending disbelief.” (See On “Titanic” and suspending disbelief: “Consider the person who viewed the movie [“Titanic”] with a closed mind. A person unwilling – even for a moment – to suspend disbelief. A person who simply had to believe that everything in the movie had to be 100% accurate… Wouldn’t that viewer just be short-changing himself?“)

So one way of wrapping up this post would be to say that for a person of deep faith – a faith based on a personal experience of God working in his life, rather than on some courtroom “inerrancy” – it wouldn’t matter if Peter literally wrote the “second letter” attributed to him, or if someone other than Moses wrote Chapter 34 of the Book Deuteronomy attributed to him.

On a possibly-related note, here’s what Will Durant said about Aristotle, whose list of written works is widely deemed as legendary. (For a complete list see Corpus Aristotelicum):

[I]t is possible that the writings attributed to Aristotle were not his, but were largely the compilations of students and followers who embalmed the unadorned substance of his lectures in their notes… About this matter there rages a sort of Homeric question, of almost epic scope, into which the busy reader will not care to go, and on which a modest student will not undertake to judge. We may at all events be sure that Aristotle is the spiritual author of all these books that bear his name: that the hand may be in some cases another’s hand, but that the head and heart are his. (E.A.)

So to sum up: “Who knows? In a sense we may all be God’s ‘amanuenses.’ As has been said, ‘The key is where did the words originate – not who put them down in written form.’ And if that’s true then it doesn’t matter who gets the credit, as long as God gets the glory…”

The upper image is courtesy of Epistle to the Romans – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, with the caption: “A 17th-century depiction of Paul Writing His Epistles. [Romans] 16:22 indicates that Tertius acted as his amanuensis.”

The lower image is courtesy of www.catholic-convert.com/blog/2012/01/11/meet-st-paul-as-he-writes-to-the-romans, which included this description of Paul dictating:

Sweat was beading up on his bald head and thick eyebrows. His pointed beard wagged as he paced the stone floor speaking rapidly. His dark eyes flashed, his hands gesticulated in rhythm with his rapid utterance. His quick mind was obviously way ahead of the words that rushed from his mouth.

Tertius struggled to keep up, his quill scratching rapidly across the parchment. After hours of dictation and careful refinement this letter was rolled up and given into the hands of Phoebe who boarded a wooden merchant vessel heading for the hub of the Empire. The words were Greek, written from the Greek city of Corinth, dictated by a Jew of the Hebrew religion and sent to Latin Rome.

– See more at: http://www.catholic-convert.com/blog/2012/01/11/meet-st-paul-as-he-writes-to-the-romans-a-brief-study/#sthash.TMpsPFz1.dpuf

Sweat was beading up on his bald head and thick eyebrows. His pointed beard wagged as he paced the stone floor speaking rapidly. His dark eyes flashed, his hands gesticulated in rhythm with his rapid utterance… Tertius struggled to keep up, his quill scratching rapidly across the parchment. After hours of dictation and careful refinement this letter was rolled up and given into the hands of Phoebe who boarded a wooden merchant vessel heading for the hub of the Empire. The words were Greek, written from the Greek city of Corinth, dictated by a Jew of the Hebrew religion and sent to Latin Rome.

As to the “challenged” authorship of Second Peter, see also Second Epistle of Peter – Wikipedia.

The Asimov quote is from Asimov’s Guide to the Bible (Two Volumes in One), Avenel Books (1981), at page 527.

The Durant quote is from The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant, Washington Square Press (“Pocket Books”), 1953, at page 57. See also Aristotle – Wikipedia: “His writings cover many subjects – including physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theater, music, rhetoric, linguistics, politics and government – and constitute the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy.”

On the original St. Nicholas

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“Saint Nicholas Saves Three Innocents from Death…”

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Normally at this point in the week – by Wednesday afternoon – I publish a post on the readings for the next upcoming Sunday. (As for example On the readings for December 7.) However, I just got back late last night (Tuesday night) from a funeral in Florida (which wasn’t so sunny), and now am struggling to get back up to “game speed.”

So for a change of pace (and a bit of CYA), this week I’ll do a post on the original St. Nicholas, “also called Nikolaos of Myra … a historic 4th-century Christian saint and Greek Bishop of Myra (Demre, part of modern-day Turkey) in Lycia[, who b]ecause of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker.” See Saint Nicholas – Wikipedia, and also Saint Nicholas (bishop of Myra) | Encyclopedia Britannica:

Saint Nicholas, also called Nicholas of Bari or Nicholas of Myra [is] one of the most popular minor saints commemorated in the Eastern and Western churches and now traditionally associated with the festival of Christmas. In many countries children receive gifts on December 6, Saint Nicholas Day.

Which is being interpreted: December 6 is the Feast for “Nicholas, Bishop of Myra” in the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion, not to mention numerous other denominations, as noted below. But that gives rise to a reasonable question: Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25, if Saint Nicholas Day is December 6?

There are any number of theories, but the most reasonable seems to be that December 25 is exactly nine months after March 25, traditionally celebrated as the date of The Annunciation, the date of the “announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus, the Son of God.” See Annunciation – Wikipedia, and also Why is Christmas celebrated on December 25? — Ask HISTORY,Why December 25? | Christian History, and/or How December 25 Became Christmas – Biblical Archaeology Society.

There were some notes in those sites about about the “pagan origins of the Christmas date,” and also about the confusion caused by the changeover to the Gregorian Calendar:

Another wrinkle was added in the sixteenth century when Pope Gregory devised a new calendar, which was unevenly adopted. The Eastern Orthodox and some Protestants retained the Julian calendar, which meant they celebrated Christmas 13 days later than their Gregorian counterparts. Most – but not all – of the Christian world now agrees on the Gregorian calendar and the December 25 date.

But before the digression we were talking about the original St. Nicholas, who eventually became the prototype for the modern-day Santa Claus, not to mention being the patron saint for sailors, pawnbrokers and “repentant thieves:”

He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, a practice celebrated on his feast day … and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of “Saint Nikolaos…” The historical Saint Nicholas is commemorated and revered among Anglican,Catholic, Lutheran, and Orthodox Christians [and others]. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers and students in various cities and countries around Europe.

Incidentally, you can see the full set of Bible readings – in the Anglican Church – for this original prototype of Santa Claus at Nicholas, Bishop, but here’s the Collect for the Feast Day: “Almighty God, in your love you gave your servant Nicholas of Myra a perpetual name for deeds of kindness both on land and sea: Grant, we pray, that your Church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief…”

But this “Saint Nicholas” wasn’t always so popular, especially after the Reformation. (See Protestant Reformation – Wikipedia.) Most of the new “Protestant countries of Europe” abandoned the idea of praying to saints, except for Holland:

Dutch colonists took this tradition [of St. Nicholas] with them to New Amsterdam (now New York City) in the American colonies in the 17th century. Sinterklaas was adopted by the country’s English-speaking majority under the name Santa Claus, and his legend of a kindly old man was united with old Nordic folktales of a magician who punished naughty children and rewarded good children with presents. The resulting image of Santa Claus in the United States crystallized in the 19th century, and he has ever since remained the patron of the gift-giving festival of Christmas.

See Saint Nicholas … Encyclopedia Britannica. So there you have the rest of the story…

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The upper image is courtesy of Saint Nicholas – Wikipedia, with the caption: “Saint Nicholas Saves Three Innocents from Death (oil painting by Ilya Repin, 1888, State Russian Museum).” See also St. Nicholas Center ::: Saint Who Stopped an Execution:

[W]hile Nicholas was visiting a remote part of his diocese, several citizens from Myra came to him with urgent news: the ruler of the city, Eustathius, had condemned three innocent men to death. Nicholas set out immediately for home. Reaching the outskirts of the city, he asked those he met on the road if they had news of the prisoners. Informed that their execution was to be carried out that morning, he hurried to the executioner’s field. Here he found a large crowd of people and the three men kneeling with their arms bound, awaiting the fatal blow. Nicholas passed through the crowd, took the sword from the executioner’s hands and threw it to the ground, then ordered that the condemned men be freed from their bonds. His authority was such that the executioner left his sword where it fell…

The lower image is courtesy of Santa Claus – Wikipedia, with the caption, “1881 illustration by Thomas Nast who, along with Clement Clarke Moore’s poem ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas,’ helped to create the modern image of Santa Claus.”

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On the readings for December 7

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St. Andrew, by Georges de la Tour…

As noted in On the readings for Advent Sunday, November 30 was the First Sunday of Advent, which means that on Sunday December 7, most churches will be celebrating – and using the readings for – the Second Sunday of Advent. However, on that same December 7, churches with “St. Andrew” in their names (like mine) will be celebrating the Feast Day of St. Andrew. (For more on this saint – whose name means “manly” – see On St. Andrew, the “First Apostle”.)

Thus the readings for Sunday December 7 – when celebrated as the Feast of St. Andrew – are Deuteronomy 30:11-14, Psalm 19, Romans 10:8b-18, and Matthew 4:18-22. For more on the Season of Advent, see Advent Sunday. For more on Psalm 19 – what some call a “masterpiece of poetic literature” and another call “the greatest poem in the Psalter” – see On the Psalms up to December 7. For the complete readings, see St Andrew, Apostle.

Here are some highlights.

The reading from the Old Testament is Deuteronomy 30:11-14:

Moses said to the people of Israel: Surely, this commandment … is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” No, the word is very near to you…

Here’s the background for what the International Bible Commentary (IBC) called a “recap” of the original covenant – or contract between God and His People – from Deuteronomy 29:1 to 30:20, and specifically of Moses’ “appeal to commitment” from Deuteronomy 30:11 to 30:20.

The Book of Numbers ended with the Hebrews on the plains of Moab and/or the territory of Gilead, east of the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee, what is now the nation of Jordan. They were about to enter The Promised Land after their escape from slavery in Egypt, and after 40 years wandering in the Wilderness and numerous battles and other adventures. But as Asimov said, Deuteronomy doesn’t “advance Israelite history but purports to be a series of addresses [“sermons” if you will] given by Moses on the eve of his death.” (Moses getting to the edge of the Promised Land but not allowed to enter was discussed in On the readings for October 26, with a note on the “Transfiguration, where Moses … realized a centuries-old dream.”)

Asimov said these addresses “recapitulate the events of the Exodus and restate key portions of the law as it was received from [Mount] Sinai.” And the IBC said of 30:11-14:

It is natural to emphasize the remoteness of truth and wisdom in daily life and the difficulty of achieving them [see for example Job 28:12 and following]. But God’s law was accessible to every Israelite [see also Psalm 19:7-11, part of the Psalm reading for this Sunday]. In Rom[ans] 10:6-8, Paul uses these words to illustrate the character of the new covenant, based on Our Lord’s incarnation and the free offer of the gospel, in the power of the Spirit, all of which bring the word … very near.

(Page 279, emphasis and ellipses in original.) Which brings up the New Testament reading.

In Romans 10:8b-18, Paul quoted Moses in this Sunday’s OT reading: “‘The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” The emphasized part supports a theory that being in a particular “club” or denomination will neither “save” you nor get you to heaven. (Or as has been said, “there are no denominations in heaven.” See the notes for About the psalms.)

Paul continued that theme in verse 11: “The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.'” In doing so Paul quoted Isaiah 28:16, “this is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.‘” See also verse 13, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Here Paul cited Joel 2:32, “And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.”

And Matthew 4:18-22 tells of Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee and seeing brothers Simon and Andrew, and saying to them (in the King James Version, the one God uses), “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” But see also On St. Andrew, the “First Apostle”, which noted the different spin given in John 1:35-42 about that first meeting:

The next day John [the Baptist] was … with two of his disciples, when he saw Jesus walking… The two disciples [followed] Jesus[, who] turned, saw them following him, and asked, “What are you looking for?” They answered, “Where do you live, Rabbi?” … “Come and see,” he answered… So they went with him… One of them was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. At once he found his brother Simon and … took Simon to Jesus. [E.A.]

Which brings up the question whether this difference in testimony should shake your faith. After all, if Matthew and John can’t agree on how Jesus met Andrew and Peter, how can you have any faith in the rest of the Bible? The shortest and best answer comes from a theory that the Bible wasn’t written by “giants” but by people just like us. See for example On Harry Truman:

I liked the New Testament stories best, especially the Gospels. And when I was older, I was very much interested in the way those fellas saw the same things in a different manner. A very different manner, and they were all telling the truth… That’s why I always hesitated to call a man a liar unless I had the absolute goods on him.

In turn the Good News is that if the Bible was written by people just like us, we too can accomplish miracles just like Jesus and the rest of the Bible-writers did. See John 14:12, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” (Emphasis added.)

The upper image is courtesy of St. Andrew – Georges de la Tour – WikiArt.org, with notes: “Artist: Georges de la Tour; Start Date: 1615; Completion Date:1620; Style: Tenebrism.” See also Tenebrism – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, “from the Italian, tenebroso (murky), also called dramatic illumination, [a] style of painting using very pronounced chiaroscuro, where there are violent contrasts of light and dark, and where darkness becomes a dominating feature of the image. The technique was developed to add drama to an image through a spotlight effect…”

As to this fifth book of the Bible, see Book of Deuteronomy – Wikipedia, which added:

The book consists of three sermons or speeches delivered to the Israelites by Moses on the plains of Moab, shortly before they enter the Promised Land. The first sermon recapitulates the forty years of wilderness wanderings which have led to this moment, and ends with an exhortation to observe the law (or teachings), later referred to as the Law of Moses; the second reminds the Israelites of the need for exclusive allegiance to one God and observance of the laws (or teachings) he has given them, on which their possession of the land depends; and the third offers the comfort that even should Israel prove unfaithful and so lose the land, with repentance all can be restored.

(Note that the emphasized portion applies to us “even to this day.) See also Book of Numbers – Wikipedia. The notes from Isaac Asimov, as to the end of Numbers and Deuteronomy in general, are from Asimov’s Guide to the Bible (Two Volumes in One), Avenel Books (1981), at pages 190-192.

The promise of John 14:12 was discussed in Quick summary.

The lower image is courtesy of The Raising of Lazarus (Rembrandt) – Wikipedia, with the caption, “The Raising of Lazarus, Rembrandt. Oil on panel. 37 15/16 x 32 in. (96.36 x 81.28 cm). Late 1620s or 1630-32. Los Angeles County Museum of Art.” The article added:

The painting shows the moment Lazarus re-awakens from death and rises from his tomb as Christ calls him. Lazarus is in the darker half of the painting while the figures at left are far more illuminated. Mary and those assembled look on in amazement as Lazarus comes to life. The painting depicts a parable of spiritual life, the miracle of the hardened sinner receiving first grace (sorrow for sins committed in order to seek penitence and redemption).

Which leads to one final word to the wise: “Kids, don’t try this (miracle) at home!“

On the Psalms up to December 7

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C.S. Lewis (of “Narnia”) on Psalm 19: “one of the greatest lyrics in the world…”

This regular feature focuses on next Sunday’s psalm, and – normally – on highlights from the psalms in the Daily Office Readings (DORs) for the week leading up to that upcoming Sunday. But in this case Psalm 19 is so important that I spent the whole post on it.

At this point there may be some who ask, “What, the psalms again? Why pay so much attention to the Psalms?” For the simple answer see About the psalms.

* * * *

As noted, Psalm 19 is widely considered to be a “masterpiece of poetic literature,” and C.S. Lewis (shown above) considered it to be “the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.” The psalm begins, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork.” For the full text see Psalm 19 – For the director.

As noted in Psalm 19 – Bible Teaching Notes, the first six verses of the psalm “speak of God’s general revelation of Himself through nature,” and in these verses “David represents the universe as a cathedral in which the sun is the preacher bearing witness to the existence and glory of God.” And as noted in Treasury of David—Psalm 19 – The Spurgeon Archive:

This song very distinctly divides itself into three parts… The creatures show God’s glory, 1-6. The word showeth his grace, 7-11. David prayeth for grace, 12-14. Thus praise and prayer are mingled, and he who here sings the work of God in the world without, pleads for a work of grace in himself within.

The International Bible Commentary (IBC, 569) said the psalmist – according to tradition, David – may have been influenced by the fact that in the “ancient Near East ‘sun’ and ‘justice’ were thought of as belonging together; e.g. Shamash, the Mesopotamian sun-god, was considered to be the upholder of justice and righteousness.” See also Shamash – Wikipedia:

The attribute most commonly associated with Shamash is justice. Just as the Sun disperses darkness, so Shamash brings wrong and injustice to light. Hammurabi attributes to Shamash the inspiration that led him to gather the existing laws and legal procedures into code…

And see also Code of Hammurabi – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, but we digress…

Getting back to Psalm 19, here’s what Wikipedia says:

The psalm considers the glory of God in creation, and moves to reflect on the character and use of “the law of the LORD.” A comparison is made between the law and the sun, which lends a degree of unity to the psalm… Like the Sun, the law is able to uncover hidden faults, and nothing can hide from it. As the Psalmist meditates on the excellencies of the law, he feels that his sins have been laid open before God’s word, and asks for forgiveness and help.

See Psalm 19 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Or as the IBC said, the first six verses are a hymn in praise of God in nature, while verses 7 through 14 are a hymn in praise of God’s law. Note that verse six ends with an ode to the sun; it “goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens and runs about to the end of it again; nothing is hidden from its burning heat.”

Moving on to the law of the LORD, verse 7 said it “revives the soul” and “gives wisdom to the innocent.” Of God’s statutes verse 10 said that they are “more to be desired are they than gold,
more than much fine gold.” Verse 11 adds, “By them also is your servant enlightened,
and in keeping them there is great reward.”

Verse 12 asks, “Who can tell how often he offends? Cleanse me from my secret faults.” I addressed that subject – “secret” or unknown sins – in On Ecclesiasticus (NOT “Ecclesiastes”), which cited Ecclesiasticus 5:5: “Do not be so sure of forgiveness that you add sin to sin.” The post also discussed “Holier than thou”, along with self-righteousness and hypocrisy.

On that note, Psalm 19:13 added, “Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me.” And finally, the psalm ends with the well-known verse 14: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.” Wikipedia said of this verse, and the psalm:

Verse 14 is used as part of the conclusion of the Amidah, the main daily prayer in Judaism… As the author spends time thinking about God’s demands, he realizes that his own actions and thoughts fall short of this law that he loves. The author prays to be kept from sins of ignorance as well as deliberate sins [and] that his words and thoughts be pleasing to God.

See Psalm 19 – Wikipedia, and also Amidah – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, referring to the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy recited at each of three prayer services in a typical weekday: morning, afternoon, and evening. “The prayer is recited standing with feet firmly together, and preferably while facing Jerusalem,” and ends with this concluding prayer:

My God, keep my tongue and my lips from speaking deceit, and to them that curse me let my soul be silent, and like dust to all. Open my heart in Your Torah… May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Eternal, my rock and my redeemer.

The upper image is courtesy of C. S. Lewis – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, which said Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) “was a novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, and Christian apologist. Born in Belfast, Ireland, he held academic positions at both Oxford University (Magdalen College), 1925–54, and Cambridge University (Magdalene College), 1954–63. He is best known both for his fictional work, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain… Lewis and fellow novelist J. R. R. Tolkien were close friends.” See also Psalm 19 – Bible Teaching Notes: “The Psalm is considered to be a masterpiece of poetic literature. C.S. Lewis wrote, ‘I take this [Psalm 19] to be the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.'”

The lower image is courtesy of Psalms – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, with the full caption: “David Playing the Harp by Jan de Bray, 1670.”

As to David playing the harp, see David – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, which noted the account of First Samuel, Chapter 16, which told of Saul, the first-ever king of Israel, being tormented by an evil spirit. In turn it was suggested that “he send for David, a young warrior famed for bravery and his lyre playing. Saul did so, and made David one of his armor-bearers. From then on, whenever ‘the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him,’” as illustrated above.

One final note: the usual post on the psalms up to December 7 would have included this:

For those who already appreciate the psalms – and rightfully so – my usual practice is to review the next Sunday’s readings on the Wednesday before, including the individual Sunday-psalm noted above, and also to review the psalms from the DORs for the week ending on the Tuesday just before that “prior Wednesday.” For example, The Lectionary psalm for Sunday, December 7, is Psalm 19, discussed further below. The Daily Office psalms are from the readings for Wednesday November 26 up to Tuesday December 2.

On “Y1V1” and the Ten Virgins

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“Peter striking the High Priests‘ servant Malchus…”

As noted in On the readings for Advent Sunday, Sunday November 30 marked the end of 2014′s Season of Pentecost and started the new church-calendar year, most of which is in 2015. It also started a new cycle in the Daily Office readings. As noted in What’s a DOR, rather than flipping back and forth in your Bible to find the various readings for the day, you can buy a four-volume set with all the readings in one place, thus “eliminating much of the work involved.” If you use that four-volume set – as I do – then on Sunday November 30 you changed over from Year Two, Volume 2 to Year One, Volume 1. (Thus the “Y1V1” in the title of this post).

Note also that with the changeover to Year One, Volume 1, I began the markings in my Y1V1 book an eleventh trip through the Bible – that’s 11 times – as well as 33 to 40 times through the psalms and Gospels. (For what that’s worth, but at least it means “I’m familiar…”)

For the complete DORs for the week of November 30 to December 6 (in the New Revised Standard Version), see NRSV. For highlights from the DOR psalms from Wednesday November 26 to Tuesday December 2, see the successor post to On the Psalms up to November 30, now in the works. Here are some highlights from the DORs for November 30, which include Isaiah 1:1-9, 2d Peter 3:1-10, and Matthew 25:1-13 (all presented in the Good News Translation).

The readings from Isaiah 1:1-9 mark the start of this Old Testament book that is at once the one most often quoted in the New Testament – second only to the Psalms – and held in such high esteem in the development of the Christian church that it has been called “the Fifth Gospel.” See About the psalms, On the readings for Advent Sunday, and On the Psalms up to November 30. (As you can see, this blog quotes Isaiah a lot as well.)

Isaiah 1:1 begins, “This book contains the messages about Judah and Jerusalem which God revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz during the time when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.” (The GNT wrap-up for the passage: “God Reprimands His People.”) The prophet has God calling “earth and sky” as witness against His Chosen People, a people which has fallen short. (And according to Isaac Asimov, the time of this “falling short” was between 780 and 692 B.C., that is, between the reigns of kings Uzziah and Hezekiah.)

Isaiah began by saying the nation of Israel was doomed and dragged down by its sins, then compared Jerusalem to two other corrupt cities: “Jerusalem alone is left, a city under siege[, and i]f the Lord Almighty had not let some of the people survive, Jerusalem would have been totally destroyed, just as Sodom and Gomorrah were.”

Thus the 66 chapters of Isaiah begin on a gloomy note, but as the International Bible Commentary summarized (at page 718), the book as a whole offers hope:

If chs. [chapters] 1-39 above all invite readers to subject themselves to rigorous critical self-examination, and chs. 40-55 above all challenge readers to make a ready response to the summons of God, chs. 56-66 offer modes of thought and patterns of behavior appropriate to every age as the people of God move, however slowly, towards the fulfillment of His purpose and their destiny. [E.A.]

The Good News Translation (GNT) summary of 2d Peter 3:1-10 reads: “The Promise of the Lord’s Coming.” And in response to criticism that God moves way too slowly for some people, Peter answered (in verse 9), “The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.” (Emphasis added.)

(But as shown in the painting above, Peter himself wasn’t always so patient. See Malchus – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: “The story is related in all four gospels, in Matthew 26:51, Mark 14:47, and Luke 22:50-51, and John 18:10–11, but the servant and the disciple are named only in John. Also, Luke is the only gospel that says Jesus healed the ear.” See also John 18:26, “One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, ‘Didn’t I see you with [Jesus] in the garden?'” This was the time when Peter denied knowing Jesus, and probably presents some sort of object lesson…)

And finally, in Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus tells the Parable of the Ten Virgins – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, which begins, “the Kingdom of heaven will be like this. Once there were ten young women who took their oil lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and the other five were wise…”

As Wikipedia noted, “The parable has a clear eschatological theme: be prepared for the Day of Judgment.” Wikipedia further noted that the parable neither praised “virginity” nor criticized any of the young women for sleeping, “since both groups do that.” Indeed one interpretation said the parable was “a warning addressed specifically to those inside the professing church who are not to assume that their future is unconditionally assured.” (Emphasis added.)

On that note see On Ecclesiasticus (NOT “Ecclesiastes”), which quoted Ecclesiasticus 5:5 – “Do not be so sure of forgiveness that you add sin to sin” – and also cited “On holier than thou”.

The upper image is courtesy of Saint Peter – Wikipedia, with the caption, “Apostle Peter striking the High Priests‘ servant Malchus with a sword in the Garden of Gethsemane.” The work is by Giuseppe Cesari (1568-1640), an “Italian Mannerist painter, also named Il Giuseppino and called Cavaliere d’Arpino, because he was created Cavaliere di Cristo by his patron Pope Clement VIII… chief of the studio in which Caravaggio trained upon the younger painter’s arrival in Rome.

Re: “according to Isaac Asimov.” See Asimov’s Guide to the Bible (Two Volumes in One), Avenel Books (1981), at page 526, as to the time of Isaiah’s ministry. See also page 527, as to Isaiah’s being an “unusual” prophet, in that he came from the upper classes, not “from the poor, since the prophets [as a rule] were spokesmen of protest.” On this page Asimov also noted the general tendency of the Established Priesthood to focus on the “minitiae of ritual,” as an easier-to-follow way of “gaining God’s favor,” rather than the more appropriate focus on “a high ethical code of behavior.”

As to an object lesson, that is defined as an “example from real life that typifies/explains a principle or teaches a lesson,” or “Anything used as an example or lesson which serves to warn others as to the outcomes that result from a particular action or behavior, as exemplified by the fates of those who followed that course.” See object lesson – Wiktionary.

The lower image is courtesy of Parable of the Ten Virgins (supra), with the caption, “Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow, The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, 1838–1842 (detail), Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main.“

DOR Scribe

Expand your horizons – Read the Bible with an open mind

On Jameis Winston’s future – Part II

I wonder why there were no cackling internet “memes” about that?

“Jameis Winston latest news”

On the 12 Days of Christmas

So here’s wishing you a happy and prosperous 12th Night, Plough Monday, and/or whole New Year!

On the readings for December 21

Which is of course “the reason for the season!”

On the psalms up to December 21

On Amanuenses…

On the original St. Nicholas

On the readings for December 7

On the Psalms up to December 7

On “Y1V1” and the Ten Virgins