Living Wittily

The Gospel According to John and the Fathomless Depths of Grace upon Grace......

The portrait of St John the Evangelist, is by Adam Elsheimer, and provides the front cover for F D Bruner's commentary on John. I hadn't heard of Elsheimer till I read the small attribution at the back of Bruner's book. I like this painting - which is hardly the last word in art criticism! But it's just the truth. I suppose it can be analysed and compared with other contemporary artists, influences traced and duly noted, ethos and provenance established. Then it can be examined for symbolism and the whole painting subjected to hermenecutical scrutiny. Maybe some other time. I just like it - simplicity with enough of mystery, a serpent lifted up and a chalice held for blessing, and the background of a world both vague and detailed.

As to Bruner's commentary, near 1300 pages of commentary on a gospel would once have been considered definitive. But Bruner has aimed at something more realistic, and satisfying. This commentary is a receptacle for the gathered fruit of decades of study and teaching, and at least a third of its length is given over to sections on the history of interpretation of the text. These read like catenas of wisdom from Chrysostom, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Henry, Bengel, Godet, Meyer, Westcott, and then we come to the 20th century with Bultmann, Dodd, Brown, Schnacknburg and beyond. It is a vade mecum on John, and for me at least, is a feast of fun to read.

No it won't displace Raymond Brown as my most loved and used commentary on John; and I still persist with Barrett as the commentary that taught me how to actually enjoy NT Greek and its fruits; and yes there is an embarrassment of riches on John's Gospel from Ashton, Dodd, Carson, Moloney, Michaels, O'Day, Keener, Morris, Beasley Murray, Lincoln, Witherington, Ridderbos to the too easily overlooked John Marsh in the Pelican Commentary Series which manages to combine common sense with spiritual acumen in exploring a complex text. And then there's Richard Bauckham's long promised commentary on the Greek Text, still to appear and looked forward to But John's Gospel is an embarrassingly rich text, and coming back to Bruner, his is a commentary that any preacher worth her salt will value and enjoy!

Here are the words of Rabbi Johannan ben Zakkai about Torah, with pardonable exaggeration enthusing about the value of our greatest teachers:

"If all heaven were a parchment, and all the trees produced pens, and all the oceans were ink, they would not suffice to inscribe the wisdom I have received from my teachers of Torah; and yet from the wisdom of the wise I have enjoyed only so much as the water that a fly who plunges into the sea can remove".

In much less hyperbolic terms, James Denney could refer to Johannine and Pauline theology as waters in which we " hear the plunge of lead into fathomless depths..."

Lament for a Church With Way Too Low Expectations of God

 

"We have lost our nerve and our sense of direction

and have turned the divine initiative into a human enterprise...

And all these drab infidelities are committed

not because too little power is available to us

but because the power so far exceeds the petty scale we want to live by.

God has made us a little lower than the angels,

while our highest ambition is to live a little above the Joneses.

We are looking for a sensible family-sized God,

dispensing pep pills or tranquilisers as required

with a Holy Spirit who is a baby's comforter.

No wonder the Lord of terrible aspect

is too much for us.....

(John V Taylor, The Go Between God (London: SCM, 1972) 48.

Slightly dated now in its langauge, but this remains a powerful and original exploration of the work and reality of the Holy Spirit in creation, church and human experience. This remains an early milestone book in my theological awakening.

The photo of a battered Bible in a country church notwithstanding, the Word of the Lord endureth forevermore!

Brambles and Victoria Plums - as good as it gets!

What a year for blackberries, brambles as i call them. I can remember one year picking brambles after a hard frost and it was the easiest picking ever. Mind you the fingers were numb in minutes. But the frozen brambles came away so easily and into the margarine tub. There are few tastes from my childhood more vivid and memory jogging than bramble jellly. I still love it.

Obviously so did Seamus Heaney - is this poem not a marvel of long ago reminiscence, remembered delight, mouth-watering recall of those moments when our taste-buds learned how to explode?

Blackberry Picking, Seamus Heaney

At first, just one, a glossy purple clot
Among others, red, green, hard as a knot.
You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet
Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it
Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for
Picking. Then red ones inked up and that hunger
Sent us out with milk cans, pea tins, jam pots
Where briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots.
Round hayfields, cornfields and potato drills
We trekked and picked until the cans were full...

While on the subject of wonderful fruit - it's the Victoria plum season, and oh my goodness, apart from chocolate, I happily forego all other sweets and treats to eat my fill of these fruits of Eden. You think an apple is a temptation....... :)

An email from America from a Rowan Williams Fan!

James Gordon

Hello Meri! What a delightful letter, thank you! You are precisely the kind of person for whom much of the blog is written. I'm glad it's of some help. I too miss Rowan Williams. The fact that some said he was too clever to be Archbishop says more about dumbing

Mon 08:20

The other day I received an email from Meri, who came across this blog by accident. It seemed to me to be the kind of response that makes blog writing worthwhile rather than a self-indulgent personal platform. The following is her email and my reply - I marvel at the way friendship, fellowship and shared experience are possible and made rich with meaning through such serendipitous actions as Googling a ridiculously erudite ex-Archbishop of Canterbury and ending up with, well, me :))

...............................

"Serve God wittily in the tangle of their minds"

I love that.

Hi James,

My name is Meri.  I came upon you by way of searching for Rowan Williams.  I found him as holy fool with a delightful photograph of  him looking quite mad.  If it were not for reading Rowan Williams  "Writing in the Dust"  contemplations after 911,  I would not have become the lonely G-d botherer that I am.  This kind of writing was  nothing like the messages in the church of my youth,  Church of England.  That kind of religion never "took" on me and I left as soon as I was able.  But,  the biblical narratives and Christian values are deeply embedded in me.

Loneliness and loss has dogged me all my life,  leading me to a love of literature and a life of the mind.  Reality has disappointed. Fate has not been kind.  Now, I see myself as an isolated, literary and poetic soul who has never found a place to fit in.  Certainly not in establishments.

I discovered theology through RW and it spoke to me, made sense, was not simplistic. I am not an academic, but reasonably educated, literate and thoughtful.  If I am to untangle my mind,  I need help.   Where to find it?  I believe my only option is to reach out on-line to those with similar interests.  The idea of an on-line holy book club is appealing.  Have you heard of such a thing?  Do you know of any serious theology forums? and would they allow a novice in?  (I am 82 years of age) a little slower, but still teachable...... Do you think this is a good idea?

I have a dog eared copy of "Open to Judgement"  which has been invaluable for my sanity.  An essay on "The Abbe Huvelin"  a theology for neurotic and suffering souls was written especially for me.  I am  indebted. I used to follow Dr. William's web site when he was Archbishop, and I miss it.  Have you read any of his recent books, and would you recommend one?   Perhaps he has written another phrase or paragraph  especially for me.........

My devotions are eccentric.  They are connected with a humming bird I feed and will help through the winter.  And with the barns I visit where the police horses live.  Last week Dalton, the horse,  was all gussied up ready to visit a dying child at the hospital.  These kinds of things let in the light and help with the untangling.

The photo of the heather is lovely,

best wishes,  Meri

And my reply

Hello Meri!

What a delightful letter, thank you! You are precisely the kind of person for whom much of the blog is written. I'm glad it's of some help.

I too miss Rowan Williams. The fact that some said he was too clever to be Archbishop says more about dumbing down leadership to management, than it does about someone who is chosen under God to be a spiritual leader. Have you had a look at his book Tokens of Trust? Apart from his more substantial theological work, he writes some books as a brilliant man whose intellectual power is used in the service of faith seeking understanding. This is a really good introduction to the Christian faith through the thick glasses of Rowan!

Can I also suggest you get a hold of Benjamin Myers book Christ the Stranger. The Theology of Rowan Williams. I think it will give you a lot to think about because it is what a good introduction does - it gives you Rowan Williams rather than someone else's much less interesting opinions about it!!

Now I haven't personally gone looking for an online theological forum but there must be such things. An online theological reading group - now that's a good idea though again not one I've pursued, so can't help much there. You may see yourself as a novice, but someone whose life experience is a rich tapestry of light and shadow, and whose spirituality is formed in the hard places as well as the comfort zones, is no novice in theology, if theology is to be lived as well as thought.

I wonder - would you allow me to put your letter on the blog - I can remove your name if you wish. I think it would encourage others who struggle with other people's claimed certainties and closed timidity in the face of the mystery and meaning of that Reality whom we name as God, and have come to know through Christ. No pressure whatsoever if you feel hesitant. Just let me know.

Shalom, and give dalton an apple on my behalf,

Well as you can see, Meri was happy for our correspondence to be published, and she sent a photo of Dalton - I need to convert it from a bitmap file to one this platform supports - I can't work it out, any suggestions? 

Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (Second Edition) - a no brainer purchase.

You know you're getting on a bit when you are excited about a complete revision and expansion of a book you bought in its first edition over 20 years ago, and have used regularly and gladly all that time. Generations of theological students and pastors keen to do their own exegetical digging have benefited from the IVP black dictionaries on the New and Old Testaments. The Dictionary of the OT Prophets was published a year or two ago completing the full set of Black Dictionaries. The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels was published 21 years ago, and now needs updating and made consistent with the rest of the set. I guess what we have is a changing continuity with this project, aiming to keep the scholarship current - and for that IVP are to be congratulated.

I've used every one of the IVP Black Dictionaries frequently, profitably and I can think of fewer big volumes that are such value for money. They have well conceived subject indices at the back making it possible to pursue obscure or minor themes through the lens of the major articles. The Jesus and the Gospels volume has a detailed index of gospel texts allowing for further chasing of exegetical detail (a full scripture index would be much too cumbersome).

The pre-publication description on Amazon shows the scope and quality of what is on offer. No I haven't seen the revised edition. It has almost the same number of pages, but as you'll see from the pre-pub. extract below, it is almost entirely a new book:

How can undergraduate students, seminarians, people in professional ministry, leaders in local churches and other Christian organizations, even academic scholars, stay abreast of the range of contemporary study of Jesus and the Gospels? How can the fruit of vital study of Jesus and the Gospels in recent years help to animate our reading of and interaction with the Gospels?

When it first appeared some twenty years ago, the 'Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels' was concerned to address exactly these kinds of needs. This revision of the Dictionary follows the same path, though now with new content and up-to-date bibliographies, as well as a host of new contributors. Some ninety percent of the original material has been replaced, with most previous entries assigned to a fresh list of scholars. A number of new articles have been introduced, and a handful of articles from the first edition have been updated in light of ongoing research.

I await the arrival of the second generation of this Dictionary with impatience. What will I do with the old one - well what do you do with old friends? You don't sell them, recycle them, dump them or pulp them! You look after them, you find space for them, and if you can find a caring home for them, that would be good!

The Sermon on the Mount in Scotland!

In Scotland there aren't many lilies of the field - maybe some red poppies growing wild. But if Jesus had preached the Sermon on the Mount near Banchory (The Sermon on Scolty Hill), he'd still have said, 'Not even Solomon in all his purple glory can compete with Scottish heather in August.

The idea that Jesus might speak with a Scottish accent makes for interesting exegesis and fresh translation - when the disciples gave the weans a row for giving Jesus hassle, Jesus said to the disciples, "Gonnae no dae that!"

Writing and Sanctity

I first read a Chaim Potok novel when I was 23. I opened the orange penguin edition of The Chosen on the top deck of a Glasgow bus on its way from Sauchiehall Street to Glasgow University. It was raining, mid afternoon and the street lights were already on. I was in the front seat, and I've never lost the child's fascination with travelling upstairs with a drivers-eye view, and particularly the wavy swing of the bus going round a tight corner, more exaggerated from on high.

I was soon immersed in a very different world of Hasidic Jewish culture, in pre-war Brooklyn, a society of Talmudic Judaism which was intense, fervent, strange and fiercely defensive. That book changed my entire view of Judaism, Jewishness and provided me with an entry into a world I have come to value, to some extent understand, and to sense at times a deep affinity with those who take prayer, worship, obedience and reverent love for the sacred texts of the Hebrew Bible with life affirming seriousness. Since then I've read Potok's novels, studied A J Heschel's volumes of philosophy and theology, much of Martin Buber's philosophy, immersed myself in Denise Levertov's poetry and essays, consulted Shalom Paul and Moshe Greenberg's commentaries on Amos, Isaiah and Ezekiel, revelled in Robert Alter's literary studies and translations, wrestled with the moral dilemmas of Elie Wiesel holding a world to account for the attempted murder of a people, and worked through the often dense but brilliant writing of George Steiner.

It wouldn't be true to say I owe all these intellectual field trips to discovering Potok's work. But there's no doubt my own theological worldview has been positively enriched by such encounters; my awareness of the truth and value of other faith traditions has been sensitised, and in turn my own learned lessons in humility have encouraged an openness and receptiveness to the truth that others bring to us as their gift. All this triggered by reading Conversations with Chaim Potok, in which he explains why and how he wrote the novels, and in particular, his concern to explore the experience of modern Jewish communities  where people live at the core of two cultures, and in a nexus of colliding values.

Here is his apologia for writing 'at its best':

"Writing at its best is an exalted state, an unlocking of the unconscious and imagination and a contact with sanctity."

I have a feeling that Heschel, Buber, Levertov, Shalom Paul and George Steiner would underline that passage with a tick in the margin. If you haven't read Potok, be it far from me to tell you what to do, but....

Meditation on a Window on a Vanished Past.

This is a photo taken earlier this summer.

I was going to write a poem about it.

On reflection it is already a poem - visual, evocative, suggestive.

Weathered paint, cracked pointing, crumbling stone,

sashes, lintel and frame worn away with the wind.

A window of opportunities taken? Perhaps not, now lost.

No mere hole in the wall, an apperture of light,

illuming the human,the homely, the holy.

In 200 years, what has been seen looking through this window? Who lived and left here? Whose stories unfolded, now forgotten? This weather worn window once welcomed someone home.

Spiritual Scunneration and a Good Devotional Hymn

What is it that leads us to describe an experience, a poem, a hymn, a talk, a book as 'devotional'? Devotional can mean it makes me feel better, or its purpose is to awaken emotions of love to God, or it creates in us a desire to serve  God better, or repent and turn away from our sins. But an equally important question for me is what makes a hymn, picture, book or whatever else 'devotional'? I started thinking about this when I came across a hymn I haven't sung for years, but even reading it I felt something deeply stirring, a mixture of memory and resonance, faith and familiarity, love and longing, desire and determination, regret and renewal. 

The word devotional is an essential word in Christian theology and spirituality. It refers to those experiences and encounters, those moments of intimate significance in our journey with God, when our deepest hopes encounter love inexhaustible, and when therefore our greatest failings are gathered up into grace sufficient.

Sometimes I don't know what to pray when most fully aware of my humanity, and the apparent impossibility of being other than a recurring disappointment to God. (The apostle above portrays this kind of spiritual being scunnered!) That of course is itself a lack of trust in the power of God's love and grace to renew and transform and make possible a new creation. So a hymn like the one below, more or less consigned to memory like an artefact from a previous age covered over with all that has come after, retains a mysterious hold on my religious affections. It more fully expresses my faith than most ad hoc words of stammering yearning I can write in a journal, or say in a prayer. This is a hymn which isn't about how I feel, as if God didn't already know all that anyway. This is a hymn of spiritual aspiration, of ethical re-affrimation and of discipleship which takes seriously inner disposition as well as outer behaviour.  It will find its way into an order of service soon, as I am privileged to preach around and choose some of the hymns - to choose this one would be to choose a hymn undeservedly neglected, but which is, in the richest senses, devotional. 

 

1. May the mind of Christ, my Savior,
   Live in me from day to day,
   By His love and pow’r controlling
   All I do and say.
2. May the Word of God dwell richly
   In my heart from hour to hour,
   So that all may see I triumph
   Only through His pow’r.
3. May the peace of God my Father
   Rule my life in everything,
   That I may be calm to comfort
   Sick and sorrowing.
4. May the love of Jesus fill me
   As the waters fill the sea;
   Him exalting, self abasing,
   This is victory.
5. May I run the race before me,
   Strong and brave to face the foe,
   Looking only unto Jesus
   As I onward go.

Reading Karl Barth in Bed