O GOD, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; Mercifully grant that we who know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. This collect is assigned to be read…
An Evensong address: Good Shepherd, Palm Bay, FL. 12 January 2019. In the 2nd century, Christian merchants from the Roman provinces of Asia and Phrygia settled on an island in the Rhone river near a town called Lugdunum, which is now called Lyons in southern France. The merchants brought with them not only things to…
[From an old parish newsletter column.] Reading a list of sins to help with examination of conscience is a useful, though often humiliating, exercise: ‘Yes, I am guilty of that; yes, I do that; yes, that too. And that....’ One is grateful when he finally finds something he isn’t inclined to do (‘No; I can…
When the two Lukan books are considered as a unit, the combined work reveals a unified purpose and structure. Most scholars believe that Luke wrote his works for a church composed of Greek-speaking, mainly Gentile, converts to Christianity. Luke sought to explain Christ in terms that would make sense to his particular audience. Many of…
The previous article on civil obedience and disobedience considered the topic in general and stated the Christian argument for obedience to just or neutral commands from the powers-that-be. The article also stated the obligation to refuse active cooperation and to disobey passively commands to do something clearly unjust or sinful. On those posts the theological…
Christmas Eve St. John i, verse 14 - And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. We…
Saint Peter: ‘Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.’ (Acts 4:19f.) Saint Paul: ‘Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: …
Once a literary or story-telling convention is firmly established, hints and allusions to it may occur without its full and obvious use. In the case of Biblical stories, particularly in the Old Testament, we are so far removed from the origins of the stories that we may simply miss many such hints and allusions. Here…
The annunciation type-scene, after its first appearance in Genesis in the stories of Sarah, Leah, and Rachel, does not occur again in the Pentateuch. Its next appearance is in Judges 13 at the beginning of the Samson stories. Judges 13 is entirely devoted to an annunciation story. This example of the type is fairly full,…
The stories of Sarah’s difficulties in conception, of the annunciation to Abraham and Sarah, and of the eventual birth of Isaac provide the first appearance in Scripture of the ‘type-scene’ previously outlined. These stories together are a somewhat unusual instance of the theme in that they are scattered over parts of several chapters of Genesis,…
