Cavalier Christian

The Danish/Byzantine connection

2006-03-30T11:17:00.000-08:00

Although I had seen one before, I never knew anything about the Dagmar Cross. Dagmar was a Bohemian princess who married King Valdemar of the Danes but died as a young woman in 1212. Her body was exhumed in 1690 and a gold cross in the Byzantine style was found on her body. On one side is the crucified Christ. On the other side is Christ in the center flanked by the Virgin and St. John the Baptist or Forerunner. Above is St. Basil the Great and below is St. John Chrysostom--the two great liturgists in the Eastern tradition. The cross is apparently given as a gift for confirmations and weddings among the Danes today.

Disappointing end to the Alabama Church fires investigation

2006-03-10T09:06:00.000-08:00

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/3714240.html . If you haven't heard, I'm sorry to be the one to say that it was college students who have been charged with setting the Church fires in Alabama. They're innocent until proved guilty, of course. The prospect of young, promising liberal arts students responsible for these actions should be dizzying.

Quotation of the Day

2006-03-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

"Suppose a priest comes at the beginning of Mass and says: 'Good morning, everybody, did your team win last night?' That's not a liturgical greeting. If you can find it in any liturgical book, I'll give you a turkey," Cardinal Arinze said. I hate most of what the man has to say, but this line wasn't too bad.

More Church fires in Alabama

2006-02-08T07:57:00.000-08:00

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1139394589156260.xml&coll=2 .
These disturbing works of arson continue. Many of the fires have been set in the pulpits. The churches tend to be historic, which means valuable structures and historical records are being destroyed. Despite these setbacks, there is no doubt that the congregations will grow stronger as a result of the experience. One wonders about the motivation. Is the motive racism? Some of the churches were white. Is it an assault on fundamentalism? Doubtful. I don't think liberal activists would take that sort of action. Is it someone who feels rejected by religion (read: religious people)? It's hard to say at this point.

This story probes some relevant questions: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0208/p02s01-ussc.html .

NO COMMENT DEPARTMENT: Separation of Church and Jackson

2006-02-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0600712.htm . The Church is dubious about involving Michael Jackson on a project related to the late Pope John Paul II because of Jackson's association in the public's mind with child abuse. Hmmm.

Visions of the Divine: Give me that old time religion?

2006-02-07T07:55:00.000-08:00

The Episcopal Church & Visual Arts has put together this exhibit of images of Christ: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/69108_ENG_HTM.htm .

Cheekwood, a Nashville museum and botanical garden, is currently hosting this exhibit entitled "100 Artists See God." Go to www.cheekwood.org for more information.

Burning Crosses

2006-02-06T14:04:00.000-08:00

You have no doubt seen the disturbing pictures of the burning of the Danish flag in the news. Islamic radicals protest the caricature of the Prophet Muhammed by burning the national flag of a Christian country. That's a rather ironic form of protest. Nevertheless, the Danes should be allowed to run the cartoon of Muhammed, and Muslims should be allowed to burn flags. One wonders whether they are allowed to burn their own country's flag. I bought a Danish flag today in solidarity. I also bought some Havarti cheese on the way home from work. The Ovesens in my family are no doubt pleased.

This piece offers an interesting international, inter-religious perspective on the story: http://www.aina.org/news/20060206120105.htm

A New Encyclical

2006-01-25T07:55:00.000-08:00

Pope Benedict XVI has released his first encyclical letter, Deus Caritas Est or God is Love. Here is the link: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html . I'm going to read it on the plane today and hope to have an initial response late tomorrow.

Religion, Spirituality, and Liberal Politics

2006-01-24T12:30:00.000-08:00

The Pew Forum held an event in December dealing with the connections (or stray threads) that sometimes unite religion, spirituality, and liberal politics. The transcript is here: http://pewforum.org/events/index.php?EventID=94 .

What is clear to me is that every time this topic comes up there is more to discuss. It is becoming a more comfortable discussion. That's a good sign.

Movies...

2006-01-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

http://www.diaryofamadblackwomanmovie.com/ . A movie worth seeing if you are interested in themes of revenge and redemption. Since I'm not at Sundance this year, I watched a few movies this weekend. This was one of them, and I thought I'd pass it along.

Some humor at our Purtian friends' expense

2006-01-23T11:04:00.000-08:00

If you've never seen these two websites, you should take a look: http://www.bettybowers.com and http://www.landoverbaptist.org . I've been enjoying them for a couple of years now.

Byzantine Chant

2006-01-21T20:19:00.000-08:00

This week Cycles of Grace: Hymns from the Great Feasts arrived. It's a two-CD set that features Byzantine chant in English and it covers many of the great feasts of Christ and the Theotokos that one would find in The Festal Menaion. You can find it here: http://www.liturgica.com/cart/musicInfo.jsp?catNo=AB074&hostname=null . Here is a link for The Festal Menaion: http://www.stspress.com/detail.aspx?ID=506 .

I have listened to CDs of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, but they were in Greek or Church Slavonic. And while I could follow along with the translation and found the chants beautiful, I found that the material wasn't, how can I put it?, sticking. Hearing the troparia and kontakia for the great feasts in English, albeit King James English, has surprised me because I find I am much better able to remember the texts and internalize them. I was afraid that hearing them in English might sacrifice some of the dignity, but that has not been the case, I'm glad to say. And since the structure of Eastern prayers is so different from that of the prayers in the Western Church (less linear, less goal-oriented, and more caught up in the great mysteries of the faith, in my view), I believe that I am in some ways relearning prayer.

Moron Reed, er, um, I mean More on Reed

2006-01-19T09:02:00.000-08:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20060118/pl_usatoday/tiestoabramoffshadowreedsruningeorgia .
I hope that this story continues to cycle and recycle through the news, nationally and in Georgia. The article makes reference to two websites dedicated to combatting Ralph Reed. They are http://www.stopralphreed.com and http://www.readaboutreed.com . Now is the time to stop him before he gets too far along in his presidential aspirations.

Vindicating Bode Miller or something like that.

2006-01-18T09:36:00.000-08:00

This piece posted on Slate's website makes the point better than I could that we really shouldn't be shocked at Miller's drunken skiing. http://www.slate.com/id/2134211/nav/tap2/ . The author gives the Purtians a good thrashing for their hypocrisy and feigned shock at the 60 Minutes story.

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, with apologies to Max Weber

2006-01-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

This story from The Washington Post and reprinted by their partners at MSNBC strikes me as a signal that we are seeing the beginning of the end of the evangelical revolution in the Republican party: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10874194/ . And perhaps it is the ultimate reversal in Max Weber's theory about how Calvinist Protestantism (now found largely in Evangelical circles) accidentally laid the groundwork for capitalism. Capitalism now appears to be accidentally undoing some of the very descendants of these Calvinists. Ralph Reed is in trouble. If his squeaky clean image is tarnished in the Abramoff scandal, then I can't see how the notoriously dirty Tom DeLay can escape. The major blindness in evangelicalism today--money, greed, corporate exploitation all baptized with the gospel of health, wealth, and success--may be the fatal trap that snares the Puritans. It appears to be more lethal than their sexual hypocrisy.

Purified Television

2006-01-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

Nashville awoke this morning to learn that "The Book of Daniel," the program about the Episcopal priest with the imperfect family (shock!), is going to be pulled from the air by WSMV-Channel 4, which is the local NBC affiliate. See the story here: http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060113/ENTERTAINMENT12/601130404 . WSMV's website oddly enough has a link to the American Family Association--neo-Puritan headquarters. Of course, WSMV is claiming that the emails they received are not from a coordinated campaign by conservatives. While outsiders may not be surprised that a station in Nashville is pulling the show, many of us who live here are amazed. Our city is not right-wing by any stretch of the imagination. If you want to discuss the matter with Channel 4, you can contact them at programming@wsmv.com .

Drunk on the Job Part II: Now it's the skiers...

2006-01-12T11:59:00.000-08:00

A skier's comments about drinking while skiing have touched off a tempest in a teapot. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/olympics/2006/01/12/bc.ski.millerapology.ap/index.html?cnn=yes . We know that this sort of thing goes on. Do we really think we're solving a problem (is this a problem at all?) if we drive the speech about it underground?

Granted, Miller's words show a complete lack of prudence, not to mention his actions. But why do we expect anything other than risky behavior and bravado out of professional athletes?

Cavalier Politicians

2006-01-12T07:36:00.000-08:00

This article in Slate caught my eye today: http://www.slate.com/id/2134150/?nav=tap3 . It reminds me that there were days when journalism used to cover the activities of legislative bodies and not the activities of the bodies of members of the legislature...if that makes any sense.

Is it any wonder that no one understands how we make laws these days? Granted, government has gotten incredibly complicated. But it has always been a difficult business. However, when journalists throw their hands in the air and give up, in effect becoming a version of political People Magazine, then we have no voice to provide ongoing civics education for the public. The press is Puritan, too, after all. Why not zero in on the personal failings of lawmakers instead of the complicated but truly scandalous laws they are passing?

Islamic "Barbie"

2006-01-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060111/wl_mideast_afp/afplifestylearabegypt_060111151107

I thought that this item might be of interest. I'm a bit amazed that anyone would call Barbie a "Jewish doll," but I suppose it's an effort to drive a wedge between Western Christians and Jews.

In some ways, the popularity of this Islamic Barbie is a curious development. The Left has focused on criticizing the products of popular culture such as Barbie as anti-feminist and conducive of eating disorders in the West. So Barbie in the Middle East shifts from a superficial, consumeristic, skin-revealing bimbo to an earnest, pious, self-effacing drone. I don't think we're getting very far here.

It makes me wonder whether all this tinkering with popular culture that issues inevitably from the criticism of popular culture is the best solution to social problems. Since the 1960s, academics, the press, and popular sentiment have tried to ignore high culture, tried to destroy the distinction between high and low culture, or tried to denounce high culture as elitist or irrelevant (those two adjectives would seem to be contradictory). Well, if high culture is vacated of its power, then we must turn to low culture such as Barbie dolls if we want to reform society. I suppose I'd admit that low culture does in some respect embody values, but in the end, it's entertainment and amusement. And I grow weary of attempts to sanitize low culture because it will always be imperfect, low, edgy, and a little dirty. It appeals to a certain time and place in life--namely, leisure. So long as a person is also simultanteously being formed by high culture, then I fail to see how a little low culture hurts. Alas, Puritans attack high culture's status--overthrowing good religious art, etc.-- while at the same time demanding that low culture adhere to a rigid moralism. Nothing could be worse for a society trying to produce moral people or people with a sense of humanity and humor. I think it's another example of how the cultural far left and fundamentalists collude.

A new (old) missal

2006-01-10T11:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday in the mail I received my copy of The Roman Missal (1962). It's a handsome, leather-bound, gold-leaf volume of over 2000 pages. It is published by Baronius Press in the United Kingdom www.baroniuspress.com . The illustrations are tasteful as opposed to the gaudy ones found in the St. Joseph missals. Most of the texts are in Latin and in English. For my purposes, the value is in having the prayers for the entire liturgical year in one place. When I set the Roman Missal beside the Orthodox Festal Menaion and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, I have a better sense of the meaning of the chief mysteries of the faith through studying the prayers appointed for each major feast or saint's day.

I also recently received my copy of Romano Guardini's Spirit of the Liturgy and am looking forward to dipping into it. If the title sounds familiar, it is because then Cardinal Ratzinger and now Pope Benedict XVI borrowed the title of his own book from Guardini. I think it should be a fine companion to what I've read by St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Germanus of Constantinople, and Nicholas Cabasilas.

What directs our turning?

2005-12-21T13:53:00.000-08:00

As we go through a life-long process of conversion, we are turning always. But are we turning towards God or are we turninig away from other things? I think we have a profound temptation to try to escape what we might label as evil, troubling, messy, complicated, difficult, unclean, unworthy, disturbing, etc.

Does religion give us the strength to deal with the world as it is--fallible, perishing, and yet in the process of undergoing transformation? Or does our religion make us suspicious, afraid, angry, and flight-prone? I think of our situation as that of people who are between two ideas. The first idea is "Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come." (Hebrews 13:14) In other words, to the extent that we have anything on earth including our citizenship and alliances, we have something that is perishing. It will not last. It is not ultimate. The city that is to come--the New Jerusalem--is our lasting city and we await it. But the second idea is this one: "Test all things; hold fast that which is good." (I Thessalonians 5:21). There is much that is good in nature and culture in its own right. We are called to live in the world and test it, not flee it. So while we wait for the lasting city, we are still called to live--fully live--in the earthly city in which we find ourselves. We are between what is disappearing and the temptation to give up and the need to use our soul's powers to their fullest in the situation in which we find oursleves.

We are profoundly reminded of this tension at Christmas in which God becomes incarnate and lives with us in the mess that is the earthly city. Christ came not seeking perfection, but to call us to the path of pefection that will end in the New Jerusalem. Though the "world knew him not," he "came into what was his own," as the Prologue to St. John's Gospel reminds us.

The Incarnation takes us back to the opening point--are we turning toward God or away from the world? I think the emphasis on seeing Jesus in the Gospels is the clue. No matter how rough, wicked, and messy the world is sometimes painted in the Gospels, there is a more marked emphasis on the importance of seeing Jesus. It is the vision of God that prompts us to turn towards God, not the vision of the world's occasional ugliness that prompts us to turn away from it. When we find ourselves turning toward God instead of turning away from the world, we have some measure of the strength that Jesus had in his earthly ministry to look soberly at world and bring healing. Future posts will deal with Christ's divine longing for the redemption of the world and how that is evident in the Gospels.

Let it be

2005-12-18T16:05:00.000-08:00

The Dean took this line from a Beatles song and explicated the Gospel story of the Annunciation today. When the sermon is posted online, I'll place a link to it on this page. Besides making connections among Renaissance art, the Beatles' catalogue, and the story, the sermon succeeded in making Mary a living character while preserving the connection to the theological tradition with integrity. Mary's Yes seems so strikingly simple. We've come to expect it over the years. But there is some balance in her emotions of calm, fear, and jubilation. She asks Gabriel, "How can this be?" Despite all her questions, she doesn't merely accept what the angel says, she decides (she exercises judgment) and not only "goes with the flow" but even could be said to "run with it." If you read the Magnificat in Luke's Gospel that follows, this point becomes clear. Her decision makes a difference. She, in a very important sense, adds to what God is doing. There could be no incarnation without her. This point is reflected in her words "My soul doth magnify the Lord." The exercise of her soul's power of judgment in saying Yes to God has allowed her to make God increase. Far from being diminished by becoming a human being, God is somehow greater--maginified-- as a result.

Thoughts on the recent instruction on gay candidates for the priesthood

2005-12-15T12:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to the document that has been receiving so much press: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20051104_istruzione_en.html .

I found it a fascinating read in contradictions and loopholes. The language of "guidelines," "precise norms," and "norms" was of interest. It is not clear where the present instruction falls. What is the status of the document?

A creeping doctrine of gender is appearing in more and more Church documents. In section 2357, the Catechism of the Catholic Church makes reference to "genuine and affective sexual complimentarity." Whatever practices fall into that complimentarity, they must serve as background for the following two sentences in the document on gay candidates for ministry: "The candidate to the ordained ministry, therefore, must reach affective maturity. Such maturity will allow him to relate correctly to both men and women, developing in him a true sense of spiritual fatherhood towards the Church community that will be entrusted to him." Does sexual orientation really cause a problem for a priest as he tries to relate appropriately to men and women? Nothing specific comes to mind, and nothing specific appears in the document.

An acknowledgement (however smug) of "so-called 'gay culture' " appears in the document. If a candidate for the priesthood supports it, whatever it is, then he is ineligible for orders. Does that mean by implication that it's sinful for current priests and laypersons to support gay culture? What kind of support is condemned? Going to bars, attending Pride events, giving money to GLBT political causes? The instruction is riddled with such vagueness that one wonder how any consistent enforcement is possible.

Section three of the document deals specifically with enforcement mechanisms, but leaves one even further in the dark. The Bishop must have "a morally certain judgment" about a candidate, and if there is "serious doubt" the Bishop is not to admit a candidate to orders. I think a vast gray expanse divides "morally certain" and "serious doubt." At the seminary the rector is to "express his own judgment" on a candidate's suitability. The candidate's spiritual director and confessor "have the duty to dissuade him in conscience from proceeding towards ordination" if he is practicing homosexuality or has the deep-seated tendency to do so. This paragraph makes no mention of the third red flag--support of gay culture. Finally, the document ends with a discussion of how a candidate "has the primary responsibility for his own formation."

So in the end, what we have are three red flags--practicing homosexuality, having deep-seated tendencies, and supporting gay culture. But sometimes only the first two red flags matter. BUT the bishop, the seminary rector, the spiritual director, and the individual all have judgments and responsibilities.

Has anything changed with this document? First, it definitely escalates anti-gay rhetoric. The Church is clearly catching up to gender studies and the emergence of GLBT culture in the West. Second, we have to consider the level of practice. It's not clear to me that any policies in dioceses will change. So much is left to judgment that I can't imagine a huge difference other than even more public silence and more underground speech about sexuality.

If this document was meant to be the last word, it has already failed.

Eastward Position

2005-12-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

For centuries Roman Catholics celebrated the liturgy by orienting themselves--literally turning toward the East. In the 19th century, many Anglicans began to do the same again as many of them had done in the 17th century. Industrialization, world wars, and mass communication began to have profound changes on 20th people that evidently were responsible for changes in the liturgies of both communions and, indeed, in the ways people related to one another and to God.

When I opened my copy of the local Catholic paper this morning, I noticed this caption for one of the photographs: "One of the changes prompted by the Second Vatican Council was the turning of the altar to face the congregation." If by "prompted," the caption means that it was a consequence in a sort of neutral fashion, that might be correct. But if by "prompted," the caption means that the Council called for this change, the writer may be mistaken. The Pope in his The Spirit of the Liturgy tackles this very question. Here is his summary: "...after the Council (which says nothing about about 'turning toward the people') new altars were set up everywhere, and today celebration versus populum really does look like the characteristic fruit of Vatican II's liturgical renewal." (p. 77) The Pope argues, "Looking at the priest has no importance. What matters is looking together at the Lord. It is not now a question of dialogue but of common worship, of setting off toward the One who is to come. " (p. 81)

While I agree with the Pope on this point, what strikes me is that he seems to show a pattern of taking a matter of detail and reading profound importance into it. That is no doubt the fruit of an analytical and systematic mind. But it may also be the fruit of a policing mind...one that keeps score, remembers slights, is bent on correcting mistakes. That frame of mind combined with a theological emphasis on law--remember the connections he draws between liturgy and Sinai in the earlier post--could make now a difficult time for fresh moral discernment in the Roman Catholic Church.

Preparing for Christmas with St. Ephrem of Syria

2005-12-07T08:01:00.000-08:00

Here are a few lines from his "Hymns on the Nativity":

Serene is the night on which shines forth the Serene One Who
came to give us serenity.
Do not allow anything that might disturb it to enter upon our
watch.
Let the path of the ear be cleared; let the sight of the eye be
chastened;
let the contemplation of the heart be sanctified; the let the speech of the
mouth be purified.
Mary today has hidden in us the leaven from the house of
Abraham;
let us, therefore, love the poor as Abraham loved the needy.

A note on the thurible for C.D.P.

2005-12-06T10:04:00.000-08:00

I found this passage in St. Germanus of Constantinople's On the Divine Liturgy that I thought was beautiful: "The censer demonstrates the humanity of Christ, and the fire, His divinity. The sweet-smelling smoke reveals the fragrance of the Holy Spirit which precedes. For the censer denotes sweet joy. " It's a wonderful image as we approach the Nativity in which we mark the joining of the divine and human natures in Christ.

Liturgy and Order

2005-12-05T12:00:00.000-08:00

I picked up a copy of the Pope's book, The Spirit of the Liturgy, over the weekend. He was still Cardinal Ratzinger when he wrote it. I've only read a couple of chapters, but I have to confess that it's a brilliant piece so far. His connections to Mt. Sinai, the law, liturgy, and political order are masterful, if misguided. As I told a friend, this will probably be the most political book on the liturgy I'll ever read. I think that I will have a better understanding of the Pope's social teachings in and outside the Church when I finish.

St. Clement's Day Sunday at St. Clement's Philadelphia

2005-11-22T13:47:00.000-08:00

I attended High Mass at St. Clement's Church at the corner of 20th and Cherry streets in Philadelphia on Sunday thanks to the recommendation of a friend. There were confirmations and the celebration of St. Clement's feast day. What impressed me was the number of St. Clement's Day hymns that the parish had brought together in the service. Though the words were unfamiliar, they were mostly sung to familiar tunes. At the end of the service, relics of St. Clement of Rome were exhibited. The rector didn't seem to know how the parish came by them. Curiously, mostly men went up to the altar rail to venerate the relics. After the service, I wandered around the back and found that there was a minor shrine set up to King Charles the Martyr. He seemed to be wearing the clothes he either wore to his trial or his execution. He was not dressed as a king particularly. I hope that the parish is resisting Puritanism. Aesthetically, it is doing so, as the sanctuary was sumptuous. But I hope it is morally as well. I couldn't really get too much of the moral tone of the parish, as the Bishop was preaching that day.

Belmont Part 2: Looser, marketable to promote relaxation and diversity

2005-11-17T09:25:00.000-08:00

Here's the next act in the Belmont/Baptist drama: http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051117/NEWS06/511170448 . The nouns and adjectives used to describe the emerging relationship between the Baptists and Belmont on the one hand and Belmont's emerging identity on the other baffle me. A "looser" relationship, a more "marketable" school" that promotes "diversity" and a "relaxation of rules." At one point, someone notes that Belmont has been run like a business over the last few years.

Has everyone forgotten we're talking about a college here?

No one to my knowledge has articulated the educational case for either the change in relationship or the emerging Belmont identity. So it leads me to wonder whether the Baptist relationship is hampering the professors in the science departments and the religion department. I would love to know the state of the faculty discussions of these matters. So far, I'm not aware of any tenured faculty coming forward to comment about the issues these questions bring up for teaching and learning. Perhaps some campus publications provide a more in-depth discussion.

Belmont and the TBC

2005-11-16T11:22:00.000-08:00

Today's City Paper leads with a story about Belmont University's ongoing efforts to cut ties to the Tennessee Baptist Convention. Read the story here: http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section=9&screen=news&news_id=45989 .

The ostensible reason for the move is to add diversity to the board...and by diversity they mean Christians other than those allied with the Southern Baptist Convention. Boards, of course, are made up principally of donors. So there is an effort to diversify the revenue stream as well. As there would have to be all Baptists on the current board, I hope that this episode will be viewed as an internal division/discussion within Baptist circles and not another chapter in the trite narrative of religion vs. higher education. If Belmont and the Tennessee Baptist Convention part ways, it will be because Baptists on one side or both sides have decided that it's in the best interest of their institutions. It won't be because Belmont has gone secular, especially when their idea of diversity is non-Baptist Chrisitans.

What I find missing is a philosophical articulation of why Belmont might loosen or sever its ties with the Tennessee Baptist Convention. Is there a reason that university officials might give in terms of the pursuit of knowledge, the integrity of the teaching profession, or the well-being of students that would help us look at this development differently? Without such reasons, we can only fall back on the more mercenary reasons of strategic planning. Where is the contemporary Cardinal Newman to give us the updated version of The Idea of a University to help us understand the relationship between faith and higher education today?

Surrendering to Anne Rice

2005-11-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

After years of avoiding her works, I have finally bought my first Anne Rice novel. I read a review of her new Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, and decided to break down and buy it. I have to admit that I'm really enjoying it. She has read extensively in New Testament scholarship, and it shows. She has immersed herself in the history, archaeology, and literature of the period. It reads quite well. There is an intriguing chapter at the end in which she details her return to the Church and her long-standing interest in history. She then guides the reader through some of the works of New Testament scholarship that have helped her. Academics out there, beware! Your research does have an impact. You never know who might pick it up and produce public art based on it.

Read more about the novel here: http://www.annerice.com/bs_b_ChristTheLord.htm .

Trading on Misery In Cold Blood

2005-11-15T09:36:00.000-08:00

A friend and I went to see Capote on Friday night--a chilling experience. The murders themselves were gruesome and horrible, of course. What was also awful, if the movie portrayed it faithfully, was Truman Capote's role in manipulating that which he was documenting. So it became for me a question of the extent to which liberals/progressives and Christians need and even trade on suffering. To what extent do crime, suffering, misery become ends in themselves--indeed, an endless path that makes us lose sight of the more positive vision from which we are able to criticize injustice and evil in the first place. I'll have to go back to the text of In Cold Blood for a broader perspective on this particular film, but I think the general question is valid. It has been behind my uneasiness with movements like Liberation Theology (or its more extreme forms), for example. Gutierrez himself does have a positive vision in A Theology of Liberation which involves communion with God and neighbor. But some versions seem to lack that coherence.

I highly recommend the film, though. The acting was incredible. Here's a review for your consideration: http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=1440

The Word on the street

2005-10-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

...or something like that. This morning as I walked from my car to work, I noticed a cheery man on the corner passing out Gideon New Testaments (with the Psalms and Proverbs in the King James Version, of course). I tried to think of something cynical to say, but I really can't. It's a good idea. Some joggers even took copies. I wonder whether there could be an abridged copy of the Book of Common Prayer that Episcopalians could pass out. We ought to be giving more of them as gifts. They are great evangelism tools. Perhaps that would be too earnest and not sufficiently cavalier. But we could reach evangelicals with slogans like this: "If you like the King's Bible, take a look at his prayer book!"

Another voice asking whether the Right has stolen Jesus

2005-10-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

The following article found at Salon is not as searching as the one I posted from Harper's recently, but it's worth a look: http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/10/07/jesus/index.html . It forcefully asks the question again whether the Right has correctly discerned the Jesus of the Gospels and whether its adherents are truly following him. Issues of peace and poverty are at the heart of the article's critique. For that, it is valuable.

What concerns me is the bifurcation at work in the languages I hear about Jesus. The Left is beginning to reclaim the life and teachings of Jesus. To oversimplify, the Right has been emphasizing the saving work of Jesus on the Cross. For the person of faith, though, isn't there one Jesus? Didn't the same Jesus who taught "Blessed are peacemakers" die on the Cross and rise again? Who is articulating the relationship between the ministry and the saving work of Jesus? We can perhaps legitimately contend for interpretations of Christ, but let's not divide the human from the divine, or divide the preaching, teaching, and healing roles of Jesus from the priestly role of Jesus.

An echo of overreach

2005-10-06T17:14:00.000-07:00

I wish my blog were widely enough read to have inspired the following article at Salon, but I can just be happy that others are saying it and saying it better in a venue where it will be read: http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2005/10/06/rovean_empire/index.html . You'll either have to have a subscription or view an advert to view the article, but it's worth a look.

Puritan Overreach Part II: Frist, DeLay, and Bennett

2005-10-04T18:44:00.000-07:00

It's the Feast of St. Francis, and I thought it would be a good time to draw a contrast with today's so called moral leaders. Bill Frist defends life, but is dealing with an SEC investigation. Tom DeLay calls for justice (Justice Sunday II), but is under indictment. Bill Bennett gives us The Book of Virtues, but callously and thoughtlessly lets quips about aborting all black children trip off his tongue as if he were giving advice about how buy a good suit. We all know he doesn't advocate that sort of thing. It's the lack of awareness of the pain endured by minority groups that is embarrassing. Instead of compassionate conservatism, we get greed, what St. Augustine called the "lust to rule," and utter obliviousness. Surely these are signs of a neo-Puritan party grown over-confident in its power and astoundingly unaware of the lives of most Americans. I'm looking for a significant impact upon mid-term congressional elections. Perhaps we can't build a Franciscan political movement around brotherhood with creation, stigmata, and voluntary poverty. But anything else hardly seems worthy of the name "Christian politics."

The Christian culture that failed...

2005-09-25T14:39:00.000-07:00

At least that's one of the conclusions of a recent article by Bill McKibben in Harper's. I have to thank a friend for providing me with the following link to it: http://www.harpers.org/ExcerptTheChristianParadox.html . Here's the sentence that summarizes his thesis: "America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior." He contrasts the Jesus of the gospels and, indeed, the Gospel with the conventional self-help Christianity of The Purpose Driven Life and the apocalyptic speculations of fundamentalists.

In one of the article's most damning passages, he deconstructs the notion that America is a giving nation. I confess that I have not reviewed enough literature to know whether he is being fair in this assessment. But if he's right, he has bebunked one of our favorite myths about ourselves.

His conclusion isn't very hopeful: "The gospel is too radical for any culture larger than the Amish to ever come close to realizing; in demanding a departure from selfishness it conflicts with all our current desires." He rightly commends the examples of Jim Wallis and Bill Moyers, but they only gives us the media and idea pieces of the solution. How is the Gospel of Jesus with its concern for the poor ever to become central to America's understanding of itself without a movement?

Worship morning and evening

2005-09-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

A tale of two cities, East/West, day/night...it's hard to know where to begin with the contrasts I experienced in worship today. This morning's chapel service at work offered me the dazzling juxtaposition of the Shower of Stoles display ( www.showerofstoles.org ) and a guest musician's rendition of "God Bless America" sung after she prodded us all to say the words aloud. I cannot stand being reminded of nationalism in worship. It is one thing to be concretely connected with one's region or city in worship. Prayer concerns should certainly include the local element. But worship should connect us with God and the Church throughout time and throughout the earth. Does God have a plan for America? I don't know, but Americans won't stop saying God does. In my view, it's a question for sermons and religion discussion groups, not for the music of worship.

In the evening, I went to an Orthodox parish for the celebration of the fore feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. Oddly enough, the majority of those in attendance were not Orthodox. I happened to be present for the visit of several Lipscomb University religion students studying other expressions of Christianity. They were very polite and attentive, which is not surprising at all. And they stayed for the whole experience, which must have been mystifying for them. We had the opportunity to talk before the Vespers began. We discussed music and iconography. They got to meet the priest and chanter, who is a former student of mine.

My own observation is that the service moved extremely fast...the readings, prayers, and chants. There was a certain wild energy in the service that I have also found evident in the words and rhythms of troparia and kontakia. The decorum is looser than what one finds in the Episcopal Church in some ways. I told my chanter friend that I would certainly be back. It should prove to be a reliable place to celebrate the major feasts of the Church. So I hope to return on Holy Cross day next week. I don't see myself taking part in their eucharistic assembly; I shall remain a communicant of the Episcopal Church.

Katrina, Providence, and Incarnationalism

2005-09-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

The devastation wrought by Katrina is something we cannot yet fully comprehend, much less write adequately about. But we must speak in the midst of situations and nevertheless be willing to revise our comments and admit mistakes when we have more distance from events. I want to dare to say a few words about Katrina and the federal response, which the President now admits is "not acceptable."

Unfortunately, I think there are some erroenous theological understandings driving some elements of the response to Katrina on the right. On the one hand, we have the horrendous soundsings of an anti-gay group saying that New Orleans was hit because of Southern Decadence. See this article for details and an explanation of Decadence: http://www.washblade.com/2005/9-2/news/national/decadence.cfm . All one has to do is ask this group what major sins the rest of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi committed to deserve their fate. But even to say that is to dignify an undignified comment.

The more troubling problem is the theological sense that the Right generally holds--that natural disasters and all things happen according to God's providence. If a religious worldview focuses on general divine attributes such as God's omnipotence and if one makes Jesus merely a personal savior--one who comes only so individual souls can be zapped out of the muck of the world when they die or at the end of time, then why should there be a major relief response? I have to think that this Puritan worldview is retarding the administration's response to the disaster.

The contrasting catholic sensibility also believes that God is omnipotent and indeed comes into the world in Jesus Christ to save individual souls, but to save much more. God comes in the flesh and suffers what human beings suffer. The focus on the Incarnation, the sufferings, and the crucifixion of Christ keeps catholic Christians aware of their duties to defend the bodily integrity of human beings on earth. The corporal works of mercy, which involve feeding and clothing and sheltering the vulnerable are a clear extension of this incarnational sensibility. And they prompt one to act in compassionate service to those in need. Incarnational Christianity is the true compassionate conservatism.

Reparative therapy just won't go away

2005-09-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

Puritans always generate the best scandals. Read about this one in The Tennessean. I'm quoted: http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050901/NEWS01/509010434/1006/NEWS .

The damage done when counselors try to tinker with a person's sexual orientation takes on stranger and stranger shapes all the time.

Eventually, I do believe that evangelicals will accept homosexuality, much as they have in some ways accepted divorce and remarriage. It will be grudgingly and slowly that they make this shift. Up until that transformation takes place (and I think we're already seeing signs of it), evangelicals will continue to make a huge push for reparative therapy despite the utter disdain of the practice in mainstream psychiatry and psychology. If they want to show that homosexuality shouldn't be accepted, then they MUST show that it can be changed. They know that their position hinges on this point. And they will hold to it as long as they can until the light of mounting evidence just forces them to abandon it.

Puritan overreach

2005-08-29T07:47:00.000-07:00

Puritan overreach--the tactical mistake of those who after attaining some power go too far in its exercise. I think we're beginning to see it. The Terri Schiavo case was certainly an example. Despite the public's doubt and outrage about Congress's intervention, the Puritans in power pushed a self-righteous agenda bolstered by one senator's video diagnosis.

But Pat Robertson's comments about Hugo Chavez and the resulting controversy show that a pattern is clearly at work--a complicated pattern to be sure. The first groove in the pattern is Puritan certainty. Robertson and his friends are certain they are right(eous) and speak boldly and publicly about policy matters wrapped in religious urgency. Where the groove and the grain don't quite coalesce is the second part of the pattern--public disgust. The element of public disgust is essential for guaging Puritan overreach. The public can absorb a great deal of the religion and politics amalgam, but they will only allow themselves to be pushed so far before they begin to question where the Puritans in power are taking the country.

Evidence of the overreach is clear in (a) Senator's Frist's decisive break with the Puritans over stem cells, (b) the fact that ministers and the media have roundly criticized Robertson's comments (and his own apology), and (c) the growing anti-war protests in the country corroborated by opinion polls showing that fewer than half of all Americans support the war. Perhaps moralistic politics will give way to a concern for moral policy after mid-term elections.

Prayer Facing East

2005-08-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

My copy of A Manual of Eastern Orthodox Prayers (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press) arrived this week. This slim, hard bound volume is a wonderful tutor in prayer. My own prayer life had gotten stale, and I had hoped that prayers that were traditional yet unfamiliar might help me refocus. I believe that this book is the right path. Only about $8 on Amazon, the collection includes morning and evening prayer, occasional prayers, anthems and hymns, confession, preparation for Holy Communion, prayers following Holy Communion, and the Eastern Calendar, which begins with September.

The forms strike me as less tightly constructed than those in the Book of Common Prayer. They are more effusive than the ones in the Anglican tradition, too. Still they are quite beautiful and evocative. The Theotokos is present throughout the collection. Puritans would quibble. I've learned a great deal about the particular features of another Christian tradition by reading the book. I had, for example, never heard of October 1 as the Feast of the Protecting Veil of the Holy Mother of God.

A look inside Anglican separatism

2005-07-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

Instead of participating in the Eucharist at my own parish this morning, I attended Mass at St. Peter's, which is a congregation of the Diocese of the Southern States in the Anglican Province of Christ the King. The congregation meets at various spaces at the Scarritt-Bennett Center. I was one of 12 people of various ages from infants to those in their 70s. For worship we used the old prayer book and the old hymnal. I was familiar with the 1928 prayer book, but not the older hymnal. The service was led by the Rev. Brad Hulen, a deacon from Birmingham. We celebrated the deacon's liturgy with pre-consecrated elements. Although a bit nervous, Mr. Hulen did a fine job of maintaining decorum throughout the service and set a good tone for the laity. The members were friendly yet reverent. Next week a priest from Columbia, Tennessee will provide a full celebration of the Mass.

The sermon focused on spiritual gifts and being members of the Body, which led to a discussion of the time, talents, and treasure we can give the Church. It was a good sermon for a fledgling parish to hear as it seeks to develop. There was no direct discussion of cultural issues, although Mr. Hulen made ominous references to "the world" and to "the culture."

The hymns seemed more focused on humanity than I would have thought--"Rise up, o men of God," for example. I noted with interest a beautiful line in James Edmeston's hymn "Lead us , heavenly Father": "Love with every passion blending, Pleasure that can never cloy." That would seem to be ideal whether one is talking about human or divine love. If Anglo-Catholics pay attention to such sentiments and avoid giving themselves over to the temptations of moralism, they can provide a distinctive witness within Anglicanism.

Being in the midst of these people made me wonder whether this group will in time merge with Network Episcopalians. I didn't see any hint of that, but I didn't stay around to ask questions. I did put my name down on the mailing list, so we'll see whether future materials I receive stay true to Anglo-Catholicism or veer into Puritanism. So far, so good.

Updates: Funny how things look a month later!

2005-07-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, I wrote a bit about the Nashville Scene story on "Steve" and his arrest as part of the Metro Police Department's sting involving gay.com chat rooms. Chief of Police Ronal Serpas is holidng a forum for the GLBT community to discuss the issues raised in the story at Play ( http://www.playdancebar.com ). This development bodes well for increasing the level of understanding on both/all sides. Broader issues in our drug war continue to concern me, but that is not the place to start a public dialogue with a minority community. I think the meeting at Play is a great step.

In other news...though still another "one-month-later" update, Larry Flynt has been in Nashville the last couple of days to help celebrate the Grand Opening of the new Hustler Hollywood store on Church Street. The media tried and tried to whip the city into a frenzy over the story, but even they had to admit to their suprise that there were no protesters. At least that's what one channel 4 reporter said. To find the needed conflict to make their story juicy, they had to speak with the Pure Life Revolution extremists who are planning some future action related to the new store. I suppose we can look forward to the battle of Church Street. I can hear the rhetoric now -- "First the gays, then the pornography!" Ugh.

In a further sign of a Puritan streak in the Metro Police Department, The Tennessean is reporting today that Metro is now posting photographs, names, and addresses for "johns" arrested for soliciting prostitution. http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050716/NEWS03/507160340 . I was pleased to see that the story questioned whether this is an effective practice in inhibiting prostitution. On the one hand, one is glad to see that the focus is not merely on the prostitutes. On the other, should the state be publicly shaming people who havent' been convincted? These images of the men charged with soliciting are distortions of the human person. They are not fit as objects of contemplation. Yet these are the sort of images that fundamentalists would surely relish. A sinner caught, tormented, and shamed. No one can defend the actions of these men. But are there more redemptive ways of handling the matter?

If creative ministries are possible with prostitutes (and they are if one considers the example of the Magdalene House started by the Rev. Becca Stevens http://www.magdalenehouse.com/thistlefarms.html ), then there ought to be a way to work with men who seek sex, distorted power, and companionship with prostitutes. The Church has work to do in this area. It must also use its moral voice to create a less punitive, shaming culture.

Anglican ferment in the Diocese of Tennessee

2005-07-08T09:12:00.000-07:00

About 2 weeks ago, over 400 people attended the first major public meeting of Continuing Episcopalians of Tennessee. The presentations were helpful and crisp. The breakout groups were well organized. The leaders communicated a sense of urgency that was appropriate to the tasks they laid out. I was pleased to see a number of friends in attendance. http://www.cetn.org is the website. It's a movement to watch.

In today's City Paper, I found a curious little advert at the top of page 3:

St. Peter's Anglican Church
Scarett-Bennett (sic) Center-19th Avenue South, Nashville
Sunday Masses 10:00 A.M.
Are you searching for reliable practice of the
Anglican Catholic Faith and Order?
Come help grow this friendly mission!
www.anglicanpck.org
205-987-5399

If this group is what I think it is, then I'm shocked Scarritt-Bennett would host it. I also find it interesting that all the contact information is out-of-town. The website belongs to the Anglican Province of Christ the King, which boasts 70+ congregations around the country. The phone number is not local. The group even has a seminary out in Berkeley, CA of all places.

This appears to be a group focused on the Anglo-Catholic tradition, the old prayer book, and a fossilized view of gender and sexuality. If I attend one of their meetings, I'll be sure to report on it.

But some good news on the Baptists

2005-06-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

Today's Tennessean reports that the Southern Baptist convention has softened its rhetoric on gay issues. http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050623/NEWS06/506230422 . They have dropped the Disney ban and they have decided not to urge their members to remove their children from public schools with GLBT-affirming curricula.

Dropping the Disney ban is a way of cutting their losses. The boycott has had little if any trackable effect upon the company. It clearly shows a gap between the Baptist leadership and the general membership. The vanguard of the Puritan movement may be losing its influence.

The resolution on schools is interesting, too. Instead of calling for a boycott of the public schools, the Convention passed a resolution urging their members to get informed about school curricula. Who can argue with more parental involvement? Granted, it may be the prelude to a host of school board fights and nasty parent-teacher conversations over GLBT issues, but it's healthy to get those differences out in the open and discuss them. Let the discussion be local, and everyone will learn more about the real issues facing our public schools in the process.

The real reason that Baptists can't pull out of public schools is economic, of course. Most of their rank-and-file members can't afford private schools. A colleague of mine wondered aloud, "Can you imagine Texas high school football without the Baptists?" Apparently, the Baptists can't imagine it either!

Trying to pull some victory out of defeat, Richard Land of the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission threw out a zinger in the article noting that the "dirty little secret" among gay men is that they were "initiated" into their sexuality through abuse. Ridiculous, of course. But even if one really believed that, then wouldn't one spend more time trying to "cut off the pipeline" by fighting child abuse? And yet where are the dollars and programs and resolutions coming out of his office on child abuse? Puritan hypocrite!

Shifting Gears...

2005-06-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. I promised more on Christ and Culture, but Mr. Niebuhr will have to wait. There are news items to deal with. Specifically, this article in the Nashville Scene. http://www.nashvillescene.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?story=This_Week:News:Cover_Story . Check it out this week; I'm not sure how long the link is good.

The article tells the story of a young man named Steve who apparently started chatting with an undercover informant in an online chat room at gay.com. They discussed meeting for drugs and sex. When Steve arrived for his "date," the guy he met looked nothing like the picture he received. He tried to leave but plainclothes officers wrestled him to the ground. Thinking he had been set up to be gay bashed, Steve fought and tried to escape. So the officers used a tazer on him.

It looks as if there are a number of problems with this incident. Metro Police don't deny focusing on chat rooms for gay men; there are no sting operations involving chat rooms for straight men and women. Some of the arrests involve amyl nitrite, commonly known as "poppers." The city can't seem to determine whether poppers are illegal or not.

While one hesitates to say anything that might wrongly be interpreted as condoning Steve's actions, it is understandable why he attempted to flee. One of my friends commented that it plays on every gay man's darkest fear that he'll be the next Matthew Shepherd.

The combination of our Puritan drug war and selective enforcement of drug laws based on sexual orientation is a sad development. I suspect that there will be further developments in this story.

Neo-Puritan Watch: Southern Baptist Leaders Try to Nix Gay Program on Channel 5+

2005-06-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

In today's Nashville Scene Matt Pulle reports on the recent efforts of Southern Baptist leaders, namely LifeWay executives, to convince NewChannel 5 to pull "Out & About Today," a new program that covers the mid-State's GLBT community. Here's the link to the story: http://www.nashvillescene.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?story=This_Week:News:Turned_Off

Pulle throughout the article describes the program as "[i]nnocuously titled," "middle-of-the-road," and other phrases conveying just how mild the new program and its producers actually are. The article also indicates that 5's General Manager Debbie Turner is standing firm in spite of the opposition, which Pulle characterizes as "minimal" any way.

What is disturbing is the Southern Baptist leadership's presumption. They presume that the program will be smut before viewing it. And they presume that curtailing programming is what rank-and-file Southern Baptists want. I suspect the leaders are out of touch with their members. While it is true that Southern Baptists as a whole are more socially right-leaning than most other Americans, it doesn't follow that they would support their leadership by taking action against the program in the form of a boycott. Pulle alludes to the unsuccessful campaign that Southern Baptists (or at least their leaders) have waged against Disney.

One hesitates to use the word censorship here. Stictly speaking, we should reserve that word for the actions of governments. The leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention and LifeWay are well within their rights to call for their members to shun certain media. Excercising one's rights, however, does not always correspond with the exercise of one's prudence. The leaders of LifeWay come across as know-nothing, kill-joy nay sayers in this round. And I'll just bet a lot of Southern Baptists would privately agree with that characterization.

The LifeWay executives are clearly neo-Puritans attempting to destroy images and silence words with which they disagree. H. Richard Niebuhr (God rest him) lumped the Puritans into the "Christ transforming culture" type in his seminal work Christ and Culture. But I increasingly think Niebuhr should have placed them into a different category of "Christ annihilating culture." Perhaps we'll explore Christ and Culture in the next post. It may help us understand Puritanism as well as our alternative vision of iconic hierarchicalism a little better.

Group Forms to Keep Diocese of Tennessee in Episcopal Church

2005-06-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

In the last week, I have seen the announcement for the public launch of Continuing Episcopalians of Tennessee. Word came in a letter, in the Christ Church Cathedral bulletin, and in the newsletter of St. Ann's Church. The group has a logo, a steering committee, and a website -- http://www.cetn.org . A gathering of "concerned Episcopalians from many different theological perspectives and many different parishes began to meet to discuss how we could best heal the divisiveness that was so pervasive during that time." The primary focus of the group seems to be to prevent the Diocese of Tennessee from joining the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes. There is no mention of issues of sexuality, only those of schism and unity. It is a sensible approach to rally a broad constituency around the Episcopal Church rather than focus on the issues that are precipitating division. However, just because unity ought to be the focus, that does not mean that ssues of sexuality being debated can be suppressed. Many of those affiliated with the Network oppose the ordination of women priests and bishops and they can find no place in the life of the Church for gays and lesbians. It will be interesting to see how issues of sexuality are and are not addressed by Continuing Episcopalians and the Tennessee Anglican Council. I plan on supporting Continuing Episcopalians of Tennessee myself!

The Iconoclast Controversy: Some Themes to Watch

2005-06-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

The Iconoclast Controversy, which occurred in two main phases in the Byzantine Empire from 726 to 843, was a conflict about the status of sacred images. We can connect the issues it raises to themes that are relevant to the manifestations of Puritanism today. Obviously it is much too simplistic to say that what happened in Byzantine late antiquity, what happened in seventeenth-century England, and what is happening in the U.S. today represent a mere repetition of history. But I think that there are, nevertheless, instructive lessons from the past that can help us understand the likely consequences of certain groups gaining power today.

To be honest, there is nothing I could add to the wonderful chapter on the Iconoclast Controversy that one finds in chapter 2 of J.M. Hussey's The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire. Like any good Byzantine intrigue, the conflict involves a cast of characters that includes anti-icon emperors, pro-icon empresses, an anti-icon military, a pro-icon monastic party, and patriarchs of Constantinople on both sides of the issue. In the end, the pro-icon party won the day and their victory is still celebrated on the first Sunday of Lent in the Orthodox Church with the Acclamation of Orthodoxy.

This period is signficant for a number of reasons. First, as we have said, it settled the question of the veneration of icons in the Eastern Church for each succeeding generation. The Western Church, of course, revisited the issue during the Reformation. Second, this period sees the 7th and (many would argue) the last true ecumenical council of the Church. The tradition of ecumenical councils used to settle doctrinal disputes began with Nicaea in the 4th century. The Nicene Creed that is used in the eucharistic liturgy in the West today had its origin at the first ecumenical council. Typically, these councils were convenened by the Byzantine emperor and included representatives from the universal Church. They usually dealt with the highest doctrinal matters such as the Trinity and the person of Christ. The 7th Council dealt with the status of icons. The 7th council made a distinction, which the Church maintains today. Believers venerate, but do not, strictly speaking, worship icons. The veneration, as it were, passes through or beyond the icon and on to the prototype or the one depicted, whether Christ or the saints.

During the first wave of iconoclasm, the great defender of icons was St. John of Damascus. He is known for his treatise in systematic theology On the Orthodox Faith as well as the eucharistic hymn Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence. His Three Treatises on the Divine Images provided a crucial theological standard for the iconophile party. One of the most representative passages is this one: "Of old, God the incorporeal and formless was never depicted, but now that God has been seen in the flesh and has associated with human kind, I depict what I have seen of God. I do not venerate matter, I venerate the fashioner of matter, who became matter for my sake and accepted to dwell in matter and through matter worked my salvation, and I will not cease from reverencing matter, through which my salvation was worked." (Treat. I: 16) In the second wave of inconoclasm, the new champion of icons was St. Theodore the Studite whose work On the Holy Icons recapitulated and extended the thought of St. John of Damascus. Both works are available from St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.

Third, the period is significant because it crystalizes a cluster of issues that recur within Christianity from time to time around images. It is interesting to look at the defenders of icons versus their attackers. Male rulers versus female rulers, soldiers versus monks, the Decalogue tradition versus the Incarnation tradition. The absence of images is associated with biblical, military, and sexual uniformity. Image veneration is associated with doctrinal and monastic discipline and sexual variety. I would again offer a word of caution that this construal is my own, and I would urge any reader to test it and offer criticism. But I do think that the gender and power dynamics are relevant both during the crisis and in our own day. So rather than make strong statements at this point, I'll merely pose some leading but real questions. Is there any significance in the fact that movements associated with "getting back to the 10 Commandments" are militaristic? The Byzantine iconoclasts, the Puritan roundheads who introduced standing armies in England, and our own hawkish fundamentalists today give one a reasonable suspicion. Is it a coincidence that a rigid view of sexuality (male sexuality in particular) is part of the equation? In the Byzantine era, a militaristic model of masculinity clashed with female rulers and monks, who represented a different model of gender and sexuality altogether. In the seventeenth century, as we will see in a coming post, Puritan sexual discipline clashed with the varied (well, "cavalier") approach of the Cavaliers to sexuality and gender.

But more on that later. The point is that we should ask whether efforts to suppress images today, whether in sacred art or in public art, are also coded actions seeking certain kinds of gender control and gender uniformity. I don't think that those questions can be answered simplisticly. But the historical parallels are striking to me. And they may be useful in attempting to anticipate and track the next moves of the neo-Puritans among us.

Taking a break from history for a bit, we'll focus on some news itmes next time.

So what's the problem?

2005-06-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

If there is a basis in the doctrines of Creation and Incarnation for a Christian teaching on images and if that teaching can be encapsulated in the phrase "iconic hierarchicalism" or something like it, what is the origin of the problem? Why are fundamentalists, who are so publicly using the name "Christian," able to get away with such vehement opposition to images? The root lies in an improper fixation on the image and an improper identification of the image with the divine. The prohibition in the 10 Commandments against making and bowing down to graven images has this worry in mind. It is the human temptation to confuse the image for the spritual reality behind it that causes the problem. But unless we can obliterate every source of temptation by destorying all things visual or by putting blinders on everyone, it seems that attacks on images ultimately do no good.

The key is to transform our habits of looking. When we look, does our vision rest in the matter or does it continue its journey via matter to the spiritual and ultimately to the Spirit? I've come to the conclusion that it takes NO spiritual discipline to cover up art, inhibit its production, or smash a statue. It takes a great deal of spiritual discipline to change the way we see everything around us in order to assist our soul's journey to God. Surely that is what we are called to do.

If the writer of the Gospel according to St. John gave thanks that "we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth," (1:14) then how can we be wrong in seeking God in the icon of the Kyrie Pantokrator, for example? If Simeon, when he met the Holy Family and took the infant Jesus in his arms, exclaimed, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, to be a light to lighten the gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel," (St. Luke 2: 29-32), then are we not remiss if we fail to contemplace the Virgin and Child?

The Incarnation frankly accomplishes a reversal in the way that the spritual person sees images. No longer solely occasions for temptation, images play a role in the economy of salvation as aids to our ascent. The icon helps teach us the practices that will eventually issue in the beatific vision in which we will see "face to face" (I Corinthians 13:12). Puritans sadly deprive themselves of icons and then seek to destroy other images they deem offensive. What an impoverished spiritual landscape! When one understands the Christian doctrine of images, one has no reason to be afraid of baser images because it becomes possible to put them in the context of a cosmic hierarchy of images leading to the divine.

Nevertheless, at various points in the Church's history, parties have yielded to the temptation to take the easy way out by ironically attacking the very images that are mostly likely to help the mind make its ascent to God. In the next post, we'll examine the Iconoclast Controversy of the 8th and 9th centuries in the Byzantine Empire.

How we achieved a Christian view of images

2005-06-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

The road wasn't easy. The primary impetus for a Christian view of images is the doctrine of creation with human beings set at the apex of creation because they are made in God's image. "So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them," as Genesis 1:27 points out. Hence, it is not surprising that the human image is noble, but it is noble in the context of the entire creation, which is good. The first chapter ends fittingly: "God saw everything that he had made and indeed, it was very good." The goodness of the creation is constantly mentioned in the Psalms as a marvel that demands our awe of God. St. Augustine's Exposition of Psalm 99 captures this sensibility well when he writes, "...[L]ove him with your power of thought, because God's invisible reality is contemplated through things that are created. Gaze at these created things, wonder at them, and seek their maker."

The created order provides a way of ascent to God. Matter, whether in its natural state or refashioned by human hands CAN be an aid in the process. We should be wary of any movement that seeks to denigrate the image.

The doctrine of the Incarnation in which the Divine Word becomes flesh in the person of Jesus Christ is an extension of the doctrine of Creation. The Incarnation is not contrary to creation. In fact, the Incarnation's precondition is the creation of the cosmos; the Incarnation is a fitting extension. As the Gospel according to St. John tells us, when the Word became flesh, "[h]e came to what was his own..." (1:11) The Letter to the Colossians reprises the image of God idea introduced in Genesis when it calls Christ "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers -- all things have been created through him and for him." (1:15-16)

Creation and its fulfillment in the Incarnation form a solid foundation for the Christian doctrine of images. The doctrine of images is derivative in one sense. It depends on the more basic doctrines of Creation and Incarnation that we find in the Bible and in the Creed, but it is also in an important way their embodiment and perfection. I would say that the doctrine of images is vital to a living faith that can be publicly proclaimed in a way to inspire the virtues of faith, hope, and love in the Christian life.

The next posts will look briefly at key moments in the history of images. Outbreaks of iconoclasm (image smashing) ruptured the peace of the Church in the 8th, 9th, 16th, and 17th centuries. Understanding those conflicts will help us understand the contemporary Puritans among us.

Neo-Puritan group in Nashville

2005-06-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

Even if you live in Nashville, you may have missed the story in the May 28 edition of The Tennessean. A new grassroots group called "Pure Life Revolution" has formed. http://www.pureliferevolution.net . The name says it all, doesn't it? One of the first sites of their public demonstrations was the Musica statue, which has been a constant source of teeth-gnashing among the know-nothing, fundamentalist set in town. Here's the article link: http://www.dicksonherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050528/NEWS01/505280337/1006/MTCN02 . Isn't it interesting that they're hanging around a piece of public art covering their mouths and eyes?! Does that mean that they'd like to do the same to all of us?

I think their reaction points to a fundamental theological problem of the Christian view of the image. They forget that in the Christian view, it is not WHAT we are looking at, but HOW we are looking at it. In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Jesus notes that "everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (5:28) Later he says that the "eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" (6:22-23) In other words, Puritans have unhealthy eyes and they project their sickness onto the rest of us so that we can join them in the dark. They cannot or have not dealt with their own false doctrines of bodies and images and hence have not trained themselves to look beyond their own lust. That would be fine if they kept their sickness to themselves. But instead they seek to influence Church leaders and even public policy makers to hide or destroy every image they think might give someone an inappropriate tingle below the waist.

So what is the Christian view of images? I would suggest that it is an iconic hierarchicalism -- a hierarchy of images that starts with the mundane beauty that we see all around us in nature, art, and the human form that ascends through sacred images of the saints and Christ up to the beauty of God. By developing an appreciative eye for all the categories of image, we can ascend spiritually to a glimpse of the divine beauty. However, if we spend all our time worrying about which images need to be smashed or hidden, then we won't develop the spiritual discipline of raising our vision to something beyond our false imaginings. But more on iconic hierarchicalism later.

Welcome

2005-06-12T16:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome to your new home, all you neo-Cavaliers. We've got work to do. The Puritans are back. Help me keep an eye on them.