Judith, God Saves Through a Woman (another Legendary Woman on the Family Tree)

Legendary Women on the Family Tree: Judith

Judith is another semi-biblical lady that has suffered the same fate among modern conservative Christians as Susanna. Judith is found in the Apocrypha and like Susanna was quite popular among early Christians. The book itself was written in Hebrew between 200 and 100 B.C. with most scholars preferring mid-century. Modern scholarship has classified the story as historical fiction but that Judith was likely a real person. There are a number of glaring historical blunders that are thought to have been committed purposefully. At any rate the book is recognized as a classic of irony and story telling.

Judith’s Story

Judith is the story of the conflict between the dominant pagan culture and the God of Israel. This conflict is told through eyes of a widow named Judith. The story falls in two basic parts. The Assyrians have waged war on the Jews (ch’s 1-7), the second relates the deliverance wrought by God through Judith (8-16).

The arrogant king, Nebuchadnezzar (pictured as ruling the Assyrians), seeks satisfaction of a personal vendetta against Israel. He sends his best general, Holofernes, with 120,000 foot soldiers and an additional 12,000 cavalry.

Meanwhile in a sleepy town known as Bethulia, the citizens, fearful that the Assyrians would defile the Temple of God, decide not to surrender to Holofernes. They prepare for a long siege. The town seeks God’s favor through fasting and sackcloth (4.1-15). Forty days into the siege the city is out of food and begins to loose heart and the elders decide to surrender to Assyria.

At this point we are introduced to the “Unlikely Source” of God’s salvation: an aged but beautiful widow named Judith. When this widow heard the decision of the elders to surrender she stepped out of her “traditional” bounds. She summoned the elders and upbraids them for their lack of faith. She said the assembly,

“Listen to me, rulers of the people of Bethulia! What you have said to the people today is not right; you have even sworn and pronounced this oath between God and you, promising to surrender the town to our enemies unless the Lord turns and helps us within so many days. Who are you to put God to the test today … You cannot plumb the depts. of the human heart or understand the workings of the human mind; how do you expect to search out God, who made all these things, and find out his mind or comprehend his thought?” (8.12-14)

Judith volunteers for a dangerous mission: to be used by God to defeat the mighty Assyrian army. She prays. She emphasizes her weakness and vulnerability but also expresses amazing confidence in God who is “God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak” (9.11).

Judith uses the weakness of Holofernes, his arrogance and his desire for her beauty, to bring him down. She says in a wonderful double entendre “If you follow out the words of your maid-servant, God will accomplish something though you” (11.6). God did accomplish something through Holofernes but it was not what he dreamed off. In one of the most painted scenes in western art, Judith decapitates a drunken Holofernes. The mighty Assyrian army was brought low by a lowly woman. The book ends with Judith living faithfully in her husbands memory and with a magnificent hymn.

Changing Views of Judith

In her own day Judith was praised as “blessed are you … above other women” (13.18, cf. Lk 1.42). Her story was an inspiration to Jews living in the time of the Maccabean persecution and was spread throughout the Jewish (was for centuries associated with Hanukkah) and early Christian world.

When the first century Roman elder, Clement, wrote to Paul’s old church in Corinth around A.D. 95 he encouraged them to heed the example of selflessness, courage and prayer of Judith. Assuming they know who she is, Clement writes,

“Many women being strengthened through the grace of God have performed many manly deeds. The blessed Judith, when the city was beleaguered, asked of the elders that she might be allowed to go forth into the camp of the stramgers. So she exposed herself to peril and went forth for love of her country and of her people which were beleaguered; and the Lord delivered Holofernes into the hand of a woman” (1 Clement 55).

Fulgentius (A.D. 462-530ish), a North African Christian, praised Judith to his flock,

“Chastity went forth to do battle against lust, and holy humility forward to the destruction of pride. Holofernes fought with weapons, Judith with fasts; he in drunkenness, she in prayer. Accordingly, a holy widow accomplished by virtue of chastity what the whole people of Israel were powerless to do. One woman cut down the leader of such a great army, and restored unhoped-for freedom to the people of God.”

Many other early Christian writers (Origen, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, etc) appeal to the testimony of this legendary woman of faith.

While Clement praises Judith, even her “manly” deeds of deliverance and risk taking, modern writers have been less kind to Judith (especially 19^th century and early 20^th century). These writers often have a deep vein of anti-semiticism and certain views of women too. Edwin C. Bissell, writing from 1886, demonstrates a radically different point of view on Judith … a view reflecting more his Victorianism than the reality of Judith and her times.

“The character [of Judith], moreover, is not simply objectionable from a literary point of view, but even more from a moral stand-point … In fact, it would seem to have been a matter of chance that Judith escaped an impure connection with Holofernes … when she went to his tent … Hers was a deliberately planned assassination. It was attempted at the imminent risk of sacrificing her own purity. It was carried out by a series of deceptions which would do credit, not to a woman, but a master of finesse …” (E. C. Bissell, The Book of Judith, p.163)

Clearly for Bissell Judith had crossed the line of what is acceptable for the “fairer” sex! But that did not seem to trouble anyone in the early Church nor for many other centuries. Martin Luther, whose views on the Apocrypha are not always correctly stated among Evangelical apologists concluded that the story of Judith was

“[A] fine, good, holy, useful book, well worth reading by us Christians. For the words spoken by the persons in it should be understood as though they were uttered in the Holy Spirit by a spiritual, holy poet or prophet, who in presenting such persons in his play, preaches to us through them” (Preface to the Book of Judith, Luther’s Works, 35, pp. 338-339).

Judith was immortalized as one of the greatest of the silent movies to grace the silver screen. You can see scenes, reviews and even order Judith of Bethulia filmed in 1914.

Conclusion

Judith is a magnificent story of a legendary woman of faith. Her strength and courage inspired faith in Christians for centuries and in many languages. May her story be renewed among those of faith today. Lord we thank you for these women on the family tree.

Art from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. Resources on Judith include deSilva's Introducing the Apocrypha (mentioned in previous post). The NRSV is the best English translation. David deSilva's article "Judith the Heroine? Lies, Seduction, and Murder in Cultural Perspective" in Biblical Theology Bulletin 36 (Summer 2006), 55-61 is most helpful in keeping Judith with Second Temple Judaism. Carey A. Moore's Anchor Bible Commentary on Judith is very helpful. A wonderful collection of essays has been edited by James C. VanderKam, No One Spoke Ill of Her: Essays on Judith originating from a SBL seminar.

Shalom,

Bobby Valentine

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Susanna: Legendary Woman on the Family Tree

Over the next week or so I will be continuing my posts on “Women on the Family Tree.” I will be looking at the stories of semi-biblical women and women from the history of Christianity. Most of these women are unknown among modern Christians especially those in the Churches of Christ. My intention is to expand our horizons by seeing that women have always been powerful servants of the Lord and I seek to honor that legacy. Perhaps there is a little bit of corrective in these posts as well for sometimes church history is a series (intentionally or unintentionally I do not know) of male stories. I have intentionally chosen women that are unknown in the Churches of Christ to resurrect stories that we ought to know.

I begin with a story that most in the Churches of Christ (indeed most with an Evangelical orientation) have never even heard of, the story of Susanna. Susanna is one of those semi-biblical ladies I mentioned. Susanna appears in Daniel 13. You might be thinking, “my Daniel has only twelve chapters." True! But the typical Christian in the early church had a Daniel with 13 chapters. Think of it like this, Susanna is to Daniel what the woman caught in adultery is to the Gospel of John (we might call it a textual variant … Susanna is technically called one of the “Additions to Daniel.” Ironically, these two passages have many commonalities. Just as many Christians today read John 8 as from the apostle so many Christians then read Susanna as from Daniel. It was not until the rise of modern translations that Susanna was omitted … even where it was acknowledged as spurious.

The Story of Susanna

The Story of Susanna is an elegant and edifying story read by Jews and Christians for thousands of years. Susanna was the righteous daughter of Hilkiah and husband of Joakim. She and her family were faithful Jews in a time of exile. Their home was a place of faith and communal identity for Israelites in Babylon. In fact the Jewish elders met in their home and heard cases on behalf of the people.

Susanna’s home had a private garden in which she walked everyday. One day two elders, who had been enraptured by Susanna’s beauty and purity, conspired to take advantage of her. While taking a private bath the elders accosted Susanna and warned her that if she did not fulfill their evil desires they would accuse her of being caught in the act of adultery with a young man (that just happened to escape!). They would see that she is put to death. Knowing her fate she chose instead to protect her honor and her husband’s and she screamed. The elders rushed at the door in false pursuit of the young man and accused Susanna.

Susanna was put on trial. Because these men were trusted and respected their words carried great weight with the people. Thus Susanna was found guilty and about to be put to death. Then she cried to the God of Israel in prayer,

“O eternal God, you know what is secret and are aware of all things before they come to be; you know that these men have given false evidence against me. And now I am to die, though I have done none of these wicked things that they have charged against me!” (Daniel 13.42-43).

The Lord took pity upon Susanna and stirred the spirit of Daniel to speak on her behalf. He shouts “are you going to condemn a daughter of Israel without learning the facts?” Daniel separates the elders and asks them a simple question to see if they are telling the truth: “under what kind of tree did Susanna’s supposed infidelity take place?” When the elders gave contradicted each other they were caught in the act of lying. The congregation then did to them as they sought to do to Susanna.

“After Life” of Susanna: The Age of Susanna

Many scholars today are not sure if there was a real Susanna. They call her legendary and this may be the case. However, in the early church she was as real as Daniel himself. And the story of Susanna was an incredibly popular story with the “average” Christian. This is discovered not by analyzing the theological disputes of the early Christians rather this learned through studying their burial practices, their art and their piety. Indeed the earliest known Christian art has scenes from Susanna (dates in the late second and third centuries A.D.).

Piero Boitani, of the University of Rome, states that the oldest surviving illustration in Christian catacombs is on “the left hand side of the arcosolium vault in the St. Eusebius crypt at the tombs of Callistus on the Appian Way.” Susanna is depicted on the walls. These tombs “significantly” have the feel of martyrdom. Boitani describes many other scenes in the Roman catacombs with the Susanna story gracing them. In one scene there is a “lamb occup[ing] the center of the piece, surrounded on either side by a wolf. Above the wolf on the right hand side, the word SENIORIS makes clear that is one of the two elders, whilest, the name, SVSANNA, is visible above the lamb.” Boitani goes on to explain how Susanna not only graces the catecombs but is often found on the sarcophagi of the Christians (i.e. boxes that contain the “remains” or “bones” of deceased loved ones).

Why was the story (and a story most contemporary Christians {sadly!} know virtually nothing about) of a woman, Susanna, so important to the run of the mill Christian in the early church? Other than being a beautiful story the reasons are found in that Susanna is about life and death. Boitani states “Susanna has to do with death, the single crucial event of human life – with death and resurrection.” Susanna is condemned to death (like many early Christians). But Susanna is rescued by the gracious Lord. The Savior “vanquishes death, Susanna is [symbolically] risen.” Thus “Susanna … typologically signifies the soul of every Christian.” That is why Susanna graces the places of safety, hiding and even death. She is not only the individual Christian but Susanna becomes a symbol of the church itself in her struggles for survival with Roman oppression on side and Jewish rejection on the other. During that last 75 to 100 years before becoming legalized in the Roman Empire, Professor Boitani dubs the “age of Susanna” among Christians.

Susanna has remained a popular woman among Christians through the ages. She figures in the expositions of Irenaeus, the scholarly works of Origen, and the sermons of John Chrsyostom. The tale of Susanna was among the earliest pieces of “biblical” literature translated into English, the Middle English poem The Pistel of Swete Susan which dates to the 1200s or early 1300s. Susanna has been the subject of most of the great artists of the western world too. Handel committed her to the world through his music.

On our family tree we find a legendary woman named Susanna. Her virtue was more important to her than life and God delivered her. Her courage and God’s grace to her became literally the stuff of hope and life for early Christians. During some of its darkest days the church drew inspiration from the life of this woman of faith. On her they attached their dreams of resurrection. They saw her as a lamb, like Jesus, led to the slaughter by wolves. And because God rescued her … he would rescue them. Such is the testimony of this legendary woman on our family Tree.

Further Study

Sources: Susanna can be best enjoyed in the NRSV. By far the best introduction to the Apocrypha is David deSilva’s Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context and Significance (Baker Academic, 2002). Professor Boitani’s research is published in “Susanna in Excelsis” in The Judgment of Susanna: Authority and Witnesses edited by Ellen Spolosky (1996). This grows out of an SBL seminar. There is also useful material in Carey Moore’s Anchor Bible Commentary on Daniel, Esther and Jeremiah: The Additions.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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Women on the Family Tree: What Does the Bible Say Women DID??

Women on the Family Tree

The only subject that will engender controversy and division faster than the issue of "women in the church" is unity! Both subjects are laden with passion but passionate love for those of another view is usually absent from discussions of either subject. Thus it is with a certain amount of trepidation that I respond to a series of questions about women.

It seems the moment one offers any opinion on the subject of women in the church that some one will brand you as a heretic and as an unbeliever in the Bible and its authority. Those who hold what might be called a "traditional" view accuse those who harbor a non-Traditional view as loose postmodern deconstructionists. Those who hold a non-Traditional view accuse those cherish the Traditional view as canonizing not Scripture but culture and highly selective reading. It is getting to the point where these groups cannot even talk to each other.

Is it possible to go to the Scriptures and just see what women did there? Can one be "un" biblical if he or she says women can do exactly what God let them do in the "Bible days?" So what if we simply ask this question: "What do we see women actually doing in the Scripture?" Isn't this the place to start? Is this what a Bible believer should do? So when we look at our rule of faith what do we see? Here is a quick list of things (roles) I see women actually doing:

1) I found women that were wives (Eve, Hannah, Mary, Elizabeth, etc)

2) I found women that were mothers (Eve, Hannah, Mary, Elizabeth, etc)

3) I found women that ruled countries (Ataliah, 1 Kgs 11; 2 Chr 23; Queen of Sheba, 1 Kgs 10; 2 Chr 9; Mt 12.42; Esther, whole book)

4) I found women that worked outside the home as entrepreneurs (Pr 31.10-31)

5) I found women that were professional sages, that is a class of "wise people" in the Ancient world (Abigail, 1 Sam 25; Wise woman of Tekoa, 2 Sam 14; Woman of Abel, 2 Sam 20.14-22, there is considerable scholarly literature on these women in the ancient world)

6) I found women that were prophets (Miriam, Micah 6.4; Ex 15.20; Deborah, Judges 4-5; Huldah, 2 Kgs 22, 2 Chr 34.22ff; Isaiah's wife, Isa 8.3ff; Anna, Lk 2.36-38; at Pentecost, Acts 2.17-18; Philip's daughters, Acts 21.8-9; and some Corinthian women, 1 Cor 11.4-5

7) I found a woman that was a Judge and "lead all Israel" (Deborah, Judges 4.4)

8) I found at least one woman called a deacon (Phoebe, Rom 16.1)

9) I found one woman called an apostle (Junia, NRSV, Rom 16.7)

When I went to the Scriptures I found lots of women on the family tree. I found them being faithful to God as mothers and wives. But I also found women being faithful to God through running a business and using their gifts of wisdom to help even men. I also found women who glorified God through leading his people as prophets, judges, deacons and more. There was a time in my life that I did not know or believe a woman could be any of those things.

As I looked deeper into the text my eyes fell on things that had always been there but for some reason I had failed to see. I noticed, really noticed, for the first time that entire books in the canon concern women ... Ruth and Esther. Did a woman write Ruth? Esther? It is certainly within the realm of possibility and considering the content we might say likely. At least part of Esther, and the rules for Purim, come directly from the hand of a woman,

"Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim ... Esther's decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records" (Esther 9.29, 32)

It would seem from this text that God used a woman to regulate the entire feast of Purim whom he empowered to write with "full authority." This text in Esther claims a lot. Female voices punctuate the biblical text. They are not silent in Scripture as they are in many churches. The author of Samuel and Kings records Hannah's voice in prayer (1 Sam 1). Question: Can we join our voice to hers as she prays? Judges records Deborah's great song that predates his (?) material by centuries (Judges 5). The wisdom recorded by Lemuel is that of a woman (Pr 31.2-9). Luke records Mary's Magnificant and let her lead the church in praise for centuries (Lk 1.46-56). In the Psalms many scholars believe that the content of Psalm 131 sounds like a female voice rather than masculine ... and this should not bother us since we sing Fanny J. Crosby all the time. And Paul tells us about some women who shared their voices in prayer at Corinth (1 Cor 11.4-5). So as I learn about women on the family tree I have discovered that it is very likely that women even helped write the Bible!

When we argue about women in the church do we come to the argument fully embracing the roles that God called women to in Scripture itself? Another question we should ask is ... before we argue about what the Scripture says do we really know what it does say? All of it? How do we integrate these women from the family tree into our doctrine and our practice? I don't know all the answers ... but I am overwhelmed by all the women on our family tree.

FYI ... the image at the top is from January 1901 showing what many think the proper role of a woman to be ...

If you are interested in some previous thoughts on Women in the Family Tree look at these posts:

What Did God Say? Genesis 2.18b and Man's Helper

and

Huldah Who?? The Forgotten Ministry of a Female Prophet

This last post is the essence of my lecture at the ACU lectures.

More Later.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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The Jesus Prayer

In the nineteenth century a Russian peasant traveled around his country seeking spiritual wisdom. The peasant does not even tell us his name because that was unimportant to him. What mattered was learning how to pray. He traveled from village to village and monastery to monastery to be taught how to pray without ceasing. Thankfully he left his journey for posterity in the classic of Russian spirituality called “The Way of a Pilgrim.”

One day the Pilgrim met a monk who introduced him to some insightful words from Symeon the New Theologian (AD 949-1022): “Sit down alone and in silence. Lower your head, shut your eyes, breathe out gently and imagine yourself looking into your own heart. Carry your mind (thoughts) from your head to your heart. As you breathe out say: ‘Lord Jesus, have mercy on me.’ Say it moving your lips gently … Try to put all other thoughts aside. Be calm, be patient and repeat the process very frequently.”

Our nameless Russian Pilgrim did just as Symeon suggested. He found that he was praying this prayer hundreds of times a day. Under its guidance he found that he could pray without ceasing to Jesus and discovered shalom filling his life and soul. Soon the prayer was even invading his dreams! As he met people on his journey they became “as dear to me as if they had been my nearest relations.”

The Jesus Prayer transformed the Pilgrim’s relationship with the world around him. Every thing became instruments of God’s presence in his life. Even those who sought to do harm to the Pilgrim the prayer transformed his way of looking at them. “If anyone harms me I have only to think, “How sweet is the Prayer of Jesus’ and the injury and the anger alike pass away and I forget it all.”

I discovered the Jesus Prayer not long after a tumultuous time in my life or about 2001 . I had many reasons, I thought, to be angry and vengeful. But the beauty of the Jesus Prayer is it refocuses my anger into a plea for mercy for my own gaffs. The Prayer helped bring a measure of healing and grace to my heart and mind ... something I desperately needed. The Jesus Prayer expresses peace and joy as well for I am comforted with the knowledge that indeed Jesus is merciful to me. The prayer invokes the presence of Jesus into the mundane moments of my life. Like the Pilgrim, I have taken Symeon’s words to heart because they have been helpful. Now the Jesus Prayer is like breathing. If breath is like the “spirit” (same word in both Greek and Hebrew), I breath in that wondrous spirit by saying “Jesus Christ, Son of God” and then breath out “have mercy on me.” Some how it seems I am more in tune with the Spirit as I pray than when I do not. Prayer and holding on to the mercies of the Lord have become the essence of life.

The Jesus Prayer is not all there is to prayer. However, it is one spiritual discipline that can be practiced anytime, anywhere, under any circumstance. It is an invitation to pray without ceasing and in constant awareness that if God, in his Christ, ceased even for a single moment to merciful to me … I would cease to be!

Thank you nameless Pilgrim for your journey that continues to bless those who follow you on the same path. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”

Shalom,

Bobby Valentine

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Birthday Wish List

Birthday Wish List

I hate to admit it but I am getting older. Does this mean that (like good wine) every day I am getting better and better in every way!? August is the month of my birthday back in 1968. I am getting used to my daughter Talya telling me how old I am (but I don't feel old!!). But I was told to make a "wish" list for my birthday and since it is my birthday I can wish for some big things, :-) I have no real needs so ... except I wish that I could replace Rachael's eye that we recently found out does not work (she is beyond legally blind in her right eye, yep I would give her my one good eye but that won't work). So I have no "needs" therefore I can dream big. Here is my dream wish list for my birthday.

I am an uncomplicated person ...

The Expensive Wish List

I wish I could finally get my Harley. We actually looked at a few of them last Saturday but ...

I wish I had a giant (and thin) HD TV to watch football on

I wish I could go on a hot date with Pamella to New York City

I wish I had a complete set of Alexander Campbell's Millennial Harbinger

The Cheaper Wish List

Babylon 5 on DVD

The Forbidden Planet

BTO's Greatest Hits

Henry Webb's In Search of Christian Unity

Paul Conkin's America's Pentecost

Mark Noll's The Civil War as a Theological Crisis

David Holmes The Faith of the Founding Fathers

R. A. Markus' Gregory the Great and His World

Tickets to see the Scorpions in concert

Starbucks Card ...

Well I can't think of anything else.

Stoned-Campbell (Bobby V)

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Quest for THE Pattern

Quest for the Pattern

One particularly disheartening consequences of Modernism has been a disdain for history. History is either ignored or skewed. This is especially true of Christian history and how it has been presented in and to the Churches of Christ. I recall the shock I had as I began to read works by Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli and many other heroes of faith and learned how serious they were about following God and obeying his word. I had been given the impression (often told outright) these men were not as serious about obeying God as we are and the reason they did what they did not get it "right" was they were not concerned for “biblical authority.” One person I read said "Luther had no more concern for the Bible than for an almanac!" These men, however, were just as zealous in their quest for the "pattern" as we ever hope to be. I think we can learn some vital lessons from them.

What follows is a brief overview of the quest for the pattern among various Christians and what that pattern looked like to them. I think it is instructive to ask the specific questions of how and why the pattern they perceived has been different from what we have claimed the pattern to be. The Christians that follow were all "primitivists" or "restorationists," who sought with fervor the divine pattern for the church. The question remains though . . . why do they differ on so many details?

Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)

Zwingli was the great Swiss Reformer. As a devotee of Christian humanism he sought to return to the purity of apostolic Christianity. Beginning in 1519, as the minister of the church in Zurich, he announced that he would only be preaching from the New Testament. Zwingli soon became focused upon the notion of "the law of Christ." With this in his mind he rejected vestments, images, mass, and introduced the primary motif for the Lord¹s Supper that Churches of Christ still cling to -- a memorial.

Zwingli introduced a hermeneutical principle that has had far reaching effects: the Regulative Principle. As used by Zwingli this principle simply states that whatever Scripture does not explicitly command is forbidden. To illustrate how serious Zwingli was about this we need only look at his views on singing in worship. According to Zwingli the divine pattern only explicitly directs three acts of worship: preaching, prayer and the Lord¹s Supper. But what of singing? Audible singing was to be rejected in worship on the same principle instrumental music was rejected, there was no authority in the divine pattern for it. After all, Zwingli argued, Paul commanded us to admonish one another "in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" but he specified that the only music was to be "in your hearts." Zwingli felt that the pattern forbade public singing, why is it that most would think Zwingli¹s views were just quaint?

The New England Puritans

The New England Puritans were on a restorationist crusade. John Cotton (1584-1652) a leading figure in Colonial American history was an ardent pattern seeker. His quest for the divine pattern was as strict as any in history. His thirst for pure times should sound familiar to us. He writes:

"[N]o new traditions must be thrust upon us . . . but that which we have had from the beginning . . . True Antiquity. . . is that which fetches its original from the beginning. True Antiquity is twofold. 1. From the first institution . . . 2. That which fetches its beginning from God . . . as he is the ancient of days, so is that good; as Baptism and the Lord¹s Supper, though they were not in the world before Christ's coming in the flesh, yet being from God they have true Antiquity . . . if they have no higher rise than the patristic Fathers, it is too young a device, no other writings besides the Scriptures can plead true Antiquity . . . All errors are aberrations from the first . . . Live ancient lives; your obedience must be swayed by an old rule, walk in the old ways." (John Cotton, The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated Into English Meter, 1640).

Cotton was committed to finding and reproducing the biblical pattern. So great was his quest for doing it exactly as they did it in "true Antiquity" that he agonized over whether Christians were to partake of the Lord’s Supper in the morning or in the evening. In 1611 he published, "A Short Discourse of Mr. John Cotton touchinge the time when the Lordes day beginneth whether at the Eveninge or in the Morninge." In this volume Cotton argues that evening is the truest observance for the Lord’s Day and the Supper because it had been set forth in "the first institution of time" and thus was the "old and good way." Moving to a morning observance was to innovate and to depart from the "practice and judgment of the primitive Church." Cotton finally states, "I see no footstep of Christ or his disciples . . . that goe [sic] before us in this path." That is the path of morning to morning rather than evening to evening. Cotton's views were accepted in New England though he was never able to persuade his fellow Puritans in Old England.

It is clear that Cotton was a devoted restorationist in an honest quest for the pattern of the church. We can see that he was interested in even the finest detail of that pattern. The question to be asked is, what did his (he would not say it was "his" but "God's") pattern look like? In Cotton's pattern a group of men would test each other for doctrinal soundness and relate their conversions before starting a local church. Then they entered a covenant pledging to uphold the laws of God and the purity of the congregation. The gathered church selected a teaching pastor; ruling elders and deacons. Future members would be examined by the ruling elders then asked to profess their faith publicly and sign the church covenant. This was all clearly according to "³true Antiquity" according to Cotton.

One more example of Cotton¹s understanding of the pattern is his understanding of singing. Cotton, like Zwingli, rejected instrumental music though not congregational singing as did Zwingli. Instead Cotton rejected any song written in post-biblical times. The only "authorized" singing in worship was that of the Davidic Psalter (the Book of Psalms). Man had no authority to lift up his own tainted and unholy words to the throne, for Paul had commanded that we sing Psalms. To go beyond what was written was dangerous indeed . . . it was to depart from the pattern.

John Cotton was convinced that the churches formed under his leadership in New England were in fact identical to the New Testament churches. He writes that the churches are exactly as they would be if "Jesus were here himselfe in person."

The Baptists

The Baptists grew out of the Puritan movement because they felt the Puritans did not go far enough in the quest for God’s pattern. The New England Puritans still accepted infant baptism but the Baptists rejected this as against the pattern. Two Baptist theologians wrote treatises to demonstrate the true marks of the true church: Morgan Edwards (1722-1795) and James R. Graves (1822-1893). Edwards book was entitled "Customs of Primitive Churches" outlining what he viewed as the unassailable Baptist position as being the true New Testament church. His list has thirteen marks:

1) Baptism of believing adults by immersion
2) Lord’s Supper (to be taken in the evening because the word "supper" demands the evening lest it be the "Lord's Breakfast rather than Lord's Dinner")
3) Laying on hands
4) Right hand of fellowship
5) Foot washing
6) Holy kiss
7) Love feasts
8) Anointing the sick with oil
9) Collecting money for the poor saints
10) Feasts
11) Fasts
12) Funerals
13) Marriage

James R. Graves was the leader of a Baptist movement known as Landmarkism because he sought "the ancient landmarks." He, like Zwingli, Cotton and Edwards, was a staunch restorationist. Graves even engaged in mortal combat with Alexander Campbell, whom he believed to be a Bible denying liberal! For Graves the true pattern was found in the Jerusalem church. He writes:

"The Church which Christ himself organized in Jerusalem is an authoritative model to be patterned after until the end of time . . . The Catholic and various Protestant sects were originated and set up many ages after the ascension of Christ . . . They are therefore not divine -- but human institutions."


Graves sought to confront all, "human traditions, and mutilated and profane ordinances, and those who impiously presume to enact laws in place of Christ, and to change the order of his church." Graves claimed that his brotherhood was the one true church and that they alone were Christians. What was the pattern Graves found in his quest? These are the true marks of the church in his pattern:

1) The church was a divine institution and could contain nothing not ordained by God
2) It was a visible organization with specific officers, laws and ordinances
3) It was on earth
4) The primitive model was a single congregation, independent of all others
5) The primitive and apostolic church was constituted only of those who had an experience of the
Holy Spirit in regeneration
6) Baptism can only be immersion and for those who had experienced the Holy Spirit
7) The Lord's Supper was not observed as a sacrament but strictly as a local church ordinance.
Intercommunion with other congregations was forbidden.
8) The church that Christ designed will never cease until Christ returns for it.

Graves stressed that each element of the pattern was of equal importance. Thus if a congregation fell short in only one area it was no longer a true church.

What Can We Learn?

Now what can we learn from this brief survey of believers who have sought the divine pattern using the same hermeneutical presuppositions? How do we account for the, sometimes, radical differences? How do we evaluate one reconstructed pattern against the other? Shall we dogmatize like Cotton and Graves did? Or shall we dismiss these others on the quest as dishonest? Shall we claim they did not believe in Bible authority? Such claims are clearly hard to believe. What makes my (our) pattern right and theirs wrong? What makes some things a mark of the church and other things not?

Perhaps this story of the hermeneutic . . . the quest for the pattern should teach us that we have focused on the wrong issue. Perhaps the pattern does not concern the organization of the church but rather following the way of the cross in discipleship. Perhaps (just perhaps) we should learn that often the pattern we recognize is more a mirror of the person reconstructing it than Scripture itself. One sure lesson is the quest for the pattern should teach us is the virtue of humility. The quest for the pattern has often resulted in harsh judgementalism rather than the love of Christ, which is one pattern we must follow.

Shalom,

Bobby Valentine

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On Becoming Theologians 2

On Becoming Theologians, 2

Part One may be read HERE

Every year there is a small forty-one page book that I read. If my memory serves me I was first introduced to this book by Jim Martin or Stephen Broyles while in college. The book is called, A Little Exercise for Young Theologians by Helmut Thielicke. It is a treasure. Theology has to do with life and Christians stand at the intersection of life and God’s message for the world … thus my contention that all Christians are theologians. The only question is are we good ones or bad ones. The question is not “theology” or “no theology.” The question is how do we become good theologians? Another great theologian, Martin Luther, insisted there are three things necessary for becoming theologians: Oratio, Meditatio, and Tentatio.

Oratio (Prayer)

Near the end of his life Luther’s works were brought together in a single collection and he was asked to write a Preface. Luther was reluctant to comply but eventually did. In this Preface he meditates on Psalm 119 as the foundation of becoming a good theologian. Prayer, Luther says, is the beginning of all good theology. The Psalmist says repeatedly “teach me,” “Lord instruct me,” “lead me,” or “show me.” In prayer we humbly, yet presumptuously, seek the unleashing of the Holy Spirit to enlighten the eyes of our heart so we can “know” God.

Meditatio (Meditation)

Luther sees meditation within the context of lectio divina. We meditate on the words of Scripture not simply in our mind or heart but by softly verbalizing them. Reading and rereading them with reflection to see what the Holy Spirit means by them. Taking a cue from the Psalmist, Luther points out that the text says to talk, speak, sing, hear and read both day and night the words of the Lord. Theologians become eaters of the word.

Tentatio (Conflict/Temptation)

In some ways this was the most important to Luther. It is in conflict or the temptation to self-sufficiency that our prayers and meditations become flesh and blood. Hosea could talk of the love of God but it was not until Yahweh told him to love Gomer as she was in the arms of another man that he finally knew the depth of God’s covenant love. Conflict comes when the word takes root for it is then we become an enemy of the principalities and powers of this age.

Prayer, Meditation, and Conflict form the bedrock for becoming theologians. Theologians not only know words about God but know God as Hosea used the word. May God raise up more theologians in his church.

Shalom,

Bobby Valentine

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On Becoming Theologians

On Becoming Theologians

When the word “theology” enters a conversation many Christians simply tune out. Perhaps the figure of an ivory tower hermit comes to mind or a person who has little interaction with the real world. Whatever the reason, it seems to be a fairly common opinion among some that the most irrelevant people in the world are theologians. This opinion is astonishing when we realize that some of the most intense "real world" folks have been incredible theologians. Some of the great ones include Moses, the author of Job, Huldah, Amos, Jesus, Paul, Augustine, Teresa of Avila, Argula von Grumbach, Alexander Campbell and Martin Luther King, Jr … these theologians, though not all equal, have left the world a better place.

Theologians, far from being irrelevant, are among the most relevant people to live. Theologians are folks who take the word of God and integrate it into the world and situation in which they live. Indeed I would submit that all Christians are called to be theologians. The theologian of the heart of God, Hosea, suggests that a great cancer eats away at the people of God when they do not have “knowledge” of Yahweh.

“There is no faithfulness, no love (hesed), no acknowledgement of God in the land” (Hosea 4.1b)

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6.6)

A theologian, Hosea seems to be saying, is not simply a person who can offer up a sanitized list of “omni” words. Rather like Hosea himself a theologian is one whose encounter with God has been incredibly deep, frightfully intimate, and pathologically painful. Hosea clearly demonstrates that God wants something besides careful rituals and sacrifices … the theologian has come face to face with the One who unapologetically shatters the idols of our world. The theologian is one who knows that God is the beginning, God is the middle, and God is the end. Theologians know that God will put us through hell in order to give us the grace of his intimate presence … to experience him as Hosea should have experience Gomer.

Hosea was molded, shaped and transformed through his experience of God. He became a theologian. As such he became the incarnation of the heart of God to his time and to his people. He, quite literally, became the message of God to a people who knew about commands but knew nothing about the heart of God.

We too are called to be people who “know” God. We too are called to be theologians in our day. Do we so "know" God that we are the incarnation of his message to our world? We can no more escape our vocation to be theologians in our world than Hosea could escape his. The problem today is the same however as in 735 BCE. We have many with lists of facts and can recite doctrinal rules. But where are our theologians? Where are the people who have come to “know” God as Hosea did?

Perhaps our reason for casting theology aside is not that it is irrelevant but that it is so costly, so challenging, and so painful. But Hosea considered everything rubbish for the sake of knowhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifing and experiencing Yahweh. May we do the same ... our world desperately needs it.

Dear God grant me courage to come to know you and become your theologian in the world.

Shalom,
Stoned-Campbell Disciple

On Becoming Theologians Part Two can be read HERE

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VBS at PaLO VErde

VBS at Palo Verde

Friday night, Saturday and Sunday morning has been or will be VBS here at PV. There have been crews of people -- young and not so young at 651 Kolb all week long. Dr. Brendon Holt, who is used to guiding Tomahawk cruise missles, has ably guided all of us through the maze of digging for truth. Our VBS is for all ages: preschool to 99 as he says! It has gone off with hardly a hitch so far (this is Saturday night and I feel as if I have been bushwacked). But we have had a great time so far. We have picked up on archeology and the anticipation of Indiana Jones coming out as a theme for our family adventure which we call "Quest for Truth." Below are some pictures of some of the home made decor, "base camp," the tunnel into a tomb, weary adult worker bees ... etc. I should have gotten a picture of the stack of New York Pizza's (22 inch behemoths!) to feed 200 kidos from ... my Saturn never smelled so good!!!!!

Who is that Wild Eyed Stranger ... Bad Hair Day



Entering the Shadowlands ...



A Few Brave Souls ... This area is actually sort of "dark" and we have a fog machine ... but my flash decided it needed to flood the area with light ...



That's Where They Put it Indy ...



Weary Adults ... I think I heard some person say "I thought we fixed those swamp coolers ..."



PV ... They'll Let any one in the church there ...



A Break after Lunch in the Teen Room ...



Base Camp ... or VBS central ... the calm before the storm ...



Sherry and Carol are having WAY to much fun ...



Arizona Clay explaining some vital truth that has been unearthed during our adventure ...



May be some photos later as I go through them ... after I get some rest.

Shalom,
Bobby V

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