Changing Interpretations
Thursday, September 16, 2010 -- Week of Proper 19, Year Two
Ninian, Bishop in Galloway, c. 430
To read about our daily commemorations, go to our Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 985)
Psalms [70], 71 (morning) 74 (evening)
Job 28:1-28
Acts 16:25-40
John 12:27-36a
Our lectionary skips chapter 28 of Job during the four-week sequence of readings of the book. The lectionary compilers were following the conventional consensus of scholarly opinion at the time the 1979 Book of Common Prayer was being compiled. I was taught in seminary that this anonymous psalm which breaks the cycle of speeches in Job was a later insertion into the original composition.
Much current scholarship seems to disagree with the consensus from only a few decades ago. These reinterpreters claim chapter 28 is original to the manuscript. They appreciate how the poem raises the drama by retarding the action. It also raises important questions that imply the direction of the narrative. "But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Mortals do not know the way to it, and it is not found in the land of the living." The poem implies that the human dialogue between Job and his friends will ultimately prove to be frustrating. The answer must come from the divine. The poem points us toward God's speeches in chapters 39-42.
I have a hunch. The story of the wavering of scholarly opinion over a period of a few decades might provoke some strong emotional reaction for some. I have some friends who have a deep need for dependable foundations for their trust and belief. They want core certainties that they can know are unchangeable, trustworthy and true. They need certain things to be unchanging and unshakable in order for them to feel secure and grounded.
To hear a story of scholarly opinion which reverses itself periodically would incline my friends to dismiss the whole scholarly endeavor as untrustworthy or suspicious. They want to rest in something more unchanging and secure. At least one of these friends has no attraction to mystery. Mystery is okay as an attribute of an awesome God, but he wants more certainty for his own worldview and opinions.
For many of these friends, a more-or-less literal reading of the Bible is a secure foundation. I also know a few people who have put their trust in a particular theological school that satisfies their questions with thorough, systematic and consistent answers, as the High Medieval Synthesis did. Some place their confidence in an exterior authority, such as the teaching magisteriam of the Roman Catholic Church, or in the relatively settled theology of Eastern Orthodoxy.
The need to know is powerful. An authority that shifts opinion can feel unsettling and insecure.
Maybe it says more about how each of us is wired than it says about ultimate truth that we tend to fall into these different camps. I know that I do not need these certainties myself. I tend to enjoy the pursuit of wisdom. I tend to be excited or curious about what the latest iteration of interpretation might be. I like the notion that bright people, taking the cumulation of study and observation over history, might add new insight or previously unknown data to open us to a potentially fuller understanding of the ever unfolding mysteries of the universe. Ambiguity, paradox and evolving interpretation seem part of the process to me. Evolution seems to be at the core of everything. (Though I don't assume the latest answer is the best, and I don't believe progress is inevitable.)
I've collected a handful of essays, some involving behavioral studies, that seem to point to some congenital tendencies that mark our personal inclinations. I've begun to wonder whether a fundamental orientation toward what manifests itself as conservative or as liberal thinking may be hard-wired into us. If so, I find that rather comforting. If liberalism and conservatism is given to each of us as part of our created nature, not unlike sexual orientation seems to be, then I find I can be more generous with my friends who seem to believe in things that make no sense to me. I can also rest a little easier with the realization that we probably aren't going to convert each other to change our fundamental way of thinking any more than people successfully change their sexual orientation.
I'm not entirely certain about this notion -- but then I don't have a tendency toward certainties. But I'm intrigued by it.
And I find that as I enjoy reading Job, I recall enjoying understanding chapter 28 as a later addition to the narrative, appropriately pulled out as a footnote to the rest of the story as the Prayer Book does. That was my happy opinion in the 1970's. And I enjoy understanding chapter 28 as an integral part of the original, slowing the action and anticipating Job's direction, which is my happy opinion in 2010. Doesn't bother me a minute. But then, maybe that's the way I'm wired. And, as my wife says, I am easily entertained.
Ninian, Bishop in Galloway, c. 430
To read about our daily commemorations, go to our Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 985)
Psalms [70], 71 (morning) 74 (evening)
Job 28:1-28
Acts 16:25-40
John 12:27-36a
Our lectionary skips chapter 28 of Job during the four-week sequence of readings of the book. The lectionary compilers were following the conventional consensus of scholarly opinion at the time the 1979 Book of Common Prayer was being compiled. I was taught in seminary that this anonymous psalm which breaks the cycle of speeches in Job was a later insertion into the original composition.
Much current scholarship seems to disagree with the consensus from only a few decades ago. These reinterpreters claim chapter 28 is original to the manuscript. They appreciate how the poem raises the drama by retarding the action. It also raises important questions that imply the direction of the narrative. "But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Mortals do not know the way to it, and it is not found in the land of the living." The poem implies that the human dialogue between Job and his friends will ultimately prove to be frustrating. The answer must come from the divine. The poem points us toward God's speeches in chapters 39-42.
I have a hunch. The story of the wavering of scholarly opinion over a period of a few decades might provoke some strong emotional reaction for some. I have some friends who have a deep need for dependable foundations for their trust and belief. They want core certainties that they can know are unchangeable, trustworthy and true. They need certain things to be unchanging and unshakable in order for them to feel secure and grounded.
To hear a story of scholarly opinion which reverses itself periodically would incline my friends to dismiss the whole scholarly endeavor as untrustworthy or suspicious. They want to rest in something more unchanging and secure. At least one of these friends has no attraction to mystery. Mystery is okay as an attribute of an awesome God, but he wants more certainty for his own worldview and opinions.
For many of these friends, a more-or-less literal reading of the Bible is a secure foundation. I also know a few people who have put their trust in a particular theological school that satisfies their questions with thorough, systematic and consistent answers, as the High Medieval Synthesis did. Some place their confidence in an exterior authority, such as the teaching magisteriam of the Roman Catholic Church, or in the relatively settled theology of Eastern Orthodoxy.
The need to know is powerful. An authority that shifts opinion can feel unsettling and insecure.
Maybe it says more about how each of us is wired than it says about ultimate truth that we tend to fall into these different camps. I know that I do not need these certainties myself. I tend to enjoy the pursuit of wisdom. I tend to be excited or curious about what the latest iteration of interpretation might be. I like the notion that bright people, taking the cumulation of study and observation over history, might add new insight or previously unknown data to open us to a potentially fuller understanding of the ever unfolding mysteries of the universe. Ambiguity, paradox and evolving interpretation seem part of the process to me. Evolution seems to be at the core of everything. (Though I don't assume the latest answer is the best, and I don't believe progress is inevitable.)
I've collected a handful of essays, some involving behavioral studies, that seem to point to some congenital tendencies that mark our personal inclinations. I've begun to wonder whether a fundamental orientation toward what manifests itself as conservative or as liberal thinking may be hard-wired into us. If so, I find that rather comforting. If liberalism and conservatism is given to each of us as part of our created nature, not unlike sexual orientation seems to be, then I find I can be more generous with my friends who seem to believe in things that make no sense to me. I can also rest a little easier with the realization that we probably aren't going to convert each other to change our fundamental way of thinking any more than people successfully change their sexual orientation.
I'm not entirely certain about this notion -- but then I don't have a tendency toward certainties. But I'm intrigued by it.
And I find that as I enjoy reading Job, I recall enjoying understanding chapter 28 as a later addition to the narrative, appropriately pulled out as a footnote to the rest of the story as the Prayer Book does. That was my happy opinion in the 1970's. And I enjoy understanding chapter 28 as an integral part of the original, slowing the action and anticipating Job's direction, which is my happy opinion in 2010. Doesn't bother me a minute. But then, maybe that's the way I'm wired. And, as my wife says, I am easily entertained.
Lowell
_____________________________________________
Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts
About Morning Reflections
Morning Reflections is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.
Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117
An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html
The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.
Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org
Our Rule of Life
Lowell Grisham, Rector
Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: Morning Reflection Podcasts
About Morning Reflections
Morning Reflections is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.
Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117
An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html
The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.
Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org
Our Rule of Life
We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.
Lowell Grisham, Rector
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas
posted by Lowell @ 8:13 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Hi Lowell,
Today the reflection on Job reminds me of a poem from Emily Dickinson (the first line is telling)
***
I dwell in Possibility--
A fairer House than Prose--
More numerous of Windows--
Superior--for Doors--
Of Chambers as the Cedars--
Impregnable of Eye--
And for an Everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky--
Of Visitors--the fairest--
For Occupation--This--
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise--
***
If we dwell in possibility, in wonder, in mystery, maybe we won't always have to resort to the same response and action - i.e. war, violence, to solve disagreements - maybe we can collectively and creatively seek another way. With God's help, Amen.
Peace, Janet
Thank you, Janet. Expansive. Hopeful. Possibilities!
Lowell
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