An Anglican Service of Covenant Renewal
October 13, 2008
In keeping with a few previous posts, this is another that will be of no practical benefit for me for several years, if at all.
Here is an attempt to show how Common Worship: Order 1 can be used in a Lord’s Day covenant renewal service. It follows the model of call to worship, confession, consecration, communion and commission, which corresponds to the pattern of approaching God we see in the Old Testament of guilt offering, ascension offering, peace offering with fellowship meal (for this on a large scale, see 2 Chronicles 29). It goes without saying (although I still feel the need to say it) that the animal sacrifices have been fulfilled in the one, perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross, by whom we may boldly draw near. I think what follows is consistent with all the notes and permitted variations. Most of all, I hope that this is scriptural.
I think this liturgy enables considerable participation of the congregation, and is something to aim towards, rather than necessarily to be introduced wholesale. I am aware that to be plunged straight into this when used to something very different can be unsettling and uncomfortable. Although this is a modern-language service, a number of traditional language texts have been retained, simply because there is a greater variety of musical settings for them. It should be remembered that other sentences of Scripture, confessions, absolutions, congregational prayers, Eucharistic prayers and blessings may be used from time to time, although we must be careful to avoid what C. S. Lewis described as the liturgical fidgets.
The service is designed to proceed unannounced: to steal someone else’s analogy, it is a dance, not a dance lesson.
LORD’S DAY SERVICE
Directions are given in italics.
Words said by the minister are given in normal text.
Congregational responses are given in bold.
Welcome and notices (by an elder of the church, other than the president)
Prelude, at the end of which all stand at the entry of the ministers.
CALL TO WORSHIP – God summons his people
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Grace, mercy and peace
from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ
be with you
and also with you.
“Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!” – Psalm 95.1-2
Let us pray.
All who are able are invited to kneel.
Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
CONFESSION – God cleanses his people
Our Lord Jesus Christ said:
The first commandment is this:
‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind,
and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
There is no commandment greater than these.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.” – Micah 7.18-19
Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
Most merciful God,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we confess that we have sinned
in thought, word and deed.
We have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.
In your mercy
forgive what we have been,
help us to amend what we are,
and direct what we shall be;
that we may do justly,
love mercy,
and walk humbly with you, our God.
Amen.
God, the Father of mercies,
has reconciled the world to himself
through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ,
not counting our trespasses against us,
but sending his Holy Spirit
to shed abroad his love among us.
By the ministry of reconciliation
entrusted by Christ to his Church,
receive his pardon and peace
to stand before him in his strength alone,
this day and evermore.
Amen.
The congregation responds to the assurance of God’s forgiveness by standing to sing the Gloria in excelsis.
Glory be to God on high,
and in earth peace, good will towards men.
We praise thee, we bless thee,
we worship thee, we glorify thee,
we give thanks to thee for thy great glory,
O Lord God, heavenly King,
God the Father almighty.
O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ:
O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
that takest away the sins of the world,
have mercy upon us.
Thou that takest away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer.
Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father,
have mercy upon us.
For thou only art holy;
thou only art the Lord;
thou only, O Christ,
with the Holy Ghost,
art the most High,
in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
Let us pray.
All who are able are invited to kneel.
The Collect is said, and all respond:
Amen.
The congregation is invited to sit.
CONSECRATION – God equips and prepares his people
The following readings are those appointed to be read in the Lectionary, and are shared by the wider church.
Old Testament reading
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The congregation stands to sing a psalm.
New Testament reading
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
All stand.
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to N.
Glory to you, O Lord.
Gospel reading
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
A hymn is sung.
Sermon: the preacher reads his sermon text, which is normally part of a consecutive expository series, and then gives his exposition.
The congregation responds to the word of God by standing to sing the Nicene Creed.
Let us declare our faith in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
I believe in one God the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
and of all things
visible and invisible:
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of his Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light
very God of very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father,
by whom all things were made;
who for us men and for our salvation
came down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man,
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried,
and the third day he rose again
according to the Scriptures,
and ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of the Father.
And he shall come again with glory
to judge both the quick and the dead:
whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceedeth from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son together
is worshipped and glorified,
who spake by the prophets.
And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins.
And I look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
All who are able are invited to kneel for the prayers of intercession. These responses are used:
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
And at the end:
Merciful Father,
accept these prayers
for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
COMMUNION – God nourishes his people
All stand.
The peace of the Lord be always with you
and also with you.
A hymn is sung as the table is prepared.
The Lord is here.
His Spirit is with us.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give thanks and praise.
You are worthy of our thanks and praise,
Lord God of truth,
for by the breath of your mouth
you have spoken your word,
and all things have come into being.
You fashioned us in your image
and placed us in the garden of your delight.
Though we chose the path of rebellion
you would not abandon your own.
Again and again, you drew us into your covenant of grace.
You gave your people the law and taught us by your prophets
to look for your reign of justice, mercy and peace.
As we watch for the signs of your kingdom on earth,
we echo the song of the angels in heaven,
evermore praising you and singing:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts,
heaven and earth are full of thy glory.
Glory be to thee, O Lord most high.
Lord God, you are the most holy one,
enthroned in splendour and light,
yet in the coming of your Son Jesus Christ
you reveal the power of your live
made perfect in human weakness.
Embracing our humanity,
Jesus showed us the way of salvation;
loving us to the end,
he gave himself to death for us;
dying for his own,
he set us free from the bonds of sin,
that we might rise and reign with him in glory.
On the night he gave himself for us all
he took bread and gave you thanks;
he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you;
do this in remembrance of me.
In the same way, after supper
he took the cup and gave you thanks;
he gave it to them saying:
Drink this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant
which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.
Therefore we proclaim the death that he suffered on the cross,
we celebrate his resurrection, his bursting from the tomb,
we rejoice that he reigns at your right hand on high
and we long for his coming in glory.
As we recall the one, perfect sacrifice of our redemption,
Father, by your Holy Spirit let these gifts of your creation
be to us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ;
form us into the likeness of Christ
and make us a perfect offering in your sight.
Look with favour on your people
and in your mercy hear the cry of our hearts.
Bless the earth,
heal the sick,
let the oppressed go free
and fill your Church with power from on high.
Gather your people from the ends of the earth
to feast with all your saints
at the table in your kingdom,
where the new creation is brought to perfection
in Jesus Christ our Lord;
by whom, and with whom, and in whom,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all honour and glory be yours, almighty Father,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer is sung.
Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
The president breaks the consecrated bread.
Every time we eat this bread
and drink this cup,
we proclaim the Lord’s death
until he comes.
Draw near with faith,
Receive the body of our Lord Jesus CHrist
which he gave for you,
and his blood which he shed for you.
Eat and drink in remembrance that he died for you,
and feed on him in your hearts by faith with thanksgiving.
We do not presume
to come to this your table, merciful Lord,
trusting in our own righteousness,
but in your manifold and great mercies.
We are not worthy
so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table.
But you are the same Lord
whose nature is always to have mercy.
Grant us therefore, gracious Lord,
so to eat the flesh of your dear Son Jesus Christ
and to drink his blood,
that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body
and our souls washed through his most precious blood,
and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us.
Amen.
The president and people receive communion.
During the distribution a hymn is sung.
After communion, silence is kept.
At the bidding, Let us pray, all who are able are invited to kneel. The Post Communion or another suitable prayer is said. Then, the following prayer is used:
Almighty God,
we thank you for feeding us
with the body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ.
Through him we offer you our souls and bodies
to be a living sacrifice.
Send us out
in the power of your Spirit
to live and work
to your praise and glory.
Amen.
COMMISSION – God sends his people
All stand and are invited to raise their hands to sing the Gloria Patri.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost,
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
The peace of God,
which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds
in the knowledge and love of God,
and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be among you, and remain with you always.
Amen.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Amen.
The ministers and people depart as a recessional is played.
October 13, 2008 at 1:52 am
I love it!
October 13, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Not bad at all. If you’re looking for some people to give it a “test drive” then drop me a line
Of course it’s “missing” some things I as a BCP 1662/AAPB 1978 Anglican like and out of familiarity am expecting to come next
But that’s probably a CW thing rather than a Daniel Newman thing. CW has chopped out a lot of things I happen to like. But maybe it’s just personal preference on my part. You can’t please everyone. And Cranmerian liturgy is not so sancrosanct that we can never deviate therefrom.
After the sursum corda the traditional president’s exhortation (and which I happen to like) has been excised: “it is very meet, right and our bounden duty, &c &c.”
I also notice that you only have one collect (presumably the collect the day). Is that intentional on your part? I think the others (the latter two for each of MP and EP) are good value, don’t you? There’s just something about the words “author of peace and lover of concord”.
October 13, 2008 at 5:11 pm
It only confirms my suspicion that FVers simply want to become Anglicans.
October 13, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Really? I thought that was a good example of an Anglican aiming to be FV.
October 13, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I worry about this idea of covenant renewal. Maybe I don’t understand it properly. But is it saying that the covenant fails repeatedly? Or simply that it is topped up repeatedly? Or what? Renewal, renewal… Behold I make all things new; but then they get old and I make them new again? I don’t know. It doesn’t sit right with me. I would not call a contract cast-iron if it had to be constantly resigned. Though I suppose if it really was a marvellous contract, I can conceive of those who benefit from it taking it out from their safe each week to look at with glee and gladness. Which is it with FV?
Either way, I can see why putative priests like the whole thing, if its liturgy gives so much for the priest to say, and so little for everyone else. I say that with something of a wink. But still.
And:
“You fashioned us in your image
and placed us in the garden of your delight.
Though we chose the path of rebellion
you would not abandon your own.
Again and again, you drew us into your covenant of grace.
You gave your people the law and taught us by your prophets
to look for your reign of justice, mercy and peace.”
Whatever their origin, these sentences are a bit inelegant. “Again and again” is rather off the cuff, for instance, and “garden of your delight” sounds like it’s from an advert to sell ice cream. Successful liturgical language needn’t be airy and anachronistic; but it is to theology what a great poem on a daffodil is to a flower: it is utterly dense and drenched with its subject, and with the Truth of God irradiating from it in so many ways that one could spend hours counting them and all their fine nuances, and yet it achieves this carefully and concisely. It must be able to bear the most earnest, regular re-reading. Only the finest writing (dare I say God-inspired) can bear this. Even Jane Austen bores after a while, and seems flimsy and see-through.
I do like this post though. I’m not wishing to be a hooligan.
October 13, 2008 at 10:47 pm
It has been said that the Common Worship liturgies sound as though they were written by a committee, and that’s probably because they were. Eucharistic Prayer F is one of the better ones, I think, particularly because of the biblical theology it gives, going from creation to new creation and drawing on the theme of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Prayer H goes, ‘All your works echo the silent music of your praise’ – what’s all that about? I’m just trying to work with the material that’s been given.
The idea of covenant renewal, as I understand it, isn’t saying that the covenant fails as that we fail (and we do – we fail to live with God as our God and we don’t live as his people) and so, week by week, on the basis of Christ’s once-for-all finished work, God cleanses us when we confess our sins (cf 1 John 1.9), equips us and sets us apart for his service again, invites us to feast with him at his table, and sends us our to serve him.
Perhaps looking at the situation in Deuteronomy and Joshua helps us. The new generation renewed the covenant in Deuteronomy, then Joshua renews the covenant in Joshua 8, and then renews the covenant again in Joshua 24.
The idea of covenant renewal at the Lord’s Supper isn’t new. It’s certainly in the thought of Puritans like Richard Sibbes. I think I put up a quotation from him on this a while back.
October 13, 2008 at 10:54 pm
I don’t like the idea of making an automata out of breaking-and-returning.
And if the covenant is renewed so scantily in Deuteronomy, why 52 times a year for us?
October 13, 2008 at 11:57 pm
I’ll get round to responding to your last comment sometime soon, or maybe someone else will.
I wanted to pick up on something you said in your previous comment:
“Successful liturgical language… is to theology what a great poem on a daffodil is to a flower: it is utterly dense and drenched with its subject, and with the Truth of God irradiating from it in so many ways that one could spend hours counting them and all their fine nuances, and yet it achieves this carefully and concisely.”
Yes.
Now this might be a way-out-there suggestion, I wonder if one implication of this is that ministry training should have a significant liturgical component. I’m not suggestion that it’s the be-all and end-all or even that it should be a large component. But there should be such a component, and it should be detailed, and rigorous and substantial. Moreover, this is an important area for detailed research. It isn’t entirely outlandish that the Chaplain of Merton College, so I am led to believe, did his DPhil on womb imagery in Syrian baptismal liturgy. And if they haven’t already, those who are ordained or who are training for ordination should start to saturate themselves in beautiful language – poetry. I would be interested to hear what liturgical training various evangelical theological colleges provide. Moreover, appreciation of beautiful language needs to be something we start nurturing in our church culture for future generations.
We need poetically-gifted and liturgically-experienced evangelicals to serve on bodies like the Liturgical Commission, so that future generations can experience the kind of successful liturgy from which the Truth of God radiates beautifully.
October 14, 2008 at 8:25 am
Brooke,
I was only messing around, but on a more serious note, what is discernable is that those who originated FV are, on the whole, Presbyterians who desire a more liturgical worship and this has taken an Anglican direction. This is not to be criticised, I am an Anglican who uses the 1662 BCP.
Daniel,
You may wish to check out my “Liturgical use of Psalms 81 & 95″
October 14, 2008 at 9:21 am
To be honest I just don’t “get” the whole FV thing. Looking at it from the outside, and to me at least, in many respects it seems very much like an intra-Presbyterian dispute.
But you don’t need to try and explain it to me here in this comment thread; I can read about it elsewhere.
Anyway, whatever I think about the FV I am intrigued by the concept of “covenant renewal” in corporate worship. And while I’m still undecided on the theological justifications of/ Biblical necessity for it (I plan to read some more on this in the future) I thought that given his stated aim of constructing “an Anglican service of covenant renewal” from texts taken from the C of E’s “Common Worship” Daniel did a good job.
October 14, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I’d agree with that, for sure.
October 14, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Well, I typed an excellent little comment here a few moments ago about covenant renewal. Or at least I thought so anyway. Then the internet messed me about and it got lost. Oh well.
The gist was – covenant renewal means ‘we need to corporately appropriate and respond to God’s grace in Christ every week, oh, and look, God has given us some means, forms, and a structure whereby we can do that.’ And therefore it’s something that goes way way back in many traditional liturgies, all seeking to apply the lessions learned from covenant process and order in the bible (especially OT sacrificial system, but not exclusively so) to corporate worship for the church.
Does that sound right (Brooke, Daniel?)?
The Israelites did it regularly, every time they did any sacrificial stuff in fact. And there’s evidence they did it in the synagogue week by week too.
‘Most’ churches do it in part, every week, as the word is read, the people respond, confession happens, promises are claimed and announced, people are equipped. The question is whether or not we’re doing things in the sequence etc. that we ought to, and whether we’re using all the means through which God wants to weekly give us grace (such as the Supper).
October 14, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Also, is it really right to say covenant renewal is an FV distinctive? The FV statement says they’re all covenant renewal people, but doesn’t claim it as a distinctive. And there’s plenty of presbyterians, lutherans, anglicans, both now and in the past, who would go along with covenant renewal theology but not various points of the FV statement. I think I’m correct here?
All FV are covenant renewalers, but not all covenant renewalers are FV. Or something like that.
Not that I have an axe to grind here about either cr or fv, but just good to get our definitions clear.
October 14, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Responding to Daniel Newman’s comment, no. 8.
I am a great lover of beautiful language, and think it is lovely when it is used to communicate great doctrine. This is why I love the writing of John Stott and (stylistically v. different) the published sermons of C H Spurgeon. I think it’s great if church leaders use the richness and beuaty of the English (or whatever they speak) language, as much for their sermons and books as their liturgy; after all, they have to decide what words and phrases to use in sermons every week, but liturgy can be pre-written. I think this view is falling out of favour amongst evangelicals, which causes me some sorrow and may have something to do with the fact that many evangelical leaders seem now to be coming from sceince, rather than humanities, backgrounds.
This said the pastoral epistles contain conspicuously nothing about a need to be a great prose stylist in order to be a good pastor, so I wouldn’t want to overplay it.
If the above sounded pretentious, I apologise; I enjoy writing, but make no claims to have a particularly good command of English prose.
October 14, 2008 at 10:30 pm
“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.”
1 Cor 1:17
And yet much of the Bible is movingly eloquent. So the point, I think, is that eloquence is okay – and yet must not be allowed to stray from consistent, devout, orthodoxy. We sometimes let our words get too airy; this is okay if they are like flags, and it is but to help them snap open even more clearly to the eyes of all men; but when they are hollow like windsocks, they are liable only to tell us which way the wind of the world is at any time blowing.
October 14, 2008 at 11:15 pm
So I suppose the question is, what is the point of our eloquence? If it’s to impress people, to make us seem more intellectually credible, then it’s bad – it’s emptying the cross of its power. But if our words are beautiful because God is beautiful and his words are beautiful and rich and sweet (Psalm 19.10), then that’s entirely appropriate.
Michael, I’m sure you’re right about the science background of emerging evangelical pastors. I would be interested to see some statistics on it.
I’m reminded of the chapter Being for the Word in Being a Priest Todayby Christopher Cocksworth and Rosalind Brown:
“Exposure to God’s word is essential to our preparation to proclaim the word. So, too, is exposure to words. Reading for pleasure, listening to the spoken word, watching plays and films are all ways of developing our resources for proclaiming the word. Langage should be beautiful if we speak of a beautiful God, but to speak in this way we need to hear and read in this way… Time to read a well-written novel or poetry, and to savour the words and images that in turn nurture our own imagination is time well spent.” (p. 89)
October 15, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I like this. But here is some spikery:
Kneeling for the Collect is a slightly bizarre practice. I’m not convinced there are so many more settings of the traditional texts than of the contemporary texts. I don’t like the flat response ‘This is the word of the Lord’; how about ‘Hear the word of the Lord’ or a verse of Ps. 119? I’d like to see the Gospel heralded by Alleluias. I don’t like the Prayer of Humble Access in the CW position: the ASB position (before the Peace) was better.
I like a bit more standing, I think.
But overall, this is encouraging. I particularly like the bold absolution! – one of the lesser known options in CW.
October 15, 2008 at 1:20 pm
There’s a great need for some quality study of the bible’s teaching on aesthetics isn’t there? I suspect that our concept of beauty is not always one with the Lord’s.
For example, much of the ‘beauty’ of Hebrew seems to be in its earthiness, plainness, which many greeks regarded as a little base and uncivilised.
Think also of Jesus’ speech: plain, often earthy, and sometimes blunt (as represented in the greek of the NT at least!), yet also with its own artistry, subtlety, wisdom.
From a classical point of view, there’s a lot of ‘bad’ greek in the NT too, but I rather fancy the God and Father of our Lord Jesus sees it differently.
This underlines our need to ‘tame’ eloquence under the word, and beware lest we equate one cultural form of beauty (such as using the word ‘lest’ in a blog comment) with the whole picture. None of this is to deny the beauty of various forms of traditional english, latin, greek prose. But they’re neither the beginning nor the end of what constitutes ‘beautiful language’ methinks.
October 15, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Amen and Amen to Daniel N’s comment no. 16!
Pete: I think coloquialisms and grammatically imperfect language is not necessarily inelegant or un-beautiful language. I absolutely agree that we evangelicals need to be more thought through on the question of beuaty and aesthetics (I certainly do!).
October 16, 2008 at 12:17 am
Too annoying – my post has just vanished twice!
I was only going to say that any implied aesthetics in Christ’s speech are hardly the whole picture, for the Scriptures are the Word of God – that is, the very thing which Christ himself embodied – and contain a huge variety of styles.
They are all of course characterized by one essential fact, the only thing which redeems eloquence or any kind of verbal art: perfect service of subject.
I think of the beginning of John 1, surely an obvious example of great writing. But if I was to use the same style to describe my breakfast – “In the beginning was an alarm clock, and the alarm clock went off, and the alarm clock was annoying. It went off in the morning. Through it going off, I got up”, etc, etc – it is artless and stupid. However, in lauding the Christ of the Holy and Undivided Trinity – all that early overlapping reminiscent of the gracious interplay in the Trinity itself – all the forthrightness and directness – and cleanness – on so weighty and immense a topic – reminiscent of the gracious, simple gospel covenant, blowing apart the cobwebs and nonsense of our failing attempts at immortality – all the casualness and absence of drumrolls, as if to say, earnestly and urgently, “This is IT!” – it is a trumpet blast of declarative glory, not a solispsistic jazz solo, which is exactly what the world would give instead – it stirs the heart – it makes a man go to his knees – by the Holy Ghost, I love it.
People say we should study the Bible like literature. You can’t. It is like saying we should study Shakespeare as a cook-book. It is great writing; but it becomes ludicrous if you ignore what it is writing ABOUT. Yet it writes what it writes ABOUT exceptionally – I confidently say ’supremely’ – well. For these are the supreme matters of existence.
October 16, 2008 at 4:24 pm
‘… any implied aesthetics in Christ’s speech are hardly the whole picture, for the Scriptures are the Word of God – that is, the very thing which Christ himself embodied – and contain a huge variety of styles.’
I fully agree. And you are right about what a diverse bunch of styles we find in scripture. That alone must feed into our understanding of eloquence and beauty in written and spoken language.
‘They are all of course characterized by one essential fact, the only thing which redeems eloquence or any kind of verbal art: perfect service of subject.’
I think I know what you’re saying and I think I agree. I’d just want to add the caveat that we don’t have to be talking directly about Jesus Christ for something to be an example of God-glorifying eloquence. To take up your example, there must be a way to talk appropriately of my alarm clock in a way that honours God, both in style and content. Otherwise there is no godly way to talk about my alarm clock, and all christians must never ever talk about anything but Christ.
I’m sure that’s not what you were saying, and I’m sure I basically agree with what you were!
re. scripture as literature, I’d always want to say something like ’scripture is never less but always more than literature.’ Hence our study incorporates some of the same tools that study of literature involves (we examine grammar, study words, probe the context, chew over imagery, ask questions about the text etc.), and yet there’s so much more to be said and done in studying scripture, not least prayer during study and the intention to obey upon understanding.
October 16, 2008 at 6:47 pm
I should probably add that my last paragraph is an excellent example of terrible writing, and good evidence of why posts should not be made late at night after 9 hours on your feet at work. It reads like I’m having a heart attack as I write.
I concur with you Pete. Much wisdom in what you say.
October 17, 2008 at 10:45 pm
I also agree with Pete, apart from rather pedantically pointing out that it’s hardly inappropriate to pray whenever we study any literature. Whatever we do, we lift it to the Lord and seek to do for his glory. The content of such a prayer would obviosly be different though.
October 19, 2008 at 10:33 am
‘…apart from rather pedantically pointing out that it’s hardly inappropriate to pray whenever we study any literature.’
of course. quite right. and thanks for calling me on it!
June 22, 2009 at 10:59 am
[...] 22, 2009 Back in October, I showed how the Common Worship Order 1 text for Holy Communion could be used for a covenant renewal service [...]