My city just appeared on a list of the five most caffeinated cities in America.
I’m just proud to have done my part in making this achievement possible…
(h/t T19)
Author Archives: Derek A. Olsen
Christian Chastity
Christopher has posted some very helpful observations on the the current Anglican issues. No, I’m not getting into those now, rather, he makes an important point in the realm of theology and morals that bears being lifted up.
Much of the struggle is focused on what constitutes acceptable sexual morality for Christians; that is, how do we employ our human sexual urges in light of the resurrection and the call of the Gospel?
The chief battleground seems to be the “traditional” mores most often defined by saying the only acceptable context for the expression of sexuality is in a lifelong marriage between one man and one woman. The Episcopal Left has called for moving from this standard; the Episcopal Right is for maintaining it. These things are well known.
The reason why I put “traditional” in scare-quotes above is because Christopher is lifting up something in Fr. Haller’s recent writings that I have also noted in my patristic and scriptural studies. “Traditional” Christian sexual ethics are far more complicated than one man and one woman. For quite a while it was assumed that the correct Christian moral stance was celibacy. For everyone. Don’t trust tradition? That’s fine—it’s in Scripture too. Check 1st Corinthians for starters. Marriage between one man and one woman wasn’t the ideal—it was the tolerated lesser of two options.
Furthermore, Jesus never promotes marriage—he just says that divorce is a bad deal. The best the Church Fathers could do was to note that Jesus attended the wedding at Cana thus showing he didn’t actively oppose the institution. Less well known in our day, however, is their identification of the apostolic evangelist John as the bridegroom—who, upon seeing the miracle of the water turned to wine, left behind his bride in their never-consummated marriage and lived his long life as a virgin. (Ælfric refers to this quite a number of times throughout his corpus, for example, as part of his argument for clerical celibacy…)
What I see Christopher doing is something that I haven’t seen the Episcopal Left do—at least not well. They propose doing away with current standards but I have not heard them talk in a clear and compelling manner about what should take their place. Christopher’s answer is to return to the virtue ethics inhabited by both Paul and the Fathers and to ask us to consider once again the meaning of Christian chastity.
The central hallmark of Christian chastity as found again and again in both Testaments of the canon is covenant faithfulness. Time and again, Scripture uses the metaphor of God the husband and Israel the bride; time and again the problem is infidelity and promiscuity—egregious breaches of the covenant. The images in Ephesians and Revelation of the Church as the bride of Christ participate fully within this thematic trajectory. The Church must be faithful to Christ her spouse and not be as Babylon. Christian marriage is acceptable in so far as it models the relationship between Christ and his Church and thus marked by self-giving love and fidelity—constancy.
Christian chastity is yet another virtue which—to my mind—is only capable of being cultivated within classical Benedictine lines: it can only flourish in an environment marked by stability, obedience, and conversion of life.
This, friends, this is the direction in which our discussion needs to move. What are the practices that faithfully reflect Christian chastity and how do we as congregations help engender and enable Christian chastity for those within our walls and common life?
Incense
Here’s a good incense source from NLM.
Take particular note of the first comment. The charcoal used is critical. Many people (and choirs in masse) are under the impression that they are allergic to incense. Some of them actually are—but most are not. Rather, they have a reaction to bad charcoal! The self-lighting stuff will work in a pinch, but should not be used for a proper liturgy. Smokey Mary’s smoke room has an electric table-top burner on which they light up regular briquettes of Kingsford to stoke the thuribles there. I’d even go the extra step and get natural, less-processed charcoal. This can be obtained rather easily at places like Whole Foods.
All the hypoallergenic incense in the world will not help if you are burning it on bad charcoal…
Office Music Posts
In lieu of substantive content, I’ll point you to those who have it…
bls has discovered a cool music search tool and has been busily putting it to work. Here’s a first post on Office Hymns and mp3s; here’s a second.
On bls’s topic—the search for tunes that fit the Office Hymn texts—I’ve been intending for a while now to scan and post the hymnal of the Order of Julian of Norwich; Fr. John-Julian created a number of fresh translations and adaptations of the classical material and fit them to traditional tunes in square notation chant. Unfortunately, every time I think I have time to start on it something else intervenes…
Fr. Chris offers up a good review of this attractive—yet pricey—book.
Maybe if we beg nicely, Scott and others will add their wisdom to this topic as well…
Brief Notes
- Halloween was great! The girls were really cute and M did an amazing job decorating the house. I may post some pictures once I get them out of the camera.
- I had a post brewing on the importance of All Souls—but then the Lutheran Zephyr posted a nice piece that drew on something I wrote a few years ago. No use being a broken record so I’ll just refer you there…
- Life is on rocket rails until the end of the semester; posting will continue to be light.
- Who all will M and I see at the Society of Biblical Literature meeting this year?
Life
Life is, at the moment, kicking us around a bit–especially M. So if y’all could spare some prayers I’d appreciate it. And if you know her IRL, an email/phone-call/get-together would be greatly appreciated…
Words of Wisdom and a Reflection on the Gospel
If we want politics, we can find it elsewhere. If we want social services, we can find those elsewhere, too; likewise for social company. The Church, though, has a monopoly on God and prayer, which it is squandering at present.
–bls, from the comments
Lately, there has been a lot of institutional mystification within Anglicanism all around that wants to make the gospel something other than the unconditional promise of and in Christ.
Some identify the gospel as institutional imperatives of unity or the tensions between justice and unity
Others identify this gospel and the sharing of this gospel with our causes of justice.
Some identify the gospel with purity. Many of these sites are too much for my delicate constitution.
These may be fruits of the gospel, they may be outcomes of our hearing very God, but these are NOT, let me repeat, these are NOT, the gospel of Jesus Christ.The gospel is the promise of right relationship with God by no doing of our own, is peace and joy and fullness in Jesus Christ crucified and raised from the dead, who is present to us and for us here and now in the Word proclaimed in the reading/preaching and received in, with, and under the bread and wine. Jesus Christ himself is the Good News!
This gospel, Jesus Christ, makes the Church, not the other way around, and it is in this proclamatory sense that the Church is the books’ as proclaimed and not only that the book is the Church’s as is sometimes popularly trotted out. It may be our book, but proclaimed it is God’s Word to us and for us, and not only collectively, but to each member thereof. Because in the proclaiming of the Word, Christ is here present—the Scripture is not ours, it’s God’s. I intuited that years ago when my priest would ask me to be the lector at daily Mass on a regular basis to my fear and trembling. I used to think that was a bad thing, now I take a little nervousness in proclaiming God’s Word as a good thing. It’s not my word, it’s God’s, and in the proclaiming, Christ is present to us and for us here and now. A little nervousness is appropriate.
–Christopher, from here
I’m for the basic principles of the Millennium Development Goals. I like the idea of the portions of the world who have disproportionately been consuming the earth’s resources taking pause and assisting the basic living conditions of those who live in situations of poverty and oppression that most of us can not begin to understand.
What I really don’t like, however, is the way that the Episcopal Church as a whole has been working with and talking about the MGD’s. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, ensuring justice for the orphan, the widow, the stranger in the land, these are the outward and visible signs of the Gospel taking root in your heart and body. These things are not, however, the logical or theological beginning of the Gospel.
The Gospel begins with the Good News of what God has done for his creation through the person of Jesus Christ. That God became incarnate “both as a sacrifice for sin and a model of godly life.” That what God has revealed through the Holy Scriptures and through Jesus Christ is a whole different truth about reality than what collusive and destructive powers whisper to us so convincingly. That ultimate power resides in love. That ultimate life is found in God who constantly invites us to participate in his own life, that our life is hid with Christ in God.
Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, ensuring justice for the orphan, the widow, the stranger in the land, these are the logical and necessary consequences of the Gospel, these are the limbs’ obedience to the heart’s faith. These ways are the paths we are bound to walk if we take God’s revelation of truth seriously.
But our preaching and our teaching becomes disoriented if somehow the logical corollary becomes the focus and the central thesis from which it proceeds is obscured. The Church’s primary responsibility is the proclamation of the Good News of the Gospel, then the works of mercy that flow from this revelation. To preach the works alone, or to assume that the connection between the faith and the works is obvious and need not be said is to risk corruption of the Gospel with which we have been entrusted.
The Episcopal Church should teach about the MGD’s. But it should first preach Christ. It should first teach the simple—but difficult—truth of God’s reality. Then teach the implications, then teach the works. But first, preach the Gospel.
Eucharistic Quiz
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You scored as OrthodoxYou are Orthodox, worshiping the mystery of the Holy Trinity in the great liturgy whereby Jesus is present through the Spirit in a real yet mysterious way, a meal that is also a sacrifice.
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H/t Dean Knisely
I doubt these results come as a surprise to most who know me. Conflicts between my own understanding of the Eucharist, how I read the first generation of Lutheran Reformers, and the theology of the contemporary Lutheran church were my first signs that I needed to reconsider whether God was calling me to be a Lutheran pastor.
Future Pointers
AKMA is quite right as usual: technology is proceeding apace–we need to be informed about the change and be intentional about discovering both its promises and perils.
An example of how we can use these technologies is this site on liturgy and liturgical spirituality with a monastic bent from New Zealand. The Rev. Bosco Peters has put together a strong site with a growing number of resources. This is the kind of site that I think is at the forefront of what is emerging and is representative of what some have called “blog-level ecumenism”; looking it over I wasn’t immediately clear whether it was Anglican or Catholic or liturgical protestant—and that’s not a bad thing. In touch with the Tradition, liturgical, spiritual with a monastic grounding, yet engaged with contemporary realities for the sake of proclaiming the Gospel with power and integrity in our local times and places.
I’d include Full Homely Divinity in the same category…
Sarum Office Hymns
I took a walk on the wild side of M’s hymnal collection. Poking through them I found a 1904 edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern (which I’m 99% sure was a gift from the Lutheran Zephyr). This was the edition that was roundly mocked at the time of its publication for its attempt to be too “historical.” (IIRC, Percy Dearmer was in on this edition but I don’t see the editors listed.) In the front is a table of “Sarum Office Hymns”; happily, the entire contents of this volume are posted online at Oremus.org. [Update: Or not. It seems some hymns had to be removed for reasons of copyright.]
Here is the list of Office Hymns as they appear in the front of Hymns Ancient & Modern, 2nd Ed., 1904. The hyperlink will take you to where the English text ought to be at Oremus.
Warning: Many of these files no longer exist on the Oremus server. Furthermore, the links that are active will begin playing a midi version of the hymn when you open it.
Table of Ancient English Office Hymns*
Advent
43 Creator of the starry height (Conditor alme siderum) E.**
44 O Word, that goest forth on high (Verbum supernum prodiens) M.
45 Loud rings the warning voice round (Vox clara ecce intonat) L.
34 To Thee before the close of day (Te lucis ante terminum) C.
Christmas
55 O come, Redemeer of the earth (Veni Redemptor gentium) E.
57 O Christ, Redeemer of our race (Christe Redemptor omnium) M.
56 From east to west, from shore to shore (A solis ortu cardine) L. & E.
58 Of the Father’s love begotten (Corde natus ex parentis) C. (York)
67 O Saviour of the world, we pray (Salvator mundi Domine) C.
Epiphany
79 Why doth that impious Herod fear (Hostis Herodes impie) E. & M.***
80 The Father’s sole-begotten Son (A Patre unigenitus) L.
67 O Saviour of the world, we pray (Salvator mundi Domine) C.
From the Epiphany to Lent
2 O splendor of God’s glory bright (Splendor paternae gloriae) L.
15 O blest Creator of the light (Lucis Creator optime) E.
34 To Thee before the close of day (Te lucis ante terminum) C.
[Before Septuagesima
89 Alleluia, song of sweetness (Alleluia, dulce carmen) (Anglo-Saxon Hymnals)]
The first fortnight of Lent
92 By precepts taught of ages past (Ex more docti mystico) E.
93 O Thou Who dost to man accord (Summi largitor praemii) (8.8.7 D) M.
94 O merciful Creator, hear (Audi, benigne Conditor) L.
105 O Christ Who art the Light and Day (Christe, qui lux es et dies) C.
The second fortnight of Lent
95 Lo! now is our accepted day (Ecce tempus idoneum) E.
96 It is the glory of this fast (Clarum decus ieiunii) M.
97 O Jesu, Thou didst concecrate (Jesu quadragenariae) (CM) L.
105 O Christ Who art the Light and Day (Christe, qui lux es et dies) C.
From Passion Sunday**** to the Wednesday before Easter
106 The Royal banners forward go (Vexilla regis prodeunt) E.
107 Sing, my tongue, the glorius battle (Pange lingua gloriosi praelium certaminis) M. & L.
108 Servant of God, remember (Cultor Dei, memento) C.
Eastertide
141 Up, new Jerusalem, and sing (Chorus novae Jerusalem) E.
142 Light’s glittering morn bedecks the sky (Aurora lucis rutilat) M. & L.*****
143 The Lamb’s high banquet call’d to share (Ad cenam Agni providi) E.
145 O Christ, the heav’ns’ Eternal King (Rex sempiterne caelitum) (Anglo-Saxon Hymnals)
163 Jesu, the world’s redeeming Lord (Jesu Salvator saeculi) C.
Ascensiontide
167 O Thou, Eternal King most High (Aeterne rex altissime) E. & M.
168 O Christ, our Joy, gone up on high (Tu, Christe, nostrum gaudium) L.
176 Jesu, our Hope, our heart’s Desire (Jesu nostra redemptio) (CM) C.
Whitsuntide
178 Now Christ above the starry floor (Iam Christus astra ascenderat) E. & M.
179 O joy! because the circling year (Beata nobis guadia) E.
67 O Saviour of the world, we pray (Salvator mundi Domine) C.
Trinity Sunday
188 Be near us, Holy Trinity (Adesto, sancta Trinitas) E. & M.
189 Father most Holy, merciful and loving (O Pater sancte) L.
190 All hail, adored Trinity (Ave colenda Trinitas) (Anglo-Saxon Hymnals)
From Trinity to Advent
15 O blest Creator of the light (Lucis Creator optime) E.
36 O Trinity, most blessed Light (O lux beata Trinitas) E. (Saturday)
34 To Thee before the close of day (Te lucis ante terminum) C.
There are sanctoral propers after this point—I’ll add them later as I have the chance.
* Unless it is otherwise specified, the Hymns represent the Sarum use, and are translated in their original metres.
** The initials represent the Ancient Services of Evensong, Mattins, Lauds, and Compline.
*** My note: IIRC, this is an abcedarian hymn by Sedulius and only part of it is contained here.
**** My note: Passion Sunday is the Sunday before Palm Sunday in the old kalendar.
***** My note: This hymn is split into three parts suggesting some were sung for Mattins, the rest was sung for Lauds.