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Of late, like the psalmist of the Jewish Bible times and George Fox at the start of the English Civil War, I have despaired observing the ocean of darkness that is again inundating, drowning this…
I am convinced that God’s true blessings are meant for everyone. When the Bible says the sun shines on the good and the evil alike, it points to the paradox of rewards but it also describes how God gives. God rains down blessings on us in great abundance. Indiscriminately. Not just on the “deserving.” The forces of evil would try to hoard those blessings for the few. But at the point, they get turned into something spoiled, like the manna from heaven the wandering Israelites tried to hoard.
From Tania at Friendly Funnel:
A few days ago, I tackled Leviticus. I have a lot of history with Leviticus, most of it bad. When I first read Leviticus in high school, I started joking that maybe it should just be tossed out of the Bible. In recent years, my perception of Leviticus has been tainted by those who use it to deny rights, respect, love to anyone who’s not straight. “Abomination!” pretty much summed up what I thought Leviticus was about and how I, in turn, felt about Leviticus. But hidden amongst the messages about what’s clean or unclean are glowing bits of Light that shone through and reminded me, surprisingly, of Jesus.
My review of a talk that Guilford College’s Max Carter gave at the Bible Association of Friends:
Max Carter gave the Bible Association of Friends this past weekend at Moorestown (NJ) Friends Meeting. Max is a long-time educator and currently heads the Quaker Leadership Scholars Program at Guilford College, a program that has produced a number of active twenty-something Friends in recent years. The Bible Association is one of those great Philadelphia relics that somehow survived a couple of centuries of upheavals and still plugs along with a mission more-or-less crafted at it’s founding in the early 1800s: it distributes free Bibles to Friends, Friends schools and any First Day School class that might answer their inquiries.
Early Quaker writings, filled as they are with Scripture, beckon us to read the Bible as early Friends did. How can we embrace their way of reading and make it our own? As I’ve tried to explore this way of reading, I have become persuaded that such reading was an exercise of attention, memory and openness to the presence of God.
The purpose of this blog is for Quakers and interested fellow travelers to explore the Bible together as it speaks to our condition as individuals. This discussion is open to Christians, non-Christians, atheists and Pagans; to those who are often confused or angered by the Bible and to those who see scripture as inerrant; to good Quakers and to not-so-good Quakers—to name just a few points of view.
Vail shares the developement of his understanding of Friends. His interests were both historical and contemporary. Good stuff. Here’s a quote:
A number of Mennonite scholars were seeking ways of recovering the original Anabaptist vision. I sought and found opportunities to inter into dialogue with them and with some scholars from the Church of the Brethren, in hope of clarifying my understanding of the original Quaker vision in the context of a broader “radical Christianity and Christian radicalism.”
From Philcooke.com:
The Wall Street Journal reports today on some massive new media buys for advertising causes from the Christian left. As it reports, “The religious left has a long tradition of activism on social issues, including the civil-rights movement.” Left-leaning Christian groups also have started to attract funding from secular donors who share their political goals — and who see Biblical appeals as a promising way to broaden public support.
Martin’s commentary:
Money trumps mission statements. If salaries and status is being paid for by secular donors then sooner or sooner-still the organization will do what it takes to keep them happy. I know plenty of pseduo-spiritual political organizations, both liberal and conservative, that randomly toss out Bible quote to “religiousfy” what’s really just a secular political message.
I’m not against lefty big media or religious media but it’s important to remember they’re rarely the same. Jesus wasn’t a Democrat or Republican and he never made a big media buy.
Via @emergentvillage
A birthright Friend on discovering the Bible as a child: “At my yearly meeting one year I found a children’s bible and I was drawn to it, not because it was spiritual, but because it had stories of…
The promptings of love and truth in me invite me to stay close to the root, Christ Jesus amongst us. My queries about this come from a love of our rich spiritual heritage and a confidence in the…
So how then is one to be instructed, guided, and inspired by Scripture as a liberal Friend? Here are a few suggestions that I learned the hard way. I kept bumping into the low theological literal…
When I understood that the Bible was alive and that to try to control it was to kill it, that changed my relationship to it. I suddenly didn’t need to control it. I didn’t need to force it into my…
It’s true, God says the same things over and over. And we need to hear them every time. I know the New Testament well enough to know that these lessons will come up again. I don’t know what my…
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