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by Jann Barr 21 Jan '13

21 Jan '13

http://iscrizione.olimpiadidellacultura.it/8yngjh.php

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News from Realistic Living
by Ken Fisher 20 Jan '13

20 Jan '13

Dear Colleagues, Here's the news from Realistic Living. Gene turned 81 on January 3rd, and is 'back', after overcoming 'a pause' occasioned by recent surgery. Joyce will be 79 on February 19. They founded Realistic Living in 1984, regularly publishing a journal and many books since that time. I much admire there life-time commitments to social activism and recreating Christian practice and theology for the 21st Century. Here in our little village of Sharbot Lake Ontario, Pat and I use Joyce's Ignatian-like solitary on a near daily basis, and weekly we use the format of RL's Christian Resurgence Circle - dance, study and prayer. We are planning our third trip to Bonham for June. Recently, he wrote (with the significant input of four others) The Road From Empire to Eco-Democracy. It is being well reviewed and used as a study book in a variety of contexts. He has just competed a protean work, The Enigma of Consciousness - A Philosophy of Profound Humanness and Religion. Together, these books represent a comprehensive and futuric tour of a new social vehicle and a new religious mode. For me, they provide contemporary screens for discerning where it is that the human community is having, or can have, breakthroughs in creating a new world. As well, they provide an enthralling invitation to deepen ones personal spirit practices and social engagements. The Road can be ordered from Amazon or from: Gene Marshall 3578 N. State Highway 78 Bonham TX 75418 $21 - postage free Gene Marshall <jgmarshall(a)cableone.net> Enigma can be downloaded free from http://www.RealisticLiving.org/PDF/Enigma/ His latest book is entitled The Love of History and the Future of Christianity - A Manifesto for a Post-Christendom Christianity. Every human community is 'awe-struck'. What is unique and worth forwarding into the future about Christianity? We look forward to its completion. Realistic Living's resources can be found at http://www.realisticliving.org/ Staff member Alan Richard, maintains RL's highly imaginative and spiritually informative Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Realistic-Living/199360680077780 May the spirit of love, trust and freedom enliven us all. Ken Fisher

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1/17/13, Spong: The Birth of Jesus, Part VII. The Role of Ruth: The Seductress
by Ellie Stock 17 Jan '13

17 Jan '13

HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR The Birth of Jesus, Part VIII. The Fourth Woman in Matthew’s genealogy: The Wife of Uriah The fourth and final woman included in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus with which he opens his gospel and simultaneously introduces into the Christian tradition the story of the virgin birth, is the best known of them all. Matthew in this genealogy, however, does not ever call her by her name. He refers to her rather as "the wife of Uriah," but those who are familiar with the Jewish scriptures, as Matthew’s audience would surely have been, know from the story in the 11th chapter of II Samuel that her name is Bathsheba and you and I can read her fascinating story any time we want simply by turning to that chapter of the Bible. For those who might not be familiar with this narrative these are the details. In the spring of the year,” is the way the author of this book of Samuel begins his story. The spring of the year is the time when “the sap rises,” romance is in the air and, this author observes, it was also the time “when kings go forth to battle.” King David, however, did not follow the familiar script for this year so he remained in Jerusalem while dispatching his army into battle under the command of his trusted military chief, a man named Joab. Joab’s assigned task, said the author of II Samuel, was to “ravage” King David’s enemy, the Ammonites. Not only was he to conquer the land of Ammon, but his army was to accomplish this by besieging and then destroying the capital city of Rabbah, while the king remained safe and secure in the comfort of his palace. Thus the stage was set in which this particular episode would transpire. It would be while the king was at home far from the battlefield, that he would have the adventure that would determine not just the history of the Jewish people, but also through them, the history of the world. Great changes do attach themselves sometimes to seemingly unimportant details. It was in the late afternoon one day when King David, perhaps bored, decided to stroll out onto the rooftop of the royal palace to enjoy the warm spring breezes. Because his palace was the tallest building in the city, he could look down on all the roof tops of the other homes below. On this day, to the delight of his lecherous eyes, his gaze fell upon a young woman, who was bathing herself in what she believed was the privacy of her own roof top. David was immediately smitten by this woman’s charms and, as heads of state are prone to do, he assumed that his desires should be fulfilled. So David, after inquiring as to her identity, sent a messenger to this woman’s house, bearing his personal invitation for her to come to the palace and to have a “tryst” with the king. She came. Whether or not she had a choice, we do not know. The rights of women were very circumscribed in that patriarchal society. Bathsheba’s roof top bath was described in this text as necessary for “purifying herself from her uncleanness,” which was a euphemistic way the Bible described the fact that she had just completed her menstrual cycle. This detail is essential to the developing plot of this story, since it demonstrated conclusively that she was not pregnant at that moment. When she arrived at the palace David greeted her and then “took her and lay with her,” the text informs us. The act complete, this woman, having served her defined purpose, returned to her own house. In all probability David thought little more about the incident. It was probably not the first time, nor would it be the last, that this kind of activity had happened in his life. It was, however, destined to be a life-changing experience in Bathsheba’s life. In a few weeks Bathsheba, noticing some unusual, but revealing circumstances, sent a message to the palace marked “for the king’s eyes only.” In this message she informed King David that she was pregnant with his child. David, seeking to create some room in which to maneuver, asked her how she could be sure that this baby was his child. “You are a married woman,” he reminded her. Why do you assume that this is not your husband’s child? It was then that Bathsheba informed him that though she was indeed married, her husband, Uriah, was a professional soldier and that he had been away for months serving in the king’s army under Captain Joab in the war against the Ammonites. “There is no way O King,” she concluded, “that you are not the father of this baby.” David felt the noose tightening around his neck. He was not, however, ready to take responsibility for this fact and so he opted for plan B. He would dispatch a messenger to his army chief Joab, ordering him to grant a furlough to Uriah the Hittite. His cover was that he wanted to receive a first-hand report from someone in the field of battle and he had chosen Uriah for this “signal honor.” While on this special leave, David reasoned, Uriah would stay in his home, lie with his wife and when the baby was born, they could claim that this infant had just come early. It would not be the first time in that pre-DNA world that such an explanation had been conceived of and successfully employed. So a very surprised Uriah received orders to return to Jerusalem in order to provide a personal and private update for the king on the course of the battle. Uriah, however, did not choose to return to his own house. He, rather, slept quite ostentatiously in the street at the gate of the king’s palace. David’s plans were foiled again. He had not counted on Uriah being the ultimate “boy scout.” Uriah told the king that it would simply not be fitting for him to enjoy the pleasures of his home, his wife and his bed while all his comrades were still camping out in the fields, eating K-rations and risking their lives in the siege of Rabbah. “I could not think of doing such a thing,” he concluded. David must have thought to himself, “What a turkey!” Now he was forced to resort to plan C. The king next took out the royal quill and on a piece of royal parchment, he wrote out new orders to be carried to Joab, his military captain. He sent these new orders to Captain Joab via the hand of Uriah, who was returning to his duty on the battlefield. The king’s orders directed Joab to charge the gates of the city of Rabbah with a “V” shaped flying wedge. These orders also directed Joab to place Uriah the Hittite at the point of the “V” thus giving him the “honor” of leading the charge. It was a position in which few survived. It was done as the king commanded and Uriah was struck down and killed immediately. Joab then sent the king a message to inform him that his problems were over and that Uriah was dead. In turn, David sent for Bathsheba and she came to his palace to be one of his wives and thus a member of his harem. Bathsheba turned out to be a wife who exercised considerable power. After the child of her adulterous liaison with the king died in infancy, Bathsheba’s second son by King David, whose name was Solomon, was destined to succeed King David at his death, though he was not close to being the first-born son and thus the presumed heir to the throne. With the assistance of a priest named Zadok, a military leader named Benaiah and a prophet named Nathan, Bathsheba maneuvered to secure the throne for her son. King Solomon in turn secured the power of the royal family that was destined to rule the people of Judah for over 400 years. That is Bathsheba’s story as found in the Bible. In his genealogy, Matthew traces the royal line from Solomon through the kings of Judah until the royal family was destroyed by the Babylonians in the period of history that is called the Exile. Then he picks up the genealogy and traces it from the Exile to a man named Joseph, The conclusion of his genealogy says “Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus is born, who is called Christ.” Thus the genealogy with which Matthew opened his gospel and which served to introduce the story of Jesus’ “supernatural” or “virgin” birth is brought to a conclusion. Now as we come to the end of this opening genealogy ask yourself, what was Matthew’s purpose in beginning his gospel in this way and why did he deem it necessary and appropriate to say that the line that produced Jesus of Nazareth began with Abraham and traveled through the royal family, then into the exile and finally it arrives at the life on which the whole story is to focus? Finally, what is he trying to communicate when he places into the background of Jesus, four well known women in Jewish history, all of whom by the standards of that day were sexually compromised women? He is informing his readers at the very opening of his story that the line that produced Jesus of Nazareth flowed through the incest of Tamar (Gen. 38), the prostitution of Rahab (Joshua 2, 6), the seduction of Ruth (Ruth 3) and the adultery of Bathsheba (II Samuel 11). That appears to be what the text of Matthew’s gospel reveals. Perhaps that accounts (at least in part) for the fact that throughout most of Christian history, the first 17 verses of Matthew’s first chapter were skipped and ignored. They were called “the most boring verses in the Bible,” the “who begat whoms,” and no one was encouraged to look at them or take them seriously. Perhaps this strange introduction reveals that there is far more to the story of the virgin birth than we have imagined in the past. We will continue to look at Matthew’s birth narrative in subsequent weeks. Then we will turn to Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth. Studying the Bible can be quite exciting once one removes the blinders of literalism and begins to look at the texts for what they are. So stay tuned. We will move next to Matthew’s proof text found in Isaiah 7:14 and then to the wise men and their familiar gifts. It is a fascinating study. I hope that you are finding it so. ~John Shelby Spong Read the essay online here. Question & Answer John McKee, from Texas, writes: Question: I am a retired United Methodist minister of the Central Texas Conference of the UMC and am most interested in your writings. I have not only read, but have copied your articles and used them as a teaching guide for persons I know are interested in a more authentic understanding of Holy Scripture. A question rose in my mind as to the worship practices of the Followers of the Way whom you state remained in those early years (some eighty) as part of synagogue worship. I am aware that Paul had a meeting of the minds, so to speak, with Peter concerning the practice of circumcision of those Gentiles who wished to be part of this new movement. If so, were the Gentile members of the “Way” welcomed into the synagogue to worship (without being circumcised)? You may have already made a comment about this, but I must not have incorporated it into my thinking. Being in my 82nd year, I am not as alert as I was in my seminary days…Lo!! With appreciation for your ministry, I am a joyous follower of your philosophy. Answer: Dear John, Thank you for your questions and for your years of service in the Methodist ministry. The issue about the early Church is complex and I have probably had to make it seem simpler than it really was. There were a variety of Christian groups in the early years of the Christian Church. Almost all of them were first associated with and shaped by the synagogue. As the movement began to grow beyond the boundaries of Judaism in the 6th decade, they began to attract Gentile attention. Paul was a key figure in this. Some of the more orthodox Jews led by James, the Lord’s brother, and by Peter, at least at the beginning, were insistent that the only way into Christianity was through Judaism and that meant circumcision, kosher laws and Sabbath Day observances. Paul was the champion of those Gentiles who were drawn to theology and liturgy, but not cultic practices. In the early years, there were people who agreed to the orthodox requirements and people who did not. This tension divided the early church rather fiercely. Much of this conflict is reflected in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, written in the early 50’s. I have just finished reading a book by Dr. James D., Tabor, who is chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte who offers a fresh, provocative and insightful perspective on the early years of the Christian movement. His book is entitled Paul and Jesus. I commend that book to you and to all my readers. The meeting of minds with Peter, to which you refer in your letter, was described in the book of Acts (chapter 15), but be warned that Acts is probably a 10th decade piece of work at the earliest, and it specifically champions Paul’s perspective. Furthermore, by the time the book of Acts was written, the battle was over and Christianity was well on its way to becoming a Gentile movement. My emphasis in the article to which you are referring is that long before the church and the synagogue split, which historians choose 88 CE as the most likely year, the Christian faith had become so deeply shaped by synagogue worship and synagogue liturgy, to say nothing of having wrapped Jesus so tightly in both the Jewish Scriptures and Jewish messianic expectation, that the only way we can discover the original meaning of the Jesus story is by recovering that Jewish background and reading the gospels with well-informed Jewish eyes. That is what I sought to do when I wrote what is still my favorite book, Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes, where this material is spelled out more fully than I can do in a question and answer format. I send you my best. ~John Shelby Spong Announcements The New Study Guide for the 8 Points of Progressive Christianity is now available from ProgressiveChristianity.org Read More Here or Click on the Image below! Any questions or concerns, please contact us at support(a)johnshelbyspong.com or 503-236-3545. Copyright © 2013 ProgressiveChristianity.org, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you have a membership at our website. Our mailing address is: ProgressiveChristianity.org 3530 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Unit 1 Portland, OR 97214 Add us to your address book

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(no subject)
by mhampton＠att.net 16 Jan '13

16 Jan '13

http://www.skyydev.com/artofindia/resmpl.php !

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(no subject)
by W. J. 16 Jan '13

16 Jan '13

http://ncdesign.net/wp-content/themes/sharpfolio/images/kawabagga.html

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(no subject)
by W. J. 16 Jan '13

16 Jan '13

http://localcar-seminovos.com/wp-content/themes/Automobile/images/kawabagga…

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Fwd:
by Jann Barr 15 Jan '13

15 Jan '13

http://pietrometastasio.altervista.org/rkq9pb.php

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Directory Subscription renewal
by Jayandem2＠aol.com 12 Jan '13

12 Jan '13

Dear Friends and Colleagues: >From Mike Tippett: A Good New Year’s Resolution: Renew your subscription to the ICA/OE/EI Directory!! I NEED TO MOVE MORE COPIES!! IF YOU ARE A FORMER SUBSCRIBER, PLEASE CONSIDER GETTING THE 2013 VERSION There is still time for you to order your copy! For those who aren’t familiar with The Directory, it is a listing of names, addresses, phones, emails and occupations of several hundred people who have been at one time or another associated with the I.C.A., or the Ecumenical Institute, or its programs and projects. It’s fun to see where everyone is living and what each is doing. (I’m in Florida and am semi-retired) If you would like a copy of your listing, either write or email me. If you would like a copy of The Directory, send in the form below. Cost of the Directory is $20.00 for either the booklet form, the floppy disk form, or a CD. If you order two forms, it will cost $30.00. ORDER FORM NAME: ______________________________ ADDRESS: ____________________________ CITY/STATE/POSTAL(ZIP) CODE: ____________________________ COUNTRY: ________________________ EMAIL: ______________________________ Make Checks out to and send orders to: Michael B. Tippett, 4676 32nd Court East, Bradenton, FL 34203 (USA) Phone: (941) 753-5189 Email: MovementDir(a)aol.com Please send me a copy of the directory: [ ] Booklet form [ ] CD Cost of the Directory is $20.00 for either the booklet form, or a CD. If you order two forms, it will cost $30.00. I enclose $___________ The CD will contain In Memoriam and Names and Addresses, etc, in Microsoft Word format.

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Message from A.M. Noel
by Carol Crow 11 Jan '13

11 Jan '13

Dear Friends, I am forwarding a message from our colleague A.M. Noel,currently living in upstate New York: "Dr. A.J.A. Peter, age 77, eldest brother of A.M. Noel, took his last breath yesterday, January 10, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He was a guardian of the ICA for many years." A.M.'s sister had died on A.M.'s birthday, December 17, 2012, followed on December 22 by the death of his father-in-law David VerNooy. A Memorial service for A.M.'s sister and brother will be held in Malaysia in February when the family gathers in Kuala Lumpur. David VerNooy who died in December was a clergyman participant in the Ecumenical Institute's Primal Community Experiment in the 1970's, in Connecticut and New York. Please hold A.M. and his family in your hearts at this time. In Community, Carol

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1/10/13, Spong: The Birth of Jesus, Part VII. The Role of Ruth: The Seductress
by Ellie Stock 10 Jan '13

10 Jan '13

HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR The Birth of Jesus, Part VII. The Role of Ruth: The Seductress The third woman mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus is also unique in a number of ways. Her name is Ruth and she, like Rahab, is a foreigner. Rahab was a Canaanite citizen of Jericho. Ruth was a Moabite, and the widow of a Jewish man named Mahlon. Her story is found in the tiny book that bears her name that is nestled in the Hebrew Scriptures between Judges and I Samuel. It is a dramatic tale involving some unfamiliar Jewish practices that are strange to us today, but that made sense in terms of the Jewish values of that day, rooted as they were in both tribal and patriarchal assumptions. Listen first to the story. It was around the year 1100 BCE when a time of famine produced a down turn in the Hebrew economy. Elimelech, a citizen of Bethlehem, his wife Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, moved to the land of Moab in search of work, food and survival. Soon thereafter, Elimelech died leaving Naomi with her two sons, strangers and aliens in a foreign land. The two sons then assumed the care of their mother and settled into their life in Moab, living there for about ten years, during which time they even took Moabite women to be their wives. Mahlon married Ruth and Chilion married Orpah. Then tragedy struck once again when both Mahlon and Chilion died, leaving the remaining members a very vulnerable family of three widows, women who had no male support and no male protection. This patriarchal society had not developed any way of enabling lone women to care for themselves outside the protective structure provided by a father, a husband or a son. “An independent woman” was an unimaginable category. Hebrew law, therefore, required that women who are alone be cared for by the nearest male kinsman in the family. Normally this meant that the next oldest brother in the family must take the widow of his deceased brother as his wife. In the case of Naomi, Orpah and Ruth, however, there were no younger brothers and, with Naomi being of post-menopausal age, there was no chance of ever producing any. Nothing was more fragile or tragic in this society than a woman who had no father, no husband and no son. She thus fell out of the social safety net, which that society had built to care for the vulnerable. The next level of support was to identify the male, who was simply the closest of kin and to turn all of her assets over to him. This included his taking the widowed woman to be his wife, or at least a member of his harem, for which he had responsibility and for which he assumed sexual privileges with the stated hope of raising up children to the deceased male. As long as this fragile trio of women lived in the land of Moab, there was no male closest of kin. Naomi, facing this reality, called her two daughters-in-law to her and told them that she was moving back to the land of the Jews, presumably to Bethlehem. She instructed the young widows to do the only thing left open to them. She told them to return to their families and to the protection of their fathers. That was a demeaning act as these widows would from then on be considered “damaged goods.” They would be unable to contract another “proper” marriage. Perhaps some men could be found to take them, but prospects were bleak; not as bleak, however, as what they faced as a family of three vulnerable women living alone. Orpah accepted that option and returned to her family, disappearing from this story forever. Ruth, however, declined and informed Naomi that she would go with her back to the land of the Jews, that she did not want to leave her mother-in-law alone and that together they would face the hardship that both knew awaited them. In one of the most beautiful passages in this book, Ruth says words that have been set to music today and we know them as “The Song of Ruth,” “Entreat me not to leave you or to return from following you; for where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people and your God shall be my God, where you die, I will die and there will I be buried.” (Ruth 1:16-17) This song of Ruth is frequently sung at weddings as the bride and groom stare deeply into each other’s eyes.. I wonder how many couples would choose this music if they knew that originally it was Ruth’s song sung to her mother-in-law! The two single women then returned to Bethlehem and began their struggle for survival. It was the time of the beginning of the barley harvest. Naomi plotted her strategy. She was aware that her husband, Elimelech, had a kinsman named Boaz, who owned much land in the Bethlehem area. She thus settled into a humble dwelling near the fields of her husband’s distant relative. Jewish law also required that the reapers should not seek to harvest every grain of barley, but that some should be left in the field to be gleaned by the poor. Each day Ruth went into these fields to gather the grain the reapers had missed. She brought it home, ground it and baked it into a barley cake sufficient to keep Naomi and herself from starving. Her faithful caring for Naomi was noticed. Boaz inquired of her identity and learned that she was Naomi’s Moabite daughter-in-law, that she had asked permission to glean in the field behind the reapers and that she had gathered the scanty remains from sunup to sundown without resting. Inspired by this example, Boaz spoke to Ruth, telling her not to gather grain in any other fields and gave her access to water drawn by the young men for the workers in the field. He ordered the young men not to molest her. Ruth thanked Boaz for his kindness, inquiring as to why he was so gracious to a foreigner. Boaz replied that her faithfulness in the care of Naomi had inspired him and revealed that he had been told of the death of Ruth’s husband and of her willingness to leave her own people in order to care for Naomi. Boaz then instructed the reapers to leave some of the sheaves that they had gathered for her to glean. When Ruth told Naomi about the kindness of the man who owned the fields, Naomi was pleased that the trap she was setting was about to be sprung. She waited until the harvest season was over before she put her plan into operation. Naomi shared with Ruth that Boaz was a distant relative of Elimelech, her father-in-law, and thus of Mahlon, Ruth’s husband. He thus had a social responsibility to care for her. When the reaping was over, Boaz and his workers would celebrate at the threshing floor and Ruth would attend that celebration. She prepared carefully, she bathed, she anointed herself with perfume, she put on her best dress and off she went. Naomi instructed her that she was not to make herself known until the man had finished eating and drinking. The text says until “his heart was merry.” The wine flowed freely that evening and by midnight Boaz, now well drunk, lay down on the floor and went to sleep. Ruth came over to him, placed a pillow under his head and covered him with a blanket. Then the text says she “uncovered his feet,” and lay down at his feet. In the scriptures the word “feet” was a euphemism for the male genitals. The fact is that Ruth undressed him and climbed under the blanket with him. This was an overt act of seduction. When Boaz awakened at the dawn’s first shaft of light, he found this woman under the blanket with him. He had no idea who she was or what he might have done in his drunken stupor, and so he spoke to her. “Who are you?” He asked. She replied: I am Ruth, you are my next of kin. Marry me!” Boaz pretended to be flattered that she had not gone after a younger man, but he was not quite ready to accept this new responsibility. There was one other, he said, who was a closer kinsman to her husband than he. He would have to speak to him first. It seems this other man had the right of first refusal. Boaz went to meet with him, telling Ruth not to let it be known “that a woman came to the threshing floor.” He then gave Ruth “six measures of barley,” perhaps it was payment for her “night’s work” and he went off to the city. Ruth reported back to Naomi with this grain and Naomi rejoiced. Her plan had clearly worked. Boaz, gathering ten men of the city to serve as witnesses, met with this nearest kinsman and the negotiations proceeded. Boaz informed this man that Ruth, Mahlon’s widow, has returned from Moab and that she has a parcel of land that belonged to Mahlon’s father, our kinsman, Elimelech. You, as the nearest of kin, have first refusal. Will you redeem this land? If not, I am next in line. The nearest of kin agreed to redeem it. Then Boaz said that is fine, but you need to know the day you take over this field, you are also agreeing to care for Naomi, Elimelech’s widow, and to take Mahlon’s widow, Ruth, to be your wife and to raise up children to her deceased husband. That was a sticky wicket. He would then have to include any children he might have with Ruth among those who would inherit his estate. So he declined. “I cannot redeem it,” he said, “Lest I impair my own children’s inheritance.” So, in the presence of the elders, he renounced his claim. The decision was affirmed in the traditional way of exchanging a sandal. Boaz then was authorized to buy the parcel, to become heir of all that belonged to Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion. He would care for Naomi and Ruth would become his wife so that the name of Mahlon would not be cut off in the land. The elders saluted Boaz and said, “May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.” thus linking these two stories. Boaz and Ruth had a son whose name was Obed. When Obed reached maturity, he had a son named Jesse. Jesse in turn grew up and had a son named David, who became the great king of the Hebrew nation. Ruth was thus the great grandmother of King David. Matthew incorporated Ruth into the genealogy of Jesus that served as his prologue to the introduction of the first account of Jesus’ miraculous birth, In that genealogy, Matthew is saying the line that produced Jesus of Nazareth flowed through the incest of Tamar, the harlotry of Rahab and the seduction of Ruth. It also proclaimed that Moabite blood flowed in the veins of the Jewish King David, thus countering all of the claims of racial purity made for the Royal House of David. One more woman will appear in Matthew’s genealogy. We will turn to her story when this series continues, but surely by now we should be asking what Matthew’s purpose is; what is his agenda that he has chosen to introduce the Virgin Birth story in this way? ~JSS Read the essay online here. Question & Answer Jan Weston from Morrow, Ohio, writes: Question: I know that you are invited to Unity Village, Lee's Summit, Missouri, on occasions. I think I have read a comment from you saying that Unity was a positive resource for the future understanding of faith. My wife and I have regularly attended a Unity congregation until recently. I had searched to see if you had written anything in regards to interpreting scripture metaphysically and could not find any articles. I would like to know in more detail your feelings of the strengths and weaknesses as you see it in Unity thought. Also, any suggestions for a resource other than the Metaphysical Bible Dictionary and Charles Fillmore's The Revealing Word: A Dictionary of Metaphysical Terms. I look forward every Thursday to receiving your articles. Answer: Dear Jan, Thank you for your letter. I have had the pleasure of being at Lee’s Summit on several occasions and have spoken in perhaps as many as 200 Unity Churches across the nation. I find the Unity Movement exciting and open. It is not, however, their metaphysical interpretation of the scriptures that impresses me so much as it is their insistence on seeing religion as an asset to wholeness. They simply are not into sin, original or otherwise. The traditional Christian message, which is rooted in the theology of Augustine in the Fourth century and expanded by Anselm in the twelfth century, is based on the assumption that human life began as perfection, only to fall into sin and, therefore, it needed to be rescued, saved or redeemed. So Jesus is presented as savior, redeemer or rescuer. By defining Jesus in this way, we also inevitably define human life as fallen or lost. I think that is an incorrect description of the origins of human life and any theological system based on that primary assumption will inevitably contribute to the destruction not the enhancement of human life. We human beings are not fallen sinners so much as we are creatures evolving toward some future destiny. We have never been perfect, we have never fallen and we do not need to be saved. When it comes to interpreting the Bible, a metaphysical approach was adopted by the founders of Unity because that gave them a way out of the necessity for reading the Bible literally and at that time very little else was then available to them at that time to accomplish this task. The Bible was never meant to be read literally, but that was nonetheless the pattern that the church applied to the Bible over the centuries. If we shatter the hold literalism has on scripture, we have many options open to us for reading the Bible non-literally. Metaphysically is one of them and that was the method chosen by Unity. I see it as one among many ways to approach the scriptures. My own study, however, has led me to a rather different approach. I seek to go to the origins of the text, examine the historical circumstances, which produced that material in the first place and then try to discover the experiences that lie behind the biblical explanations. It is that experience which makes contact with my human experience today. For example, all four of the gospels reflect the Jewish-Roman War from 66-73 CE, during which the city of Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 CE. The gospels all assume this event and their message is even shaped by it, even though they each purport to write about a life that was crucified in 30 CE, two to three generations before Jerusalem’s fall. In a similar way, much of the Old Testament reflects the division of the Hebrew nation into two competitive states, Judah and Israel, which occurred around the year 929 BCE, yet that fact is written into the story of the patriarchs who lived some 700 to 900 years before this split took place. The point of this is to force us to face the fact that what we have called “the word of god” is a quite human book and a very subjective one. That is the kind of wrestling with the text that opens to me the doors through which I feel compelled to walk in the confidence that this approach will yield the meaning I seek. A metaphysical reading of our sacred texts will also deliver us from literalism, but for me it does not go as deeply as I feel I must go in search of truth. ~John Shelby Spong Announcements The New Study Guide for the 8 Points of Progressive Christianity is now available from ProgressiveChristianity.org Read More Here or Click on the Image below! Any questions or concerns, please contact us at support(a)johnshelbyspong.com or 503-236-3545. Copyright © 2013 ProgressiveChristianity.org, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you have a membership at our website. 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