scripture

I have met with some trepidation the upcoming translation of the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) in to English. So, I read with great interest biblicalia's thorough, insightful, and not-very-flattering review of the recent release, the Two Septuagints.

God is unfair. That is what I learned in church today (see, I am blaming it on my priest - he said it, so it must be okay, right?). In Luke 15:11-32, the prodigal son is welcomed home by an equally prodigal father. The older brother complains, as would most of us, that the extravagant mercy of the father is wasted on the wastrel son, and it is simply not fair.

In his sermon, Fr. Paul emphasized the Canaanite woman's hope in asking Jesus, a member of an oppressive people, for mercy. Requesting mercy from the member of a group which historically excludes her and her people opens her to the risk of yet another rejection.... So, when do we risk asking for mercy, and when do we not? As a woman in a church whose praxis excludes women, sending them away from the altar much like the disciples ask Jesus to send the woman away at the beginning of the story, what does it mean to ask for mercy?

Luke Timonty Johnson on Engaging 1 Timothy 2:8-15 "Such engagement, however, will also recognize that contemporary assumptions concerning family structures and power relationships are not themselves absolute, but are relative and culturally conditioned in a way not unlike Paul's own assumptions...."