Links for October 22, 2015: Adulterous Bible, Marilynne Robinson, and Full Communion
Marilynne Robinson with Barack Obama from the article linked below.
I haven't written too much in-depth on the pastor's blog lately. So I thought I might share a few pieces I've been reading off the internet that have caught my interest lately:
- Apparently a rare 400 year old Bible bearing a typo: "thou shalt commit adultery" just went on sale for 15 000 English pounds. A significant typo, you might say.
- One of my favorite novelists and fellow John Calvin enthusiast, Marilynne Robinson was recently interviewed by President Obama (of all people). Robinson, who is a member of the United Church of Christ in the USA (a denomination in communion with the United Church of Canada), is known as one of our most thoughtful contemporary novelists. Her novels such as Gilead and Home pretty much illustrate the unseen, surprising grace of God. Plus their main characters are Pastors, so that's a bonus.
- Speaking of the United Church of Christ, the United Church of Canada signed and celebrated a "full communion" agreement with this US denomination. A full communion agreement allows two or more churches to recognize each others' sacraments and the ordination of ministers, granting ministers the privilege to be called by congregations of either denomination.
- And speaking again about Marilynne Robinson, wrote a provocative piece in the New York Review of Books challenging the culture of fear pervading North America. "First," she says, "contemporary America is full of fear. And second, fear is not a Christian habit of mind."
May God bless you all in the coming week.