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Ask a Theologian: Why History

Dear Theologian,

I often find the Bible readings at the Sunday Eucharist hard to understand, especially those from the Old Testament. There seems to be an awful lot of specialized historical knowledge needed in order to make sense out of these ancient texts. My question is this: Why is there so much complicated history involved in our religion? Can’t we just worship God in the here and now, without having to learn so much about the past?

Don’t Know Much About History

Dear Don’t Know Much,

Your question touches upon an area of crucial importance for the life of the Church. We read aloud from the Sacred Scriptures of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament at every Sunday celebration. But what effect upon the spiritual life of our people does this have?

The fact is that many (or even most) of the people in our congregations really do not know very much about the origin, context, and nature of the readings that are proclaimed in the liturgy. Since most of the time no introduction to these texts is given before they are read aloud, the readings can “go by” almost meaninglessly. On the other hand, if there is a proper introduction before a reading that does give the information needed to understand the text, it can sometimes seem like a history lesson.

Then why do we keep reading and trying to understand these texts from the past? To answer this question, we have to consider the fundamental, paradoxical nature of Christian faith. This way of being religious is oriented permanently to certain unique events of the past, and particularly to the life, death, and resurrection of one particular human being, Jesus of Nazareth. Historical reality is intrinsic to Christian faith.

Jesus is not a myth, nor is he a merely legendary figure. He really lived in the region now called “Palestine” at a period about which a great deal is known. The oral traditions about his life found a permanent written form not more than about forty years after his death (Mark). Scholars today are agreed that Mark is the earliest of the four “gospels.” Other accounts were written some twenty to thirty years later (Luke, Matthew, John). It is from these gospels that we read every Sunday because we need always to orient ourselves toward Jesus’ unique human reality.

But Jesus did not appear out of a vacuum, nor did he come from some other world. He was born into a people with a long history, and we cannot begin to understand him without viewing him in the context of his people Israel. This is why we always take as our first reading each Sunday a selection from the sacred writings of the Hebrew Bible. We reverence these writings as the inspired record of God’s action in history, creating and choosing a people to bear witness to God throughout the centuries. We attend not only to the original meaning of these texts for Israel but also to the ways in which they point forward toward Christ.

In addition to the four gospels, the New Testament also contains a number of letters written by St. Paul and others to the early Christian communities around the eastern Mediterranean and to Rome. We take as our second reading each Sunday a selection from this material. Paul’s letters, written earlier than the gospels, are a precious witness to the essential themes of Christian faith and contain valuable teaching on how to live the Christian life.

As you point out, many if not all of these biblical readings are very hard to understand without some specialized historical knowledge. This is why serious study of the Bible is needed, as a major part of Christian formation. But it is sadly lacking in the lives of many of our people.

We do, of course, often use the term “Bible Study” to refer to any kind of gathering to read and talk about biblical passages, with a view to discovering their relevance for the people gathered. But this kind of sharing, valuable as it may be, is really not true “study” of the Bible unless it is guided by some serious intellectual effort of the participants.

As Peter Gomes observes,

“Bible study actually involves the study of the Bible. That involves a certain amount of work, a certain exchange of informed intelligence, a certain amount of discipline. Bible study is certainly not just the response of the uninformed reader to the uninterpreted text, but Bible study in most of the Churches has become just that—the blind leading the blind...” [1]

Attention to the past is inescapable for Christian believers, especially in their efforts to understand and live by the Sacred Scriptures. But it would be a mistake to think that Christian faith is oriented merely to the past.

In attending to the past, Christians are looking at the earlier stages of a great process of creation and redemption that still continues in the present. It began unimaginably long ago, took shape in the history of Israel, and culminated in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Now it goes forward into the future. Each new generation is touched and enlivened by the Holy Spirit, in order to participate in the further unfolding of God’s purposes (the coming of the Kingdom of God).

When we gather for worship we read from the ancient Scriptures in order to learn about the great “salvation history” that is continuing in our own lives of faith. We study the Scriptures that bear witness to what God has done, so that we can be conscious participants in what God is doing now. Remembering what has been enables us to be attentive to the grace of God in our own “here and now.”


Faithfully,
The Theologian

[1] Peter J. Gomes, The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart (New York: William Morrow & Company, 1996), pp. 11-12.)


The Rev. Wayne L. Fehr writes a monthly column for the diocesan newsletter called "Ask a Theologian," answering questions from ordinary Christians trying to make sense of their faith. You can find and purchase his book "Tracing the Contours of Faith: Christian Theology for Questioners" here

Ask a Theologian: Anointing

Image: "Extreme Unction," part of The Seven Sacraments (1445–1450) by Rogier van der Weyden


Dear Theologian,

When my uncle was in the hospital with a serious illness, a priest came to visit him and anointed his forehead with oil. I know that this is one of the Church’s sacraments, but I’m not sure that I understand its meaning. Why is it done, and what effect does it have?

Unsure


Dear Unsure,

To answer this question, we have to look briefly at the history of anointing in the Church. The classic text for this practice is in the Letter of James:

“Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the Church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.” (Jas 5:14-15)

The symbolism of anointing with oil is easy to appreciate, since this is clearly an act of soothing and comforting. There is, however, hardly any evidence that the anointing of the sick was practiced as a liturgical ceremony performed by priests during the first eight centuries of Christianity. There is evidence that oil was blessed by the bishop and was used by the faithful as a kind of remedy for illness (not merely by anointing the body, but even by tasting and consuming the oil). The significant thing was the blessing of the oil by the bishop, which made the oil itself the bearer of sacred power.

Beginning around the ninth century, there was a formalizing of the ritual of anointing, and it was reserved for the priest to perform. Around the same time, this anointing began (apparently for the first time) to be closely associated with deathbed penance and the immediate preparation for death.

This development was complete and taken for granted by the time the theology of the sacraments was worked out by the scholastic theologians in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Hence, the meaning attributed to this anointing was almost exclusively the consecration of the person for death, the “last anointing” (extrema unctio).

This understanding of anointing made the appearance of a priest at the sickbed an omen of impending death. Hence, people postponed the anointing as long as possible, since having it done was equivalent to giving up all hope. Thus, what historically was originally a sign of comfort and hope had become a sign of death, inspiring terror.

It must be recognized that the concept of “last anointing” was a secondary development, to be understood in terms of the historical circumstances of the Dark Ages. The theology of the scholastics was simply an interpretation of a practice that they took to be immemorial. But now—with the aid of better historical knowledge—we can see that this theology is not well founded in either Scripture or the first eight centuries of the Tradition.

Therefore, a contemporary theology of the sacrament of anointing puts the emphasis once again on the healing and strengthening of a person who is seriously ill (whether or not at the point of death). But how are we to understand this ritual, and what effect is it thought to have?

When one is seriously ill there is weakness, pain, a sense of mortality. Even if one is not in immediate danger of death, the fragility and finitude of one’s human condition is experienced very strongly. The ultimate reality of death is somehow present in one’s awareness. At the same time, one is estranged and alienated from the normal world of work, play, interpersonal contacts and interactions. One lies isolated. One is dependent on others, yet somewhat cut off from them.

In such a situation the believer very much needs to interpret all this in the context of explicit Christian faith. But it is precisely when one is ill that prayer and faith sometimes become difficult, if not impossible. One feels the need for a vision of faith, but is often unable to rise to that level of awareness.

In view of this general situation of the sick person, the Church has a “ministry” to those of its members who are sick. This ministry involves “visiting the sick,” in order to take care of that person’s needs in whatever way is most appropriate. Medical attention is normally provided by health-care professionals. What is not ordinarily provided by doctors and nurses is meaning. What does all this suffering and helplessness mean? How can one understand his or her situation in relation to God?

The Church ministers to this need for meaning when its members come to visit the sick person. In many cases, it is the priest or deacon who comes, representing the entire faith community. He or she does not provide glib, ready-made answers, but makes present the good news of Jesus through conversation and reading of Scripture, and by praying with this person.

All this ministry receives a ritualized, sacramental expression in the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. This ritual will be most meaningful, in fact, only if there is such a context of pastoral care of the sick person. Without such a context, the simple action of anointing will probably not have the same depth or resonance of meaning.

The sacrament of anointing, therefore, communicates meaning by relating this person’s suffering to the Paschal Mystery of Christ (his death and resurrection). Moreover, the representative of the faith community who comes to visit helps the sick member to overcome the experience of isolation and estrangement that goes with being sick. The visitor embodies for him or her the faithful love of the Father, as revealed in the Son.

Now, instead of experiencing estrangement, one can experience connectedness, acceptance, love, and oneness with the community. Through this, he or she can be reassured of being enfolded in God’s love and cared for. He or she may be brought to the point of surrender in faith, of abandonment to God’s love.

In this attitude of faith, one is open to the healing power of God, and physical healing sometimes follows. The same attitude of radical openness to God can, however, also lead to a peaceful sharing in the mystery of Jesus’ death, as one hands over his or her life completely to the God who has raised Jesus from the dead.

All this is appropriate to any situation of serious illness, even if there is no question of the immediate danger of death. Of course, it is also appropriate if a person is near death. In fact, the mystery of death announces itself in any serious illness, and the logic of faith is always the same.

Faithfully,
The Theologian


The Rev. Wayne L. Fehr writes a monthly column for the diocesan newsletter called "Ask a Theologian," answering questions from ordinary Christians trying to make sense of their faith. You can find and purchase his book "Tracing the Contours of Faith: Christian Theology for Questioners" here

Welcome, Nate Irvine | New Campus/Young Adult Minister

We’re delighted to announce that Nate Irvine has been hired as the diocese's part-time Campus/Young Adult Minister beginning on September 1. Nate’s primary responsibilities for campus ministry leadership will be at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) and Marquette University. In addition, he will be present at St. Mark’s, Milwaukee an average of two Sundays per month to connect with young adults and students who attend that parish. 

Nate noted, “I am so excited to join the diocesan team and to get to work with students and young adults at Marquette, UWM, and St. Mark's! I am so grateful to the diocesan staff for entrusting me with this ministry, and I have felt the Spirit's leading in this part of the journey. I can't wait to meet you all!”

Canon Scott Leannah echoed Nate’s excitement, “We are blessed by Nate’s ‘yes’ to this ministry! His experience, passion, and gifts are a great fit for this vibrant ministry to college and university students and young adults in the Milwaukee area. As someone who has found The Episcopal Church and is excited to call it ‘home,’ Nate will be able to reach out and provide opportunities for connection, prayer, service, and formation in a way that is authentic and engaging. We’re very excited to have him join our diocesan staff team.” 

Beginning September 1, Nate can be contacted at . Welcome, Nate Irvine, to the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee!

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