Power, Responsibility, Omniscience and Red Suits
Category: Catholicism
Friday Frivolity: Potential Suitor Letter
I’m definitely going to do this for any of my niece’s future suitors…
You’ve got (ancient) mail!
When reading any book of the Bible we must first talk about its literary genre. What kind of writing is it? Is it apocalyptic? Is it poetry? Is it historical? The literary genre to which a document belongs affects how we understand it.
If we get the literary genre wrong, it is extremely likely that our interpretation will be faulty. Therefore, when we are looking at a book of the Bible which is an epistle i.e. a piece of correspondence, we must read it as such. It is also extremely helpful when reading a biblical epistle to first examine the conventions of letter writing at the time of the Apostles.
A friend recently asked that we should study the First Epistle of St. Peter together. Since I’ve had to explain the mechanics of ancient letters a few times now, I’ve decided to devote a blog entry to the subject so that I can easily refer to it in future 😀
(There is a technical difference between an “epistle” and a “letter”…
but we’ll ignore that distinction in this post)
Snooping on Mail
To see the structure of ancient letters more clearly, let’s examine a short letter written by a Pagan in approximately AD 150:
Apion sends heartiest greets to his father and lord Epimachus.
I pray above all that you are well and fit; and that things are going well with you and my sister and her daughter and my brother.
I thank my Lord Serapis that he kept me safe when I was in peril on the sea.
As soon as I got to Misenum I got my journey money from Caesar – three goldpieces. And things are going fine with me. So I beg you, my dear father, send me a line, first to let me know how you are, and then about my brothers, and thirdly, that I may kiss your hand because you brought me up well, and because of that I hope, God willing, soon to be promoted.
Give Capito my heartiest greetings, and my brothers and Serenilla and my friends. I sent you a little picture of myself painted by Euctemon. My military name is Antonius Maximus. I pray for your good health. Serenus sends good wishes, Agathos Daimon’s boy, and Burbo, Gallonius’ son.
Deconstructing Apion
There are several distinct features in this letter:
1. Greeting. The author first identifies himself (“Apion”) and then identifies to whom he is writing (his father “Epimachus”):
Apion sends heartiest greets to his father and lord Epimachus.
2. Prayer. The author prays for the health and well-being of the recipients (his father, siblings and niece):
I pray above all that you are well and fit; and that things are going well with you and my sister and her daughter and my brother.
3. Thanksgiving. The author gives thanks to his god (“Serapis”):
I thank my Lord Serapis that he kept me safe when I was in peril on the sea.
4. Body. There is then the main contents of the letter. He speaks a little bit about military life and expresses gratitude to his father.
As soon as I got to Misenum I got my journey money from Caesar – three goldpieces. And things are going fine with me. So I beg you, my dear father, send me a line, first to let me know how you are, and then about my brothers, and thirdly, that I may kiss your hand because you brought me up well, and because of that I hope, God willing, soon to be promoted…
5. Personal greetings. The author asks that his greetings be conveyed to some other people. Finally, he sends greetings from those who are with him.
Give Capito my heartiest greetings, and my brothers and Serenilla and my friends...Serenus sends good wishes, Agathos Daimon’s boy, and Burbo, Gallonius’ son
Not the brightest candle in the menorah
Happy Hanukkah!
Okay, now go listen to the story of the Maccabees told my favourite Jewish a cappella group, the Maccabeats.
Death
It was announced today that Kim Jon-il is dead. It’s appropriate therefore that today we hear a little bit from “Tales of Mere Existence” on the subject of “Death”…
I’m not who I was
As 2011 draws to a close I’ve been reflecting on the events of this past year. New people have entered my life and some have left it. There have been fights and reconciliations. There has been the opportunity to go on some wonderful adventures as well as the chance to be still, to sit and listen and to reconsider my life’s vocation.
All of these things have changed me in some way. There is a proverb which I believe is attributed to E.E. Cummings which says “To grow is to change and to have grown often is to have changed much”. All the events of this past year have helped mould me, for better or worse, from the person I was at the end of 2010 to the person I am now at the end of 2011.
The more I’ve considered this, the more comforting I’ve found it. It means that there is always a dynamism. There is always hope. Things are not set in stone. The person I was in the past is not necessarily who I am now or, indeed, the person I will become.
Can these dry bones live?
For the last few weeks I’ve had Ezekiel 37 stuck in my head:
[The Lord] set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” – Ezekiel 37:1-3
The Lord then tells Ezekiel to speak to the dry bones and say:
“I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life…” – Ezekiel 37:5-6
We are then told that “there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them”. The Lord then commands Ezekiel to speak again, saying:
“Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live” – Ezekiel 37:9
Breath enters them, they come to life, “a vast army”…