Questions big and small in the arc of church development and historical creations

Tangents from today's "Tuesday Men's Bible Study" (online) touched on some basic but likely overlooked and taken for granted elements of the organizational shape of the church as it has come to be in 2025.

<When did Christmas overtake Easter as the high point in the annual life of the church?>

Hints in the Bible that the events around the time of Jesus' birth must have been spring (shepherds in the fields - not a winter solstice practice). But ancient Romans had a pagan festival around then. So when Constantine elevated this religion to a national (empire-wide) institution, then Christmas eclipsed the pagan proceedings of late December. But only with the Industrial destruction and commodification of mass markets did the Victorian (1837+) songs and decorations arise.

<While alive Jesus did not ask to be worshiped, but now?>

God as love; God as flesh and blood; God as self-sacrificing - Jesus is all these things. But while alive it is the human part that is most important; not as incarnation of God in order to make everyone stop and worship Holy Righteousness. Neither is the Holy Spirit an object of worship; only God the Father (in triune form) is venerated in worship private or collective.

<About the "Order of Worship" and intrusion of Latin into formal worship until Vatican-2 in the early 1960s>

The primitive (outlawed) Christian church met in houses and conducted celebrations of worship largely in the pattern of Jewish worship since Jesus "came not to abolish but to fulfill The Law" as written in the Hebrew Bible/old testament. Once Constantine made Christianity the official institution for ruler and ruled alike, then all kinds of offices, titles, hierarchies, entitlements, rules and pomp began to grow. The Hebrew Bible was translated to Latin, as were the chapters going into the new testament (going from Greek to Latin). Basilicas and cathedrals were constructed, priests were trained, confessions were heard, documents were archived, on and on.

     Until the Protestant Reformation, vernacular/local languages would be used for sermons and homilies, conversations and ministering to people outside of formal worship settings. Only the reading of scripture and the conducting of ceremonies (Weddings, Funerals, Baptisms, and so on) would be Latin-only for centuries (Constantine in 300 CE to Protestant translations of the Bibles in the 1500s and 1600s onward). And while the Protestants ever more relied on the language understood by worshipers, in the Catholic church until the four sessions of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1966), Latin still anchored the church life to the centuries since Constantine.

     In other words, for Catholics conducting worship services in Latin, it is not like parishioners knew nothing of the syllables filling the air. Parts of the experience were in their own language; only the scripture and the ceremonial texts were kept in Latin.

<Early church: before a codified Bible with numbered chapters and verses; when did worship services designate the GOSPELS Mark, Mathew, Luke... and decades later, John>

Studying the structure and content of the books regarded as the Gospels suggests that Mark wrote his account first, then Mathew and Luke, but then John's version came much later (some years after the destruction of the Temple in AD 70). Mathew and Luke reference some of Mark's wording. And Mathew seems to refer to another source, today called "Q," as well. In the eyes of the Gospel writers,  they were putting on paper their accounts; not as living saints with golden words, but as loyal followers of Jesus who were striving to illustrate certain themes and orientations. Their selected illustrations are only a fraction of the much larger, real-life events that they document.

<How did the crucifix replace the earlier symbols found in catacombs: lamb or shepherd's crook>

Probably the use of the cross only came after Roman authorities stopped using this method of painful killing. Once it no longer had personal and vivid meaning to the average  person, the shape could be used to remind Christians new and old of the climax of the Jesus story - being killed. But three days later being raised up, meeting up with Disciples and later ascending to the right hand of God the Father.

Holding lightly to The Law in order to know God better

It may well be a fool's errand for a finite being (mortal; flesh and blood) to seek after and try to know the infinite Creator, but in each generation there are a handful who try their best. In the closing lines of Job in today's Bible Study group, there is the puzzling remark uttered by God about the 3 friends who quote scripture and Jewish beliefs at Job: God declares that Job is righteous even in his misery, but that the friends are not. Furthermore, Job apologizes for having been asking the wrong question of God, all along, "why me, LORD"?

What seems to be going on in the story is that Job submits, accepts, embraces his utter humility and absence of (self) pride before his maker; he will not forsake God, no matter what. In this totally vulnerable condition, there is nothing separating the man from God. Nothing stands between them and words completely fail in such up-close-and-personal encounters. Words (logos) and by extension, logic, is central to being human; central also to sin and distraction and false certainties. God is beyond words and beyond the space between lines of text or between syllables of spoken communication. Thought and language go closely together (and writing, by extension). But God is far bigger than that.

One conclusion, then, is that we will go on relying on words to relate to each other and to know God. But we should hold onto those words lightly or loosely, since they are far from perfect and carry the risk of instilling a false sense of control and comprehending (apprehending) God's will. In a simple spectrum, the cerebral use of words for Protestants puts faith is precise word use. The repeated and ritualistic use of words in Catholic Mass gives some breathing room for other meanings that seep through and within the syllables spoken by all. Then the ecstatic encounters of "God Winks" and "God moments" (such as the trance like experience of Whirling Dervishes of the Sufi branch of Islam) or "burning bush" encounters dispense with verbal elements entirely. If the cerebral trust in logic is one extreme and the ecstatic experience is the other extreme, then perhaps somewhere in the middle is best: make use of words, but do so with a light touch or a loose grip so that the words may move a bit.

This photo from above the altar at the First Congregational Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan shows the carver or carvers' skill in shaping the wood into this figure and his surroundings. Because people can peer at the art without using words, it offers a visual way to wonder at God's wonder; to hold the teachings and conversations loosely - firmly believing but also willing to allow the ideas to wiggle, too. If the Pharisees dwell on the letter of The Law, and the Sufi dervishes dwell on the spirit of The Law (God and our relationships with the Creator), then perhaps the average person can do well by seeking a middle ground: know scripture, but see beyond the page to know fellow seekers and to recognize God every day in the many forms of Earthly life. 

Wisdom versus Evil

This week at Men's Bible Study of Job included chapters 27 and 28, where Job clings to integrity and the certainty that he has done nothing to offend God's Ways; but if he has done, that God will let Job know. And not by the speculations and rationalizations of friends and family casting around doubts and curses. The reading ends with the passage about 'Fear [i.e. awe] of God is the beginning of Wisdom; and shunning that relationship is the way leading to evil.' In other words, WISE means in turn, in line, or on the God Way - the path or road of God. Unwise veers or strays off that path and leads to evil. Elsewhere the idea is that 'evil' is when something is out of place, not ripe [e.g. fruit], out of sequence [disorder; discord or out of tune]. So, whether righteousness is defined by sticking to the God Route or it is defined by NOT going off the God Route, the destination is the same. Wisdom is not secret knowledge or hidden truth [Gnosticism], but instead is a path to follow; not a destination to achieve but a direction to head toward.

Etymology of 'wisdom' for English, https://www.etymonline.com/word/wisdom

The word is related to the source of Old English witan "to know, be aware of" (see wit (v.)). In Middle English also used in reference to a trade or craft, to warfare; an animal good at tracking by scent was wise of nese. Germanic cognates include Old Saxon, Old Frisian wis, Old Norse viss, Dutch wijs, German weise "wise."

On a related note, the teaching that "God is Love" seems connected to "Wisdom means being/going God's Way" and "Fear [awe] of God is the start of wisdom." Therefore, God is love, but to be in God's Way [Wise] calls one to be in awe [childlike wonder and trusting way to go out into the World]. So we need to focus on abundant, self-donating love while also stepping out into the world aware of awe and wonder all around.

Etymology of 'wisdom' for English, https://www.etymonline.com/word/awe

c. 1300, aue, "fear, terror, great reverence," earlier aghe, c. 1200, from a Scandinavian source, such as Old Norse agi "fright;" from Proto-Germanic *agiz- (source also of Old English ege "fear," Old High German agiso "fright, terror," Gothic agis "fear, anguish"), from PIE *agh-es- (source also of Greek akhos "pain, grief"), from root *agh- (1) "to be depressed, be afraid" (see ail). The current sense of "dread mixed with admiration or veneration" is due to biblical use with reference to the Supreme Being. To stand in awe (early 15c.) originally was simply to stand awe.

Food for thought at a time of Too Much Information, worship of data, useless knowledge, and scarce wisdom - electronic or in-person.

The Great Commandment and Golden Rule

When Jesus is asked for the Great Commandment, as told in several of the Gospels, the answer is to "Love your God above all others." This echoes the Old Testament teachings of the Hebrew Bible in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.) and Leviticus 19:18 (You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.). But Jesus goes beyond the question and gives a second commandment, often called the Golden Rule, to love your neighbor as yourself [not one more than the other].

But what is meant by "love" - since the term in English is all purpose for anything from cherished relationship to food cravings to patriotism.

In the Greek language of the New Testament and the wider Mediterranean life of Greek thinkers and leaders, there were 8 distinct categories of love. So maybe "Love your God above all others" fits into one or more of those categories. Another approach is to look for clues and overtones of the Hebrew term by considering related words and ideas, the roots of the word "to love," https://biblehub.com/text/deuteronomy/6-5.htm 

A third approach is to substitute "truth, beauty, and life" for loving one's God. Where these may be seen and experienced, there, too, is God. Related is the phrase that "I am the way, the truth, and the life" [John 14:6]. So by saying, "God is Love," in effect that is saying "Loving your God involves truth, life, beauty, and the way [that does not stray from the narrow, righteous path]"

By extension, then, perhaps the hunger for beauty and wonder, order/right-alignment is one way to engage that love in relationship to God. And the saying that "Fear of God [awe filled] is the beginning of wisdom" can thus be restated as "the awe in love [what God is] is the awe of truth and beauty and life itself [what love is]."

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