Saturday, May 8, 2010

Our Lectionary Series

“You are as likely to find the perfect lectionary as you are to find the perfect Bible translation. Like translations, it may be said of lectionaries that some are better than others, that inevitably you end up dealing with factors of taste and individual preference, and that even the worst of them is probably better than nothing at all.
Yet we should be aware of one other point of comparison: that just as there is no such thing as a theologically neutral translation, so there is no such thing as a theologically neutral lectionary. This is especially true of the three year lectionaries published in the past thirty years. Created by committees with definite theological leanings, these lectionaries often display an agenda which at times finds itself at cross purposes with confessional Lutheranism. Considering this, it may be worthwhile to re-examine the use of the Historic Lectionary. Its use was a tradition that united generations of Christians, and one which was perhaps too quickly cast aside.”

This quote comes from a paper by Alexander Ring that is a very helpful discussion of why we use the lectionary series that we do.

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