Looking back through the past 9 days, I can only say, What an interesting week!
Melbourne
Last weekend Archbishop Philip Freier, Archbishop of Melbourne and former Primate of Australia, retired from his role as Bishop of Melbourne, after 18 years in the role, six of which included being Primate of Australia. It was a privilege and a pleasure to be in Melbourne for a farewell dinner for bsihops and spouses on the Saturday evening and a participant in the Farewell Evensong on the Sunday afternoon. A bonus was that our plane from Christchurch to Melbourne arrived early enough on the Saturday morning for us to be present at ++Philip's last ordination service - perhaps uniquely, an ordination of eight deacons and one bishop! Read more about the final service for ++Philip and Joy Freier here, here and here.
Is nothing secure and permanent?
In an English-speaking world of many translations of the Bible, the ESV has a certain claim to fame, both for what it claims (to be a particularly faithful translation of the original languages of the Bible, in the KJV/RSV tradition, conservatively staunch against the alleged deficiencies of the NRSV/NRSVUE stream and the wobbliness of another claimant to be "the" translation for conservative evangelicals, the NIV) and for its popularity (increasingly among Catholics as well as conservative evangelicals, even being adopted as the text of Catholic liturgical reading, by some bishops' conferences.
Now I was once a fan of the ESV and used it a lot. I liked its rigour as a close, word for word translation, and its being in the KJV/RSV tradition but with some updates to the RSV's sometimes old-fashioned English. My increasing concerns over time were (a) its exclusive language (something the NRSV gets right, on the presumption that the people of God are addressed, male and female, even though original languages use male pronouns) and (b) it didn't sound right when read aloud (obviously so in respect of inclusive language; but also a certain clunkiness in phrasing). (My current preferences are NRSV and GNB (1994 or later editions/printings).)
But, my preferences and concerns with the ESV do not detract from respecting ESV as a solid translation of the Bible, with known slants and the possibility of using it when a Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek text are not handy, knowing it will give one of the best word for word translations in the English language.
Except.
This week past Crossway, publisher of ESV, have announced changes to the text in forthcoming printings.
Whatever you or I think about these changes, have we reached a point of genuine stability to this text claiming to be "best" (most faithful ever)? The last changes were 10 years or so ago. Are we good now for the next century?
Now, to attempt to be clear: it is a good thing to update translations in the interest of revised estimation of the most accurate rendering in today's language; but perhaps there could be an accompanying sprinkling of humility about the wonderfulness of any given translation (and/or deprecation of allegedly lesser value translations). If any translation, even the ESV, can do some self-correcting over time, then no one translation is yet perfect!
Finally, a point made during an X exchange with my colleague Bosco Peters is worth reflecting: should the ESV re-describe its own name? If I say "the ESV says this" and you respond "which ESV version?" then might ESV help us by offering a new name such as "ESVUE [ESV Update Edition]"? Bosco notes that in the "other" KJV/RSV tradition, we have the NRSV and now the NRSVUE to distinguish updates on the RSV.
Independence of safeguarding?
The continuing discombobulation in the Church of England over safeguarding, well, continues. At its recent session of General Synod a decision was made about the "next step" in (better) safeguarding of ministry (in respect of overall structure for the whole church - it can be overlooked that many people, including many volunteers, "on the ground", are doing a great job, properly). A casual glance at some comments on X could lead to a conclusion such as "the bishops have got it wrong AGAIN" or "Synod has failed survivors of abuse." Now, it is not for me, from far off, to make a determination on what the Synod (including bishops) got right or wrong, but I can point you to a(n arguably) helpful post by Ian Paul on the nuances within the decision made and the process/debate towards that decision, here. I suggest the comments are worth reading as readers chime in with thier assessment of Ian's assessment of the situation. Other responses to the decisions are listed here.
175 years old
It was a joy this weekend to participate in events and a service to celebrate 175 years of existence for Christ's College, one of our Anglican schools in the Diocese of Christchurch. The Anglican settlement of Christchurch began in 1850 and Christ's College began that same year, with classes held in Lyttelton (Christchurch's port town). 175 years later it is going strong and its Warden [me] can remember one and only one thing from its 125th anniversary in 1975 (when I was a student there): Charles Upham (VC and Bar - WW2 hero, perhaps most famous of our Old Boys) planted a tree in the quad within the school known as the Upham Quad. There must have been an anniversary service but, to be honest, I do not remember attending it. Yesterday's service was wonderful and moving - a tribute to the quality of the choristers - and a reminder of the wonders of worship when music lifts our hearts to God.
Wider world
No comment required from me as the whole world is commenting but this past week has also been interesting (meaning, very alarming) in respect of the further machinations of a certain global leader.
6 comments:
I agree, Peter, the machinations of Xi in the South Pacific are a cause of great concern. What are we going to do about the Cook Islands? Personally I think we should never have left ANZUS. Meanwhile what do you think about hakas in the middle of the road or in public libraries? Is it a sacred taonga (like morris dancing) to be respected and honoured wherever it is performed or is it unruly behaviour? A tough one, that - a bit like the new kiwi diversity taonga of drag king story time. I feel a Father Ted meme coming on: "I hear you're a drag queen, Father. Should we all be drag queens now? What's the position of the Church on this one? It's just that the farm takes up all my time and I don't have much time for the old drag queen t'ing."
Pax et bonum
William Greenhalgh
Dear William,
I am as concerned as anyone about the growth of the role of China in the South Pacific. On the question of protests (with or without hakas, within or without libraries), i think all protestors should conduct themselves respectful of people, including thinking about whether their mode of protests is making children feel unsafe. And I think this is especially so for protestors who claim to be Christian.
Peter, I am keenly aware of the multiple layers of irony in life - as any realist Christian should be. On the one hand there is the fetishisation of all things Maori as "sacred" and demanding automatic reverence (well, not quite everything - utu, slavery and cannibalism of the pro-colonial past have to be airbrushed from history), on the other hand, the haka, which is taught to every school child in NZ, is called "unsafe" and "threatening" to children. So is it taonga or criminal behaviour? But more importantly, why are adults taking children to "child pride events"? Is this, as Destiny says, the sexualisation of children? Does the Anglican Church have any views on the morality of "child pride" events, as it does on, say, vaping among teenagers? That was the point of my laboured Father Ted joke. (Personally l am bored by hakas - which are just ritual war dances and have nothing sacred or Christian about them - but amused that they can be conducted in Parliament or in the street.)
It does seem that the function of liberal churches is to end up agreeing with where secular liberal society has got to and is headed, as religious faith gets vaguer and the manipulative power of emotion becomes dominant in public discourse. This is exactly what JD Vance has put his finger on. I have just watched a profound and provocative analysis of this in a youtube conversation with Al Mohler and Joe Digney on "The Sin of Empathy" - a very perceptive and theological background to these events in Te Atatu.
Meanwhile: continuing Anglican silence on "child pride" - one more subject liberal Christians must shut up about?
Pax et bonum
William Greenhalgh
Hi William,
Only a little bit of reflection is needed to see that a haka in one context is a good, and safe thing; and in another context might be a terrifying experience (such as seems to have been the case at the library).
There are ways in which the church can disagree with the culture of the society around it which honour and respect people and ways which do not do so. I have seen nothing to suggest that the protest at the library honoured and respected people. There are countless ways to protest against X or Y, without making people feel unsafe etc. I have no objection to Destiny or any other Christian groupings protesting in ways which honour Christ. Do you really think what Destiny did the other day enhances Christian witness in our country.
I may or may not have views on what Destiny was protesting against, but I also have views on (i) freedom of expression in our society (ii) ways in which to address sensitive issues in human sexuality. If you wish to lump me and other Anglicans into a box of your defining because I/we live in the tension of the moment within our church/culture/society, then that is your perfect right in a world which endorses freedom of expression (noting that such a world is not the world ruled by Putin, Xi or Trump). It is also my right to yawn and reflect on being put in the wrong box.
Peter, it's clear to me that you do condemn the haka in the library as frightening to the kids (which it may well have been, but nobody has actually said anything on this), but you have evaded answering three questions: 1. What about the haka in the main road that held up the "rainbow pride" march? Do you consider this bold Christian witness? Or disruptive behaviour? Maybe you know that this one has gone viral on the internet and is being shown on many youtube chanels in the United States. 2. Do you actually have views "on what Destiny was protesting about"? Do you think it good and wholesome, in keeping with Christian morality, for drag queens to be telling stories to small kids and to run "child pride events"? Is this sexualisation of children as Destiny claims, aka grooming? 3. Does the Anglican Church in NZ think this is fine? (I know other Anglicans in Colombo Street who think differently. ) ... I do not know what "living in the tension of the moment means", because there is not much tension involved in agreeing with or quietly going along with post-Christian NZ society in the sexualisation of children. Tension comes when you speak out, not when you censor yourself. That is when you face criticism or ostracism or even unemployment.
As for living in a world "which endorses freedom of expression ", this is precisely what is disappearing from the western world, as JD Vance told the Munich Security Conference. For the sake of children, speak up prophetically against the sexualisation of children. This is what real men and real fathers do. Our Lord had some harsh warnings about millstones for those who harmed little ones.
Pax et bonum
William Greenhalgh
Freedom of expression's disappearing mighty fast from the US under the *current* Administration:
"The list of banned words circulating at the National Science Foundation and science circles across the country includes: women, disability, bias, status, trauma, Black, Hispanic communities, as well as socioeconomic, ethnicity and systemic."
Post a Comment