Psalm 93; Deuteronomy 5:22-33; 1 Peter 3:8-12
Tuesday 19 May - Rev. Jerry Eve
In 1637, Rene Descartes wrote his famous , ‘Cogito, ergo sum’ (I think, therefore I am), and Cartesian dualism was born. No longer were we one person, but what Descartes managed to do was to divide us into two – mind and body. And while this has been something that has enabled scientific advances to be made, ever since there have been attempts by philosophers to get back to the supposed old way of thinking of ourselves as one.
Christian theologians, for example, have often looked to the Bible and quoted passages in defence of what they claim as a Hebrew way of looking at the world. This, they say, is one which perceives no division whatsoever. With numerous quotations from both Old and New Testaments, they have argued that an holistic Hebrew worldview is one we would do well to rediscover. For, such divisions as we are now far too painfully aware of, only lead to strife.
They have a point, but I do also wonder whether people weren’t always aware of dualism. The question has often been asked, ‘Why two tablets?’ And while answers have included the idea that one just wasn’t big enough to hold all ten commandments, or that covenantal law required a duplicate to be made, I myself prefer a ‘theological’ answer i.e. that what God was saying with two rather than one was that . . .
. . . while we might think the commandments are only good for the men in the community; why, here’s one for the women too. That while we might think the commandments, and what they promise, is only good for the grown-ups; why, here’s one for the children too. That while we might think this is only good for the rich; why, here’s one for the poor as well. And that while we might think this is only good for the Hebrews themselves; why, here’s one for strangers and foreigners too; and so on.
Our Psalm is the first of 7 psalms (93-99) known as ‘Royal’. And the reason for this is that, whereas elsewhere in the Psalms there are plenty of references to kings, here what happens is that God is called king (once in each of them except Psalm 94 where God is called Judge and Teacher instead, and twice in Psalm 99).
Our epistle, by contrast, is by Peter, and while there are some who claim that Peter, as an uneducated former fisherman, could not possibly have been so erudite as he is in the two letters attributed to him in the Bible – 1st and 2nd Peter (even with the help of Silas – or Silvanus – see 1 Peter 5:12), I like to think, Why not? And that there is a place in the Bible (and in society at large – and it’s an equally important place!) for both kings and fishermen too.
A Hebrew worldview might well have emphasised unity far more than we do so today, but maybe that was because all these opposites there are were able to be brought together – so that two did become one.
Let us pray:
Ecumenical Prayer, May 2020
Living God, you are our Creator and our Maker
And the very breath of life is given as your gift.
We thank you for the gift of life
And we embrace and treasure that gift.
Living God, you are the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
Whose presence in the world reveals your love for us.
In the giving of your Son,
You reveal the depths of your love.
Living God, your Son embraced the Cross
And the depths of human suffering.
We thank you that you delivered him
On the day of Resurrection.
Living God, as you spoke to the bereft and the orphaned in days past,
Speak to the bereft and the orphaned in days present.
Speak to the uncertain and the anxious.
Speak into the depths of our incomprehension and fear.
Living God, your promise
Is that we will not be left alone to face the world.
We thank you that through the gift of your Spirit
That promise is fulfilled.
Living God, be with all who sustain our common life at this time,
Carers and nurses, cleaners and porters,
Doctors and ambulance staff, delivery drivers and posties.
Through their giving our common life is sustained.
Living God, as you have watched over us in the past,
Watch over us in the present.
As once more we thank you, that through Christ
And by your Holy Spirit, we are not alone. Amen.
Signed by:
- Rt. Rev. Dr Martin Fair, Moderator of the General Assembly, Church of Scotland
- Most Rev. Leo Cushley, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, Roman Catholic Church
- Most Rev. Mark Strange, Primus, on behalf of the College of Bishops, Scottish Episcopal Church
- Rev. John Fulton, Moderator, United Free Church of Scotland
- Rev. Dr David Pickering, Moderator, United Reformed Church (Scotland)
- Rev. Martin Hodson, General Director, Baptist Union of Scotland
- Rev. Mark Slaney, District Chair, Methodist Church (Scotland)
- Rev. May-Kane Logan, Chair, Congregational Federation in Scotland
- Lt. Col. Carol Bailey, Secretary for Scotland, Salvation Army
- Adwoa Bittle, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
- Rev. Jim Ritchie, District Superintendent, British Isles North District, Church of the Nazarene
- Pastor Chris Gbenle, Provincial Pastor, Province of Scotland, Redeemed Christian Church of God
Bishop Francis Alao, Church of God (Scotland)/Minority Ethnic Churches Together in Scotland (MECTIS)