In his new book my former teacher, a professor in the New Testament, argues – as he has done before – that it is not without issues that we are reading from the Old Testament in a church setting.
The Readings, he argues, is in short talking about a God – a Jewish God – that in many ways are not at all like the God of the Christian faith.
Of course, we believe that the Jewish God and the Christian God is the same. The professor does as well. But with Christianity something drastic happened to the image of that God. Something so drastic that makes it hard to talk about both portraits of God in one single Service.
Today we listened to the well-known story of Kain killing his brother Abel. I am not sure I will call the story beloved, but there can be no doubt that it is a classic.
In frustration over God only looking upon Abel with favor, Kain gets jealous on his brother. And in jealousy Kain gets angry. Kain loses track of what he is doing. He cannot comprehend the consequences of his actions. And eventually he kills his own baby brother.
After the killing, God gives Kain a wake-up-call. Places upon him a curse or a mark that will forever remind him of his guilt. As he acted out of anger, he did not see what he was doing. But with the mark left on him by God, he would never be able to flee from his action.
This is a traditional analysis of the story. The narrative might be short, but it is rich in material. And obviously it has been used in many stories since.
The fighting brothers is a theme we find in many stories. It does not always end with murder, but still…
How jealousy and anger blinds are another theme we find in many stories. Many villains are villains for this very reason and at a point in many stories the villains even go through a wake-up-call where – for a short period of time – they have a chance to turn good.
Even the curse or the mark Kain is given by God is a theme we find in many stories. Stories that both tell the story of how it is living with such a mark. But also, stories that tell how it is being related to a person living with such a mark.
The themes are not only known to us through stories though. We live with them as well. We live with anger and jealousy. We live with eyes closed on occasions. We even put marks on each other.
I do not know if it is like that over here, but in Denmark if someone has done something illegal, you literally say that they have a ‘marked’ criminal record. If someone is caught speeding, you say that you give them a ‘cut’ in their driver’s license.
It is not physical ‘marks’ and ‘cuts’, but the wording of it is quite remarkable as it sends references to the Old Testament Reading of Kain killing Abel.
Is such a story then suitable as a Reading in a Christian Church? Or is the portrait of God in the story too far away from the God of the New Testament?
Whether you like the story of Kain and Abel or not one must admit that the portrait of God in the story is a lot different from the portrait of God given to us through the New Testament. And for very good reasons.
First, the Jewish religion is an ethnic religion meaning its scope is not universal. Hence, the God portrayed in the Old Testament more or less only deals with matters concerning the Jewish people.
Second, the God portrayed in the story of Kain and Abel and in many other Old Testament Readings is a God acting and talking directly with individuals. Jesus does this as well, but the New Testament God only does this as Jesus, not as God the Father. At least not as directly
A third truth that is worth taking into consideration is that the God portrayed in the Old Testament is not the same throughout the Readings.
In the Old Testament Prophecies and Psalms we might from time to time find a God relatable to the Christian God, but it is not always the case. Nor is it the case if one reads the Historical Books of the Old Testament.
Another fact is that the Old Testament was written over an 800-year-timespan. 800 years. It is a lot of time. And of course, something in society and tradition, something in people’s portrayal of God, changes with time.
What I am getting at is that the point my former teacher is trying to make in many ways makes sense. The Jewish religion and the Christian religion are not the same. And naturally therefore it is not without issues using Jewish Scripture in a Christian setting.
That said, removing the Old Testament from the Christian setting might not makes sense as well.
My former teacher argues that the Old Testament always will be a historical part of Christianity, but as for theology – and as scripture read during Services – we might want to use more precautions and not refer nor use the Old Testament as much as we currently do in our Christian setting.
What do you think? And what do I think?
I can only speak for myself. As a person who wrote his Master Thesis about some of the oldest of the Old Testament Readings, I would partly miss the mysterious and intriguing, the ancient yet still relevant Readings that we find in the Old Testament.
At the same time, I have also partly caught myself several times as a pastor wishing that I did not have to read certain Old Testament Readings in church.
Either the Reading 1) had a too strong portrayal of a God not relatable to the Christian God, or 2) the cultural background in which the story takes place, is too complex to fully describe as a part of an ordinary Sunday Service where you would also have to talk about both an Epistle and a Gospel Reading.
To read the Old Testament Readings out of tradition is not a valid argument as we have actually only done so since 1992.
What then should we do?
Well, for starts we should take precautions. Not only I as a pastor, but you as a congregation as well should be aware of the dilemma. Be aware of the dual – even contradicting – portrayl of God that exist within a service using both Old and New Testament Readings.
And maybe when listening to the Old Testament Reading all of us should listen more to the description of spirituality and humanity, rather than the description of God.
I hope you will enjoy the Old Testament Readings to come, I hope you will be aware of the looming danger in using them, and I ask for your forgiveness if I gently push some Old Testament Readings aside not mentioning them at all after them being read. Now you know why, if that will ever happen.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.