About Me...what is an 'evangelical-catholic?'

Elk Grove Village, IL, United States
I was born & raised in rural mid-Michigan (M-go blue!). Life & work have taken me to many different places. God has too, as I've come to learn that faith is a pilgrimage. I very much resonate with the label 'EVANGELICAL-CATHOLIC.' I was raised Baptist, but found myself drawn to the Sacraments & Liturgy of the Church. I appreciate very much the words of the Augsburg Confession: "...nothing has been received among us, in doctrine or in ceremonies, that is contrary to Scripture or to the church catholic." Evangelical-catholic is a term of self-designation used by Christians coming from a broad spectrum of theological perspectives and commitments, ranging from Lutherans, Anglicans, and various Evangelicals yearning for greater catholicity .....to faithful Roman Catholics longing for an evangelical renewal of the Church. Perhaps beneath the apparent denominational differences there lies a common...groaning of the Spirit of God, who is seeking to draw the members of Christ’s mystical body into a communal life that is both fully catholic and fully evangelical. One can always hope and pray!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

James 5:12 & taking of oaths

James 5:12 occurred in last Sunday's reading, but it really didn't factor into my sermon. To refresh your memory, the verse reads:

12 Above all, ...do not swear--not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned.

Perhaps you wondered about the context of this prohibition against swearing an oath. The eminent James scholar Ralph Martin offers these remarks: "The historical 'setting in life' of the verse may be traced to the Jerusalem community under James' patronage as he was looked upon as the leader who sought to achieve a 'modus vivendi' (an agreement between differing opinions) between his brothers of the messianic faith and the Zealot faction. The primary evidence for this theory is the [known] taking of oaths by the revolutionary SICARII."

We need look no further than our Bibles and Acts chapter 23 to see something along these lines at play:

12 The next morning the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13 More than forty men were involved in this plot. 14 They went to the chief priests and elders and said, "We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. 15 Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here." 16 But when the son of Paul's sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.

In this context, it's not simply the arbitrary taking of an oath that James is coming down on, it is rather the idea of taking an oath to function/act as the hand of God's judgment upon others.

cheers,

TM
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