Adult Discipleship

 

We once again welcome Dr. Roy Vice, as he shares his knowledge of pivotal moments in Church History, this time focusing on Medieval Christianity. The High Middle Ages were the Golden Age of building the great Gothic Cathedrals. Gothic architecture has pointed arches, ribbed vaulting and flying buttresses. Some cathedrals have as much stone below ground as above. Notre Dame de Paris is just the most famous of these cathedrals. This was also the era of the growth of universities and Scholasticism, the effort my Thomas Aquinas and others to integrate the philosophy of Aristotle into Christian theology. This revival of learning was very influential.  After 1300 the weather turned colder and wetter and there were famines. The Ottoman Turks began to conquer land in Turkey and Greece. During most of the 14th century the papacy was in Avignon, France and the popes built a magnificent palace. John Wyclif criticized the wealth and worldliness of the church. To add to the suffering, The Bubonic Plague swept through Europe killing around a third of the population.  Finally, the Hundred Years’ War between England and France broke out.  Ultimately, the new Nation States began to emerge…

 

Psalms has been the go-to prayer book for three millennia. As such it is a health manual for the soul. Yet as an ancient book, it requires some nuanced reading strategies. The last time we studied the Psalter together, we learned that “walking” was a major theme, making the book of Psalms is a kind of journey or a hike. We also learned that the 150 chapters of the Psalter was grouped by an ancient editor into five “books.” Not that this helps us find a logical outline of the Psalms! Some psalms are simple alphabetical acrostics based on the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, others are historical narratives, others are poems whose climax is in the middle rather than at the end! Some Psalms are fiercely patriotic, others are laments for personal sin. Some psalms are chock-full of wonder and praise, others end in despair with no hope in sight. Perhaps this variety means that the Psalter does not a have a logical unity. Nevertheless, it does have the unity of a conversation. Obviously, there are ancient conversation partners such as King David giving instructions to his choir director, the Sons of Korah giving warning to the congregation, and even a guy named Ethan the Ezrahite responding his “cousin” Heman! Of course, the conversation has welcomed the participation of believers throughout the ages. But most importantly, the Psalter is a conversation in which God also spoke and still speaks.