{"id":702,"date":"2012-11-20T21:34:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-21T01:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=702"},"modified":"2012-11-20T21:46:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-21T01:46:00","slug":"var-_gaq-_gaq-_gaq-push_setaccount-ua-25646250-2-_gaq-push_trackpageview-function-var-ga-document-createelementscript-ga-type-textjavascript-ga-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=702","title":{"rendered":"<script type=\"text\/javascript\">  var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-25646250-2']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);  (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text\/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:\/\/ssl' : 'http:\/\/www') + '.google-analytics.com\/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();  <\/script>  <\/heat> The Birth of Isaac &#8211; Held on Sunday, November 18, 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Gen. 21: 01 \u2013 08 &#8211; Birth of Isaac<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">Preview<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not wanting to be labor the point, in summary two weeks ago I offered as an example of our church\u2019s failure to deal adequately with the scientific revolution the biological understandings underpinning the encyclical Humanae Vitae.<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 <\/span>I believe that its biological assumptions were mistaken and not in concert with contemporary biological science.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 <\/span>One of the group\u2019s members felt that as the group\u2019s leader I have the responsibility to make clear that my position is not that of the church.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As I prepared to share this with the group, I realized first that the position I expressed was not really my own but rather the thought of Fr. Bernard Lonergan, S.J. whom I think to be one of the greatest Catholic thinkers of the 20th century.<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 <\/span>If anyone is interested in reading a one page letter of Fr. Lonergan that succinctly expresses his position do the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Log on to the the LRI website (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lonergan-lri.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">www.lonergan-lri.ca<\/span><\/a>).<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Click on &#8220;Resources&#8221; (right-hand end of green sequence at top of screen).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Scroll down till you find &#8220;Lonergan Studies Newsletter.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On second-last line of page, you&#8217;ll see where to click for &#8220;an online full-text version of all current and past editions of the Lonergan Studies Newsletter.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Locate the March, 1990, edition; go to pp. 6-8; and you&#8217;ll be in business.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Furthermore, if anyone is interested in reading again a brief account of who Fr. Lonergan is written by Msgr. Liddy, <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">The Mystery of Bernard Lonergan<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.americamagazine.org\/content\/article.cfm?article_id=10220\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: Calibri;\">http:\/\/www.americamagazine.org\/content\/article.cfm?article_id=10220<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Background<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As always I urge you to read the notes on USCCB website <span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/21\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: Calibri;\">http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/21<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Setting the story of the birth of Isaac in the context of the passages immediately surrounding is itself valuable.<span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 There are four stories: Abraham, Sarah, and Abimelech, the Birth of Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael, and Abraham and Abimelech.<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 A cursory glance shows that the birth of Isaac is enclosed in stories that focus on individuals who are not members of the chosen Israelite community.<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 Over time the universality of Yahweh will become ever more evident as the biblical world develops.<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 For Christians, this universality is captured eloquently by Paul in Gal. 3:28, \u201cThere is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Our Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For the sake of completeness I will include in our blog the basic questions that guide us in hearing the passages we study each week.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>First who are the characters and what role does each play? To the extent that we can identify\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">a.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 what the characters say and do, or<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">b.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 don\u2019t say and do but we would expect them to do so, and<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">c.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 finally when they enter into the passage and leave it<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>We can more easily and more accurately know what their role is from the point of view of the author and \/ or the editor of the passage.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The \u201cwhen\u201d question is quite complicated and again for the sake of completeness; there is\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">a.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The \u201cwhen\u201d within the story \/ passage itself,<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">b.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The \u201cwhen\u201d of the editor, and most importantly,<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">c.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The \u201cwhen\u201d of our life at the time we are actually reading \/ studying the passage. <span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>What is the plot, the point of the passage?<\/li>\n<li>Finally, because each passage is at one and the same time the word of human beings and the Word of God, there is revealed the values that are part and parcel of the human beings in their time and place and there is the values revealed by God for the believer.<span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 Our final question is to discern which values in the passage are attractive to us, we are drawn to and which are we repulsed by, inclined to reject?<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 The more difficult task, if we do identify these two responses in us of the values revealed, which are of God and we are being challenged to embrace and which are not of God and we are being challenged to correct and develop.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>My Refrain<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Before we read though, let&#8217;s quiet ourselves, remember whatever we can from the background, our questions and, most importantly, pay attention to what happens inside of us as we read.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reading of the passage\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/20\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/2<\/span><\/strong><\/a><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">1<\/span><\/span><\/strong><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Discussion Gen. 21:01 &#8211; 8 \u2013 Birth of Isaac<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The first thing that caught Mark\u2019s attention is how Abraham was the focus of the birth of Isaac, especially Sarah\u2019s remark, \u201cI have borne him a son in his old age.\u201d The patriarchal culture of the day is almost ever present in these passages. Mark\u2019s observation allowed us to ask the question, is this an expression of a merely cultural value of the times, or is it a value for all times?<span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 In other words, is a patriarchal society the norm that these passages in the bible are evidence of? However we answer the question, the important points would be first to know our rationale and to be open to the reasoning of others who may differ. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>The topic moved from a discussion of patriarchal and matriarchal to one of equality.<span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 What does it mean to be equal?<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 I know that equality cannot be rooted in skill sets, talents, etc.<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 In those ways we are not equal; there is a range of strength, intelligence; some are more graceful, melodic voice, etc. So in what way are we equal?<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 Isn\u2019t equality the overriding argument in our marriage debate today as a growing number of states approve same sex marriages?<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 We really didn\u2019t get into this issue but I see the issue as an extension of the conversation, how do we discern what is part of the culture of<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 the bible and what is of divine revelation?<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 And how do we discern?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>At the heart of the passage, though, was the meaning of the opening sentence, \u201cThe Lord took note of Sarah so he had said he would; he did for her as he had promised.\u201d<span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 We live by promise and the story is a story of the Lord, Yahweh, being faithful to his promise; a promise despite the story\u2019s account of overwhelming human odds against even the possibility of it being fulfilled.<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 Cathy recalled in her notes somewhere that twenty-five years passed between the promise and its fulfillment. [The twenty-five years later lead to a discussion of the meaning of numbers in the scripture which I need to bracket for the time being.]<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 The ebb and flow of emotions, the extraordinary challenge to believe, to trust, with the time span between promise announced and promise fulfilled.<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 This is the very stuff that life is made of.<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 The early Christians had to move through the disappointed times when the expected imminent return of the Lord did not occur. So God\u2019s promise, delay, how to read the signs of the times are topics to reflect on, share with others.<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p>As always more occurred than I can write.<span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 Another lively discussion time that happened all too quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your comments, observations, questions are welcomed.<span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0 See \u201ccomment\u201d link below.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gen. 21: 01 \u2013 08 &#8211; Birth of Isaac Preview Not wanting to be labor the point, in summary two weeks ago I offered as an example of our church\u2019s failure to deal adequately with the scientific revolution the biological &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=702\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,5],"tags":[18,11,19],"class_list":["post-702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-scripture","tag-religion-and-culture","tag-science-and-religion","tag-scripture-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=702"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":706,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702\/revisions\/706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}