Psalm-sung Galaxy?

Creideamh (pronounced ‘kray-jif’), Gaelic for ‘Faith’:

Since losing the bulk of my books in my study fire a couple of years ago, I have become increasingly appreciative of the amount of material suitable for a preacher’s library which is available online.

In particular, Amazon Kindle and Logos have been regular friends of mine in the past couple of years. Not only does e-publishing allow me to carry my library with me almost anywhere, but it affords me the ability to compress a thousand volumes into the size of a handheld mobile phone.

Not, of course, that there is any substitute whatsoever for the printed page. I still find myself searching for the hardcopies of books which I imagine still to be on my shelves, only to find that they are gone; I am still grieving their loss. On the other hand, with a couple of clicks on a keyboard, books can be located, searched and incorporated into great sermons. And into bad ones too, of course.

But I recently received notification from Logos – an oustanding developer of Bible software – that they are to make it possible for congregations to participate in the worship experience from their seat via their mobile phone.

I kid you not. Picture this scenario: I am in full flow unpacking the depths of the biblical narrative, with a power point presentation to accompany my sermon (and make it more interesting). I could stop at a slide and survey the congregation; a piece of software in my computer could send a signal to a special app on the mobile phones of my technologically-savvy congregation; they, in turn could feed back their answers to me in a milli-second and I could incorporate their views into my presentation!

Great, no?

Well … much as I appreciate the power of technology and the revolution that has taken place in the electronic processing of information, I do want to pause for a moment. I’m not convinced that power point is an aid to worship in the first place; and nor do I think that the time it consumes to prepare the slides necessary for a sermon-accompanying presentation is worth it.

I may be old-fashioned, but if a sermon is good it needs no visual aid to support it; and if it is bad, no power point presentation can salvage it. This is not to decry those who feel that it is a necessary aid to worship in the twenty-first century; no doubt some preachers use it very effectively. I know I could not, and will not be in a hurry to introduce it to my church services.

And as for audience participation via mobile phone? I think not. For one thing, such a thing would require everyone to possess the proper equipment; how shall the have nots be included in the electronic participation? I am not sure that the costs of keeping abreast with all the technology and incorporating them into worship services are worth it. It is a bit like fighting Goliath in Saul’s armour.

But I would be afraid that the whole thing would spiral out of control. What’s to stop people being distracted by their handheld computers while the preacher is engaged in the the art of sacred rhetoric? Could the provision for audience participation via mobile technology become a cover for listening to some other, more attractive preacher? And what if the congregational feedback was not what you expected? The ability to adapt quickly to the response of the congregation is not anywhere listed in the New Testament as a requirement for ministry.

And nor is expertise in the use of modern technology (although I guess St Paul’s wish to become all things to all men comes close). Helpful as the new science is, it can be a good servant but a bad master. It demands financial investment, technical expertise and patient preparation if it is to function as a means of communication rather than an end in itself.

Now that I am in my fiftieth year, I can start sentences with ‘I remember when….’; and I certainly remember when bulky tape recorders – in the churches that were prepared to admit them – made their first appearance. That was as much of a concession to technology as some churches were willing to make. And it was a good concession, extending ministry to the housebound, as well as preserving an archive of the best material.

I just wonder whether, in our modern age, we have allowed our gadgets to dictate our behaviours, even in so fundamental a matter as worship. I have a copy of the Psalms and several versions of the Bible on my phone; I would have no hesitation in using it as my pew Bible. But that’s all. Faith comes by hearing, and I would still rather have my mind stretched by articulate, fluent, logical preaching, than achieve my self-worth in worship through the use of my mobile phone just for the sake of belonging to a cutting-edge church.

Having said all that, I shall now go away and see what is happening on Twitter; I may even come across a quotation or two for next Sunday’s sermons, and add a couple of books to my electronic library before the week is out. But when it comes to morning worship next Lord’s Day, I shall enter the pulpit as a herald of heavenly things, not a connoisseur of modern mobile technology.

 

Life of Pi

Yesterday I went to watch Life of Pi, in 3D nogals… The visual effects are spectacular.



The film is about a 16-year old boy named Piscine Molitor ”Pi” Patel, who suffers a shipwreck in which his family dies, and is stranded in the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat for 227 days with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. With some interesting religious, spiritual and theological themes (which are syncretistic however) coming through, I was quite captivated and not sorry that I went. Most of the crowd at the theater however seemed to be heading to the Hobbit and Skyfall shows.

And like Yann Martel’s book, on which the show is adapted and based, the movie certainly provokes the viewer into thinking about God, in a world that is made beautiful and given meaning by Him.

And so it is with God.

 

The Bible is Bestseller in Norway

Excellent! People need Good News:

The hottest read in Norway this year is packed with polygamy, prostitutes – even corporal punishment. But this isn’t Fifty Shades of Grey; instead, Norwegians have been rushing to pick up copies of the Bible.

Published last October, a new Norwegian translation of the Bible has been one of the top 15 bestsellers in the country for 54 out of the last 56 weeks, jostling for position with more populist titles from the likes of EL James, James Nesbø, Ken Follett and Per Petterson. It is now one of the bestselling books of the year, according to Dag Smemo, project manager for publisher the Norwegian Bible Society, with 157,000 copies sold in the last 14 months, and more time in the charts than both Fifty Shades of Grey and Justin Bieber’s autobiography.

Mercifully!

Smemo puts the popularity of the book – among Christians and non-believers alike – down to the strength of its translation. The Bible Society worked with Hebrew and Greek experts on the original text, and then involved literary writers including A Death in the Family author Karl Ove Knausgaard to perfect it.

“It’s always a very touchy issue, doing a new translation of the Bible,” said Smemo. “People say they like it the way it is. But we had a very thorough procedure, involving authors and poets, secular people and believers, and discussing the whole translation word by word, so there is not only a good translation of the Greek and Hebrew but also a very good flow of the Norwegian language. People are saying that it’s very good, and we are seeing this from both conservative groups and more secular groups. It’s definitely not only Christians buying it. It’s atheists too – people are saying the Bible is important for us, for our culture, and for the nation.”

Anne Veiteberg, director of the publishing department at the Norwegian Bible Society, agreed. “It has been said that the new translation is closer to modern Norwegian language and therefore easier to read, and at the same time it is closer to the original texts in Greek and Hebrew than older translations when it comes to style and poetry, images and metaphors. The Bible 2011 is therefore perceived as more poetic as well as a great piece of literature,” she said. “People seem to value the Bible’s literary qualities and cultural importance more than before. It is still perceived as the holy scripture and word of God by many Norwegians, but a greater number of people value the Bible as classic literature and cultural heritage too. Congregations and individual Christians are still the largest group of people who buy the Bible, but they are not the only ones.”

Smemo admitted the sales had taken the Bible Society by surprise – 157,000 copies is a huge number in a country the size of Norway. “We had a discussion in advance, and the editors thought we’d sell at least 25,000. I said 75,000,” he said. “We’ve sold 157,000 … The surprising thing is that it’s the Bible. We’ve been compared to Fifty Shades. We’ve said at the Bible Society that it’s good we don’t only have erotic bestsellers in the charts, but moral books too.”

 

Toronto’s Anglican Book Centre to Close

Toronto’s Anglican Book Centre will close on January 18, 2013.

It is with sadness that the Anglican Church of Canada and Augsburg Fortress Canada announce that the Anglican Book Centre at 80 Hayden Street will close on Jan. 18, 2013. Canadian Anglicans will still be able to order resources online and by phone through Augsburg Fortress Canada.

“Religious book and gift stores across Canada have faced significant challenges resulting in the closure of over 120 stores in the past 10 years,” said Andy Seal, Director of Augsburg Fortress Canada/Anglican Book Centre.

“Sales at our Hayden St. store have decreased each year since 2009. By 2011 Toronto sales were 28% below the break-even level. In spite of hard work and innovation, the trend has continued in 2012.”

Store revenues have declined because of an increase in web-based competition and the shift of readers purchasing e-books from a variety of sources. The store does not receive any funding from the Anglican Church of Canada or the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.

Founded more than 100 years ago…

Read on here.

HT

 

Pope has Finished his Latest Book

kathweb Nachrichten .:. Katholische Presseagentur Österreich

Pope Benedict XVI has completed the third volume of his book “Jesus of Nazareth”. The work, entitled “Infancy Narratives” will now translated from the original German into different languages ​​to come out at the same time, the Vatican announced on Thursday. Publication date was not mentioned. For careful translations, however, one must reckon on a “reasonable period”, the Vatican communique said. Originally there was talk, the book could be in the bookshops at the end of the year, possibly already in September.

The first volume of the “Joseph Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI.” published trilogy was about the time from Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration, which was released April 2007. Volume Two on the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection was released in March 2011.

I look forward to it. Pope Benedict XVI is a fantastic scholar on the Historical Jesus.

 

The Hobbit: In One Picture

The entire story of The Hobbit in just one picture. You start in the lower right, following the path, and end in the upper right at the Lonely Mountain.

HT:  101 books

 

Top 10 Most Read Books in the World

Good to see the top book is the one it is:

YouCat, the Best-selling Catholic Book in the World

YouCat the Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church, has become the top-selling Catholic book in the world.

It is published by CTS in the UK and Ireland over 15,000 copies have been sold since March  2011.

In the U.S, it is now the number one Catholic book and all this is contributing to a total of 1.7 million copies sold across the globe.

Beginning with its distribution at World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, YouCat is finding its place among the various tools that can help explain the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church in a clear and comprehensible way.

It will surely be a great help for the extra catechesis and other activities that will be planned for the upcoming Year of Faith too.

Source

 

 

The British Library Buys St Cuthbert Gospel

For 9 million pounds. CBS News:

London — The British Library has paid 9 million pounds (US$14.3 million) to acquire the St. Cuthbert Gospel, a remarkably well-preserved survivor of seventh-century Britain described by the library as the oldest European book to survive fully intact.

The palm-sized book, a manuscript copy of the Gospel of John in Latin, was bought from the British branch of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), the library said Tuesday.

The book measures 96 mm (3.8 inches) by 136 mm (5.4 inches) and has an elaborately tooled red leather cover. It comes from the time of St. Cuthbert, who died in 687, and it was discovered inside his coffin when it was opened in 1104 at Durham Cathedral.

The British Library said the artifact is one of the world’s most important books.

“To look at this small and intensely beautiful treasure from the Anglo-Saxon period is to see it exactly as those who created it in the seventh century would have seen it,” said the library’s chief executive, Lynne Brindley.

“The exquisite binding, the pages, even the sewing structure survive intact, offering us a direct connection with our forebears 1300 years ago,” she added.

Cuthbert’s coffin arrived in Durham after monks had removed it from the island of Lindisfarne, 330 miles (530 kilometers) north of London, to protect the remains from Viking raiders in the ninth and 10th centuries.

The book will be displayed at the British Library in London and then in Durham, northeast England, next year.

Wikipedia has more on the St Cuthbert Gospel here.

 

Thomas Kinkade Dead

Thomas Kinkade. The ‘Painter of Light’ has died. The LA Times:

California artist Thomas Kinkade, the “Painter of Light” whose brushwork paintings of idyllic landscapes, cottages and churches were big sellers for dealers across the country, died Friday, a family spokesman said.

Kinkade, 54, died at his home in Los Gatos in the Bay Area of what appeared to be natural causes, David Satterfield said.

Kinkade’s sentimental paintings — with their cottages, country gardens and churches in dewy morning light — were beloved by middle-class America but generally dismissed by the art establishment.

The paintings typically depict tranquil scenes with lush landscaping and streams running nearby. Many contain images from Bible passages.

Kinkade labeled himself as the nation’s most collected living artist. His paintings and spin-off products bring in about $100 million a year in sales, and are said to be in 10 million homes in the United States.

He grew up in a trailer in Placerville, Calif., the town he often rendered in his art as an idyllic community of friendly citizens. After hitting upon the formula for inspirational landscapes and village scenes, he and his wife put their modest savings into publishing the first reproductions of his paintings in 1984. They sold 1,000 copies for $35 each and never looked back.

“I’m a warrior for light,” he told the San Jose Mercury News in 2002, in reference to his technical skills but also the medieval practice of using light to symbolize the divine. “With whatever talent and resources I have, I’m trying to bring light to penetrate the darkness many people feel.”

Before Kinkade’s Media Arts Group went private in the middle of the last decade, the company took in $32 million per quarter from 4,500 dealers across the country, according to the Mercury News. The cost of his paintings ranges from hundreds of dollars to more than $10,000.

“Thom provided a wonderful life for his family,” his wife, Nanette, said in a statement. “We are shocked and saddened by his death.”

This is what of his work looked like:

RIP