06 December 2008
It's no secret
to anyone who frequents this blog that I dearly love our Synod's new hymnal: Lutheran Service Book and all its accompanying volumes. But if there is one thing that IRKS me about the new book it is the phrase "Liturgical Text." Almost invariably this is gobbledygook code language for a passage from the Apocrypha. So, for example, in the Introit for the Nativity of Our Lord, Christmas Midnight: "When all was still and it was midnight Your almighty Word, O Lord, descended from the royal throne." This is listed as "Liturgical text." Why not come clean and simply give the reference as Wisdom 18:15? It's almost as though we are ashamed that some of our texts for worship come from the Apocrypha! And we surely should not be. Though we may not regard these books as on the level of the canonical Scriptures, we still regard them as Luther described them: "useful and good to read."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Add to this changing the text for "Now Thank We All our God" from the Apocraypha (Ecclus. 50:22-24) to a variety of Psalm verses.
Bah!
Amen!
I was just going to complain about the same thing as Sam, but I see he got there before me!
Bethany
Pastor Weedon,
To claim the Apocraypha and the wisdom used and spoken of in these texts would require the LCMS to take 'responsibility' and follow and claim a heritage that reaches much further back than 1517. This would be nice, but currently with programs like "Ablaze" does not seem likely. Issues like this are a sad state of affairs and require one to ask God for forgiveness daily and seek His guidance, direction and mercy upon all of us no matter our station, situation or location.
An unworthy sinner,
Darian L. Hybl
Post a Comment