At night, when I cannot sleep, my mind often goes galloping madly off in all directions. Sometimes it comes back and sometimes I have to look for it. The following is the result of last night's insomnia.
Old time preachers could pull verses from all over the bible, string them together and preach a sermon based on what was revealed to them. Putting verses together that were written years if not centuries apart by different authors for different audiences can have some dangers. The following compilation from Matthew 27:5, Luke 10:37 and John 13:27 is one of my favourites. I remember my father laughing at it when I was young.
"And [Judas] departed, and went and hanged himself." "Go and do thou likewise." "What thou doest, do speedily". Amen.
The following monologue, recorded in 1952 was another take off on old time preachers. We used to laugh until tears rolled. "It's in the Book" became a family saying.
Of course, it goes with aging. I lay in bed at night trying to drop off to sleep, but the monkeys run unrestrained. I will try to clear my mind but then something else pops into my semiconscious.
ReplyDeleteI am old enough to remember the tent revival preachers that showed up every spring and summer. Usually Pentecostal or Baptist. They would scream and shout about sin, always had a dynamic gospel choir in the background, they would tell people to come up and be saved - sometimes doing healings. When everyone was in the grove, while the choir belted out songs about Jesus and his miracles, they would pass the plate. Sometimes hard-scrabbled farmers would pull out their billfold and give their last dollar.
the Ol'Buzzard
I never experienced the tents. When I was young our organization was very new. A splinter off Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. Meetings were in a tin 'tabernacle' with wooden benches and shavings on the floor, sparrows in the eaves, and loud pounding on the roof in rain storms. Three meetings a day, for as many as two weeks. They were called camp meetings because people literally camped.
DeleteSadly, far too many people base their lives (and try and base other people's lives) around what is in the book. A book written by multiple authors. Authors who I often doubt read said book completely. It is also a book which would have benefited (as all books do) from some editing.
ReplyDeleteThe authors all wrote independently and of course never read all the books of the bible as it didn't exist. they never wrote with the intention of creating a canon of scripture. The earliest compilation of what would be the New Testament was in 200 AD and the Christian churches did not agree on the final canon until the 5th century at the Council of Nicaea. As to editing, there has been a great deal of editing, including "additions" with every translation, much of it to conform with the ideology of church hierarchy which is basically patriarchy.
DeleteMy dad had a dad riddle he would pull out seems more often than he should have. "Who is the first person mentioned in the Bible?" Answers ranged from Uh, I dunno to Adam or God , or whoever. The answer is "Chap One". He gets noted in the table of contents before the book is even opened.
ReplyDeleteI like that. Better than "Individual One".
DeleteYour last blogpost with "in the book" reminded me of my younger days listening to Montana Country stations where "Grandma's Lye Soap" was regularily played along whoever was the latest hit maker-Elvis, The Beatles or Johnny Cash.
ReplyDeleteThe days of the revival tent preceeded me, the slightly tamed pentacostal revivalists churches still existed, but they had lost a lot of their fire when they could do nothing about the drought and depression of the 1930's. Our first Reform member of Parliament had both revivalists and signers of the Regina Manifesto in his family tree. But it took Alberta to elect a(two actually) Sask fundamentalists as Premier.
Keep up the good work but please give me a tutorial on how I can post a comment without going over to the darkside and getting a facebook membership.
Blair
Blair, I tried to enter as Anonymous but no go. My settings allow it but Blogger is stopping it. An alternative that some use is to set up a blank blogger account with whatever name you choose. I can do that for you if you like. It doesn't even need to link back to you at all and you just put in what personal information you want.
DeleteI'd never heard that recording before - thanks for the chuckles! "Go thou and do likewise" is one of my favorite multi-purpose quotes. ;-)
ReplyDeleteYou are too young to have heard that on the radio other than by accident. The recording sold over a million copies in the early 50s.
DeleteAmen, Sister Jackiesue
ReplyDelete