Above:  “Smoking Not Allowed Here” (1897)

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-USZ62-56425

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Among the realities of life in society is that, whatever we do affects not just ourselves but others.  Thus, if we are responsible, we will act of out a sense of responsibility to and for each other.  This principle constitutes one of the foundations of my ethics.

I teach for the University of North Georgia (UNG), a successor of Gainesville State College (GSC), for which I also taught.  Prior to the consolidation of UNG I taught for GSC part of the time on a satellite campus of Lanier Technical College at Winder, Georgia, a short drive from Athens.  I parked my car in the back and entered the building in the rear.  One day, as I approached the building, I noticed an inconsiderate person smoking while standing next to the sign announcing that there was a ban on smoking on the campus.  I pointed out this fact to the young man, but he indicated that he did not care.  At that point I told him precisely what I thought of him.  What came up, came out.  My use of such language has long been rare, but sometimes people have acted in ways that have justified occasional spice in my vocabulary.

There is abundant evidence of the effects of secondhand smoke.  Given that fact alone, I harbor no sense of guilt over choosing to vacate the premises rather than continue exposure to secondhand smoke when I have the opportunity to leave.  I am also physically intolerant of cigarette and cigar smoke; my throat becomes irritated, my eyes water, et cetera.  On certain occasions when I have not been able to avoid exposure to secondhand smoke, smokers have stood in front of me much too long, despite the obvious nature of my physical discomfort.  They have not seemed to care.

I also understand the science of addiction in broad terms.  Furthermore, I have heard and read accounts by smokers (current and former) about their struggles to quit.  None of those factors cancel out or reduce the moral mandate to act out of a sense of responsibility to and for others, especially those in one’s physical proximity.  Smokers, please spare the rest of us your secondhand smoke.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 29, 2016 COMMON ERA

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  The Colonial Flag of Australia

Image in the Public Domain

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

CAROLINE CHISHOLM (MAY 3, 1808-MARCH 25, 1877)

English Humanitarian and Social Reformer

Caroline Chisholm helped tens of thousands of people via her work, which did not pay very well.  She was a philanthropist by means of time and work more than money.

Helping others defined Chisholm’s life.  She, born Caroline Jones at Northampton, England, on May 30, 1808, grew up in The Church of England, which has defined her feast day as May 16.  Our saint’s parents, Caroline Jones and William Jones, farmers, modeled caring for others–even taking people into the home.  Our saint was the youngest of her father’s 16 children and a daughter of the last of his four wives.  Our saint, aged 22 years, married Captain Archibald Chisholm, who was 13 years her senior.  He was also in the military service of the East India Company.  The new bride converted to her husband’s faith, Roman Catholicism.

Husband and wife spent years separated by long distances because of their work as well as long periods of time together.  They had eight children, six of whom survived them.  In the 1830s and 1840s our saint and her husband were both in India.  There, at Madras, she founded the Female School of Industry for the Daughters of European Soldiers, to protect the virtue of young women from soldiers.

In 1838 the first Australian phase of our saint’s life began.  Archibald was on leave from active duty.  The family relocated to the area of Sydney, New South Wales.  There our saint noticed the problem of unemployment in the colony.  Immigrants were arriving in droves, but the government had no plan for dispersing them to the countryside, where there was great demand for labor.  Chisholm, who remained in Australia with her children after her husband returned to active duty in 1840, met every ship of immigrants in Sydney.  She also found positions for girls and took some into her home.  During the following year Chisholm obtained permission from the government to establish a home for immigrant girls at Sydney.  Then she acted on it.  Our saint also developed a plan to resettle immigrants in the countryside.  She supervised the establishment of rest stations and employment agencies toward this end.  She also planned to resettle 23 families on donated land at Shellharbour, but some wealthy landowners in the area blocked that plan.  Archibald retired in 1845 and returned to Australia.  The Chisholms traveled across Australia to raise funds for their humanitarian work, for no financial support was forthcoming from the government.

The Chisholm family relocated to England in 1846 and continued to work on the issue of emigration from the mother country to Australia.  Our saint lobbied the Parliament successfully to permit free passage for the wives and children of freed convicts and to ensure suitable conditions aboard the ships.  In 1849, with the support of Anthony Ashley Cooper (1801-1885), Chisholm founded the Family Colonization Loan Association, with branches in the British Isles and Australia.  The Society facilitated emigration to Australia, functioned as an employment agency, and offered lower interest rates than other lenders.  Archibald returned to Australia in 1851 to work as an agent of the Society.  The family reunited there–this time in the colony of Victoria–three years later.

The Chisholms continued to commit good works in Australia in the 1850s and 1860s.  Our saint lobbied successfully for government funding for the construction of shelter sheds for miners.  Archibald and children operated a store while Chisholm traveled across Australia, speaking on behalf of small farmers.  In the early 1860s she opened a school for girls at Newtown (near Sydney).  Later our saint moved the school to Tempe (also near Sydney).

Our saint was, by the standards of the day, a radical.  She worked for the dignity of women and girls in the rough-and-tumble setting of colonial Australia, favored the secret ballot, and supported women’s suffrage.  Furthermore, she not only thought that someone ought to do something, but acted to address those issues she was able to influence.

All the Chisholms had returned to England by 1866, living first in Liverpool then in Highgate, London.  Our saint died on March 25, 1877, aged 68 years.  Archibald died in August that same year.  Both husband and wife had lived their Roman Catholic faith, uniting faith and works.

Archive.org offers three works germane to our saint:

1. The A.B.C. of Colonization; in a Series of Letters by Mrs. Chisholm (1850);
2. Memoirs of Mrs. Caroline Chisholm, with an Account of Her Philanthropic Labours, in India, Australia, and England; To Which is Added a History of the Family Colonization Loan Society; Also the Question, Who Ought to Emigrate?, Answered by Eneas Mackenzie (1852); and
3. An profile in The Illustrated Magazine of Art (1854).

Above:  Caroline Chisholm’s Image on Money

Image Subject to Fair Use

Legacies of Caroline Chisholm include the Caroline Chisholm Society, Victoria, Australia, and her image on the back of the Australian $5 bill from the late 1960s to the early 1990s.  There is also a cause for the canonization of our saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 15, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE NEW MARTYRS OF LIBYA, 2015

THE FEAST OF ALEXANDER VIETS GRISWOLD, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

THE FEAST OF FRANCIS HAROLD ROWLEY, NORTHERN BAPTIST MINISTER, HUMANITARIAN, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF THOMAS BRAY, ANGLICAN PRIEST

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

O God, your Son came among us to serve and not to be served,

and to give his life for the life of the world.

Lead us by his love to serve all those to whom

the world offers no comfort and little help.

Through us give hope to the hopeless,

love to the unloved,

peace to the troubled,

and rest to the weary,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Hosea 2:18-23

Psalm 94:1-15

Romans 12:9-21

Luke 6:20-36

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 60

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  The Carolingian Empire, 843

Image in the Public Domain

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SAINT ALCUIN OF YORK (CIRCA 735-MAY 19, 804)

Abbot of Tours

Stating that one stands on the shoulders of giants is accurate is many contexts, including the life and legacy of St. Alcuin of York, a scholar, educator, and theologian.

St. Alcuin, a native of York, Northumbria, entered the world in the 730s.  Sources have proven to be inconsistent regarding the year, with some offering 732 and others stating 735, always with the caveat “circa.”  He attended the cathedral school at York, the most renowned institution of learning in England.  Our saint taught there form 766 to 778, became a Roman Catholic deacon in 770, and served as the headmaster from 778 to 782.

St. Alcuin made his greatest contribution in the Frankish Kingdom/Carolingian Empire.  In 781 he was returning from a visit to Rome when he met King Charles I “the Great,” a.k.a. Charlemagne (reigned 768-814; Holy Roman Emperor, 800-814) at Parma, Italy.  Our saint accepted the monarch’s offer to lead the Palace School at Aix-en-Chapelle.  St. Alcuin made that school the center of learning in the kingdom and organized schools throughout the realm.  He also encouraged the study of secular liberal arts as means of spiritual edification, taught members of the nobility and the royal family, wrote works on education and grammar, and played a crucial role in preserving knowledge and reviving education in Western Europe after the demise of the Western Roman Empire.

St. Alcuin was also an important liturgist.  He revised the liturgy of the Frankish Church, basing his revision on the Georgian and Gelasian sacramentaries.  Our saint also introduced the sung creed into the Frankish liturgy and arranged notive masses for each day of the week.  St. Alcuin’s work led the the Roman Missal and to liturgical uniformity in Roman Catholicism.  He was also responsible for preserving many prayers, including the Collect of Purity:

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires are known, and from you no secrets are hid:  Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 355

Many of St. Alcuin’s written works have survived.  There were, for example, 310 Latin letters, a treasure trove for historians who study the 700s.  He also left theological works (often refutations of heresies), hagiographies, and commentaries on the Bible.  His revision of the Vulgate has not survived, however.

St. Alcuin served as the Abbot of Tours, presiding over Marmoutier Abbey in Alsace, from 796 to 804.  The roles (if any) he played in politics during his final years have been unclear for a long time.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 15, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE NEW MARTYRS OF LIBYA, 2015

THE FEAST OF ALEXANDER VIETS GRISWOLD, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

THE FEAST OF FRANCIS HAROLD ROWLEY, NORTHERN BAPTIST MINISTER, HUMANITARIAN, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF THOMAS BRAY, ANGLICAN PRIEST

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Almighty God, in a rude and barbarous age you raised up

your deacon Alcuin to rekindle the light of learning:

Illumine our minds, we pray, that amid the uncertainties and confusions

of our own time we may show forth your eternal truth;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you

and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 39:1-9

Psalm 37:3-6, 32-33

Titus 2:1-3

Matthew 13:10-16

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 379

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, 1890

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ppmsc-08401

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SAINT DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY (909-MAY 19, 988)

Abbot of Glastonbury and Archbishop of Canterbury

St. Dunstan of Canterbury lived and worked in a political context different from that of the modern Western world.  Ideas such as constitutional government and the separation of church and state were foreign to the England of the 900s.  The Magna Carta, hardly the most democratic of documents, was centuries away, as was the concept that the monarch should not play an active role in ecclesiastical affairs.  Indeed, the United Kingdom has adopted religious toleration yet not the separation of church and state in contemporary times.

St. Dunstan, born in Baltonsborough in 909, came from a West Saxon noble family.  He studied at Glastonbury Abbey, where he learned music composition, painting, and mechanical arts, in which he was proficient.  Our saint, as a young man, entered the service of Athelstan, King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 then King of the English from 927 to 939.  Petty jealousies in the royal court led to our saint’s exile from it.  False allegations of practicing the black arts constituted the pretext for the exile; violent intimidation enforced it.

At this point St. Dunstan’s life took a crucial turn.  He found refuge with a relative, Alphege, who served as the Bishop of Winchester from 934/935 to 951.  Our saint, recovering from an attack of brain fever, became a monk and began to live as a hermit.

In time St. Dunstan’s life intersected with royalty again.  King Edmund I (reigned 939-946) appointed him the royal treasurer.  During the reign (946-955) of Edred our saint was the de facto ruler of the kingdom, governing ably and well.  These duties overlapped with St. Dunstan’s job as the Abbot of Glastonbury (starting in 943).  In that capacity our saint made the abbey school famous and renewed monastic life.  Edred’s successor was Edwy (reigned 955-959), whose incestuous marriage St. Dunstan denounced.  Our saint spent his exile (955-957) in Flanders.  A rebellion among the Mercians and the Northumbrians made Edgar a rival monarch in 957-959 before he ruled as sole King of the English (959-975).  Edgar recalled St. Dunstan and appointed him Bishop of Worcester (957-959), Bishop of London (958-960), and Archbishop of Canterbury (960-988), as well as a royal advisor.

St. Dunstan made his mark as Archbishop of Canterbury.  He replaced married and other non-celibate priests with monks when possible.  Our saint also reformed monasticism strictly according to the Rule of St. Benedict, rebuilt churches, and promoted education.  His time as archbishop overlapped with the reign of King Edward the Martyr (reigned 975-978), the cause of death was murder.  St. Dunstan retired shortly after participating in the coronation of Ethelred II the Unready (reigned 978-1013 and 1014-1016).  England descended into political chaos despite St. Dunstan’s best efforts during the preceding decades to improve the kingdom.

St. Dunstan enjoyed a quiet and productive retirement.  He lived in Canterbury, where he taught at the cathedral school, painted, composed music, made musical instruments, founded bells, and practiced calligraphy.  He died on May 19, 988.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 15, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE NEW MARTYRS OF LIBYA, 2015

THE FEAST OF ALEXANDER VIETS GRISWOLD, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

THE FEAST OF FRANCIS HAROLD ROWLEY, NORTHERN BAPTIST MINISTER, HUMANITARIAN, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF THOMAS BRAY, ANGLICAN PRIEST

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

O God of truth and beauty, you richly endowed your bishop Dunstan

with skill in music and the working of metals,

and with gifts of administration and reforming zeal:

Teach us, we pray, to see you in the source of all our talents,

and move us to offer them for the adornment of worship

and the advancement of true religion,

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Job 1:6-8

Psalm 57:6-11

Ephesians 5:15-20

Matthew 24:42-47

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 377

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  The Flag of Canada

Image in the Public Domain

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

WILBUR KENNETH HOWARD (FEBRUARY 29, 1912-APRIL 17, 2001)

Moderator of The United Church of Canada

Wilbur Kenneth Howard followed Jesus and resisted racism.

Howard was a native of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  He entered the world on February 29, 1912.  His father and brother were railway porters, for that profession was among the limited range of careers open to African Canadians in the early part of the twentieth century.  Our saint, educated at Brock Public School then at Bloor Collegiate School then at Victoria College (B.A., 1938) then Emmanuel College (B.D., 1941), all in Toronto, pursued a different path.  When he was younger a White family had invited him to attend church with them.  He had accepted, and therefore found his path into The United Church of Canada.

Howard was in a difficult situation in 1941.  He had graduated from seminary yet not one congregation offered him a position.  The reason was racism.  The denominational officialdom at the General Council Office hired Howard to be the Boys’ Work Secretary of the Ontario Religious Education Council.  For the next 24 years our saint worked in the field of Christian education.  In 1949 he became the Christian Education Secretary for the Manitoba Conference of The United Church of Canada.  Four years later he accepted a new position, Associate Editor of Sunday School Publications for the denomination.  That work lasted for 12 years, during which he influenced the content of the curriculum.

From 1965 to 1980 Howard worked on the parish level and found acceptance there.  For five years he was one of three ministers at Dominion-Chalmers United Church, Toronto.  In late 1970 he transferred to Emmanuel United Church, Toronto, where he remained for about ten years.  Our saint also served beyond the parish level, first as the President of the Montreal-Ottawa Conference in 1972 and 1973.  On August 19, 1974, the General Council of The United Church of Canada made history by electing Howard to the office of Moderator.  He was the 26th Moderator and the first one to be African-Canadian.  During our saint’s three years as the denominational moderator he worked part-time at Emmanuel United Church.  He retired from active ministry in 1980.  He was 68 years old.

Howard received degrees subsequent to his seminary program.  In 1969 he received the Doctor of Divinity degree from Victoria University, Toronto.  Six years later the University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, granted him the Doctor of Letters degree.

Howard was a quiet man who lived simply, demonstrated his willingness to listen to others, and considered the ministry of the church to be a matter best suited to teamwork, not obedient minions following the orders of a dominant figure or figures.  His concerns included evangelism, social justice, environmental stewardship, and the needs of third-world countries.  He also abhorred inter-religious hostility and favored mutual understanding and, when possible and proper, cooperation.

Our saint, who received the Order of Ontario in 1991, received the diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease and moved into a retirement community in the early 1990s.  He died in Toronto on April 17, 2001.  He was 88 years old.  The city council observed a moment of silence in his honor, as they should have done.

I can only imagine how much spiritual fortitude Howard must have had to muster to endure the racist indignities to which others subjected him.  I have endured trials much less difficult and struggled with grudges.  Our saint, however much he struggled with others and himself, emerged as a man of much grace.  That fact warrants high praise.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 14, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT ABRAHAM OF CARRHAE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINTS CYRIL AND METHODIUS, MISSIONARIES TO THE SLAVS

THE FEAST OF JOHANN MICHAEL ALTENBURG, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR, COMPOSER, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF VICTOR OLOF PETERSEN, SWEDISH-AMERICAN LUTHERAN HYMN TRANSLATOR

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Almighty God, we praise you for your servant Wilbur Kenneth Howard,

through whom you have called the church to its tasks and renewed its life.

Raise up in our own day teachers and prophets inspired by your Spirit,

whose voices will give strength to your church and proclaim the reality of your reign,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Psalm 46

1 Corinthians 3:11-23

Mark 10:25-45

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 60

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Some of Luther Reed’s Major Works and Immediate Successors Thereto

Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor, February 13, 2016

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

LUTHER DOTTERER REED (MARCH 21, 1873-APRIL 3, 1972)

U.S. Lutheran Minister and Liturgist

Luther Dotterer Reed was an influential Lutheran liturgist in the United States.  He was chiefly responsible for the creation of the Common Service Book (1917) and the Service Book and Hymnal (1958), two of the major Lutheran service-books of the twentieth century.

Reed was a son of the Church.  He entered the world at North Wales, Pennsylvania, on March 21, 1873.  His parents were Annie Linley Reed and Ezra L. Reed, a Lutheran minister of the old Ministerium of Pennsylvania and its umbrella organization, the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America (1867-1918).  From his father our saint learned much, including music and the Mercersburg Theology (high church Calvinism) of the Reformed Church in the United States (1793-1934).  Reed came under the direct influence of the Mercersburg Theology at his father’s alma mater, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1892.  Next our saint matriculated at the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (hereafter LTS Mt. Airy), from which he graduated in 1895.

Reed was a parish minister for just a few years.  Upon graduating from LTS Mt. Airy he entered the liturgical boondocks of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania.  Western Pennsylvania was an unlikely place for a Lutheran minister with a strong liturgical bent.  In 1895 our saint became the pastor of Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Allegheny, across the river from Pittsburgh.  As Reed described the facility, it was a chapel with a central pulpit and a lunch table for an altar.  Traditionally the pastor wore street clothes to church on Sundays.  In 1903, when our saint left for his next posting, there was a choir (which he had directed), he wore a Geneva robe to church on Sundays, and the use of vestments and paraments had begun.  Reed studied at the University of Leipzig in 1902.  He served as pastor in Jeannette, Pennsylvania, briefly before returning to his alma mater, LTS Mt. Airy, in 1906.  There he remained in one capacity or another until 1950.

Above:  An Item in the Lebanon Courier and Semi-Weekly Report, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1905, Page 2

Accessed via newspapers.com

Reed worked beyond the parish and seminary levels, frequently in the cause of liturgical renewal.  He understood worship as occupying the center of Christian life.  The beauty of worship matters, he insisted, for it can inspire one to commit good works–lead one into the world.  From 1898 to 1906 our saint led the Lutheran Liturgical Association, the goal of which was to convince U.S. Lutherans to accept the Common Service (1888) as something simple yet dignified and Lutheran yet catholic.  Reed edited the Memoirs of the Lutheran Liturgical Association (1906).  From 1907 to 1936 he served as the President of the Church Music and Liturgical Art Society.  And, from 1930 to 1940, he was the President of the Associated Bureaus of Church Architecture of the United States and Canada, devoted to encouraging architecture suitable for proper liturgy.

Reed married Catharine S. Ashbridge (1878-1942) in 1906.  They remained married until by her death they did part.

Above:  The Dedication to The Lutheran Liturgy (1947)

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

In 1906 Reed went to work at LTS Mt. Airy, where he would have preferred to remain since his graduation 11 years earlier.  Until 1950 he served as the Director of the Krauth Memorial Library.  From 1911 to 1945 our saint was Professor of Liturgics and Church Art.  He was the first such professor at any Protestant theological seminary in North America.  And, from 1938 to 1945 Reed was also the president of the seminary.  If that were not enough, the served as the Archivist of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania from 1909 to 1939, and, starting in 1919, of the new United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA), which he had helped to form via merger.

Reed served as the chairman of the joint commissions that created the Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church (1917) and its successor, the Service Book and Hymnal (1958).  He also wrote two editions (1947 and 1959) of The Lutheran Liturgy, both classic works of Christian liturgical history and commentary on the then-current Lutheran services.  [Aside:  The best way to enjoy Reed’s depth of knowledge in liturgy is to read these two books.]  Reed favored restoring the Eucharistic canon, or prayer of thanksgiving, which Martin Luther had excised in the 1500s.  He included a proposed text for one on pages 336 and 337 of the first edition (1947) of The Lutheran Liturgy.  Variations on that canon graced the Service Book and Hymnal (1958), the Worship Supplement (1969), the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), and the Lutheran Service Book (2006).  Reed’s restoration of the Eucharistic canon took hold in North American Lutheranism beyond the lineages of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), The Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC), and The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS).  In 2008, for example, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) added an original Eucharistic canon in Christian Worship:  Supplement.  Other conservative Lutheran denominations have not restored the canon, however.

Reed, who received honorary degrees (including a Doctor of Divinity degree from Thiel College, Greenville, Pennsylvania, in 1912), was a gentle, kind, unassuming, and gracious gentleman.  Although our saint was not physically imposing he was intellectually masterful.  He wrote and contributed to volumes, mostly related to liturgics:

1. The Psalter and Canticles; Pointed for Chanting to the Gregorian Psalm Tunes; with a Plain Song Setting for the Order of Matins and Vespers, Accompanying Harmonies, and Tables of Proper Psalms; for the Use of Evangelical Lutheran Congregations (1897);
2. The Choral Service Book; Containing the Authentic Plain Song Intonations and Responses for the Order of Morning Service, the Order of Matins and Vespers, the Litany and the Suffrages of the Common Service for the Use of Evangelical Lutheran Congregations; with Accompanying Harmonies for Organ (1901);
3. The Responsories:  Musical Setting (1914);
4. Luther and Congregational Song (1947);
5. The Lutheran Liturgy:  A Study of the Common Service of the Lutheran Church in America (1947);
6. The Lutheran Liturgy:  A Study of the Common Liturgy of the Lutheran Church in America (1959);
7. Worship:  A Corporate Devotion (1959); and
8. The Mind of the Church (1962).

Reed wrote a hymn and at least two hymn tunes also.  The hymn was “O God of Wondrous Grace and Glory” and the accompanying original tune was MOUNT AIRY.  He also composed the tune SURSUM CORDA.

Reed pondered what might and should follow the Service Book and Hymnal (1958).  He favored the inclusion of a provision for the procession of the bread and wine to the altar at the end of the offering.  This development became reality in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978).

Our saint died at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 3, 1972.  He was 99 years old.  The  process of forging the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) was well underway.

Reed’s liturgical legacy thrives, fortunately.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 14, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT ABRAHAM OF CARRHAE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINTS CYRIL AND METHODIUS, MISSIONARIES TO THE SLAVS

THE FEAST OF JOHANN MICHAEL ALTENBURG, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR, COMPOSER, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF VICTOR OLOF PETERSEN, SWEDISH-AMERICAN LUTHERAN HYMN TRANSLATOR

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Holy God, whose majesty surpasses all human definitions and capacity to grasp,

thank you for those (especially Luther Dotterer Reed)

who have nurtured and encouraged the reverent worship of you.

May their work inspire us to worship you in knowledge, truth, and beauty.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

1 Chronicles 25:1-8

Psalm 145

Revelation 15:1-4

John 4:19-26

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 27, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES INTERCISUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR

THE FEAST OF HENRY SLOANE COFFIN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGIAN

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Frances Perkins, 1932

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-USZ62-1132

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

FRANCES CORALIE PERKINS (APRIL 10, 1880-MAY 14, 1965)

United States Secretary of Labor

Frances Perkins read, marked, learned, and inwardly directed potent language from Matthew 25:

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat:  I was thirsty, and ye gave my drink:  I was a stranger, and ye took me in:  Naked, and ye clothed me:  I was sick, and ye visited me:  I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee, an hungred, and fed thee?  or thirsty, and gave thee drink?  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in?  or naked, and clothed thee?  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat:  I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in:  naked, and ye clothed me not:  sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

Then they shall also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

–Verses 34-46, Authorized Version

Fannie Coralie Perkins was a native of Boston, Massachusetts.  She grew up a Congregationalist in Worcester, Massachusetts.  Our saint, born on April 10, 1880, was daughter of Susan Bean Perkins (died in 1927) and Frederick W. Perkins (died in 1916), owner of a stationery business.  Both parents were from Maine.  Our saint, with encouragement from her parents, attended the mostly male Worcester Classical High School.  She went on to attend Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, where she majored in physics and chemistry.  During her undergraduate program she read How the Other Half Lives (1889), by Jacob Riis (1849-1914), the famous muckraking journalist who wrote about, among other things, life in slums.  Perkins graduated in 1902.  For about the next two years she worked for the benefit of her community in Worcester.  Perkins taught part-time and volunteered with social service organizations in the city.

In 1904 our saint moved to Lake Forest, Illinois, to accept a teaching position.  She taught there until 1907 and spent free time in Hull House and similar institutions in Chicago.  On June 11, 1905, at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Lake Forest, she converted to The Episcopal Church.  She also changed her first name to Frances.  Perkins became an Anglo-Catholic mystic whose faith defined her policy positions.  She stood in the tradition of the finest social teaching of Angl0-Catholicism, for she had an active concern for the poor and the downtrodden.

From 1907 to 1909 Perkins studied economics and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.  That program led to her work in New York.  In 1909 our saint, having received a Russell Sage Foundation fellowship, started work on her M.A. degree in political science (Columbia University, 1910).  She surveyed living and working conditions in Hell’s Kitchen.

++++++++++

The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to give all the people under its jurisdiction the best possible life.

–Frances Perkins

++++++++++

From 1910 to 1912 Perkins served as the executive secretary of the National Consumers League.  As she went about her work our saint witnessed the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire on March 25, 1911.  In that infamous and avoidable event employees faced a terrifying choice–to die in the flames or to jump from window ledges.  The incident added to Perkins’s catalog of motivating factors as she strove for social reform.

From 1912 to 1932 Perkins worked in the administrations of Al Smith and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Governors of New York.  While serving on the Committee on Safety of the City of New York (1912-1917) our saint exposed hazardous practices in workplaces.  Starting in 1918 Perkins worked via the State Industrial Board, becoming its chair in 1926.  Then she served as the state’s Industrial Commissioner.

Perkins was a feminist.  Not only did she advocate for women’s suffrage, she decided to keep her last name when she married economist Paul Caldwell Wilson (1876-1952) in 1913.  She had to go to court to defend that.  Nevertheless, the name engraved on her headstone was “Frances Perkins Wilson,” her name on the records of the federal census of 1930.  (The census records of 1920 listed her as “Frances Perkins,” however.)

Our saint had to contend with the fact of her husband’s bipolar disorder.  In that time period the treatment was apparently institutionalization, for Paul was in and out of mental hospitals.  Perkins became the primary wage earner out of necessity while raising their daughter, Susanna Wilson (1916-2003).

++++++++++

I came to Washington to work for God, FDR, and the millions of forgotten, plain common workingmen.

–Frances Perkins

++++++++++

Perkins served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945.  She made history, for she was the first female member of a presidential cabinet in the United States.  Our saint was also one of the architects of the New Deal.  Her numerous accomplishments included drafting the Social Security Act, helping to establish the federal minimum wage, being instrumental in fighting child labor, helping to create the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), expanding the roles of women in workplaces, extending the rights of labor unions and their members, and advocating for unemployment insurance.  Our saint’s unrealized goal was universal access to health care, which has been on the U.S. political landscape since at least 1912, when former President Theodore Roosevelt campaigned on the issue while seeking his old job as the nominee of the Progressive Party.  Perkins resigned as Secretary of Labor on July 1, 1945.  Later that year she joined the federal Civil Service Commission, serving until 1953.

Most of the sources I consulted regarding our saint’s life and labors ignored or barely mentioned the influence of her faith upon her public life.  Not surprisingly, religious-based sources provided that information, including the fact that, while serving as the Secretary of Labor, she made monthly retreats with the All Saints’ Sisters of the Poor at Cantonsville, Maryland.

Perkins wrote books, including the following:

1. Women as Employees (1919),
2. A Social Experiment Under the Workmen’s Compensation Jurisdiction (1921),
3. People at Work (1934), and
4. The Roosevelt I Knew (1946).

Our saint spent her final years teaching at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Ithaca, New York, starting in 1957.  She died at New York, New York, on May, 14, 1965.  She was 85 years old.

Newcastle, Maine, where our saint spent summers with her grandmother, is the site of the Frances Perkins Center.

The Letter of James offers timeless wisdom:

As a body without a spirit is dead, so is faith without deeds.

–Chapter 2, Verse 26 (The New Jerusalem Bible, 1985)

The faith of Frances Perkins was vivacious.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 11, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ONESIMUS, BISHOP OF BYZANTIUM

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Loving God, we bless your Name for Frances Perkins,

who lived out her belief that the special vocation of the laity is to conduct

the secular affairs of society that all may be maintained in health and decency.

Help us, following her example, to contend tirelessly for justice

and for the protection of all in need, that we may be faithful followers of Jesus Christ;

who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Deuteronomy 15:7-11

Psalm 37:27-31

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Luke 9:10-17

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 369

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  The British Flag, 1707-1801

Image in the Public Domain

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

GEORGE BERKELEY (MARCH 12, 1685-JANUARY 14, 1753)

Irish Anglican Bishop and Philosopher

and

JOSEPH BUTLER (MAY 18, 1692-JUNE 16, 1752)

Anglican Bishop and Theologian

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

INTRODUCTION

These two men come to my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days via The Church of England and The Episcopal Church.  Common Worship:  Services and Prayers for the Church of England (2000) lists June 16 as the feast day for Joseph Butler.  Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010) sets aside June 16 to commemorate the lives of Joseph Butler and George Berkeley.  Celebrating these two saints on the same day makes sense.  Yes, they had some major differences, but they had much more in common than not.  I, after taking notes on both men, have noted the following similarities, among others:

1. They were contemporaries;
2. They were great intellectuals;
3. They, like John Locke, were empiricists;
4. They criticized aspects of Locke’s philosophy;
5. They influenced major subsequent philosophers;
6. They were philosophers and theologians;
7. They defended the truth of Christianity against assumptions of Deism;
8. They were published authors;
9. They were Anglican bishops; and
10. They rejected speculative philosophy and theology in favor of practical theology.

The God of Deism was a non-interventionist figure.  He was like a watchmaker, for he, to follow the analogy, created the watch, wound it up, then left it alone.  The God of Deism was not the God to whom Psalmists in distress called out for help.  Deism was a theological system grounded in reason, not in reason and revelation or in revelation.  Its existence and prominence in the 1600s and 1700s fed a long-running debate in which our saints participated.  Another debater was the composer George Frederick Handel (1685-1759), whose Messiah (1742) argued against Deism.

I respond favorably to Christian intellectuals.  Christianity has an ancient and venerable tradition of reconciling science, reason, and philosophy with theology.

1. One might consider, for example, St. Clement of Alexandria (circa 150-circa 210/215), the “Pioneer of Christian Scholarship,” who melded pagan Platonism with Christianity.  Truth is truth, St. Clement, insisted, regardless of its origin.  His star pupil, Origenes Adamantius (185-254), Origen, for short, carried on the good work.
2. Pope Sylvester II (lived circa 945-1003; reigned 999-1003), unlike some of his contemporaries, did not fear technology (such as the abacus and the telescope) or classics of Greco-Roman literature and philosophy.  He did not care if valid knowledge and useful technology came from Muslims or ancient pagans.  For this reason many in the anti-intellectual wing of the Roman Catholic Church accused him of being in league with Satan.
3. St. Thomas Aquinas (circa 1225-1274), who reconciled faith with reason, and Aristotelian philosophy with Christianity.
4. St. Albert the Great (1200-1280), a Dominican priest and Roman Catholic Bishop, was also a scientist.
5. The birth of modern science in the 1500s overlapped with the Protestant Reformation, the proper context in which to consider the Church’s shameful treatment of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), a faithful Catholic who preferred good science to bad theology.
6. The Society of Jesus has a mixed record regarding science, for many Jesuit priests have been scientists yet one of their greatest members, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), labored under a Vatican-imposed gag order because of his synthesis of theology, reason, philosophy, and evolutionary science.
7. The Roman Catholic Church has, fortunately, been more accepting of science since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), than it was during the period immediately Vatican II.

Unfortunately, anti-intellectualism persists in much of Christianity.  According to an old joke, a fundamentalist says to a liberal,

I will agree to call you a Christian if you agree to call me a scholar.

That witticism is, due to its genre, necessarily an exaggeration, but it contains such truth.  Although some of the greatest Christian scholars have been Evangelicals, Calvinist (with ties to the Christian Reformed Church in North America and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church) Mark A. Noll, who has joined the faculty at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, found ample material to research and write The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (1994).  And Dr. Francis S. Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health since 2009, is an Evangelical Protestant who has led the Human Genome Project.  He wrote The Language of God (2006), in which he criticized Intelligent Design as failing to hold its own under scientific scrutiny.  He as received much condemnation for that last point.

I recall an awkward lunch I ate at home some years ago.  My father was pastor of Warwick United Methodist Church, Warwick, Georgia, U.S.A., in the borderlands of rural Worth and Crisp Counties.  One day I accompanied him to have lunch with two of his parishioners.  One of our hosts, a man I would never mistake for an intellectual, made a much too-broad comment about educational attainment and piety.  Well-educated people, he insisted, had a different (and implicitly inferior) type of faith than did others.  Both my father and I, aside from being well-educated, were also tactful in the moment.  Nobody created an unfortunate scene.

Now, without further ado, I proceed to summarize then lives and part of the thought of two saints who belied that man’s stereotype more than my father and I did.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Bishop George Berkeley, by John Smybert

Image in the Public Domain

GEORGE BERKELEY (MARCH 12, 1685-JANUARY 14, 1753)

Berkeley, a native of County Kilkenny, Ireland, was an empiricist and a metaphysical philosopher.  Our saint, of English ancestry, studied at Kilkenny school then at Trinity College, Dublin (1700-1704), from which he graduated.  He maintained an association with his alma mater until 1724, serving as a fellow (lecturing in the subjects of Greek, Hebrew, and theology) from 1707 to 1724.  He took some leaves of absence during that time, touring in Europe in 1713-1714 and 1716-1720, as well as spending time in London, where he associated with Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Alexander Pope, and Joseph Addison.

Berkeley, a clergyman since 1709, served as the Dean of Dromore in 1721-1722.   In 1724 he resigned his fellowship at Trinity College, Dublin, to become the Dean of Derry, a post he held until 1733.  He sought unsuccessfully to found a college for colonists and Native Americans in Bermuda.  He married Anne Forster in 1728 then moved to Newport, Rhode Island.  There he encouraged higher education in North America until he left for Ireland in 1731.  He donated his library to Yale College (now University), New Haven, Connecticut, hence Berkeley College and Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University.  Another namesake is the city of Berkeley, California.

In 1734 Berkeley became the Bishop of Cloyne.  He retired in late 1752 and retired to Oxford, England.  There he died a few months later, on January 14, 1753, shortly after securing the admission of his son, George, as an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford.

Berkeley was a man of his time, responding to issues contemporary to him.  One issue was materialism, meaning not the accumulation of material goods but matter, that is, the stuff of which physical reality consists.  As a student at Trinity College, Dublin, Berkeley had studied the Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690), by John Locke (1632-1704).  Locke argued for the following propositions:

Ideas originate in one’s brain because of the influence of the universe, a material system in which the universe’s “bodies” act mechanically, that is, by “impulse,” upon each other and upon human senses.

1. Ideas are the only things of which people can be directly aware.
2. Ideas of “primary qualities” represent accurately the real character of material things.
3. Ideas of “secondary qualities” do not represent accurately the real character of material things.
4. We humans mistakenly “attribute reality” to smell, taste, sound, and color.
5. There are also “immaterial substances,” but Locke admitted that he did not know how to prove this point.
6. Consciousness might be nothing more than a property of matter, one rooted in memory.

Berkeley argued against these points, preferring immaterialism.  He countered that the physical world exists only in experiences of it.  He found no good reason to accept the existence of matter, as Locke understood it.  Rather, the principle of

Esse is percipi,

or

to be is to be perceived,

held sway in Berkeley’s thought.  Ergo:

For the mind of God is present always and everywhere; all ideas are always in the mind of God, and it is by direct communion with His mind that human beings are supplied with the ideas that make up their experience.  It is literally true that “in Him we live, and move, and have our being.”  Thus, the reality of the everyday world is secured by being made directly dependent upon the mind of God, and the notion of “matter,” the very foundation of the scientific world view, is simply rejected.

—Encyclopedia Americana (1962), Volume 3, Page 554

Berkeley, true to his Anglicanism, rejected abstract speculations in favor of practical theology.  He affirmed one of the core principles of the Law of Moses–complete human dependence upon God.  As for Berkeley’s rejection of the basis of modern science, that point is up for debate.  (I favor science and theology.)

Berkeley’s philosophical theory of immaterialism became influential after he died.  Thomas Reid (1710-1796) criticized it in Inquiry into the Human Mind (1764).  The theory influenced subsequent philosophers such as David Hume (1711-1776), Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), and Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860).  Another critic was John Stuart Mill (1806-1873).

Berkeley was a varied thinker and an excellent literary stylist.  Major works included the following:

1. Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (1710) and its counterpart for the mass audience, Three Dialogues Between Hyles and Philonus (1713);
2. An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision (1709), a work of psychology;
3. De Motu (1721), a work in Latin on the philosophy of science;
4. Aleiphron, or the Minute Philosopher (1732), a defense of morality and religion against Deism;
5. The Analyst (1734), a critique of Isaac Newton’s differential calculus;
6. The Querist (1735-1737), regarding economic problems in Ireland; and
7. Sirus (1744), regarding science and philosophy.

The author of the article about Berkeley in the Encyclopedia Britannica (1968), Volume 3, on page 508:

The most patent features of his style are precision, economy and a seemingly inevitable grace; with here and there salty satire and teasing wit; the roots of it are a natural logicality, a rare purity of sentiment and a deep philanthropy.

Archive.org provides copies of Berkeley’s works.  Examples include the following:

1. The Works of George Berkeley, D.D., Late Bishop of Cloyne in Ireland; To Which is Added, an Account of His Life; and Several of His Letters to Thomas Prior, Esq., Dean Gervais, Mr. Pope, Etc. (1820)–Volumes I and II;
2. The Works of George Berkeley, D.D., Formerly Bishop of Cloyne; Including Many of His Writings Hitherto Unpublished; With Prefaces, Annotations, His Life and Letters, and an account of His Philosophy (1871), by Alexander Campbell Fraser–Volumes I, II, III, and IV; and
3. The Works of George Berkeley, D.D., Bishop of Cloyne (1897), edited by George Sampson–Volumes I, II, and III.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Bishop Butler

Image in the Public Domain

JOSEPH BUTLER (MAY 18, 1692-JUNE 16, 1752)

Butler, a native of Wantage, Berkshire, England, was an empiricist thinker.  He differed from Berkeley by accepting science.  Butler’s rational orthodoxy stood in contrast to the Methodist enthusiasm of John Wesley (1703-1791), his fellow Anglican.  Our saint understood correctly that we humans act based on probabilities.  He also grasped that actions, not certainties, are the bases of religion.  Thus he rejected the quest for certainty, that idol of fundamentalism, and defended Christianity as a “rational probability.”

Butler, who came from a Presbyterian family, became a great Anglican theologian.  He was the youngest of eight children of a wealthy linen and woolen draper.  Our saint, educated at Gloucester then Tewkesbury, had once intended to become a Presbyterian minister, but he came to prefer Anglicanism instead.  He converted in 1714 and matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford, the following year.  He studied philosophy, one of his favorite subjects, if not his favorite subject.  Our saint found himself disenchanted with the conservatism of the course of study, for he noticed defenses of Aristotelian thought against Newtonian physics and the thought of Francis Bacon (1561-1626) and John Locke.  Butler complained:

Our people have never had any doubt in their lives concerning a received opinion.

–Quoted in Gibbs, The Middle Way (1991), page 48

Butler graduated with his B.A. degree in 1718.  Subsequent degrees from the same institution were Bachelor of Law (1721) and Doctor of Law (1733).

Our saint, ordained in 1719, found his niche in The Church of England.  From 1719 to 1725 he preached at Rolls Chapel, London.  He became the Rector of Stanhoppe in 1725 and maintained that title and received its income for 15 years.  From 1733 to 1736 Butler doubled as the Chaplain to Lord Chancellor Charles Talbot.  In 1736 he became the Clerk of the Closet to Queen Caroline of Ansbach (1683-1737), consort of King George II (reigned 1727-1760).  Butler and Queen Caroline became friends and engaged in theological discussions.  She spoke highly of him to King George II and recommended Butler for promotion.  (The monarch was the titular head of The Church of England.)  In 1738 Butler became the Bishop of Bristol, in charge of a poor see.  He remained as Rector of Stanhoppe until 1740, when be began to double as the Dean of St. Paul’s, London.  From 1746 to 1750 he did triple duty as the Clerk of the Closet to King George II.

As the Bishop of Bristol (1738-1750) Butler locked horns with John Wesley.  The founder of Methodism was preaching without authorization to miners in the Diocese of Bristol.  Wesley was not canonically resident in the Diocese of Bristol.  Butler ordered Wesley to go home and stated that he (Wesley) should cease to pretend to have received special revelations from the Holy Spirit.

Butler refused an offer to become the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1747.  According to an apocryphal story, he said,

It is too late for me to try to support a falling Church.

–Quoted in Gibbs, The Middle Way (1991), page 50

Our saint had complained about the “decay of religion” in England.  Certainly part of that decay was the influence of Deism.  His preferred method of supporting the “falling Church” in his final years was ritualism.  Thus Butler foreshadowed the Oxford Movement of the 1800s.  Critics accused him of having succumbed to Papism, an allegation tantamount to accusing one of being bound for Hell.

Butler, translated to the wealthy Diocese of Durham in 1750, died of stomach and intestinal disorders at Bath, Somerset, England, on June 16, 1752.  He never married, thus he lived in a manner consistent with his opposition to the marriage of the clergy.  He also lived simply and gave away the vast majority of his money.

Ernest Campbell Mossner, author of Bishop Butler and the Age of Reason:  A Study in the History of Thought (1936), wrote:

In the history of eighteenth century English culture, what Locke is to philosophy, what Newton is to physics, what Burke is to politics, Butler is to theology…And the spokesman is by no means unworthy of his distinguished associates.

–Quoted in Gibbs, The Middle Way (1991), pages 47-48

Butler affirmed science, reason, and orthodox Christianity.  He shared many yet by no means all of the points of Deism, for he argued against that system.  Our saint affirmed among other things, miracles, human sinfulness, the Incarnation of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, and the Atonement.  He also accepted scientific developments and knowledge, and had a high opinion of human reason.  Scripture, tradition, and reason–Richard Hooker’s Three-Legged Stool–defined Butler’s theology.

Butler rejected speculative thought in favor of practical theology.  He insisted that religion is a matter of practice, not certainty.  In his theology probability, not certainty, is the grounding of human knowledge and actions.  Furthermore, Butler wrote, nature contains much mystery, perplexity, and obscurity; reason and order do not rule supreme there.  Via experience one can discern facts upon which to infer probable truth.  Ergo, theological and natural forms of knowledge are equally indispensable and probable.  Simply put, the grounding of Christianity is divine revelation, not nature.  One can access much of truth via science and reason, but one cannot perceive other aspects of truth by those methods.  There is more than one way to perceive truth correctly.

Butler also thought deeply about psychology.  He criticized John Locke’s theory of psychological continuity, based in memories.  Our saint opposed blind obedience to “received wisdom,” but he also evaluated alternatives critically, as he should have done.

Butler also critiqued the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), who argued that self-love directs all human actions.  That is simplistic, our saint thought.  He countered that benevolence is a second influence, benevolence, is also at work in human nature and in harmony with self-love.  Related to benevolence, Butler wrote, is conscience, which he understood to mean the voice of God inside one’s head.  According to Butler, therefore, the conscience is sovereign, to follow one’s conscience is to behave virtuously, and to obey the will of God, and conscience is consistent with reason.

Lee W. Gibbs wrote of Butler, who, like Berkeley, influenced David Hume and Immanuel Kant, that;

In short, the life and work of Bishop Joseph Butler was thoroughly representative of the middle way.  He exemplified that perennial Anglican openness to the changing historical circumstances of his day, while maintaining at the same time that continuous body of traditional beliefs held to be essential to the Christian faith.

—The Middle Way (1991), pages 58-59

Archive.org makes available works by and about Butler.  They include the following:

1. The Works of the Right Reverend Father in God Joseph Butler, D.C.L., Late Bishop of Durham; To Which is Prefixed, an Account of the Character and Writings of the Author, by Samuel Halifax, D.D. Late Lord Bishop of Gloucester (1828)–Volumes I and II;
2. The Whole Works of Joseph Butler, LL.D., Late Lord Bishop of Durham (1852);
3. The Works of Joseph Butler (1897), edited by William Ewart Gladstone (Prime Minister, 1868-1874, 1880-1885, 1886, and 1892-1894)–Volumes I, II, and III;
4. Bishop Butler (1901), by William Archibald Spooner; and
5. Bishop Joseph Butler (1923), by Albert Edward Baker.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

CONCLUSION

My Ecumenical Calendar of Saint’s Days and Holy Days recognizes a wide range of saints.  I imagine that, if by means of a time machine, I could gather all of them in one place and, via a universal translator, they could all understand each other, some fascinating discussions–even arguments–would occur.  I would, in such a fanciful and hypothetical situation, engage in some arguments.  If agreeing with me across the board were a criterion for inclusion on my Ecumenical Calendar, it would not exist.

I admit that I disagree with Berkeley and Butler on certain points.  That is fine, for they disagreed with each other.  They also share the same commemoration on the calendar of saints of The Episcopal Church.  Anglican collegiality permits such unity in the midst of differences.

I also admit that despite my attempts to understand that, despite my attempts to understand some of the philosophical arguments of Butler, I remain uncertain regarding the objective definition of what he wrote sometimes.  For example, the contents of his critique of Locke’s theory of personality and consciousness remain a mystery to me.  That is fine, for that fact has no bearing on my opinion of Butler as a saint and a seeker of God.  I still recognize him as one who engaged his intellect vigorously, thought deeply, and did so for the glory of God.  Butler, true to his convictions, avoided the opposite errors of idolizing “received wisdom” on one hand and more recent developments in science and technology on the other hand.  I respect that.

The process of taking notes, processing them, and drafting this post has taken parts of several days and constituted a workout for my intellect and my right hand, for the draft is lengthy.  Typing this post has given my fingers a workout also.  I am better informed for the process of creating this post.  May you, O reader, be better informed after reading it.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 11, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ONESIMUS, BISHOP OF BYZANTIUM

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Holy God, source of all wisdom:

We give thanks for your servants George Berkeley and Joseph Butler,

who by their life and work strengthened your Church and illumined your world.

Help us, following their examples, to place our hearts and minds in your service,

for the sake of Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit

lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Isaiah 6:6-10

Psalm 119:89-96

Acts 13:38-44

John 3:11-16

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 431

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Paul Gerhardt

Image in the Public Domain

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PAUL GERHARDT (MARCH 12, 1607-MAY 27, 1676)

German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer

Paul Gerhardt was a giant among German Lutheran hymn writers.  The author of the article about our saint in the Encyclopedia Britannica of 1968 described him as the greatest German hymn writer.  Armin Haeussler, author of The Story of Our Hymns:  The Handbook to the Hymnal of the Evangelical and Reformed Church (1952), had a different opinion.  He wrote that Martin Luther was the greatest hymn writer and that Gerhardt was the second best person in the category of German hymn writers.  Haeussler, in so many words, agreed with the evaluation from the Encyclopedia Britannica (1968):

His hymns have deservedly held their place in Protestant worship.

–Volume 10, Page 235

Gerhardt was a native of Grefenhainichen, Saxony, a village between Halle and Wittenberg and near to the latter.  Our saint, born on March 13, 1607, was a son of Christian Gerhardt, mayor of the village.  Christian died while our saint was a minor.  Gerhardt, who studied at Grimma (1622-1627), continued his studies at the University of Wittenberg (1628-1642), where he specialized in theology.  During this time our saint had to contend with negative consequences of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1642).  In April 1642 Gerhardt became tutor to the family of Andreas Berthold, an attorney in Berlin, Prussia.  While in Berlin our saint published his first 18 hymns in the Praxis Pietatis Melica (1648) of Johann Cruger (1582-1662).

In 1651, at the age of 44, Gerhardt became a Lutheran clergyman.  The first congregation he served was at Mittenwald.  Our saint married Anna Maria Berthold, daughter of Andreas Berthold, in 1655.  The couple had 13 children, only one of which (Paul Frederick Gerhardt) survived both parents.  Our saint’s wife died in March 1668.

In 1557 Gerhardt became an assistant minister of St. Nicholas Church, Berlin.  Relations between the Lutheran and Reformed Churches in Prussia were tense and replete with invective.  Frederick William (in office 1640-1688), the “Great Elector,” issued an edict meant to create religious peace in his realm.  He forbade ministers from attacking each other’s doctrines.  The Elector of Prussia, himself of the Reformed camp, required ministers to sign the edict.  Gerhardt, whom certain prominent Reformed Prussians respected, refused to sign, citing freedom of speech.  Thus, early in 1666, Frederick William deposed our saint, who was ill, whose wife was in poor health also, and most of whose remaining children were approaching death’s door.  Petitions prompted the Elector to reinstate Gerhardt in 1667.  He did so, however, on the condition that our saint act as if he had signed the edict.  Gerhardt refused the offer on principle.  Kindly parishioners supported the Gerhardts financially until, in late 1668, our saint was able to return to his post and collect back wages.

Gerhardt became the archdeacon of Lubben in May 1669.  He remained in that post until May 27, 1676, when he died.  Some older sources mistakenly listed his date of death as June 7.  Some online sources, citing and even duplicating them, have repeated that error.

Gerhardt wrote 132 hymns, most of which exist in English-language translations.  (I have added some of them to my GATHERED PRAYERS weblog.)  His hymns, most of which he based on Biblical texts, marked the transition from objective to subjective language.  Gerhardt wrote hymns for all the major Lutheran feasts, and justification by faith was among his favorite themes.  Among our saint’s most famous hymns was “O Sacred Head, Sore Wounded,” for Good Friday.  He translated it from a Latin text.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 7, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT MOSES, APOSTLE TO THE SARACENS

THE FEAST OF SAINT BLAISE OF SEBASTE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Paul Gerhardt and others, who have composed and translated hymn texts.

May we, as you guide us,

find worthy hymn texts to be icons,

through which we see you.

In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 44:1-3a, 5-15

Psalm 147

Revelation 5:11-14

Luke 2:8-20

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATOR OF AUXERRE AND GERMANUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; SAINT MAMERTINUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT MARCIAN OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCELLINUS OF EMBRUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF OLAVUS AND LAURENTIUS PETRI, RENEWERS OF THE CHURCH

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Augustus Nelson

Image Source = The Escanaba Daily Press, Escanaba, Michigan, June 27, 1924, Page 4

Accessed via newspapers.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

AUGUSTUS NELSON (SEPTEMBER 20, 1863-JUNE 18, 1949)

Swedish-American Lutheran Minister and Hymn Translator

The name of Augustus Nelson came to my attention as I added English-language translations of Swedish hymns to my GATHERED PRAYERS weblog.  I made a note to myself to learn more about him as part of the process of considering him for addition to my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days.  A meme I saw on Facebook recently depicted an iceberg, most of which was underwater.  The portion of the iceberg above water represented canonized saints, and the majority of the iceberg represented all the other saints.  Nelson has come to my Ecumenical Calendar from the portion of the iceberg that is underwater.

Nelson, born in Sweden on September 20, 1863, emigrated to the United States of America in 1883.  Here he made great contributions to communities, congregations, and the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America (1860-1894)/Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America (1894-1948)/Augustana Lutheran Church (1948-1962).  Upon his arrival in the U.S.A. Nelson worked as a farm laborer.  He graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota, in 1890.  Next our saint continued his studies at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, and at Augustana Theological Seminary, Rock Island, Illinois.  Nelson, ordained in 1898, married his love, Emma, who had studied music at Gustavus Adolphus College, on September 7, 1898.  She was 13 years his junior.  The couple had four children, all of whom became educators:

1. Anna Regina E. Nelson (Quist) (1899-1981);
2. Ruth G. E. Nelson (Johnson) (1900-1992), who was also a missionary in Tanganyika (now Tanzania);
3. Carl E. A. Nelson (1902-1978?); and
4. Esther E. Nelson (Carlson) (1915-1990).

Emma died at Mankato, Minnesota, on March 25, 1957, aged 77 years.  She had survived her husband by about eight years.  Her four children, nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren survived her.

Our saint served at various congregations, mostly in the Midwest.  First was Bethany Lutheran Church,  at Escanaba, Michigan, from 1898 to 1902.  During the next several years the Nelsons were in Waukegan, Illinois, then New Haven, Connecticut.  From 1906 to August 1909 Nelson was minister at Trade Lake, Wisconsin.  A 15-year-long tenure at Zion Lutheran Church, Manistique, Michigan, and its mission at Thompson, also on the Upper Peninsula, followed.  Then, from 1924 to 1938, our saint ministered at Clear Lake, Minnesota, and its mission at Gibbon.  He retired to Minneapolis in 1938 and eventually moved to Mankato, where he died, aged 85 years, on June 18, 1949.

Nelson also served beyond the congregational level.  From 1904 to 1906 he sat on the board of the Augustana Synod’s Upsala College, East Orange, New Jersey.  Our saint also served on the denominational Board of Education from 1922 to 1924.  Furthermore, he was the secretary of the Augustana Synod’s Superior Conference for nine years which included 1922-1925.

Nelson translated hymns, mostly from Swedish but also from Latin.  I have added four of these to my GATHERED PRAYERS weblog.  A fifth text was a translation from the writings of St. Venantius Honorius Clementius Fortunatus (circa 530-600/609):

Praise the Saviour

Now and ever!

Praise Him all beneath the skies!

Prostrate lying,

Suffering, dying

On the cross, a Sacrifice;

Victory gaining,

Life obtaining,

Now in glory He doth rise.

+++++

Man’s work faileth,

Christ’s availeth,

He is all our Righteousness.

He our Saviour

Hath forever

Set us free from dire distress

We inherit

Through his merit

Light and peace and happiness.

+++++

Sin’s bonds severed,

We’re delivered,

Christ hath bruised the serpent’s head;

Death no longer

Is the stronger,

Hell itself is captive led.

Christ hath risen

From death’s prison,

O’er the tomb He light hath shed.

+++++

For His favor

Praise forever

Unto God the Father sing;

Praise the Saviour,

Praise Him ever,

Son of God, our Lord and King;

Praise the Spirit,

Through Christ’s merit.

He doth us salvation bring.

Nelson’s legacy of hymnody does survive, albeit less robustly than it did in hymnals published prior to 1990.  My survey of denominational hymnals published since 1990 indicates that each of the following volumes contains one translation by our saint:

1. Trinity Hymnal–Revised Edition (Orthodox Presbyterian Church and Presbyterian Church in America, 1990),
2. Ambassador Hymnal for Lutheran Worship (The Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, 1994),
3. Trinity Hymnal–Baptist Edition (Reformed Baptist, 1995),
4. The Covenant Hymnal:  A Worshipbook (The Evangelical Covenant Church of America, 1996), and
5. Glory to God:  The Presbyterian Hymnal (Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 2013).

One can, however, find other and more translations by Nelson in older hymnals (especially those of Lutheran denominations in North America) and at hymn websites.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 5, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE SAINT OF SAINT AVITUS OF VIENNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF EDWARD HAYES PLUMPTRE, ANGLICAN PRIEST

THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF JAPAN

THE FEAST OF SAINTS PHILEAS AND PHILOROMUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Augustus Nelson and others, who have translated hymn texts.

May we, as you guide us,

find worthy hymn texts to be icons,

through which we see you.

In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 44:1-3a, 5-15

Psalm 147

Revelation 5:11-14

Luke 2:8-20

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATOR OF AUXERRE AND GERMANUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; SAINT MAMERTINUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT MARCIAN OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCELLINUS OF EMBRUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF OLAVUS AND LAURENTIUS PETRI, RENEWERS OF THE CHURCH

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++