Chapter VI: Praise

II. The Lessons.

A. The Study of the Bible a help to worship.

The Bible is read in Church as an incentive to the praise of God. It supplies thoughts of God which are then offered up to Him, as Praise, in the words of the Canticles. It is therefore necessary that we should _understand_ the Bible Lessons as well as our abilities will allow, and that we should _endeavour_ to find in those Lessons everything which will inspire us to honour and love God.

There are two distinct requirements. A book may help us to _understand_, but the _endeavour_ to find God in the Bible depends on ourselves: our Lord has described it in the words _He that hath ears to hear let him hear_.

In order to understand the Bible when we hear it read, we should study it at home. Some elementary aids to the study of it may be useful here; for further help we shall want books specially prepared for that {48} purpose, such as the Cambridge Companion to the Bible and The Cambridge Bible for Schools, &c.

1. The Old Testament and the New Testament agree together: they have the same principles of morality, worship and doctrine. God's guidance of the writers is seen in this--the Old Testament, written at different times in the centuries before our Lord was Born, was such that the Gospel of the Revelation in Jesus was able to fit into it. As S. Augustine says,

"Novum Testamentum in Vetere latet,
Vetus Testamentum in Novo patet."

See also Article VII.

2. The failure of man to live well is shown in the Old Testament. Though he had favourable conditions and a holy law of life, a pure system of worship, and the discipline of warning and correction, the Israelite failed. Hence the Old Testament continually teaches (_a_) that God governs, (_b_) that man needs a Saviour.

3. The Old Testament consists of 3 parts (_a_) the Law and History, (_b_) the Psalms and Proverbs, (_c_) the Prophets.

(_a_) The Law and History part includes the books from Genesis to Esther, and relates the progress of the people of God from its separation as a family and its growth to be an important nation, to the downfall of its independence, and its partial recovery. The writers were a succession of prophets, who continually point to the hand of God in the events which they record.

(_b_) The Psalms and Proverbs part includes the books from Job to the Song of Solomon, and contains {49} many Hymns of prayer and praise; also discussions of deep problems of human nature and our relation to God (Job and Ecclesiastes); together with other things which stir us to a life of goodness and worship.

(_c_) The Prophets are not arranged in order of time at which they lived. The four Books which come first are called the Four Greater Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel: and are followed by the Twelve Lesser Prophets. To find the place in the Lesser Prophets it is sufficient to remember Hosea, Joel, Amos as the three which are placed first; and Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi as the three prophets after the Captivity, and therefore placed last. Isaiah should be read with parts of Kings and Chronicles, and Haggai and Zechariah with the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah; and others in like manner according to their period.

4. The New Testament consists of 3 parts--(_a_) The History, (_b_) The Epistles, (_c_) The Revelation of St John.

(_a_) _S. Luke's_ History is in two volumes--the Gospel, which recounts our Lord's Life from His Birth to His Ascension (note here the number of His Parables): and the Acts of the Apostles, which continues the history from His Ascension to the (first) imprisonment of S. Paul at Rome. _S. Matthew's_ Gospel corresponds to S. Luke's Gospel, recounting our Lord's Life from His Birth, with many of His sayings about the Kingdom of Heaven, and especially the Sermon on the Mount. _S. Mark's_ Gospel is similar to the two former. It recounts particularly the details of the various scenes of our Lord's Life, {50} and shows how frequently He retired for meditation,--"a living picture of a living man[1]." _S. John's_ Gospel, written long after the others, shows the three witnesses--the spirit and the water and the blood--that bear record that Jesus is the Son of God (1 S. John v. 8).

(_b_) The Epistles are not in chronological order. S. Paul's Epistles are placed first, then S. James, S. Peter, S. John and S. Jude. Of S. Paul's Epistles, those to Churches come before those to Timothy, Titus and Philemon. Of his Epistles to Churches, the order in the Bible is Rom., Cor., Cor., Gal., Ephes., Philip., Col., Thess., Thess. They fit into the History in the following groups: (I) Acts xvii.,--1 and 2 Thess,, (II) Acts xix. 22 to xx.,--1 and 2 Cor., Gal., Romans, (III) Acts xxviii.,--Philip., Col., Ephes., Philemon, (IV) _after_ the imprisonment described in Acts xxviii.,--1 and 2 Tim. and Titus. The Epistles to Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon (a Colossian Christian) seem to have been sent by the same messenger. The Epistle to the Hebrews may have been written by S. Paul; but, as that is doubtful, it has been placed after those which are surely his. The Epistles which follow are called "General," because they are addressed to Christians scattered about in various countries. S. James and S. Peter have many references to the Sermon on the Mount. S. John dwells upon Love as the foundation upon which a Christian builds his life--the Love which God has shown us, and the Love which we have for Him and for one another.

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(c) The Revelation of S. John, written perhaps before the time when Jerusalem was besieged (A.D. 68-69), carries our thoughts away from the glories of the Jerusalem which was about to be destroyed, to the New Jerusalem and its glories, in Jesus Christ and His Church.

5. The Apocrypha supplies First Lessons for 21 days between Oct. 27 and Nov. 18; and also for the evenings of Innocents' Day and S. Luke's Day. Article VI. quotes S. Jerome's description of the Apocrypha, where he says "the other books the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine."

These notes will, we hope, prompt the reader to make a study of the Bible not only for the guidance of his life, but also for the amendment of the offering which he makes to God in the Services of the Church.

B. Lessons and Lectionaries.

Acts xv. 21. "Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath Day." The reference is to the Mosaic regulations which were to a certain extent to be observed by all Christians, out of consideration for those Christians who were also Jews: _be sure that thou eat not the blood, for the blood is the life_ was a precept which would create a difficulty in a Jewish Christian's mind if a Gentile Christian disregarded it. Similarly as to meats offered to idols (cf. 1 Cor. viii. 10-13).

There was then in the Synagogues of the first century a "First Lesson" from the Law.

{52} Acts xiii. 27. "The voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath Day." There was then in the Synagogues a "Second Lesson" from the Prophets.

Acts xiii. 15. "After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the rulers of the Synagogue sent unto (Paul and his companions), saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on."

The passage selected from the Law was associated with a passage selected from the Prophets--there was a Lectionary for Sabbath Services. The present Jewish Lectionary associates Isaiah i. 1-28 with Deut. i. 1-iii. 22 as the Lessons for the Sabbath of Temple Desolation[2].

In S. Paul's Exhortation which followed (_vv._ 16-41) there are, in _vv._ 17-19, three words rarely found in the Bible, but of their rare use one ("exalted") is found in Is. i. 2, and the others in Deut. i. 31, 38 ("suffered their manners" and "gave for an inheritance").

The reference, in _v._ 20, to "judges" is also to be noted in connection with Is. i. 26. Bengel reasons that we may safely conclude that the two Lections on that day were those which we have just mentioned as associated together in the present Jewish Lectionary[3].

S. Luke iv. 15-20. Jesus . . . taught in their Synagogues--came to Nazareth--"entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood {53} up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias." It appears from what follows (_vv._ 17-20) that the Lord read Isaiah lxi. 1, 2, either instead of the appointed passage from Isaiah, or after He had read the appointed passage. For Isaiah lxi. does not now appear in the Jewish Lectionary, and we know no reason for its omission now, if it was included before. In any case what He said about it, He said as the Exhorter[4]. They divided the Law into 53 or 54 portions, and read the whole of them between one Feast of Tabernacles and the next, whether the Sabbaths were 50 or more. Each portion was divided into seven parts, read by seven different Readers (a Priest and a Levite being the first two). This Lesson apparently stood alone until in B.C. 163 Antiochus Epiphanes forbade the use of the Pentateuch. Lessons from the Prophets were used instead, and were not discontinued when the use of the Pentateuch was restored. Thus arose a practice of having a First Lesson from the Law, which they called Parascha (or, _Division_), and a Second Lesson from the Prophets, called Haphtarah (or, _Conclusion_). The word _Holy_ was said before and after the First Lesson and a Doxology before and after the Second Lesson--an arrangement similar to our own. We may, indeed, believe that we derived from the Jews this and other uses of our Services. For we read in Acts vi. 7 that a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith, and {54} in Acts xviii. 7, 8 that at Corinth, when they ceased to be able to go to the Synagogue, the ruler of the Synagogue himself went with them to the worship and teaching which they carried on in a house hard by. It would not be surprising, then, if the worship thus begun was arranged after the old pattern to which they were all accustomed. For there are, not a few, proofs in the Acts of the Apostles that in those early days they attended the Services of the Temple at Jerusalem, and of the Synagogues in other places.

Justin Martyr[5], writing in defence of Christianity to the Emperor of Rome, describes the Holy Communion Service of his time as comprising two Lessons--one from the Prophets and the other from the Apostles, i.e., we suppose, the Gospels; a stage nearer to the two New Testament Lessons which are read at the Communion now. The use of an Old Testament and a New Testament Lesson at Daily Prayers may be a survival of the intermediate stage as described by Justin.

A Lectionary is a Table of Lessons arranged for a year. Our Table of Epistles and Gospels is derived from one which has been attributed to S. Jerome. The Sermons of his age show that there were stated Lessons for particular days[6]. Moreover, certain variations in the manuscripts of the New Testament are explained by the early use of books in {55} which the Lessons for the days were written out in full[7], called Lectionaries or Evangelistaria.

The principle which governs our own Lectionary is that the Bible shall be read through[8]. The books are taken in order, beginning with Genesis, S. Matthew, and Acts on January 2, and going straight on, with two exceptions. First exception: Isaiah's clear prophecies of Messiah are deferred to Nov. 18 &c., so as to be read in Advent. Second exception: Revelation is read in the latter half of December.

The effect of beginning the New Testament in two places on Jan. 2 is that it is read twice through in the year--once at Morning Prayer and once at Evening Prayer.

For Sundays a different arrangement is made with regard to the Old Testament. The Sunday year begins with Advent, which is the season occupying twenty-eight days before Christmas. Selections from Isaiah are read on these four Sundays, on Christmas Day, and on the four or five Sundays which usually follow Christmas before Septuagesima. At Septuagesima we are anticipating Lent and the Passion: Genesis therefore supplies the Lessons, followed by Exodus at Passion-tide, and the other books in regular course.

To this brief description we may add that Proper Lessons, specially chosen from Old and New Testament, are appointed for special Sundays and special {56} Holy Days. These take the place of those which appear in the regular list for the same days. If two special days coincide, the minister may read the Lessons of either, except that, on Advent Sunday, Easter Day, Whitsunday and Trinity Sunday, the Lessons for those days are to be read.

The principles of this arrangement have been in use since 1549; alterations in its details were made in 1559, 1604, and 1871.

In 1559 the Apocrypha was appointed for many of the Saints' Days, which nevertheless were left with their Old Testament Lessons in the Calendar. Thus these latter were invariably unread.

In 1604 this defect of the Calendar was corrected by moving the Lessons forward to make room for the Proper Lessons, and omitting some few of those which "might best be spared."

Until 1871 the New Testament was read through _thrice_ in the year, the Lessons being usually whole chapters. And the Gospels were always Morning Lessons, and the Epistles and Acts always Evening Lessons. Revelation was almost altogether omitted.

From 1604 till 1871 the First Lessons from Sept. 28 until Nov. 23 were from the Apocrypha--eight weeks. The Apocrypha Lessons continue now only from Oct. 27 to Nov. 18.

The principle of selection has in all these changes been recognised; but always subordinate to a larger principle of reading in Church the whole Bible. Prior to 1871 the two Books of Chronicles were not read, being regarded as sufficiently represented by the corresponding chapters from the Books of the Kings. In {57} 1871 eighteen Lessons from the Chronicles were introduced in place of the corresponding passages in the Kings.

We shall find in the next chapter that all these Lessons in Church are to be thought of in connection with their attendant Canticles--so that a Lesson and its Canticle form an act of Praise: "as after one angel had published the Gospel (S. Luke ii. 10-12) a multitude joined with him in praising God, so when one minister hath read the Gospel, all the people glorify God" (S. Luke ii. 13, 14)[9].

Rubric. _Then shall be read distinctly_, &c.] The words of this rubric were altered to some extent in 1662, the only notable change being the alteration of "The minister that readeth" to "He that readeth." The object of the change seems to be that one who is not 'the minister' may read the Lessons. The minister is still directed to declare where they begin and end.

He is to turn himself so as to be heard: and Canon 80 requires the churchwardens to provide a "Bible of the largest volume." A desk or Lectern is therefore implied as one of the 'Ornaments of the Church.'

It is usually assumed that the Congregation sits during the Lessons except when the Gospel is read in the Communion. Probably there were not seats for them when the rubrics were drawn up: custom has authorised their addition to the list of 'ornaments.' The movable seats, bequeathed by incumbents to their successors or others as they thought fit, are not recognised by any words in the Prayer Book.

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