Monday, March 5 - Church of San Clemente

Clement was a slave owned by the cousin of the emperor, Domitian. He was succeeded by the martyr Linus (66-78), the martyr Cletus (79-91), and then Clement (91-101). He may have been a co-worker with Paul (Phil 4:3) and a witness of Peter and Paul's martyrdoms. He wrote a letter to the Corinthians (96), the first known example of a Pope intervening in the affairs of another Church and speaks of the Orders of bishop, priest, and deacon as being instituted by Christ (for a while this was considered by some to be part of the New Testament). Legend has it he was martyred by being drowned with an anchor tied around his neck. His earthly remains rest under the main altar. Saints Cyril and Methodious are also buried here.
This ancient church is living history. It was first a temple to Mithras (pre-Roman). An imperial palace was then built on top of the ruins (1st C). Clement had a house here where he gathered the faithful for Divine Liturgies. It continued to be a place of worship.

Constantine started to built a church on this site and it was dedicated in 384. This church was destroyed by the Norman invaders (1804). The present church was built on top of the ruins by Pachal II (1099-1118). The former ruins have been excavated so you can now go down and visit all four levels of history. Extraordinary!! Raphael was the architect (1483-1520).

Some notes from classes ....

I am trying to catch up on some of the classes we have had ... the schedule is a bit lighter this week and I think it is a good time to try to post some details of the academia stuff that has been going on .....

Fr. Craig Morrison, O.Carm, professor of Biblical Studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute.

We spent several sessions over a number of days looking at techniques for reading and reflecting on Sacred Scripture using a method he refers to as Narrative analysis.

This is very different from the method I learned at my own seminary education some 30 years ago. At that time the prevalent method was called the Historical - Critical Method.  It basically means that in order to know what the sacred authors meant, one must know the history of the period. Hence, the many examples I give of the daily life in the time of Jesus. Also, understanding the meaning required knowing the history of the period in which the passage was written.

Fr. Morrison offered us a method in addition to the historical - critical method which relies on a direct analysis of the narrative of the text. He claims that if you read the text deeply and raise questions from what you read, you will arrive at a meaning that is helpful for preaching and to "open up the scriptures" for people. He is not suggesting that we abandon the historical - critical method which we learned. He believes that reading the scripture as a narrative will make the scripture come alive for the modern hearer.

The technique requires a careful reading of the text and asking many questions of what is happening: who is speaking? who is observing? what is said? what is not said? What are the questions? Are the answers true? false? unanswered? Was the question evaded? Are statements true? false? relevant? What part of the narrative are extraneous to the story? What parts move the story along? What information is omitted? withheld? delayed? Does the character know more than the listener? Does the listener know more than the character(s)?

The questions go on and on.

Fr. Morrison reminded us to be careful not to read things into the story. And to be careful not to add details that are not there. For example: No where in the story of Adam and Eve is there a mention of an apple. None of the gospels ever say that Jesus was nailed to a cross. It says only that they crucified him. The words nail or nailed never appears in the gospel. Those details come from religious art, not the Bible.

I think that I will be purchasing Fr. Morrison's books and that my preaching, certainly the content will never be the same again.