What better way to launch a Sunday than with one of my favorite John Shelby Spong-isms --- a quote from the late Episcopal bishop who made a career of rattling the cages of conventional Christianity.
It came to mind after I glanced at today's Revised Common Lectionary lessons --- the epistle from Romans 13:
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
Fundamentalist Christian fascination with the ten commandments always interests me because the list is nothing special --- a cultural summary from the Hebrew Bible of for the most part generally accepted conventions of multiple faith traditions.
What is unique in Christianity is the insistence that love summarizes the law and is the filter through which everything else should be viewed --- and that's a bitter pill to swallow for those who need to focus on what their neighbors are doing wrong.
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