People seem to be interested in how our sexuality relates to our understanding of the Bible and the way we live our lives in both practical and profound ways. This is evidenced by the overwhelming response to my message this last Sunday, 'Empty Calories and Superfoods', on the text in Ephesians 5 that addresses fornication (a big scary word), language, and wine and debauchery (another scary word). Well, I did some thinking a few months ago on the place of the Song of Songs, the sexy Old Testament love story. I'm setting you up today for the four part blog-series next week on the sexuality, liturgy, authority, and canonicity (fancy word for - 'in our Bibles'). Tune in beginning Monday. Here's a brief intro...
Song of Songs has been a suspicious inclusion in the biblical canon for millennia. The rabbis have lauded it and the Church Fathers have loathed it. Yet it remains a portion of what Christians consider to be the inspired Word of God. How, then, shall we treat it? With what lens or filter shall we read it? Where is its source; what is its goal? At the root of these questions, one consistently approaches the issue of canonicity. Why is the Song of Songs in the biblical canon? From an overview of its contents and history of interpretation, it seems to be that the book is both intensely sexual and powerfully liturgical. After addressing these two categories, one can then begin to address both the authority of the Song, as well as its canonicity.
'The Bride' by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
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