- Beginning with the link between God and his creation (ecology, resources and humanity) what does the Sabbath have to say to is in a world which has gone overboard on 24/7? What have we lost and what do we need to restore?
- Imagine yourself in a situation of restoration, renewal or simply a re-think. The line is drawn between those who want to prioritise the Ritual and others who go for the Ethical. If you were a fly on the wall where might you find yourself, and why?
- What do you regard as the predominant emphasis for today’s equivalent of the Sabbath? Are there ways in which we might bring our contemporary practices into line, particularly with the wider community in mind?
- Asked by a stranger in the ‘local’ where you find your faith what is your first thought? The Bible or a novel? The church or the theatre? A Christian group or the workplace?
- Recall a couple of Focal Points where you are most comfortable. To what extent do they relate to a world long since gone and how much to the world you live in today?
Further Reading
Bruce M Metzger & Michael D Coogan (eds), The Oxford Companion to the Bible, OUP, 1993.
John W Rogerson & Judith M Lieu (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies, Oxford University Press, 2006.
John Barton and John Muddiman (eds), The Oxford Bible Commentary, OUP, 2008.
Charles M Laymon (ed), Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible, Abingdon Press, 1971.
Matthew Black & H H Rowley, Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, Nelson, 1962.
Paul J Achtemeier, Harper’s Bible Dictionary, Harper & Row, 1985.
James Hastings (ed), Dictionary of the Bible (Second edition), T & T Clark, 1963.
Davis J A Clines, Interested Parties, Sheffield Academic Press, 1995.
Trevor Dennis, Lo and Behold! and Speaking of God, SPCK, 1991 & 1992.
John V Taylor, The Go-Between God, SCM Press, 1972.
Gerd Theissen, Traces of Light, SCM Press, 1996.