How does lectionary-based Bible study differ from non-lectionary-based Bible study?

MJ. Smith

It varies slightly depending upon the lectionary but using the RCL as an example:

Every Sunday has 3 readings with the following characteristics:

1st reading - somehow is thematically related to the Gospel except in Lent when it gives an overview of salvation history (Old Testament except iin the Easter season when it is from Acts)

responsorial psalm - a psalm that relates to the Gospel or the first reading

epistle - a semi-continuous reading of an epistle; independent of other readings

Gospel:- a reading for the Gospel emphasized during the particular year; generally in sequence

Net result: one rarely studies a passage in isolation -  one or more of the other readings also comes into play.

In addition, one usually makes reference to the previous week's readings and the upcoming week. So one reads in the context of a dozen passages of scripture.

It is my impression based on the forum and Logos functions (don't get mad - it isn't all functions) that the majority of non-lectionary Bible studies starts with a single passage - to which parallels and cross-references are often added, along with proof-texts for the points made in the study.

Several things over the past year have led me to believe that many on the forums don't really understand my fascination with lectionaries. It's best summarized as mult-text studies vs. single-text studies.  I hope this helps you understand why.

Matthew C Jones

MJ. Smith said:

Net result: one rarely studies a passage in isolation -  one or more of the other readings also comes into play.

In addition, one usually makes reference to the previous week's readings and the upcoming week. So one reads in the context of a dozen passages of scripture.

It is my impression based on the forum and Logos functions (don't get mad - it isn't all functions) that the majority of non-lectionary Bible studies starts with a single passage - to which parallels and cross-references are often added, along with proof-texts for the points made in the study.

Several things over the past year have led me to believe that many on the forums don't really understand my fascination with lectionaries. It's best summarized as mult-text studies vs. single-text studies.  I hope this helps you understand why.

Thanks. I'm learning here.

I do have two questions:
How are the readings decided? (or Who chooses?)
Why are they always Gospel related?

My experience in "Stone-Campbell" churches and Baptist churches (Southern, Independent and Reformed) is they almost never study a passage in isolation in the church services. Also, various "Study Bibles" & Thompson Chain-Reference are very popular in these denominations for personal Bible study. My particular IFB has a 1st reading, a responsorial Psalm and an exegetical reading. The pastor chooses the readings and they are always related. Most of the time the previous weeks' subject are referred to and a connection made to the current week's narrative. I find the similarities intriguing. I am sure there are distinct differences. Someday I should visit and observe a lectionary based service.

 

 

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/22657#Comment_22657

Matthew C Jones said:

How are the readings decided? (or Who chooses?)
Why are they always Gospel related?

First, let me note that the local (now defunct?) Stone-Campbell Bible College (Puget Sound College of the Bible) was suggesting the Revised Common Lectionary as a source of readings in the 1980's. And the blog of Hicks indicates that the Church of Christ is moving towards the mainstream in interpretation. (Most "mainstream" Protestants but not all have some lectionary bent).

The readings follow a set cycle comparable to the Jewish cycle of 1 or 3 years. The Jewish cycle (1 reading from the Torah, 1 from the Prophets) has been fairly stable since the time of the Exile. The current pattern has a little variation between Shephardic, Ashkenazim and Yemenite congregations. It exists in a couple of forms from Rambun - Jewish Spain. The Western traditional - Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican - was on a one year cycle of epistle and Gospel until after Vatican II.

The post-Vatican II lectionary was modified by the Consultation on Common Texts - think 1992 for the Revised Common Lectionary; 2005 for a daily lectionary. CCT consists of representatives of: Anglican
Church of Canada, Canadian Conference
of Catholic Bishops, Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Reformed Church in North America, Church of the
Brethren, Episcopal
Church, Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America, Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Canada, Liturgy and Life: American Baptist Fellowship for
Liturgical Renewal, Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod, Mennonite
Church, National
Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States, Polish National
Catholic Church, Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.), Presbyterian
Church in Canada, Reformed Church in America, Unitarian
Universalist Christian Fellowship, United
Church of Canada, United Church of
Christ, United Methodist Church, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. While its work is North American, it is used around the world - I don't have a list of the churches that have adopted it. Each denomination may have minor modifications to the readings, rules regarding how many readings must be used, and rules about when substitution is permitted.  The preacher or pastor can base their homily on any or all of the readings - emphasis on the Gospel is the most common among Catholics.

The emphasis on the Gospels goes back to the early church.  The Jewish tradition read the entire Torah in a 1 or 3 year cycle. As Christians moved out of the synagogue, they replaced the Torah with the Gospel (over time not instantly). When Bibles were hand written, many churches didn't possess a complete Bible - emphasis was therefore on Jesus / the Gospels. The selection of the Gospel reading standardized first on the Gospel readings in the weeks immediately prior to baptism - the woman at the well, the man born blind, the raising of Lazarus. Note that I automatically name the pericope rather than give a citation - a habit of the lectionary-based churches prior to the mass printing of Bibles.

I know of traditions using as many as 7 readings in a Sunday service, 5, 3, 2 are other numbers frequently used. Unfortunately, much of the development of the lectionary in the different traditions - western, Byzantine, Syriac, Coptic, Mozarabic, Armenian etc. has left little evidence in the manuscripts - bits and pieces are all I can find in English.

Note that the psalms and readings of the Divine Office / Breviary / Liturgy of the Hours is a separate tradition shared again by the major liturgical churches.  The International Sunday School Lesson movement of the 1830's to present provided some of the same cross-denominational common readings that the lectionary does. However, the ISSL tradition appears to be a single passage - with related devotional reading passages for the weekdays. Someone from a tradition using the ISSL 6 year cycle could speak better on this cycle.  I have been surprised that Logos hasn't provided these citations in the Lectionary format; no modifications needed - just input.