Preview of the new season "this site Bible"
Dr. Gunther Fleischer (left) in conversation © DR
Four weeks before the start of the Family Synod in the Vatican, another season of "our site-Bible – explorations, explanations, settings" on the topic of marriage, family, sexuality. Sundays on the radio and here to listen to and read about.
The expectations for the synod held on 4. October in the Vatican beginning 14. Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops are high. For three weeks, bishops will address the topic of "The vocation and mission of the family in the church and the world today". The course of the extraordinary synod last fall, as well as the questionnaires sent out twice, have shown that there is much need for discussion here and that tempers are running high on some irritant topics.
our site is launching another season of the series "this site" in the run-up to the Synod on the Family.de Bibel – Erkundungen, Erklarungen, Vertonungen" (The Bible – Explorations, Explanations, Settings) and wants to focus on the topic of marriage, family and sexuality.
Cooperation with the Archbishop's School of Bible and Liturgy
After the first two seasons on the Old Testament readings of the Easter Vigil in the spring of 2012 and on Advent figures in December 2013, this is the third time that Dr. Gunther Fleischer, director of the Archbishop's Bible and Liturgy School in Cologne, in conversation with this site editor Jan Hendrik Stens the Hl. Scripture for texts that are dedicated to or related to a particular theme. To this Fleischer, who is in possession of a large collection of CD music, also contributes the appropriate pieces of music from the sacred and secular spheres.
Themes of the Synod on the Family
A total of 21 passages on the topics that will also occupy the synod will be heard on five Sundays and are intended to open up as varied a spectrum as possible with different points of view. For example, the images of the family in the Old and New Testaments are quite different. "You could polarize a bit now and say that in the Old Testament the family plays an enormous role and in the New Testament it plays a more background and less weighty role," Gunther Fleischer said. While the Old Testament looks at reality as it is, the New Testament looks at what will be, what comes after death and what it means to follow Jesus. It is therefore not surprising that the sometimes spectacular stories of polygamy, bigamy, adultery, homosexuality and prostitution are more likely to be found in the Old Testament. A selection of these will be discussed in the five episodes of the broadcast season, including, of course, the story of Judah and his sons and David and Bathsheba.
No Holy Spirit coaching
"However, the series is not intended to be a 'hint with the fence post' or 'Holy Spirit coaching' on how the synod should proceed," says this site editor Stens, referring to the numerous statements, petitions and open letters that have already been made public in the run-up to the bishops' meeting. It is more a matter of learning to better understand bulky and sometimes heavy on the stomach Bible texts on marriage, family and sexuality and to deal with them, for example, when they occur in the liturgy or are discussed. Dr. Fleischer also points out that the Bible is not simply the answer to all the questions that arise today. "If I take the topic of homosexuality, it plays a different role in the ancient Orient, it plays a different role in the New Testament against the background of Greek culture than it does today."
The broadcast of the one-hour episodes will begin on Sunday, 6. September at 7 p.m. (repeated at 2 a.m.) and will end on Sunday, September 4. October at 7 p.m. (rebroadcast at 2 a.m.), the day the three-week bishops' assembly opens in Rome.