April

News from the past month so...

Happy Eastertide folks!

Christ is risen! And that means, in a real sense, that life is good, even doublegood. Death and evil do not have the final word. I’m grateful for this.

It was a fruitful and busy Holy Week at Christ Church culminating with a wonderful celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

I love this icon of the resurrection. There are many version of it, but all include both Old and New Testament saints, and Jesus literally pulling Adam and Even out of the grave.

This has also meant my reading and writing time was little squeezed. But don’t worry! I still have some good things to share with you, and am catching up now for lost time.

Writing

First, here’s a bit of what I’ve been working on when it comes to writing.

• The big news for me in the past month is that a book I’ve been working on for years has finally been published. Hooray!

  

  The book is titled Anglican Biblical Interpretation in the Nineteenth Century: A Critical Evaluation. And the book looks at what you might expect from the title: The way Anglicans read the Bible 200 years ago.
  
  Some people I look up to offered some kind endorsements, for instance:

  This is an important, illuminating and scholarly book in which Cole Hartin takes Scripture and the doctrine derived from it in a serious manner. He critically surveys biblical interpretation in the nineteenth-century Church of England through several insightful and detailed case studies of biblical scholars while paying attention to the theological developments arising from the way Scripture is read. Hartin’s work adds significantly to the study of Anglican biblical interpretation and makes a valuable contribution to the field by allowing insightful voices of the past to speak into the present. An outstanding contribution to Anglican studies.

  – The Rev’d Dr Brian Douglas, Research Professor, Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, Charles Sturt University, Australia. Editor, The Journal of Anglican Studies

  Anyways, I’m really honoured that it’s out there, but also kind of afraid! I’ve spent a lot of time on this. Will it be well received? (I hope so!) Did I miss any typos? (certainly!) Will it be useful to pastors, students, and scholars? (by the grace of God, I pray yes!).
  
  It’s a book that is a little jargony, because it’s written for an academic audience. If you are so inclined, though, you can take a look here or find it on Amazon. Perhaps I’ll share more about it later.

• Not unrelated to my book is a recent article in the Journal of Anglican Studies which really synthesizes some of my arguments in the book. The article is called “Three Trajectories in Nineteenth-Century Anglican Biblical Interpretation: From Narrow to Broad” and you can find it here now or wait for it to come out in print.

• And of course a couple of shorties from our parish newsletter, The Crucifer. One on listening and one on fasting.

• I preached a lot of sermons this month. I won’t link to them all, but here is Easter at Christ Church South

  And here is the Easter Vigil downtown.

  
  Reading

• I had lots of fun reading A Country Parson: James Woodforde’s Diary 1759-1802. Man, the Rev. James Woodforde wrote about everything, like the wild and extravagant multicourse meals he had for supper; the way that, on cutting himself shaving, he used a nearby dead moth to stop the blood flow; and the way that his pigs got into his spent beer grains, and couldn’t walk straight until the next day. What a pleasure to read!

  

  My dude.

• This month I finished Roger Scruton’s Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition, which is basically a history of the conservative movement. I am pretty politically moderate and do my best to duck out of the current political circus.
  
  But I am interested in political philosophy. I find liberalism’s emphasis on individual freedom and responsibility to be compelling, and Scruton presents conservatism as a “Yes, but also” to liberalism. What I took away from the book was Scruton’s point (and I think he is right) that individuals can best flourish in the communities that hold onto tradition. So in this sense, conservatism is not opposed to liberalism per se, but what enables it, if that make sense.

• On a lighter note, I read through the Stranger Things Omnibus. I think this is my favorite show of all time, and I am deeply grieved that I will not be seeing the last season this year. This comic helped tide me over.

  

Listening:

• There was so much greater music out this month! Adrianne Lenker’s new album is the best, and Novo Amor’s new LP dropped today. But I really enjoyed an artist that is new to me, Luke De-Sciscio’s folksy, warm, soulful acoustic release Papa. Here is a taste:

Watching

• I know we are late to the game, but Amy and I watched The Bear this month and were floored. If you haven’t seen it yet, the premise is that a Michelin Star chef gets dumped with his brother’s lousy Chicago sandwich joint after his untimely death.
  
  But man, the dialogue and heart in the show is so compelling. The language is completely obscene but probably true to life in a dive kitchen. It’s worth it though. I can’t wait for the third season.

Tasting:

• My gustatory highlight from this month:
  
  I finished off Easter evening with a dram of Edradour, sherry cask aged scotch graciously shared by my friend Robert. It was super rich, thick, molasses-y. And I paired it with the citrusy and floral Orlik Golden Sliced in my oldest Brigham apple pipe, under open skies, sitting with friends after a full day.

  

Well, that’s about all I have to say this month. Thanks for reading along. If you enjoyed reading this and you know someone else who might, you might as well share it:

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Until next time, enjoy Eastertide!

In Christ,

Cole+