First Limitation

Sundberg gives a list of Three specific Limitations of the Lectionary in his Article. "1. The lectionary does not responsibly represent the Old Testament. This is not surprising. In the long tradition of Christian lectionaries, the Old Testament has rarely found a secure place. … A further problem is caused by the choice of Old Testament readings. Richard Nelson points out that '30% of all readings are from Isaiah and two-thirds of these are from chapters 40-66.' This is a shocking statistic. It is obvious that the riches of the Old Testament are being ignored. Given the fact that readings from Acts replace the Old Testament lesson during the Easter Season, one realizes just how limited the encounter with the Old Testament is in the average congregation on Sunday mornings."

This first point is the most basic and problematic for me. The Old Testament makes up over 60% of all scripture and this is limited to Isaiah 40-66. This can not be a lectionary of based on Scripture. The so called Historic Lectionary never included readings of the Old Testament. Sundberg goes on proving his point, "It is in the great tales of the Old Testament that the triumph and tragedy of human life before God find their most noble expression. All of us grew up with these Old Testament stories."

We hear these accounts in Sunday School but miss out on hearing the preacher tell us of the theology of the account. God helped his people in many ways and these accounts have great theology to teach us. The Old Testament teaches us a foundation for which Jesus knows and the people hearing the New Testament use this for their foundation of thought. We need to turn to the Old Testament to find more Theology. Thank you.

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