The first follows up on my piece on lectio divina and comes from one of my former New Testament professors, Fr. Daniel J. Harrington. In this piece he looks at the tension between critical and devotional reading of scripture. Being a Jesuit and one of America's most respected biblical scholars, his take is a bit different than mine, but it is very much worth reading.
The second piece touches on the topic of sacred languages and the sacral register in worship versus the use of the vernacular. Rather than the familiar debates on Anglican and Roman Catholic liturgy, this piece looks at the use of Sanskrit in American Hindu communities. The author takes a position similar to that used to support the modern vernacular in Christian worship, but the different nuances are interesting.
