Reading Ruth in context… through the centuries across the cultures

Reading Ruth in context…Reading Ruth in context…

• through the centuries

• across the cultures

Ambrose of Milan Ambrose of Milan C 340 – 397C 340 – 397

One of the eight Great Doctors of the ‘Undivided Church’: the four Latin (Western) Doctors (Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Pope Gregory the Great), and four Greek (Eastern) Doctors (Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, and Gregory of Nazianzus).

Isidore of Seville c 560 – 636Isidore of Seville c 560 – 636

Bishop of Seville, prolific writer and promoter of learning.

Nicholas of Lyra c 1270-1349Nicholas of Lyra c 1270-1349

French, author of the first printed commentary on the Bible and one of the foremost Franciscan theologians and influential exegetes of the Middle Ages.

Richard Bernard c 1568-1644Richard Bernard c 1568-1644

16th century Church of England clergyman and writer; lifelong non-conformist.

John Wesley 1703-1791John Wesley 1703-1791

Churchman, scholar, evangelist, struggler with God, shaper of English Methodism.

Charles Spurgeon: 1834 -Charles Spurgeon: 1834 -18921892

Baptist pastor, preacher and evangelist, sometimes called ‘the last of the Puritans’.

Julie Li-Chuan ChuJulie Li-Chuan Chu

Taiwanese biblical scholar and co-pastor with her husband in the Presbyterian church of Taiwan.

Musimbi KanyoroMusimbi Kanyoro

Kenyan theologian and biblical scholar; leader in the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians; YWCA general secretary.

Richard BauckhamRichard Bauckham

Professor of New Testament Studies, St Andrews University, Scotland.Prolific writer and specialist on the theology of Jürgen Moltmann.

Eugene PetersonEugene Peterson

American pastor of pastors, Bible scholar, writer and translator of The Message.

Ruth in our day…Ruth in our day…

because there is famine in the land…

because there is

political and economic turmoil…

Naomi and Ruth are among Naomi and Ruth are among us…us…

in Kosovo

…and Burundi

in Haiti…

…and Iraq

…in the USA

and the UK

… in Israel

and Palestine

on the roads…on the roads…

of the world’s cities

and rural areas…

What might it mean to embody God’s Kingdom to people like these?

How can we be Boaz today?

• To what extent do these readings from different centuries and different cultural perspectives change and enrich our understandings of the book of Ruth?

 • What aspects of the readings

you’ve heard today would you want to question and why?

For next week…For next week…

With the help of the 3 lenses, and by talking with the text, explore Luke’s account in Acts 5:1-11.

What might it mean for us today? How shall we live it?