Word: edington
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...MARK D. EDINGTON...
...Edington could have retreated into his grief, but instead, he preached three Christmas sermons that week on a topic he had never talked about before: Joseph, the husband of Mary and, as he pointed out, the "adoptive" father of Jesus. But he did not stop there. He began working on a book about Joseph that further delved into the nature of the relationship between the older man and his holy child...
...certain point, however, Edington ran out of verses for exegesis. Joseph appears in the Nativity story of Matthew and more briefly in that of Luke but is then severely--eventually terminally--marginalized. The Bible never even quotes him directly. Yet with Bright's encouragement, Edington extended his research beyond the New Testament to early nonbiblical sources. In 2000 he published a slim book called The Forgotten Man of Christmas: Joseph's Story, which combined biblical analysis with material suggested by his additional reading, along with brief recollections of his own family's story. The pastor admits that it may have...
...scarcity can be liberating. "Because there's so little--because he's not quoted--we can make him work for whatever we want him to work for, as long as we stay within the intent of Scripture," says Jenkins. In fact, Edington, Rice and Jenkins are just the most recent participants in a lively and long-standing tradition. From almost the moment the Gospels were set down, early Christian communities, church fathers, Pontiffs and random laity have colored in the lightly sketched character of Joseph, and in some cases extended his contour considerably. At first they elaborated his story...
...most fruitful road to Joseph seems to be, as the Rev. Edington noted, one combining "good, serious Bible study and some recreative imagination." Edington's own book is not really storytelling. It can be divided into four sermons, one for each of Joseph's angelic dreams. But it is peppered with mildly speculative sections titled "How it must have been," and it speaks humbly but with feeling to the bond in faith--and other things--between a father and son not related by blood. Edington's book ends with a meditation on the power of love to ennoble the lover...