According to Brian McLaren, since the fifth or sixth century Christians in the West have read the Bible from the perspective of one particular story line -- paradise, fall, condemnation, and salvation/heaven or damnation/hell.
I believe McLaren is on to something. That story line is doubtlessly there. But it is not the only one. In large part, it is the result of a "backwards" reading of the Bible; backwards in the sense of reading back across centuries and centuries of interpretation to Jesus. McLaren suggests a "forwards" reading of the Bible; forwards in the sense of reading forward through centuries and centuries of interpretation to Jesus.
This sounds rather semantic and perhaps even esoteric. But, really, it is not. A backwards reading allows one set of sources to interpret the Bible for us, for example Pope Benedict, Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, John Calvin, John Wesley, Martin Luther, Erasmus, Aquinas, Augustine, St. Paul to mention a few. A forwards reading allows another set of sources to interpret the Bible for us, for example Abraham, Moses, King David, Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, again to name a few.
Peace.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
The Bible's Story Line
Currently, I am reading Brian McLaren's A New Kind of Christianity. In his book, McLaren identifies what he believes are central questions for the new kind of Christianity that is emerging. One of those questions has to do with the biblical narrative.
According to McLaren, formerly persons read the Bible "as a series of disconnected quotes and episodes yielding maxims, rules, formulas, anecdotes, propositions, and wise sayings . . . [with] little or no sense of the larger story into which the statements fit and in which their meaning took shape." McLaren notes that reading the Bible is such a way shrinks the text and in doing so shrinks us as well. He suggests exploring whether there is a discernable plotline of the biblical library. [By the way, there is one -- that will be another post.] What might the deep problems the original Christian story was trying to solve have been? According to the Bible, what is the big picture, like where did we come from and where are we going and where are we now?
According to McLaren, formerly persons read the Bible "as a series of disconnected quotes and episodes yielding maxims, rules, formulas, anecdotes, propositions, and wise sayings . . . [with] little or no sense of the larger story into which the statements fit and in which their meaning took shape." McLaren notes that reading the Bible is such a way shrinks the text and in doing so shrinks us as well. He suggests exploring whether there is a discernable plotline of the biblical library. [By the way, there is one -- that will be another post.] What might the deep problems the original Christian story was trying to solve have been? According to the Bible, what is the big picture, like where did we come from and where are we going and where are we now?
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Paine on the Bible
Here is a challenge to undertake not only reading the Bible through in a year, but also seeking to better understand it. Eighteenth century revolutionary pamphleteer Thomas Paine, best known for Common Sense, wrote: "The Bible is a book that has been read more and examined less than any book that ever existed."