A Lesson From Mom

My mom is a wonderful example that you are never done learning. She at 61 is still working out her faith, and seeking truth. For years she has been a good Catholic/Charismatic believer, who has had a tendency to have a strong conservative current in her faith walk. Recently, over the last couple of years, she has started to be impacted by social justice and looking at the Christian faith through new eyes.

Today, she shared with me this little gem from her readings of Richard Rohr (I am not sure what book she is currently reading):

“We thought we could have a personal relationship with Jesus without calling into question the systems and institutions we participate in and to which we belong.  In my first few years of work with young people in Cincinnati, I preached the Gospel and the young people fell in love with Christ.  They believed that they were converted, that they were “saved.”  When they tried to integrate their lives inside of the overpowering American culture, it was usually the culture that won.  Genuine evangelization must be good news for the individual and at the same time for society, for the nation, for the institution.  The great blind spot of European and American Christianity is that we can’t see that the Gospel isn’t aimed just at the individual, but also at society.  We have read it so long as a “private salvation theory” that we do not realize that the entire Bible is first of all a “salvation of history and a liberation of “a people” and humanity for God.”

May we all strive to understand the Gospel that moves beyond simple individualist salvation, the “get out of jail free card” Christianity, and realize the Gospel is something much, much better. I am convicted that any honest Christian reading of Scripture must uphold this type of holistic understanding.

Proud of you Mom. Thanks for the good word.

Ecclesial Readings

I have been part of a reading group that discusses theological interpretation of Scripture. We have just finished Murray Rae’s History and Hermeneutics. I have to say it is a must read for anyone who is: a) interested in hermeneutics of Scripture, and b) for those who are sick of the historical critical methodology that is prevalent in biblical studies today.

One of the major tenets of the book is that Rae argues that if Christians are going to read Scripture correctly, as it is meant to be read, then it has to be done in a communal or ecclesial setting. At its heart, the Christian practice of reading the Bible must be done in community. Rae states, “Whatever else may be done outside the ecclesia with the various texts that comprise the Christian Bible, the reading of the Bible, as such, is essentially an ecclesia practice,” (131). Furthermore, taking a shot at the Academy Rae states, “Less agreeable to many, however, is the claim that in the case of the interpretation of the Bible, the community that is best equipped to scrutinize the fruit of hermeneutical activity is not the university but the Church,” (141). It is the Church, therefore, that is to say how the text is to be read, and the Church to make judgments on what is right and what are erroneous moves done in the name of biblical theology and study. This is heavy stuff that cuts at the core of the rift between the Academy and the Church. But ultimately, the Academy and academic endeavors are there to serve the Church, not the other way around (as it does so, so many times).

During our time of discussion, one of the group members said that this is where he disagrees with Rae. If Rae’s argument was accepted, the results are that no person could read text on their own, that he is unable to read Scripture and develop a framework of meaning by himself. He did not like this.

However, I retorted that this is one of the most exciting and provocative elements regarding Rae’s argument. We, as individuals, cannot read the text on our own. It is beyond us. It takes a community of individuals, a community of people with their varying viewpoints, presuppositions, and conclusions working together to have any hope in making sense and meaning of the Word of God. It is within this framework that we become dependent on others, and learn to trust and love one other; for to make sense of the theological realities that Scripture teaches, we need each other.

Ultimately the reading of text in the modern world has been done by individuals, who through long hours of isolation and seclusion in the halls of an office or a library, read and write and tell the world what the text means. May we as a Church learn that a commentary written by an individual is not the endgame, it is a tool, it is a viewpoint but it needs us as we need it. We, as a community, need to read text together…

A Starting Place: No Single Answer

I ran across this video today, of Peter Rollings telling an old Jewish parable.

As this blog continues on, I think in many ways to keep the notion of journey and the plurality of answers in the forefront of my thoughts is paramount. After all, so much pain and suffering through the Christian tradition is caused by people thinking that they have the single right answer and doctrinal teachings of God. Any hermeneutic, if it is to be valid, will have to be honest with itself; and recognize other readings as legit. There is just not one single meaning to a text, and no single reading that contains the only right understanding. Let the journey begin…