Manfred Brauch, now retired from many years of teaching at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Palmer), calls us to a more serious approach to Scripture in order to end the all-too-common abuse of Scripture.
Scripture is used for everything by everyone ... what I mean is that everyone thinks the Bible is on their side. Which means we've tamed the "blue parakeet" passages.
But I've been thinking of the many who have a great idea, know the texts where that idea is found, and then run everything in the Bible -- and I mean everything -- through that one idea. These folks "use" the Bible and end up "abusing" the Bible. That's why we need more Bible studies that focus on what the Bible does say in its context.
Brauch addresses just that concern and his book is called
Abusing Scripture: The Consequences of Misreading the Bible
. I'm not hearing much about this book, even though it deserves a wide hearing and would make an excellent textbook for college students and a good Bible study book for the serious student of the Bible.
In the process of urging us to take more seriously what we are doing -- and he's smack-on in this appeals -- Brauch illustrates his points. The focus of his illustrations revolve around three biblical themes: the use and justification of force and violence, the relationship of men and women -- home and church and society -- and the concern for justice and the sanctity of life.
After a welcome sketch of the inspiration and authority of Scripture, in which sketch he shows a moderate traditional view, Brauch addresses the following "abuses" of Scripture that can be found on too many church corners:
Which of these abuses do you see the most? Do you see others that concern you?
I just spent a bundle of time with John H. Walton, who is the General Editor of a brand new series on the Old Testament, and it is a series we desperately need.
This new series is a commentary unlike any commentary series ever because, instead of just being a commentary, it is a commentary only and specially-focused on historical background.
John Walton, editor: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Set: Old Testament
.
The only way I can put it is this: every church and every pastor and ever seminarian, especially those who are evangelical, will want this commentary series within arm's reach on his or her desk. There is nothing like it -- and we all know commentaries repeat one another endlessly -- and this one doesn't.
We have learned so much about the ancient world -- the Ancient Near East -- in the last fifty years, but more and more it has become increasingly difficult to keep all of this stuff in our heads or within memory's reach. But that has now been partially resolved for us with this new series written by experts on these materials. It's focus is on the backgrounds and historical contexts for each book of the Old Testament.
In our series on young Christian authors, it's a bit unfair to include
Margaret Feinberg -- not because she's not young, which she is, but because she's written already a bundle of good books. Her newest book is a treat. It's called
Scouting the Divine: My Search for God in Wine, Wool, and Wild Honey
.
Here's what Margaret likes to do: Read the Bible, explore the Bible and its world, and discuss its value for living today. Here's how I'd summarize this fine book:
She fuses the Bible with the real world in a way that sheds light on how to live with God today.
Which is just what she does in Scouting the Divine. In this book Margaret goes below the surface of the Bible to explore the world of what the Bible says about wool ... about farming ... about honey ... about wine. And spending time with shepherds, with those who farm and harvest and can tomatoes, with those who have bee hives, and with those who grow grapes, Margaret brings light to what the Bible says and how that can inform and aid us in spiritual formation. Four chapters -- moving back and forth from the real world of today to the Bible of yesterday and shedding light on both.
Her approach is gentle: she makes no huge claims but instead observes the shepherd and ponders what the Bible says about shepherds and fuses the world of the two and ponders what the Bible means. In so doing, we come into contact with the realism of the Bible's words and world. I favored her chapter on the shepherd, Lynne, in Oregon and the attachment shepherds have with their sheep... and you can chase the ideas down in her book.
And, if you need to scout out this book, you can read a bit of it
here.
We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book,
The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.
Proposition 9 is another big one:
The seven days of Genesis 1 relate to the cosmic temple inauguration.
Put this differently: the seven days are not about the duration of bringing matter into existence, but a period of time devoted to inaugurating the various functions of the temple. That is, they prepare the cosmos for God's dwelling and humans as those who are to worship the God in whose temple they dwell.
As with Solomon's temple, the temple was not built until God indwellt it -- so Genesis 1's seven days (Solomon's took seven years) indicates the completion of the temple when God indwells. Genesis 1 could be an enthronement-of-God text used annually.
We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book,
The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.
Proposition 8 of Walton's book, and one that can reorient everything one sees in Genesis 1:
The cosmos is a temple.
The ancient near east creation narratives drew close connections between cosmos and temple. And temples were often considered symbols of the cosmos.
Josephus, a 1st century AD Jewish historian, stated that everyone of the objects in the Temple recalled and represented the universe.
Walton sees it like this in the Temple complex: the courtyard represented the cosmic spheres outside of the organized cosmos (sea and pillars), the antechamber represented food and light, and the veil separated the heavens and the earth. Major texts include Isa 66:1-2, 1 Ki 8:27, Exod 40:34.
We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.Each chp in Walton's book is a "proposition" and today we look at...
We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.Proposition 6: Days 4 to 6 install functionaries."... in most cases the functionaries...
We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.What about Day 1 to Day 3 in Genesis 1? Is this about...
We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.One reason why this book will be read, digested, and influential is because Walton...
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