Where do we find in Scripture that it is all about us as individuals? Where do we read that I must read it and then ask, "So what does this mean to me?"
Why not read it, as we do other literature, and ask, "What is this saying?" Sure, because of faith and the nature of our relationship with God, past, present and future, we respond to the Bible differently from other types of literature, but why not respond to it first as literature and then go on from there.
But even then, when did Jesus ever make a big deal about himself? He was always about His Father's business, even from the time He was twelve years old! And then, near the end of Luke 22, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
I am amazed at how Jesus responded to individuals where they were. How He kept His Father's objectives ever in front of Him, even telling his friends to get behind him if they tried to detour Him.
How can we learn to use the Scripture differently, as a living guide of grace and love and of bridge building and mutuality? How can we see it as a radically transforming instrument of love, rather than a restrictively conforming weapon of religion?
Why not read it, as we do other literature, and ask, "What is this saying?" Sure, because of faith and the nature of our relationship with God, past, present and future, we respond to the Bible differently from other types of literature, but why not respond to it first as literature and then go on from there.
But even then, when did Jesus ever make a big deal about himself? He was always about His Father's business, even from the time He was twelve years old! And then, near the end of Luke 22, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
I am amazed at how Jesus responded to individuals where they were. How He kept His Father's objectives ever in front of Him, even telling his friends to get behind him if they tried to detour Him.
How can we learn to use the Scripture differently, as a living guide of grace and love and of bridge building and mutuality? How can we see it as a radically transforming instrument of love, rather than a restrictively conforming weapon of religion?
"It is taken for granted in many parts of Western culture that reading Scripture is inevitably an inward-looking activity, and that its results are arbitrary. This view is mistaken. Recent developments in the academy and beyond show that reading Scripture can be a way not only of forming identity within a tradition, but of improving mutual understanding between members of different traditions of reasoning." Nicholas Adams, New College, Edinburgh.
Psalm 115:1
Not to us, LORD, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.
Comments
Followed you here from Prodigal Kiwi(s) blog.
Congratulations on your postings - you speak from your heart. May you have many 'conversations at intersections'.