Last week, in conjunction with the remarkable exhibit here in Atlanta, Cradle of Christianity at the Carlos Museum at Emory University, Bruce Feiler pushed hard for the broad recovery of Bible study suggesting that the Bible itself is the most direct answer to those extremists who would make the Bible a weapon for their ideological wars.
In the same vein, I am particulary interested in how we might focus Bible reflections in our local congregations such that our study forms us to more readily participate in the witness and dialogue between diverse faith groups in our communities. Let me suggest the following:
Guidelines for Individual and Congregational Study of Scripture
Celebrating the Textual Diversity: Resist pre-mature temptation to harmonize or smooth over textual discrepancies or disagreements.
Broadening the Conversational Resources: Utilize a wide variety of commentaries and studies, but always remember that your own feelings and intuitions are an important source as well. Repeatedly return to the stubborn fact that these texts are finally stories, therefore give some priority to methods of literary analysis when reflecting on the textual depth.
Avoiding the Contextual Confusion: Read these texts through Jewish Eyes. Resist the premature superimposition of later Christian understandings and theological assumptions on what are primarily Jewish texts.
Acknowledging the Religio-political Frame of Reference: As you engage the texts, seek to recognize the plain meaning of terms such as empire, legion, Christ, and gospel as “proto-political” language used self-consciously by the writers. Stand in the shoes of First Century Jews experiencing “cognitive dissonance” between the promise of being a chosen people with a strong national identity and the reality of Roman rule.
Photo Used By Permission: jgroup
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