These are questions that have been bugging me to no end for about 2 weeks or so. I invite any answers or keen insights that you may have.
Why is it that, in order to fully understand the Scriptures, we must study ancient history, archaeology, antiquities, relics, and ancient Middle Eastern culture and religion-- things that most Americans are neither equipped for nor remotely interested in?
How is it that a young man living in the West Bank can read an Arabic translation of the New Testament and be completely floored by it, while a young man living in West Virginia can read one of many English translations of the New Testament and meet it with boredom, apathy, and indifference?
Is it possible that the Scriptures were only intended to speak to a certain part of the world in specific eras long past? And what would be so wrong with that?
It's been said that humans are religious beings to the core. It's debateable, but if it's true, isn't that humanity's greatest predicament? And didn't Jesus come to wean people off? (Please note Jesus running roughshod over institutionalized Judaism and Paul running roughshod over institutionalized and imperial paganism.)
By the way, all of the above questions are interrelated.
Douglas Hoag
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About this blog
Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, New Lenox, Illinois.
I'm married with two children.
My MBTI type is E/INFP, in case that means anything to you.
My prayer: Lord, help me finish everything I sta
Most importantly, I believe that the reality and personage of God was uniquely and fully realized in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. No one else comes close.
Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for the seizures and/or convulsions you may experience while reading this blog.
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I'm married with two children.
My MBTI type is E/INFP, in case that means anything to you.
My prayer: Lord, help me finish everything I sta
Most importantly, I believe that the reality and personage of God was uniquely and fully realized in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. No one else comes close.
Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for the seizures and/or convulsions you may experience while reading this blog.
Doug Hoag's Profile
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3 comments:
No takers, eh? I'll comment on something that happened this morning in Bible Class. I'm teaching the Gospel of John using the Word Among Us series by Tim Hetzner from Lutheran Church Charities.
Out of the blue, one of the students in the class said (paraphrasing), "This stuff was written so long ago that it doesn't make sense today."
I replied that Hetzner's approach is really the only way to understand the Bible and its message. It's an ancient book and can only be understood within an ancient Jewish worldview.
With this in mind, how do we get the Gospel across to people who do not think with said ancient Jewish worldview?
oh... i have some comments... i just discovered your blog when checking thru Gaia's Godpod... so - i am not christian - having only made my way through the evangelical church for a few short years before the non-dual eastern views captured me - but i have a few ideas and insights perhaps - that of course i cannot proove or substantiate - but here goes.
it seems to me that some languages - like sanskrit have an energetic quality to them. perhaps aramaic is like that - when the words and even letters themselves contain a certain energy so that when the text is translated into another language that intrinsic energetic quality is not translated along... in other words - the original written words of the scriptures have an energetic meaning as well as a mental meaning...
an example of this is the sanskrit alphabet - each letter having a specific energy - and the combining of them is very important in both energetics and meaning. I suspect Arabic is like this as well. for in form and sound it is an extremely beautiful language - and the letters - especially when speaking about the Divine seem to cut into the soul... the mental meaning being carried along with the energetic tone of the letters and words...
so - yes - i would agree with the notion that scriptures were intended to be communicated in specific parts of the world in specific cultural contexts - and that is quite natural... and then other scriptures, other inspired writings etc arise in other cultures at other times - in tune and resonant energetically in that particular cultural context. personally, i don't think english is well suited for such energetic inspiration... it seeming (to me anyway) to be a rather mental language... but inspiration can come as art and music... or in poetic prose where the reader or listener is guided to the divine within and between the words and tones...
your other question about humans being religious to the core... i don't know about that... although each human seems (to me) to have that longing to be fulfilled... (and attempts to fill can be through money, power, drugs, shopping, religion, sex, spirituality, education, etc etc)
and i don't think that Jesus came to wean people off of that - i think Jesus came to be a prime example of the passion of this longing... humanity reaching for God....
christine arpita
The series of "Serious Questions" is based upon a false premise. First, can any of us FULLY understand the Scriptures? Who could FULLY understand ancient history, archaeology, antiquities, relics, and ancient Middle Eastern culture and religion in order to FULLY understand Scripture. If this is a requirement why did the God who gave us the Scriptures also give us the Holy Spirit to "guide you into all truth?" Second, why should the young man in West Virginia bother reading any translation of the New Testament? You just told him in the previous paragraph why bother since you know nothing of ancient history. Is context important to understanding? Yes, but it cannot be isolated from the role of the Holy Spirit. An atheist could have a great understanding of ancient history, culture, and religions, AND a great "understanding" of the Scriptures. Understanding involves more than just taking in information with your mind. "Heart, soul, strength." "The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple" (Ps. 19:7) and "The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple." (Ps. 119:130). No one should be made to think themselves too foolish to understand Scripture. The problem is never scripture, but with our sinful selves. Perhaps the young man's apathy and indifference is more an indictment on the North American church. To pronounce an "only" way, other than the Bible itself, to understand the Bible should cause one great pause. Third, humans are not all "religious" beings to the core. Much of America rejects "religion," with good reason, but not worship. No, all humans will worship something to the core, whether it be Christ, spouse, children, work, sex, "religion," ourselves, etc. Christ ran roughshod over religious HYPOCRISY, and Paul came to reveal the "mystery" that Christ is for all. Paul, first and foremost went to the synagogues, but he himself claimed to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. How did Paul run roughshod over paganism and present the Gospel to Gentiles who even in the first century did not think with an ancient Jewish worldview? How did he present the Gospel to the pagans in Athens, or Rome, or Ephesus? The Scriptures were not intended to speak only to a certain part of the world in specific eras long past. Christ himself rebuked the very leaders of the ancient Jewish worldview "that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit." If it is for those long past and not for us why carry on the charade? Why has Christ simply not returned? To conclude, you should know that you were the first instructor of the Word I began to show respect to so long ago in that little agricultural hamlet of Algona.
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