Bible study 25 Oct 2011

<> About the attitude when approaching the Word of God: is the object (ink and paper, gilt edges, red lettering for Jesus speech) something of awe? Should one hold one's heart in keen expectation and reverence, or just listen hard to the details translated to modern English, 80 generations from the New Testament events?

----The critical result should be living interpretation and engagement in the words found there, not in its packaging or other outward details. Yes, the form and content are tied closely together, so one should be warned of the surplus and deficit meaning that arises in the process of translation. But to coddle, or gild or encrust with precious stones does not accomplish the inner work of the heart the same way that wrestling with the stories and examples does. Likewise the hall of worship or Meeting Space: this is not holy of itself; rather, it is the act of worshippers gathering and praising that accomplishes this fact.

<> About the layers of practices, customary events and manner of conducting a service of worship, much of what we signal or express comes from the trappings and expectations of our civilization and its methods, including the dominance of the consumer model in place of the steward model. So by comparison to the Primitive Christian Church, whether Jews, God-fearers or Pagans who constitute it, those of us today are distracted by the details of our habits in the annual cycle of readings and activities. Very little of what we recognize for Christianity would be part of those early house churches living in the shadow of persecution. It would be worth excavating those roots to know what, if any, of our routines echo those original ways.

<> Revelatory exercise #1 to try: pull out not just the 'red letter' passages attributed to the Christ, but divide into narrower categories, too, in order to distill patterns:
- list of parables (and context of each)
- list of miracles (and context of each)
- list of actions (for us to emulate in our modern setting?)
- list of declarations or doxa about what is Godliness; holiness
- list of those he engages (sociological categories: women, men, children, lame, power holders, rich…)

<> Revelatory exercise #2 to try: column 1 for Jefferson Bible (just JC words), column 2 from The Message (conversational rendering of the Bible for those same passages).

<> dvd (2007, South Korea) Secret Sunshine includes a scene where young widow discovers Christianity and decides to confront the murder/kidnapper of her young son. But when she gets there he says that he is sorry and has repented to God, thus has been forgiven. She wants to forgive him, as well, but feels trumped by his reply. Emotions and ancient human responses can't fathom the ways of God.