The document discusses the idea that there is no single definitive interpretation of the Bible, but that meaning emerges through ongoing discussion and examination of tensions within the text. It presents four options for reading the Bible - innocently literal, critically literal, innocently literary, and critically literary - and argues that a faithful critical literary approach best allows for serious consideration of the text while acknowledging its human origins. The overall shape of the biblical narrative is presented as one of creation, liberation, and reconciliation.
4. Broadway was
originally the
Wickquasgeck Trail,
carved into the brush
of Manhattan by its
Native American
inhabitants. This trail
originally snaked
through swamps and
rocks along the length
of Manhattan Island.
11. The Christian religion
was originally a grass-roots
movement called
the Way, which
mobilized marginal
people in the Roman
Empire. The
movement trained
people as non-violent
activists for “justice,
peace, and joy in the
Holy Spirit.”
15. PROVERBIOS Y CANTARES - XXIX
Antonio Machado (1875-1939)
Caminante, son tus huellas el camino y nada más;
Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. Al
andar se hace el camino, y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante no hay camino sino estelas en la mar.
Traveler, the road is your footsteps and nothing more;
Traveler, there is no road.
We make the road by walking.
To walk is to make the road,
and to look back is to see that
we can never pass this way again.
Traveler, there is no road, only wake-trails in the sea.
16. Last night while I was asleep, I had a dream.
O blessed illusion! A fountain flowed through my
heart.
I said: why is this hidden canal, this water, coming
to me,
This spring of new life from which I have never
drunk before?
Last night while I was asleep, I had a dream.
O blessed illusion! There was a beehive within my
heart,
and bees of gold were making, from my
longstanding disappointments,
White wax and sweet honey.
17. Last night while I was asleep, I had a dream.
O blessed illusion! A radiant sun shone within
my heart.
It was radiant with the warmth of a glowing
home,
and it was a sun because it illuminated and
brought me to tears.
Last night while I was asleep, I had a dream.
O blessed illusion! It was God I had within my
heart.
18. As a living tradition,
Christian faith is not
a dead end,
a parking lot,
a warehouse, or
a circular track.
As a living tradition,
Christian faith is
in the making,
under construction,
a direction, trajectory,
a road we make.
19. PROVERBIOS Y CANTARES - XXIX
Traveler, the road is your footsteps and nothing
more;
Traveler, there is no road.
We make the road by walking.
To walk is to make the road,
and to look back is to see that
we can never pass this way again.
Traveler, there is no road, only wake-trails in the
sea.
How do you respond?
Antonio Machado (1875-1939)
22. A fresh
vision of the
big picture:
- the Biblical
story
- the Christian
way of life
- looking back to
look ahead
23. 52+ short chapters
Can be read aloud in 10-12 minutes
Cover the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation
A comprehensive biblical lectionary
Follows the general contour of traditional church year
- Pre-Advent - Hebrew Scriptures
- Advent - transition to Jesus
- Epiphany - life of Jesus
-Lent - Sermon on Mount
- Passion Week - passion
- Easter - church as community of resurrection
- Pentecost - Epistles/Revelation
Present a coherent reading of the biblical narrative(s)
- An evolving view of God
- And evolving view of humanity
- Focused on creation and new creation
- Outside of traditional atonement categories
24. Plus ...
6 discussion questions for each chapter
5 Guidelines for Learning Circles
- Participation
- Honor
- Silence
- Understanding
- Brevity
Introductory Liturgy
Eucharistic Liturgy
26. R. Allan Street, Subversive Meals: An Analysis of the
Lord’s Supper under Roman Domination in the First
Century
Greco-Roman Two-Part Meal:
Deipnon - reclining meal
- Libation - to honor the Emperor and gods
Symposium - discussion, interaction,
drinking, entertainment
Eucharistic Meal/Agape:
Deipnon - reclining meal (with differences)
- Eucharist - “Jesus is Lord”
Symposium - discussion, interaction,
singing, prayers, mutual ministry
27. Eucharist as transformative ritual ...
- bonding to bottomless meaning
- identifying with a family and identity
- joining a revolutionary movement
- receiving spiritual empowerment
28. My hopes:
1. Churches can use it for a season or whole year
- Breaks routine, provides liturgical innovation
- Provides framework for Revised Common
Lectionary
- Provides space for invitation, outreach
- Frees pastoral time for other activities for a year
2. Families, small groups, classes, campus groups,
senior living groups, summer camps, prison groups,
spiritual directors, etc., can use the book as a
curriculum or catechism.
3. Spontaneous learning circles can form - and become
affiliated as “satellites” or partners with existing
congregations.
4. Individuals can use it for their own orientation and
reorientation.
29. Why?
1. We need a fresh, coherent understanding of the
overarching Biblical story of God and creation.
2. We need to rediscover Jesus as the Word of God.
3. We need to recover liturgy as group spiritual
(Holy Spirit) formation - and eucharist as
profoundly transformational.
4. We need to practice honest spiritual conversation.
5. We need to face critical issues - especially about
the Bible.
38. How do you respond?
science
violence
miracles
historicity
abuse
lectionary
authority
7
39. Reading the Bible Afresh:
4 Options
(beyond liberal and conservative)
40. Literal:
Like a newspaper, science text, or work of nonfiction -
attempting to tell objective, literal, observable, scientific
facts.
Literary:
Like a poem, novel, journal, or movie - attempting to
convey meaningful, mysterious, multi-faceted beauty and
truth.
41. Critical:
Questioned. Tested. Scrutinized. Evaluated. Treated as human,
situated, constructed, and interpreted.
Innocent:
Taken at face value. Unquestioned. Univocal. Treated as divine,
transcendent, incorrigible, or absolute.
43. Option 1: Innocent Literal
The Bible is a divine text, akin to a
Textbook
Instruction manual
Objective historical account
Audit report
Constitution
44. Option 2: Critical Literal
The Bible is a human text, akin to
a collection of myths
a collection of folk tales
a collection of propaganda
a collection of misinformation
45. Option 3: Innocent Literary
The Bible is a collection of literary artifacts, akin to ...
an anthology of moralistic fables
a collection of magic chants or mantras
a source of inspiring stories and quotations
46. Option 4: Critical Literary
The Bible is a collection of human literary artifacts, akin to
...
a museum
an heirloom quilt
a family scrapbook or photo album
a refrigerator door or classroom bulletin board
a specialized library
49. Option 4: Faithful Critical Literary
The Bible is a collection of human literary artifacts, akin to
...
a museum
an heirloom quilt
a family scrapbook or photo album
a refrigerator door
a specialized library
through which God can speak to us today.
50. Why Faithful Critical Literary?
1. Takes the text seriously
2. Takes art of interpretation seriously
3. Takes humans seriously (producers/readers)
4. Takes God seriously
5. Takes Jesus seriously
6. Takes the Spirit seriously
7. Takes the living tradition seriously
8. Takes both liberal and conservative concerns seriously
51. What is the shape of the
biblical narrative?
(A pre-critical question)
57. sdrawkcab gnidaer
Rick Warren, Billy Graham, Charles Finney, John Wesley (or Calvin), Luther,
Aquinas, Augustine, Paul, Jesus
reading forwards
Adam, Eve, Sarah, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Mary, Jesus
60. Isaiah: Peaceable Kingdom - Justice and
Mercy
Exodus: Liberation & Formation
Genesis: Creation and Reconciliation
61. Exodus: Liberation & Formation
G
e
n
e
s
i
s
Isaiah: Peaceable Kingdom - Justice and
Mercy
62. HUMAN DESTRUCTION
Exodus: Liberation & Formation
G
e
n
e
s
i
s
Isaiah: Peaceable Kingdom - Justice and
Mercy
HUMAN VIOLENCE
HUMAN EXPLOITATION
63. HUMAN DESTRUCTION
Exodus: Liberation & Formation
G
e
n
e
s
i
s
Isaiah: Peaceable Kingdom - Justice and
Mercy
HUMAN VIOLENCE
HUMAN EXPLOITATION
64. HUMAN EXPLOITATION
How do you respond?
HUMAN DESTRUCTION
Exodus: Liberation & Formation
G
e
n
e
s
i
s
Isaiah: Peaceable Kingdom - Justice and
Mercy
HUMAN VIOLENCE
65. The Bible places us in
three great narratives:
Creation
Liberation
Reconciliation
66. Tensions reveal
deeper truths.
Not contradictions to be
“resolved” or exposed ... but
statements, counter-statements,
new insights,
new counter-statements, etc.
68. The Bible as
Constitution
• What purposes do constitutions (or social
contracts) fulfill?
• How is the Bible like a constitution?
• What problems arise with this approach?
69. Bible as Library
• Culture as community united by arguments
• Library as preserver of minority opinions
and ongoing arguments
• Meaning emerges among stories in tension
70. Stories in tension ...
David, Goliath, and the Temple
Two Arks
Pharaoh, Hagar, Solomon
Ezra, Ruth
Judges, Ruth
Call of Abraham, Blessing for cursing
Joshua, Jesus, and the Canaanites
72. Convergence happens.
Narrative theology
The text records the evolutionary
emergence of new ways of thinking
about God and life ...
and reveals a trajectory that
continues today.
73. Convergence happens.
Liberation theology
The primary storyline is an
audacious claim that God takes the
side of the oppressed, and that
salvation is God’s liberation from
all that oppresses the goodness of
creation.
74. Convergence happens.
Mimetic (Girardian) theory
Sacrifice (human, animal) was an
early anthropological means of
reducing violence. The Bible
reveals a new way of peace ... a
new “covenant” to replace violence
with peace.
75. Convergence happens.
Orality/Aurality
The Bible was a spoken and heard
composition before it was a written
text. It should be rediscovered as
“performance art” in a communal
experience.
76. Convergence happens.
Christo-focal theology
Jesus was a faithful radical who
introduced a new way of
interpreting ancient texts, thus
opening up new possibilities for
humanity.
77. Go and learn what this means: “I desire
mercy and not sacrifice.” (Matthew 9:13)
Mercy - compassion, love, empathy,
human kindness, nonviolence
Not sacrifice - blood, death, fear,
violence, priesthood, temple, holy city,
sacrifice industrial complex
79. Lord, inspire us to read your Scriptures and
meditate on them day and night.
We beg you to give us real understanding of what
we read, that we may in turn
put its precepts into practice. Yet we know that
understanding and good
intentions are worthless, unless rooted in your
graceful love. So we ask
that the words of the Scriptures may also be not
just signs on a page, but channels
of grace into our hearts.
--Origen of Alexandria (c.186-254)
