Stories We Listen To - Your Story, My Story, His Story

Stories We Listen To - Your Story, My Story, His Story: 

Metanarratives and the Christian Life

Whether we are aware of it or not, stories we listen are influencing the how we think, how we see or perceived everyday things and how we develop our values. When we hear the word ‘story’, we usually think of fiction as stories in books or movies. Sociologists and philosophers had long understood that stories or narratives may are not just fiction but the determining factor in how we live our lives. The stories that we listen to have the ability to shape our reality. These reality-shaping stories are also known as worldview.

We have been studying the Gospel according to Matthew. We have studied the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:1-17. We have seen that the genealogy was divided into three section of fourteen generations each; from Abraham to David, David to the Exile, and Exile to Jesus. Since the number seven is a very special number in Jewish numerology (indicates completeness and perfection), each section is 2 x 7 which makes fourteen. This implies that the generations from Jesus onward is the seventh of the sevens generation, making it a very special generation. Matthew proceeds to tell us how special this generation is by telling us the story of the birth of Jesus Christ (Matt.1:18-25).

Before we examine the story itself, we shall look at some of the stories Matthew’s listeners are hearing. The prevailing stories/worldview according to Scot McKnight in his book Kingdom Conspiracy (2014) during the time of Jesus are:

•        The eschatological battle of God in the Psalms of Solomon

•        The Maccabean and Zealot strategy of holy warfare

•        The Essene strategy of holy withdrawal

•        The Pharisee push for great zeal for Torah obedience

•        The Sadducee strategy of realism by cooperating with Rome

Note about extra biblical writings, bible and Jewish History:

1. Pseudepigrapha

Pseudepigrapha (also Anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is represented by a separate author, or a work "whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past". The word pseudepigrapha (from the Greek: ψευδής, pseudes, "false" and ἐπιγραφή, epigraphē, "name" or "inscription" or "ascription"; thus when taken together it means "false superscription or title") is the plural of "pseudepigraphon" (sometimes Latinized as "pseudepigraphum").

Pseudepigraphy covers the false ascription of names of authors to works, even to authentic works that make no such claim within their text. Thus a widely accepted but incorrect attribution of authorship may make a completely authentic text pseudepigraphical. Assessing the actual writer of a text locates questions of pseudepigraphical attribution within the discipline of literary criticism.

In Old Testament biblical studies, the term Pseudepigrapha typically refers to an assorted collection of Jewish religious works thought to be written c 300 BC to 300 AD. They are distinguished by Protestants from the Deuterocanonical (Catholic and Orthodox) or Apocrypha (Protestant), the books that appear in the Septuagint and Vulgate but not in the Hebrew Bible or in Protestant Bibles. Catholics distinguish only between the deuterocanonical and all the other books, that are called biblical Apocrypha, a name that is also used for the pseudepigrapha in the Catholic usage. In addition, two books considered canonical in the Tewahedo churches, viz. 1 Enoch and Jubilees, are categorized as "pseudepigrapha" from the point of view of the Chalcedonian churches.

·        3 Maccabees
·       4 Maccabees
·        Assumption of Moses
·        Ethiopic Book of Enoch (1 Enoch)
·        Slavonic Book of Enoch (2 Enoch)
·        Book of Jubilees
·        Greek Apocalypse of Baruch (3 Baruch)
·        Letter of Aristeas
·        Life of Adam and Eve
·        Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah
·        Psalms of Solomon
·        Sibylline Oracles
·        Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (2 Baruch)
·        Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

One of the Pseudepigrapha, the Psalms of Solomon is a group of eighteen psalms (religious songs or poems) that are not part of any scriptural canon (they are, however, found in copies of the Peshitta and the Septuagint). The 17th of the 18 Psalms is similar to Psalm 72 which has traditionally been attributed to Solomon, and hence may be the reason that the Psalms of Solomon have their name. An alternate view is that the psalms were so highly regarded that Solomon's name was attached to it to keep them from being ignored or forgotten.

The Psalms of Solomon were referenced in Early Christian writings, but lost to modern scholars until a Greek manuscript was rediscovered in the 17th century. There are currently eight known 11th- to 15th-century manuscripts of a Greek translation from a lost Hebrew or Aramaic original, probably dating from the 1st or 2nd century BCE. However, though now a collection, they were originally separate, written by different people in different periods.

Politically, the Psalms of Solomon are anti-Maccabee, and some psalms in the collection show a clear awareness of the Roman conquest of Jerusalem under Pompey in 63 BCE, metaphorically treating him as a dragon who had been sent by God to punish the Maccabees. Some of the psalms are messianic, in the Jewish sense (clearly referring to a mortal that happens to be divinely assisted, much like Moses), but the majority are concerned less with the world at large, and more with individual behaviour, expressing a belief that repentance for unintended sins will return them to God's favour.

2. The Septuagint

The Septuagint /ˈsɛptjuːəˌdʒɪnt/, /ˈsɛptuːəˌdʒɪnt/, /ˌsɛpˈtuːədʒɪnt/, /ˈsɛptʃuːəˌdʒɪnt/, from the Latin word septuaginta (meaning seventy), is a translation of the Hebrew Bible and some related texts into Koine Greek. As the primary Greek translation of the Old Testament, it is also called the Greek Old Testament. This translation is quoted in the New Testament, particularly in the Pauline epistles, and also by the Apostolic Fathers and later Greek Church Fathers. The title (Greek: Ἡ μετάφρασις τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα) and its Roman numeral acronym LXX refer to legendary seventy Jewish scholars who solely translated the Five Books Of Moses as early as the late 2nd century BCE. This translation is not extant, except as rare fragments. The traditional story is that Ptolemy II sponsored the translation of the Torah (Pentateuch, Five Books Of Moses). Subsequently, the Greek translation was in circulation among the Alexandrian Jews who were not fluent in Hebrew but fluent in Koine Greek, which was the lingua franca of Alexandria, Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean at the time.

3. The Vulgate

The Vulgate (/ˈvʌlɡeɪt, -ɡɪt/) is a late fourth-century Latin translation of the Bible that became, during the 16th century, the Catholic Church's officially promulgated Latin version of the Bible. The translation was largely the work of St. Jerome, who, in 382, was commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Vetus Latina ("Old Latin") collection of Biblical texts in Latin then in use by the Church. Once published, it was widely adopted and eventually eclipsed the Vetus Latina and, by the 13th century, was known as the "versio vulgata" (the "version commonly-used") or, more simply, in Latin as vulgata or in Greek as βουλγάτα ("Vulgate"). It was made the Catholic Church's official Latin Bible as a consequence of the Council of Trent (1545–63).

4. The Deuterocanonical Books (Apocrypha)

Deuterocanonical books is a term used since the 16th century in the Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity to describe certain books and passages of the Christian Old Testament that are not part of the current Hebrew Bible. The term is used in contrast to the protocanonical books, which are contained in the Hebrew Bible. This distinction had previously contributed to debate in the early Church about whether they should be classified as canonical texts. The term is used as a matter of convenience by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and other Churches to refer to books of their Old Testament which are not part of the Masoretic Text. The deuterocanonical books are considered canonical by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and the Church of the East, but are considered non-canonical by most Protestants. The word deuterocanonical comes from the Greek meaning 'belonging to the second canon'.

The Catholic deuterocanonical scriptural texts are:

·        Tobit
·        Judith
·        Additions to Esther (Vulgate Esther 10:4-16:24)[26]
·        Wisdom (or Wisdom of Solomon)
·        Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira (or Sirach or Ecclesiasticus)
·        Baruch, including the Letter of Jeremiah (Additions to Jeremiah in the Septuagint)
·        Additions to Daniel:
o   Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children (Vulgate Daniel 3:24-90)
o   Susanna (Vulgate Daniel 13, Septuagint prologue)
·        Bel and the Dragon (Vulgate Daniel 14, Septuagint epilogue)
·        1 Maccabees
·        2 Maccabees

(source: Wiki)

5. Maccabbees

The death of Alexander the Great of Greece in 323 BCE led to the breakup of the Greek empire as three of his generals fought for supremacy and divided the Middle East among themselves. Ptolemy secured control of Egypt and the Land of Israel. Seleucus grabbed Syria and Asia Minor, and Antigonus took Greece.

The Land of Israel was thus sandwiched between two of the rivals and, for the next 125 years, Seleucids and Ptolemies battled for this prize. The former finally won in 198 B.C. when Antiochus III defeated the Egyptians and incorporated Judea into his empire. Initially, he continued to allow the Jews autonomy, but after a stinging defeat at the hands of the Romans he began a program of Hellenization that threatened to force the Jews to abandon their monotheism for the Greeks' paganism. Antiochus backed down in the face of Jewish opposition to his effort to introduce idols in their temples, but his son, Antiochus IV, who inherited the throne in 176 B.C. resumed his father's original policy without excepting the Jews. A brief Jewish rebellion only hardened his views and led him to outlaw central tenets of Judaism such as the Sabbath and circumcision, and defile the holy Temple by erecting an altar to the god Zeus, allowing the sacrifice of pigs, and opening the shrine to non-Jews.

5.1 The Jewish Hammer

Though many Jews had been seduced by the virtues of Hellenism, the extreme measures adopted by Antiochus helped unite the people. When a Greek official tried to force a priest named Mattathias to make a sacrifice to a pagan god, the Jew murdered the man. Predictably, Antiochus began reprisals, but in 167 BCE the Jews rose up behind Mattathias and his five sons and fought for their liberation.

The family of Mattathias became known as the Maccabees, from the Hebrew word for "hammer," because they were said to strike hammer blows against their enemies. Jews refer to the Maccabees, but the family is more commonly known as the Hasmoneans.

Like other rulers before him, Antiochus underestimated the will and strength of his Jewish adversaries and sent a small force to put down the rebellion. When that was annihilated, he led a more powerful army into battle only to be defeated. In 164 BCE, Jerusalem was recaptured by the Maccabees and the Temple purified, an event that gave birth to the holiday of Chanukah.

5.2 Jews Regain Their Independence

It took more than two decades of fighting before the Maccabees forced the Seleucids to retreat from the Land of Israel. By this time Antiochus had died and his successor agreed to the Jews' demand for independence. In the year 142 BCE, after more than 500 years of subjugation, the Jews were again masters of their own fate.

When Mattathias died, the revolt was led by his son Judas, or Judah Maccabee, as he is often called. By the end of the war, Simon was the only one of the five sons of Mattathias to survive and he ushered in an 80-year period of Jewish independence in Judea, as the Land of Israel was now called. The kingdom regained boundaries not far short of Solomon's realm and Jewish life flourished.

The Hasmoneans claimed not only the throne of Judah, but also the post of High Priest. This assertion of religious authority conflicted with the tradition of the priests coming from the descendants of Moses' brother Aaron and the tribe of Levi.

It did not take long for rival factions to develop and threaten the unity of the kingdom. Ultimately, internal divisions and the appearance of yet another imperial power were to put an end to Jewish independence in the Land of Israel for nearly two centuries.

Sources: Mitchell G. Bard,The Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict. 4th Edition. NY: Alpha Books, 2008.

The most important Macabbee/Hasmonean during Jesus’ time is Herod the Great.

What is the story/worldview of Matthew 1: 18-25?

[discussion]

Matthew 1:18–25 (NIV84)

The Birth of Jesus Christ

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Notes:

1. Meaning of the name Jesus

The word Jesus used in the English New Testament comes from the Latin form of the Greek name Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous), a rendition of the Hebrew Yeshua (ישוע), related to the name Joshua. The name is thus related to the Hebrew consonantal verb root verb y-š-ʕ (to rescue or deliver) and the Hebrew noun yešuaʕ (deliverance).

In the New Testament, in Luke 1:31 an angel tells Mary to name her child Jesus, and in Matthew 1:21 an angel tells Joseph to name the child Jesus during Joseph's first dream. Matthew 1:21 indicates the salvific implications of the name Jesus when the angel instructs Joseph: "you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins". It is the only place in the New Testament where "saves his people" appears with "sins". Matthew 1:21 provides the beginnings of the Christology of the name Jesus. At once it achieves the two goals of affirming Jesus as the savior and emphasizing that the name was not selected at random, but based on a Heavenly command.

2. Prophecies

2.1 Regarding Jesus’ birth

• Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
• Isaiah 9:6: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
• Micah 5:2: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Further Note:

Question: "Is 'virgin' or 'young woman' the correct translation of Isaiah 7:14?"

Answer: Isaiah 7:14 reads, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Quoting Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23 reads, "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel - which means, 'God with us.'" Christians point to this "virgin birth" as evidence of Messianic prophecy fulfilled by Jesus. Is this a valid example of fulfilled prophecy? Is Isaiah 7:14 predicting the virgin birth of Jesus? Is "virgin" even the proper translation of the Hebrew word used in Isaiah 7:14?

The Hebrew word in Isaiah 7:14 is "almah," and its inherent meaning is "young woman." "Almah" can mean "virgin," as young unmarried women in ancient Hebrew culture were assumed to be virgins. Again, though, the word does not necessarily imply virginity. "Almah" occurs seven times in the Hebrew Scriptures (Genesis 24:43; Exodus 2:8; Psalm 68:25; Proverbs 30:19; Song of Solomon 1:3; 6:8; Isaiah 7:14). None of these instances demands the meaning "virgin," but neither do they deny the possible meaning of "virgin." There is no conclusive argument for "almah" in Isaiah 7:14 being either "young woman" or "virgin." However, it is interesting to note, that in the 3rd century B.C., when a panel of Hebrew scholars and Jewish rabbis began the process of translating the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, they used the specific Greek word for virgin, "parthenos," not the more generic Greek word for "young woman." The Septuagint translators, 200+ years before the birth of Christ, and with no inherent belief in a "virgin birth," translated "almah" in Isaiah 7:14 as "virgin," not "young woman." This gives evidence that "virgin" is a possible, even likely, meaning of the term.

With all that said, even if the meaning "virgin" is ascribed to "almah" in Isaiah 7:14, does that make Isaiah 7:14 a Messianic prophecy about Jesus, as Matthew 1:23 claims? In the context of Isaiah chapter 7, the Aramites and Israelites were seeking to conquer Jerusalem, and King Ahaz was fearful. The Prophet Isaiah approaches King Ahaz and declares that Aram and Israel would not be successful in conquering Jerusalem (verses 7-9). The Lord offers Ahaz the opportunity to receive a sign (verse 10), but Ahaz refuses to put God to the test (verse 11). God responds by giving the sign Ahaz should look for, "the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son...but before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste." In this prophecy, God is essentially saying that within a few years' time, Israel and Aram will be destroyed. At first glace, Isaiah 7:14 has no connection with a promised virgin birth of the Messiah. However, the Apostle Matthew, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, connects the virgin birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:23) with the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14. Therefore, Isaiah 7:14 should be understood as being a "double prophecy," referring primarily to the situation King Ahaz was facing, but secondarily to the coming Messiah who would be the ultimate deliverer.

Source:  (http://www.gotquestions.org/virgin-or-young-woman.html#ixzz3UB7vDldV)

2.2 Concerning Jesus' ministry and death

• Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
• Psalm 22:16-18: “Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”

Likely the clearest prophecy about Jesus is the entire 53rd chapter of Isaiah. Isaiah 53:3-7 is especially unmistakable: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

What are some of the stories/worldviews we listen to today?

·        Individualism
·        Consumerism
·        Moral relativism
·        Scientific naturalism
·        New Age
·        Postmodern tribalism
·        Salvation by therapy

Steve Wilkens and Mark Stanford, Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories that Shape Our Lives (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009)

I will add two more
·        McDonaldization
·        Disneyization

[discussion]

How do these stories/worldviews affect our lives as Christians?

[discussion]

Monash Medical Student CG

Berea, 13 March 2015

How Long A Creation Day?

Justin Taylor in an excellent article Biblical Reasons to Doubt the Creation Days Were 24-Hour Periods notes.

Contrary to what is often implied or claimed by young-earth creationists, the Bible nowhere directly teaches the age of the earth.

Rather, it is a deduction from a combination of beliefs, such as (1) Genesis 1:1 is not the actual act of creation but rather a summary of or title over Genesis 1:2-2:3; (2) the creation week of Genesis 1:2-2:3 is referring to the act of creation itself; (3) each “day” (Heb. yom) of the creation week is referring to an 24-hour period of time (reinforced by the statement in Exodus 20:11); (4) an old-earth geology would necessarily entail microevolution, hominids, and animal death before the Fall—each of which contradicts what Scripture tells us; and (5) the approximate age of the earth can be reconstructed backward from the genealogical time-markers in Genesis.

His main argument is that the creation days may be liken to God's workday and there is no hint in the bible on how long each of these days are.He also named a few heavy weight theologians who did not believe that the said day is a 24-hour period. Named theologians are Augustine, J. Gresham Machen, Edward J. Young, and Gleason Archer.

I have written from a similar perspective in A Critical Evaluation of Genesis One. Recently I have been listening to an audio book The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert while walking on my treadmill (yes to you skeptics, I do get get some exercise). What strike me is the long history of events on earth that dates back billions of years involving the previous five extinctions of numerous species. Many of these extinctions are associated with global catastrophes, for example a meteor smashing into earth. I find it hard to grasp if all these happened in a 24-hour day period or God will deliberately fool us by embedding all this history into the rocks as suggested in Young Earth creationism.

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The River of Life (Ezekiel 47:1-12)

Anthony Loke on Lamentations

 Rev. Dr Anthony Loke, Lecturer in Old Testament and Academic Dean of Seminari Theologi Malaysia taught an excellent and enjoyable Spiritual Formation Institute Seminar on the book of Lamentations on 16 November 2012 in Johor Bahru.

Lamentations is a difficult book to deal with in the the Hebrew corpus and many Christians do not know how to deal with it.

note speaker's impassionate gestures

After a general introduction to the book, Anthony identifies the five voices speaking in the book: the narrator, daughter Zion, strong man, community voice and God. He includes God though God is silent throughout the book.

Using the outline from Kathleen O'Connor and his own book, Anthony led the participants through the book, teaching them to appreciate the different voices speaking and the anguish behind the words. He also demonstrate the structure of the book which is that of a funeral song.

 

A masterclass seminar on Lamentations. Anthony will be back to the Institute with Song of Songs in 2014

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Imaginative Reading of the Bible

One of the many effective ways to let the Word of God indwells us is to read the bible using our eyes, minds and imagination. Imagining ourselves present at the scenes of the event in the bible text, either as an active participant or passive observer may have a powerful effect on our spiritual life. This way of reading makes the biblical text come alive, giving substance and texture to the sentences on the page. It allows the Holy Spirit to work not only on our minds but also through our senses and feelings. We also become more sensitive to the text and to the nuances of the Holy Spirit in the text. However we must control our imagination and not let it run wild! The imagination in imaginative reading is confined to what the text says and should not create new stories or narrative that is not found in the bible or is contrary to biblical teachings.

One example of imaginative reading is to imagine being present when Jesus preaches the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. We imagine we are present when Jesus sat down on the mountain to preach. We are at the bottom of the mountain and we look up to the man seated on the slope. There are many people close by also looking up. We can feel the cool morning breeze that comes from the Sea of Galilee. The grass felt moist under our sandaled feet and the sun warm on our skin. We look up again as a voice sounded, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…” We mediate as we continue to read the text in Matt. 5:3 onwards.

Alice Fryling in her book Meeting God Together shares her experience of using imaginative reading in her spiritual direction session and encourages her directee to imagine being an active participant with her imagination. Alice writes,

For example, I was meeting with someone who had been struggling with the same problem in her life for years. Nothing seemed to help. As we talked, I began thinking about the man who waited by the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years for someone to help him get into the pool and be healed. I read the passage, John 5:1-8, to my friend, and I asked to picture herself lying there by the pool, struggling with her desire to be healed. Then I asked her to imagine Jesus approaching her. How would she feel? What might Jesus say to her? How would she respond to Jesus? By entering into this story in Scripture, my friend was able to experience God's love in a new way in her own situation. The Spirit touched her life in a quiet way, but one as real as the way Jesus touched the lame man. The Spirit's touch was personal and unique, well suited to her particular needs (72).

Following this experience with her friend, Alice also experienced a similar encounter herself with the text John 5 which she shares,

I had been praying about a number of relational entanglements that were draining life and energy from me. As I prayed, I talked with God about all the reasons these entanglements had gone on for so long and why I couldn't do anything about them. The passage in John came to mind. Reading the passage for myself this time, I was struck by Jesus' words to the ill man. Jesus said, "Stand up, take your mat and walk." These were familiar words to me. But this time, I heard the Spirit say to me, "Just walk!" And with that command came an invitation to let go of my need to figure things out and instead "just walk." All that week, when I was tempted to spiral back down into the entanglements of the relationship, I heard, "Just walk!" Just get going. Live as though you're healed. Don't lie there anymore. Those words seemed to guard my heart all week (73).

Imaginative reading provides different experiential encounters facilitated by the Holy Spirit for different people, and even for the same person, it will be different at different times in his or her life.

It is reasonable that some Christians are cautious about these approaches. Two major concerns are that we are not employing the proper hermeneutic tools here in our bible reading, and that we may be reading the bible out of context. These are valid concerns and are interrelated. Hans Frei argues in The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative: A Study in 18th and 19th Century Hermeneutics (1980) that the ‘proper’ hermeneutical which are the historical-critical method, the grammatical method, higher criticism, and systematic theology in current use actually intellectualized and subdivided the texts, and located their meaning outside the text! Frei contends that any interpretation of the Scriptures that discounts the realistic, historical narrative will result in distortion. According to Frei, we are already reading the bible out of context. Maybe lectio divina and imaginative reading will lead us to the context in which the bible is written.

A further comment about the common bible reading tools we use nowadays is that they date back to the Enlightenment and Newtonian science, which sought knowledge by breaking everything into its smallest pieces. Lectio divina and imaginative reading of the bible have been utilized by Christians since the time of the early church and is still being used down the centuries by some traditions of the Christian faith.

Basically it boils down to our willingness to believe that God can use the bible through our imagination and emotions to speak to us. If we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, then we should feel secure to use our imagination for the Holy Spirit will guide us into the truth. Whatever we receive will need to be checked with a more mature Christian and against the teachings of the Christian faith. This is where the spiritual director comes in. Lectio divina and imaginative reading need to be discerned through the lens of biblical teachings and a second pair of eyes is helpful. The revival of these ancient practices of reading the bible will enhance our spiritual encounters with God through his word.

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Reading the Bible Backward

My review of Edward Hindson's thesis on Isaiah's Immanuel has elicited some interesting comments. One is that whether Matthew is quoting Isaiah 7:14 correctly.

Dennis Bratcher, Old Testament scholar of CRI/Voice Institute writes,

"We are accustomed to reading the Bible backwards. That is, we have tended to assume that the New Testament provides all the clues we need to understand the Old Testament. As a result, we tend to read the Old Testament in light of what we understand about the New Testament. However, most of the time we are not really even reading the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. We are actually reading the Old Testament in light of much later highly developed doctrines and systematic theology seen through the eyes of 21st century Western perspectives. We tend not to take seriously the deep roots that most of the New Testament has in the thought world, symbolism, and theology of the Old Testament."

read more in his article on Immanuel in Isaiah and Matthew and Isaiah 7:14: Translation Issues

For a Jewish view of Isaiah 7:14, see this article from Messiah Truth which gives a different perspective on the whole issue.

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Four Views of the Book of Revelation

G.K. Chesterton once said, "Though St.John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creatures so wild as one of his own commentators"

This interesting commentary is actually four commentaries in one. Presented in four parallel columns are the commentaries of the text from four separate viewpoints: the historical viewpoint, the preterist viewpoint, the futurist viewpoint and the spiritual (or idealism or symbolic) viewpoint.

The historical viewpoint sees the Book of Revelation as a prewritten record of the history of the world from the apostles to the end of the world.

The preterist viewpoint sees that Revelation's prophecies has already been fulfilled but from St. John's viewpoint would be in the future.

The futurist viewpoint postulates that the majority of prophecies have not yet been fulfilled and await future fulfilment.

The spiritual viewpoint sees the Book as a great drama between good and evil with the final victory of Christ.

Really enjoyable read.

A Song of Love of Bride and Bridegroom

This excerpt from a sermon of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (Sermo 83, 4-6; Opera omnia, Edit. Cisterc 2 [1958], 300-302) treats of one of his favorite themes, the love relationship between God as bridegroom and the individual soul as bride, according the the Song of Songs (otherwise known as the Canticle of Canticles or Song of Solomon)... St. Bernard of Clairvaux was clearly one of the greatest preachers of all time. He was one of the early heroes of the Cistercian order of monks and, as abbot, founded over 40 monasteries and personally attracted hundreds to monastic life, including many of his relatives. His magnetic preaching and exemplary character changed the lives of thousands and his writing continues today to inspire Christians everywhere. His words were so sweet that he came to be known as the Melifluous ("full of honey") Doctor. St. Bernard died in 1153 and was later proclaimed a saint and a Doctor of the Church. His feast day in the Roman Calendar is August 20.


Love is sufficient of itself, it gives pleasure by itself and because of itself. It is its own merit, its own reward. Love looks for no cause outside itself, no effect beyond itself. Its profit lies in its practice. I love because I love, I love that I may love. Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it.

Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return; the sole purpose of his love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.

The Bridegroom’s love, or rather the love which is the Bridegroom, asks in return nothing but faithful love. Let the beloved, then, love in return. Should not a bride love, and above all, Love’s bride? Could it be that Love not be loved?

Rightly then does she give up all other feelings and give herself wholly to love alone; in giving love back, all she can do is to respond to love. And when she has poured out her whole being in love, what is that in comparison with the unceasing torrent of that original source? Clearly, lover and Love, soul and Word, bride and Bridegroom, creature and Creator do not flow with the same volume; one might as well equate a thirsty man with the fountain.

What then of the bride’s hope, her aching desire, her passionate love, her confident assurance? Is all this to wilt just because she cannot match stride for stride with her giant, any more than she can vie with honey for sweetness, rival the lamb for gentleness, show herself as white as the lily, burn as bright as the sun, be equal in love with him who is Love? No. It is true that the creature loves less because she is less. But if she loves with her whole being, nothing is lacking where everything is given. To love so ardently then is to share the marriage bond; she cannot love so much and not be totally loved, and it is in the perfect union of two hearts that complete and total marriage consists. Or are we to doubt that the soul is loved by the Word first and with a greater love?

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