Next Wednesday we will be discussing session 6 of Animate: Bible, Interpretation: Scripture Reads Us, presented by Will Willimon.
The following are some scriptures and questions from the journal and facilitator guide to get us started:
Read the 10 Commandments (Deuteronomy 5:4-21), keeping in mind that scripture is all about God. How does it change your thinking to view scripture this way, rather than being all about us?
Read Colossians 3:18-4:1, remembering that this is a letter to the Colossians. What information might be helpful to put these words in context? Is it possible to make meaning of this passage without some sort of scholarly interpretation?
Read Matthew 20:1-16, and think about how you, personally, understand or interpret this passage. Have you heard other interpretations?
Check out:
Psalm 1
Isaiah 53:1-9
Matthew 9:11-13
How do we interpret the above passages in light of what we know of Jesus? Our context changes how we understand scripture that pre-dated Jesus.
How does this week's topic relate to earlier discussions about how the Bible has been made available to more and more people over the years...with translations into the language of the people, the invention of the printing press, and the development of the internet? Is it "dangerous" for the Bible to be in the hands of people, who have no knowledge of the cultural context of the Bible, no information about genres or history?
Will Willimon talks about people reading the Bible and "just letting it speak." Are there times when this is a good thing? Willimon seems to, first, be saying that it's not a good thing, that we always need to be aware of the context of the Bible and to be informed about where the text is coming from. But then he tells the story of the young man who said, "Did it ever occur to you to just do it?" That seems like a case of just letting the text speak.
Have there been times in your life when just the simple reading of the Bible has been important to your faith journey? Are there times when the simple reading has been detrimental? Can you think of examples of times when you've seen either of these things happen in the lives of others or the church as a whole?
Have the tools of "community, context and prayer" ever changed your understanding of the Bible? What do we do with the fact that there are divisions between communities of believers (think denominations) in the interpretation of scripture?
What does it mean to say that the Bible is "a book of imagination?" Are you comfortable or uncomfortable with that thought? Why?
How do we hold on to a childlike faith in the midst of such complex questions?
There are SO MANY questions to consider and so few definitive answers! I am so proud to know all of you and to see such honest wrestling with the questions! Thank you for being my community!
I have to admit that I was a little discouraged when the speaker implied that "letting the bible speak to you" was ridiculous. No everyone has a source of spiritual support to help them navigate the bible in an intellectual manner. I remember being 14 and desperately seeking God with no one around me to act as a Shepard. I prayed about what I was about to read in the bible, asking God to guide me, and the passage I read turned my life around. This a situation where "letting the Bible speak to you" is far from ridiculous.
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