Teaching the Bible

After dinner last night, our host turned to me and asked if she could ask me a question. The context of our friendship is that I served as here pastor for a number of years. We are visiting friends form those years, including our host for last night and tonight. After a quip about not being sure if I can answer any questions, she went ahead and asked, "Why doesn't anyone teach the whole Bible anymore?" What a question!

To my shocked and blank stare, this precious friend asked if I understood the question... then helped me out by asking specifically why no one teaches on the book of Revelation. To this I gave a little internal flinch as the "prophecy" minefield expanded before my mental horizon. I quickly decided on a direct approach and waded "fearlessly" into the minefield trusting in the trust of our friendship to protect those of us sitting around the table from the little explosions this topic can cause.

The conversation wound on past this topic in the course of time, but it left me thinking and now to the point for this post: When I "teach" the Bible, am I really teaching the Bible? In the context of last evening's conversation we (or at least I) eventually re-shaped the question form the original, "Why doesn't anyone teach the whole Bible any more?" to, "Why doesn't anyone teach dispensational theology anymore?" This is the real question. But, my friend had been taught for many years, if not her entire life as a Christian, that dispensationalism was the "Bible" and that anyone who did not teach dispensationalism was not teaching the Bible.

So, again, the question: When I teach the Bible, am I really teaching the Bible or am I teaching an interpretive framework? For me, the question is whether or not I am aware of my interpretive framework or perhaps, am I at least aware of the lenses I'm reading through, for indeed we have become perhaps disturbingly aware (or we persist in being disturbingly unaware) that we all do indeed wear glasses with particular lenses that affect how we see our world and interpret the events and experiences of our lives.

As I become more aware of this reality myself, I begin to see that many of the things I've argued over, even gone to war over, was/is the lenses that I currently wear rather than the reality or truth I thought I was fighting to defend.

I'm not saying that we can somehow rid ourselves of the need for lenses. After all, even the illustrious St. Paul was aware of his/our lenses... indeed, becoming aware of our lenses is a huge part of the 'battle' which can perhaps allow us to move toward fuller experience of the Gospel and community.

Portland and Beyond

Teresa and i left San Andreas this morning at about 8:10. We spent the day driving north mostly on I-5 and arrived in Portland at about 9:45pm. According to Google maps it's 663.2 miles. Also according to the mapping program, it would take us 9 days and 2 hours to walk! It was a beautiful day to travel. To pass the time Teresa read an overview of world history form 10,000BC to the present! We read about civilizations from around the world and finished up with an overview of the history of California up to the present.

Not bad for a 13 hour day! 663.2 miles... 10,000 years of world history... In-N-Out Burgers for lunch in Redding, CA... and iced coffees in Medford, OR... diner at Outback in Springfield, OR and ice cream cones in Wilsonville, OR.

What a ride!

An A.I.Analyzes "Love"

xkcd.com

Now that is quite the statement! Many years ago a very popular musical group used to sing "All you need is love.... All you need is love... Love is all you need..." So which is it? If you really want to get into some serious thinking about "love" check this out (Caution: the title and content of the post this link points to uses offensive and shocking language). Perhaps xkcd.com has the better grasp on what all is involved in bonafied love.

Love can be deadly to all involved. I think one of the best treaties I've read on thinking love was written my Robert W. Jenson in his book, "On Thinking the Human." It turns out that in usual human thought and action, love is quite IMPOSSIBLE! The impossibility of love between two people is that there seems to be no way that such a relationship can be sustained as one will end up "devouring" the other. We intend love and end in war! I remember reading a book a number of years ago in which the author observed that in relationships the one who loves the most is most vulnerable to the one who loves the least. Thus, it becomes the goal to get the other person to fall deeper in love with you so that you end up in the power position.

But then again, the bottom line in the Jewish and Christian traditions is: You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But then if you take 1 Corinthians 13 as a definition of love then as Halden points out in his post... well, perhaps xkcd's A.I. has it right - "Strange game. The only winning move is not to play."

Or is it?

Random Thoughts

Last week, no, the week before last I did a little browsing on TED's website. I happened to be looking for talks about the the universe and found this one.

It is pretty amazing to hear and see these depictions of the universe.

To live in this type of universe certainly can give one pause... or maybe not. I can go about my daily routines and never give one thought to the vast NOT SO EMPTY universe, happily unaware of what all goes into making it possible for me to go about my daily routines. I find it encouraging that George Smoot sees that the further out and further back we see it becomes obvious that what we see is not random chaos, but incredible design. He of course makes no suggestion that there is any conscious or intentional designer behind the design other than that in the distant past all that exists in the universe started with the right ingredients and the right formula to bring about what we observe today. And what we observe today is a universe that provides all the necessary properties and elements for self aware organic intelligence to make such observations. This then begs the question, perhaps, of whether the existence of life is accidental or is life in just such a universe as we live in inevitable.

I showed George Smoot's talk to Teresa yesterday afternoon and last night we joined a hundred or so of our neighbors for a movie under the stars at a local park. At one point in the evening, Teresa looked up and then leaned over and asked, "So, how many of those are stars and how many are galaxy's?" George Smoot's short talk has sure changed the way I look at the "stars."

"The heavens declare the glory of God;

and the firmament sheweth his handiwork."

Reading and Beyond

For 10 years Reading and Beyond (formerly Fresno Covenant Foundation) led by Luis Santan, a reciepient of a 2009 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award, has led his board, staff and volunteer team to make all the difference in the world for thousands.  Yesterday the incredible work of Reading and Beyond was recognized for "advancing innovative and effective solutions to significant state issues" by the James Irvine Foundation.

Congratulations Luis, Staff, Board of Directors, Volunteers, Children and Parents!

A Post

I've finished the introduction and first couple of articles in my copy of " The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for Unbelievers."  Actually, I think Mr. Hitchens could have expanded his title to Essential Readings for Unbelievers and Believers" since he is a bit "evangelistic" in approach to atheism.  OK, maybe not essential readings for believers, but the readings I've read so far are indeed thought provoking.

Here is my first observations so far:  In his introduction, Hitchens makes his argument against religion and god. One argument that theists and religionists put forward against atheism is that without the idea of "god" human culture would slide into bloody anarchy. Hitchens denies this flat out insisting that humans would have come up with moral behavior and civilization without the need for redress to god, gods or religion.  I'm not convinced that his point can actually stand, being made at this point in history.  Hitchens himself points out that religion and speculation about the transcendent or supernatural has been a part of the human experience as far back our recorded history goes.

Thus the ethics and morals of civilization as they have developed over the millennia come embedded in and with the human habit of thinking about the world in bigger terms than the narrowness of science as portrayed by Hitchens.  Thus, to say that morality can have developed without recourse to the transcendent, supernatural or god is questionable since morals indeed were part and parcel to human contemplation of someone or something beyond themselves and we have no record of civilization without also a record of spirituality intricate to it.  Thus to say we've now outgrown the need for "god" to be moral seems suspect at least.

Creativity

Writing is an act of creation.  It doesn't matter if what you are writing is fiction or non-fiction, it is a creative act.  Perhaps it's more obvious that writing fiction is a creative act whereas non-fiction maybe not so much.  But even if you are simply copying known facts from one source and recording then into a new document with absolutely no editorial work being done, still, the act of even copying words or even simply copying letters or even further still copying marks form one source to another is an act of creation - you are creating a new copy of on original work even if you have no comprehension of what you copy.  But, when writing non-fiction you are still creating as you shape your thoughts and consider what it is that is being said that is meant to be a representation of the real world.  

Thus writing is an act of creation.  And like all creative acts the quality of the outcome varies from person to person and form project to project.  Some writers are able to create masterpieces as they develop their skills thorough learning and practice and persistence in the hard work of creation.  To read the works of such authors is a magnificent experience that can indeed expand the horizons of your life, both inward and outward and finding such authors I have several times gone on to seek out other works of these authors so as to experience all they have to offer.

Thus writing is an act of creation.  For, the one who reads what another has written by a creative author is somehow changed as a result - they become something different creation takes place in the reader and such experiences are to be cherished.

Be creative, share your story, your words, your thoughts, and be open to what others tell you and experience creation.