What language for God doesn’t work for you anymore ... and what

language for God works for you?Any ideas why?

When we lack words for things, they often don’t exist for us.

Naming things brings them into existence for us.

You were pretty selfish as a baby ...

God 1.0 - meets our needs and elicits trust.

God 2.0 - teaches us basic courtesy and generosity.

God 3.0 - teaches us the rules society depends upon.

God 4.0 - teaches us to love one another.

God 1.0 - meets our needs and elicits trust.

God 2.0 - teaches us basic courtesy and generosity.

God 3.0 - teaches us the rules society depends upon.

God 4.0 - teaches us to love one another.

But who is included in one another?

God 1.0 - meets our needs and elicits trust.

God 2.0 - teaches us basic courtesy and generosity.

God 3.0 - teaches us the rules society depends upon.

God 4.0 - teaches us to love one another.

God 5.0 - teaches us to love all creation.

Ivan Illich (Austrian former priest,

philosopher, social critic, 1926-2002)

Neither revolution nor reformation can ultimately change a society, rather you must tell a new powerful tale, one so persuasive that it sweeps away the old myths and becomes the preferred story …

… one so inclusive that it gathers all the bits of our past and our present into a coherent whole, one that even shines some light into the future so that we can take the next step…. If you want to change a society, then you have to tell an alternative story.

- attributed to Ivan Illich (Austrian former priest, philosopher, social critic, 1926-2002)

“Where common memory is lacking, where people do not share in the same past, there can be no real community. Where community is to be formed, common memory must be created.”

- Georges Erasmus, Canadian Aboriginal leader,

Dene nation

The Bible is too important

(and dangerous) to

be left to those who

don’t think critically

about it ...

Slavery and the Bible

The Bible is too important

(and dangerous) to

be left to those who

don’t think critically

about it ...

The African slave trade spanned 450 years. It involved the kidnapping of 11.5 million Africans. Billions of people today still profit and suffer in the aftermath of it.

There were also many novels, counterpart to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, such as:

Nellie Norton: or, Southern Slavery and the Bible: A Scriptural Refutation of the Principal Arguments Upon Which the Abolitionists Rely: A Vindication of Southern Slavery From the Old and New Testaments, (1864)

by Ebenezer Willis Warren, an obscure 44-year old Protestant clergyman from Macon, GA.  Last major defense of slavery in the U.S.

Leviticus 25:

Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land; and they shall be your possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever.

Other passages in the Old Testament frequently cited by Old South proslavers--

Exodus 21:2-6 (relating to the slavery of poor Hebrews)Deuteronomy 15:16-17 (also relating to the slavery of poor

Hebrews)--Genesis 9:26-27 (relating to the curse of Canaan to legitimize

racism)

“There is nothing, not one word, in the Old Testament to condemn, but very much to establish, enforce, and regulate slavery.”

(Proslaver to Nellie Norton)

Proslavers in Nellie Norton assert that the New Testament confirms the Old Testament witness. The Golden Rule is not inconsistent with human slavery, they say.

In fact, slavery is a form of neighborliness because it puts slaves in better conditions than in Africa, and exposes them to Christian influences, a theme known as “the Ennoblement of the Heathen” which was also used to justify treatment of the Native Peoples.

New Testament Passages in Nellie Norton: Ephesians 6:5-8 (exhorting servants to be obedient to their

masters)Titus 2:9-10 (also exhorting servants to be obedient to their

masters)Colossians 3:22-24 (requiring slaves to obey their masters)

“…in the catalogue of sins denounced by the Savior and His Apostles, slavery is not once mentioned

… not one word is said by the prophets, apostles, or the holy Redeemer against slavery … the

Apostles admitted slaveholders and their slaves to church membership, without requiring a

dissolution of the relation.”

Additional quotes from Nellie Norton: “…slavery is right, and its enforcement is according to the

Scripture,” “…slavery is taught in the Bible, and instituted in Heaven,” “…God has ordained slavery,” “…slavery was made perpetual by the positive enactment of

heaven,” “…there cannot be found ... in the Bible a single injunction to

slaveholders to liberate those held by them in bondage.”  To speak against slavery “is to abominate the law of God, and the

sentiments inculcated by his holy prophets and apostles.”  A slave “cannot sunder bonds which bind him to his earthly

master, without breaking those which unite him morally to his Redeemer.”

Nellie Norton:

“… the Bible is a pro-slavery Bible, and God is a pro-slavery God,”

“… the North must give up the Bible and religion, or adopt our views of slavery.”

John Saffin, another proslaver of the period, wrote: Since Abraham owned slaves …

… our Imitation of him in this Moral Action is as warrantable as that of [adopting] his Faith. God set different Orders and Degrees of Men in the World ... some to be High and Honourable, some to be Low and Despicable… Servants of sundry sorts and degrees, bound to obey; yea, some to be born Slave, and so to remain during their lives.

The Biblical Argument for slavery:The Oracular Decisions of God have positively

declared that the Slave-Trade is intrinsically good and licit, [and that the

holding of slaves] is perfectly consonant to the principles of the Law of Nature, the Mosaic Dispensation, and the Christian Law … [Thus slavery has] the positive

sanction of God in its support."

Raymond Harris, Scriptural Researches on the Licitness of the Slave-Trade.

Robert Lewis Dabney (1851)

"Here is our policy then...to push the Bible argument continually, to drive Abolitionism to the wall, to compel it to assume an anti-Christian position."

Only 1 in 11 Southerners owned slaves ... but 40% of Baptist preachers did, along with other molders of public opinion.

How did the proslavers use the Bible?

How did the abolitionists use the Bible?

Which method do we want to follow?

pre 1860

John Henry Hopkins:

If it were a matter to be determined by personal sympathies, tastes, or feelings, I should be as ready as any man to condemn the institution of slavery, for all prejudices of eduction, habit, and social position stand entirely opposed to it. But as a Christian... I am compelled to submit my weak and erring intellect to the authority of the Almighty. For then only can I be safe in my conclusions.

John Henry Hopkins (1792–1868) as cited in William Webb, Moving Beyond the Bible to Theology (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2009) 216. Emphasis added.

John Collins:

The Bible has contributed to violence in the world precisely because it has been taken to confer a degree of certitude that transcends human discussion and argumentation. Perhaps the most constructive thing a biblical critic can do toward lessening the contribution of the Bible to violence in the world is to show that such certitude is an illusion.John J. Collins, Does the Bible Justify Violence (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004) 32–33

“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” - Blaise Pascal (Pensees 894)

Yolanda Pierce told the bitter truth in a 2015 article:We often fail to deconstruct how proslavery theology still influences American Christianity. But simply put: Theological arguments upheld the institution of slavery long after every other argument failed. American Christian theology was born in a cauldron of proslavery ideology, and one of the spectacular failures of the Christian church today is its inability to name, interrogate, confront, repent, and dismantle the cauldron which has shaped much of its theology. We are daily living with the remnants of a theological white supremacy, coupled with social and political power, which continues to uphold racist ideologies.... [C]an this nation afford to keep ignoring the truth that black people in America live under a threat of racial violence, never quite feeling that we are fully equal citizens in the nation that our enslaved ancestors built?

Meanwhile … in France:

A song lyric was written in 1847 by Placide Clappeau, a French wine merchant, mayor of the French town Roquemaure.

Adolphe Adam wrote the music. Later the song was translated into English by

John S. Dwight – It is said to have been the first music ever

broadcast over radio.

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining; It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth! Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born!O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love and His Gospel is peace. Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother And in His Name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, Let all within us praise His holy Name! Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever! His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim! His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

Rediscovering the Bible

Constitution/Contract ... or Library/Conversation?

The Bible as Constitution/Contract

• What purposes do constitutions (or social contracts) fulfill?

• What problems arise with this approach?

Bible as Library/Conversation

• The Bible as a cultural library

• Artifacts from stories within stories

LEGAL CONSTITUTION COMMUNITY LIBRARY

Uniformity Diversity

Preserve order Preserve diversity

agreement argument

enforcement encouragement

LEGAL CONSTITUTION COMMUNITY LIBRARY

Rules to live by, Conformity Stories to live by, Creativity

One publication date Many publication dates

Analyze, interpret, argue Enter, inhabit, practice

amendments? new acquisitions

Inspiration

• what would an inspired constitution look like?

• what would an inspired community library look like?

• how would we engage with the Bible as an inspired library?

“Texts in Travail”

PriestsProphets

PoetsPhilosophers/Sages

“Texts in Travail”

Not contradictions ... but contractions ...

giving birth to the Word of God.

For Christians, the Word of God is not a book, but a

person ...

As Martin Luther said, “The Bible is the manger on which

Christ is presented to the world.”

Reading the Bible

• FLAT - ALL SAME

• FLAT/SLANT DOWN - LAW PRIMARY

• FLAT/SLANT UP - PAUL PRIMARY

• TENT - JESUS PRIMARY

How to Read the Bible:

(beyond liberal and conservative)

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.

Post-Critical: After having analyzed the text, readers seek to “see it whole”

again, letting it speak to, touch, and move them.

CriticalQuestioned. Tested. Scrutinized. Evaluated. Treated as human,

situated, constructed, and interpreted.

Innocent:Taken at face value. Unquestioned. Univocal. Treated as divine, transcendent, incorrigible, or absolute.

Literal Literary

5. Post-critical literal 6. Post-critical literary

3. Critical Literal 4. Critical Literary

1. Innocent Literal 2. Innocent Literary

Inno

cent

C

ritic

al

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 albuma refrigerator door or classroom bulletin board

a specialized library

Option 6: Post-Critical Literary

The Bible is a collection of human literary artifacts, akin to ...

a museum an heirloom quilt

a family scrapbook or photo albuma refrigerator door or classroom bulletin board

a specialized library

that can speak to us today ... touch us today ... move us today.

Literal Literary

5. Post-critical literal 6. Post-critical literary

3. Critical Literal 4. Critical Literary

1. Innocent Literal 2. Innocent Literary

Inno

cent

C

ritic

al

Faithful

Reading the Bible as Jesus did...

I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it ...

You have heard it said ... but I say to you.

Abolish?

Fulfill?

Luke 4 - Isaiah 6118 ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ and the day of vengeance of our God.”20And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’

Reading the Bible as Paul did...

Paul’s use of Psalm 18:41-49 and Deuteronomy 32:43 in Romans 15:8-10.

For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name.” (Ps. 18:41–49). Again, it says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people. (Deut. 32:43)

Paul’s use of Psalm 18:41-49 and Deuteronomy 32:43 in Romans 15:8-10.

For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: “I destroyed my foes. They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—to the LORD, but he did not answer…. He is the God who avenges me, who puts the Gentiles under me…. Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name.” (Ps. 18:41–49). Again, it says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people.” (Deut. 32:43)

Jacob and Esau ...

Romans 9

Nor is that all; something similar happened to Rebecca when she had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor Isaac. 11Even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose of election might continue, 12not by works but by his call) she was told, ‘The elder shall serve the younger.’ 13As it is written,‘I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.’

14 What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15For he says to Moses,‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’

He himself went on ahead of them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother.

4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 5When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he said, ‘Who are these with you?’ Jacob said, ‘The children whom God has graciously given your servant.’ 6Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down; 7Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down; and finally Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. 8Esau said, ‘What do you mean by all this company that I met?’ Jacob answered, ‘To find favour with my lord.’ 9But Esau said, ‘I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.’ 10Jacob said, ‘No, please; if I find favour with you, then accept my present from my hand; for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God—since you have received me with such favour. 11Please accept my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have everything I want.’ So he urged him, and he took it.

Romans 11

Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, 31so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now* receive mercy. 32For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

33 O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways! 34 ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?’ 35 ‘Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?’ 36For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.

He himself went on ahead of them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother.

4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 5When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he said, ‘Who are these with you?’ Jacob said, ‘The children whom God has graciously given your servant.’ 6Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down; 7Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down; and finally Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. 8Esau said, ‘What do you mean by all this company that I met?’ Jacob answered, ‘To find favour with my lord.’ 9But Esau said, ‘I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.’ 10Jacob said, ‘No, please; if I find favour with you, then accept my present from my hand; for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God—since you have received me with such favour. 11Please accept my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have everything I want.’ So he urged him, and he took it.

A fresh vision of the big picture

A fresh vision of the big picture:

- the Biblical story- the Christian way

of life

science

violence

miracles

historicity

application

lectionary

authority

7

science

violence

miracles

historicity

application

lectionary

authority

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science

violence

miracles

historicity

application

lectionary

authority

7

science

violence

miracles

historicity

application

lectionary

authority

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science

violence

miracles

historicity

application

lectionary

authority

7

science

violence

miracles

historicity

application

lectionary

authority

7

science

violence

miracles

historicity

application

lectionary

authority

7

science

violence

miracles

historicity

application

lectionary

authority

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science

violence

miracles

historicity

application

lectionary

authority

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