A semi-imagined conversation
-- Right. Bible reading. Here we go - Speak Lord, your servant is listening. Ok, Matthew 11:28. Jesus said "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." Ok, good verse. Thank You Lord. But now let me think. What is this verse really saying to me...? Hmm, well of course "rest" is very theologically loaded. Right from the seventh day of creation we see eschatological perfection modelled in Sabbath....
-- Glen!
-- Speak Lord, your servant is listening.
-- Yes you've already said that. And I've already spoken...
-- ... Oh indeed you have Lord and now I'm allowing your word to inform and shape my theological understanding that I might be transformed by the renewing... Well you know how the verse goes. Anyway I find it fascinating that you say v28 right after v27 when you declare the trinitarian, christo-centric dynamic of all revel...
-- Glen!
-- Speak Lord, your servant is listening
-- Are you?
-- Well trying to. That's why I'm thinking hard about how the verse fits in with the context and with the rest of the biblical witness. I'm allowing my whole theology to be shaped by these concepts...
-- These concepts? Glen, have you actually come to me for rest today?
-- Well. My plan is to get a properly nuanced theology of rest in place. And once I have this understanding I imagine the experience of rest will sort of, I don't know, umm....
-- Glen?
-- Speak Lord your servant is listening
-- Maybe later...
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That is a classic.
I've just broken the trackbacks feature on my site, so here's my response in blog form: http://audienceofone.org.uk/2009/03/how-not-to-read-the-bible/
I occasionally have the same tendency. Thank you for the implied challenge!
Hey that's funny, I'm going to do an off and on series on "How To Read The Bible." I guess you're into negative theology, and I must be into positive theology ;-). You are an Anglican, so this kind of makes sense :-).
No negative theology here Bobby. Just aware of my tendency to read for the informing of my theology. I try to get my *system* to comfort me when the Word is trying to do that in a far more direct manner.
;-)