I have been really blessed by Green’s three world’s of the text. The history he provides, as well as our other readings, is really helpful as well to understand the movement from pre-modern, modernity, and our current post-modern (or whatever it’s called now!) perspectives. I now recognize how the various theological and denominational streams I’ve been in each view scripture a little differently, and have nuanced approaches to interpreting it as well.

As someone who’s spent much too long in systematic camps, it’s been liberating to recognize the ideological nature of all systems, and to intentionally begin to peel them back from my reading of scripture with all of their presuppositions. Appreciating each genre as it’s own piece of art/literature, using tools that respect their forms, and allowing them to truly give their own voice to the theological discussion is now my goal. I dig the multivalent nature of scripture, in it’s diverse pluriformity. Big new words for deep and wide!

I can see how, in the past, I have framed certain passages, and even certain books as being ‘for this’ and ‘against that’ theologically, instead of allowing the authors speak to their original audiences, and set aside my obvious presuppositions.

This class has been such a blessing, truly. It’s my final course in my Fuller journey, at least I thought. I’ve just been accepted into the DGL and look to be starting this fall. I can say honestly that part of the reason I’m enthused to continue this academic journey is because scripture itself has become the potential of a gourmet meal awaiting an investment of time and energy. As an inspiring art, rather than book of application, I see interpretation through a new lens. I used to move too quickly to what Gorman calls premature assimilation, jumping the gun to application and missing the forest for the trees. When this happens, as it has been for too much of my faith journey, the bible becomes “uneventful, bland, routine and entirely unremarkable” (Gorman p.178).  As I peel back the layers, using exegital frameworks, I see a grand narrative coming together, a symphony plucking and tuning their strings, and drawing me into making the Bible my Scripture. 

Thank you Jesus for this course, my fellow classmates and allowing us all to be challenged in this season.

“Apply yourself wholly to the text. Apply the text wholly to yourself”- Johann Bengel.

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A little commentary on the wisdom literature of the Old Testament from this past week. Two more weeks until I graduate.. but still a final paper to start and finish. Pause world!

n this 3rd unit, I was encouraged by the reading on wisdom literature, and it’s unified, yet distinct contribution to the whole of scripture. In the OT canon, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job can seem to stick out as being random, without any focus it seems on Israel, covenant etc. Yet, as we read, the focus on the fear of God as the beginning of wisdom is a unifying focus of all three books and is a unique derivative of the covenant relationship from Sinai which set Israel apart form it’s pagan neighbors and their gods. In Job, if we remove covenant from the book, we have no message. In Ecclesiastes, without covenant, truly all is meaningless! 

I was challenged to think through a fresh lens that Creator has set up a good world, but that in all three books, there’s a common disorder in the universe that has been unleashed causing much frustration. The writers recognize this common virus, though they don’t name it, in NT vernacular, we can all understand this issue to be sin. Wisdom, to live the good life in the midst of this disorder, begins with recognizing God as Creator, and though we have quite a limited view on the situation, we can trust in God, even when all hell breaks loose!

I was encouraged as well that for the Jewish world, God and world were not two separate realities.. “as if the cosmos was a machine wound up at creation and left to run on its own” but rather the Lord was understood to be active at all levels” (E. C., Lewis “Wisdom Theology,” Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings, IVP, 2008, p. 905)

Lastly, Green’s book has challenged me to take seriously my presuppositions, and rather than attempt to arrive at some neutral place in my mind, he encourages us to embrace principles of interpretation (p. 92-92) which mitigate our known and unknown presuppositions, keeping us coloring inside the lines when it comes to our relationship with Scripture. Instead of belonging for or against theological camps, I should rather “identify oneself with and among the community of faith” (Green p. 75) in this ongoing, generational church discussion with Scripture. This is liberating, because I think I’ve faked myself out, or tried to, thinking I’m reading from this place of total neutrality, only to be guilty of what Green calls an “anachronistic framework into which the pluriform message of Scripture might be squeezed” (Green, p. 80). In other words, I see how systematic theology has wreaked havoc in my journey with Scripture, robbing it of it’s multi-valence and intended formational influence.

One of our visits was with babushka Galia. She’s 84, and has quite an operation farming more than a small garden. She has sweet corn, potatoes, cucumbers, and all kinds of critters pecking about. She’s struggling to keep up, and recently had a heart attack that left her in the local hospital for over a month. She teared up as she explained the stress she feels to keep up with the garden and daily chores on her own. I tried to encourage her to scale back and take care of her health, but that’s an exercise in futility with these grandmothers. Their life is in their garden, it’s all they know, it gives them purpose in the morning, day and fills their thoughts at night.

She has kids, but they are all in the bigger cities, and only come to visit when there’s a problem. I asked her what brings her the most joy, she easily replied, “children, I miss being around children.”

It was so quiet in her village, buried in the forest. It once had a school, a store, but no more. Now, it’s just a handful of houses and some overgrown forest covering what used to be well traveled roads. It’s like stepping back in time. I saw her blood pressure readings, having gone through a season of monitoring my own last year, I noticed some dangerous spikes and asked if that was from her working in the garden. She replied, “maybe, but it’s probably from the stress I have with my neighbor. My garden weeds are reaching over to their yard and they are angry with me about that.” Isn’t it interesting, no matter how quiet, isolated, and seemingly without the stresses of our modern world, she shares in the struggles of the rest of us.

Hung on her walls I noticed some orthodox Christian imagery, icons. Thankful I was able to study some of the hand gestures of Christ (Greek sign for Trinity) and the elements in iconography that point to the true icon, God become flesh for us. After each visit, we close with prayer, and often the grandmother will cross herself, three times, in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit. The hope of Jesus resurrection is so meaningful when physical death is looming, God’s loving offer of friendship and eternal life met with willing hearts – especially if embodied among the family of God.

Well, that’s my story from yesterday. There’s more I could share, like the 96 yr old neighbor grandmother that has sleepless nights, dirt floors and grossly misshaped toes/feet. Some of the sights, the smells, reminding me that this ministry is truly about entering the pain of others, taking it on, and a certain emptying must take place for this sort of path. To empty oneself of all that we consider spiritual from our former dualistic concepts, to see the upside down kingdom, God in the material here and now, among us in the forgotten, outside on the fringes. To go there, requires an embracing of death early on in our journey, not late towards the end of life when all our vigor and energies have been spent on our anxious search for meaning. When we stop striving, we can be present, we can love those in front of us in actuality, not in words, but through embodying the love that has been poured into us by our Creator. I don’t confess knowing this pathway too well, I’ve only started walking its path, the trail is not worn, but I’m seeing it, and I think that’s a start.

Jesus be with dear Galia. Be with all your dear widows, and empower us by your mercy to love them as we experience your perfect love.