DANGER: Reading this book may be challenging! The bible is crazy stuff. Jesus might ask you to walk out on the water. This is no boring sunday school animal cracker stuff. Wake up people and smell that salty sea breeze- because we're jumping in.
I find it interesting that Drane puts “Understanding the NT” at the end of his book. It is kind of funny, because I think if the reader was paying any attention to how Drane worked through scripture they would be able to understand how to “Read and Understand the NT”. If I was going to have coffee with good ol’ Drane I might suggest to him that he put this chapter at the start of this book. But nevertheless, he still makes some really awesome points about the NT and how past and present cultures have interpreted it!
If an ol’ average Western Christian understands the Bible to be a solid book, sent from God, good for readin’ on Sundays and at funerals... well they got something coming! The NT alone, is a crazy collection of stories and epistles, Jesus and Elijah recordings, angels and demons, pigs and Pharisees, wells and women, danger and deceit, but most importantly: love and redemption. It is a collection of words: words that follow more words. But unlike a boring blog post or essay they have the power to bring you to your knees. They have the power to literally transform lives. That is because God has worked through history to make these words available to people. And so they are HIS TOOL, HIS PROPERTY, and he uses them mightily and accordingly.
The sad part about this is so few who read it choose to engage deeply with the word of God and as Drane points out, they decide to be the impartial Investigator/Observer. When what God really longs for is : a personal engagement into scripture stories and then apply them to our own lives. I think this part is done a lot less because it makes us UNCOMFORTABLE and VULNERABLE. It takes courage, sacrifice and risk. Reading the Bible is intense stuff- it is up there with mountain climbing if you ask me. Jesus challenges us to be the character in his story that needs help, who needs comfort, and who needs salvation. To do this you need to swallow pride. As Drane points out, this can be a very difficult task for Western Christians.
In the gospel stories, Jesus interacts with many characters, affecting and challenging them in different ways. Changing water into wine for example includes: Mother Mary, the servants, the bridgegroom, the Master of the banquet, and the disciples. Depending on where we are in life and our biases will influence who we choose to relate to. We should seek however, to be objective and try to understand the different ways in which people react to Jesus in the Gospels.
Over the centuries, interpretation of the bible has changed as culture has changed. The scientific Revolution brought on a very “reductionist” approach to scripture reading. This would not be very helpful at all as the approach seeks to simplify the text.
Understanding the context and background to scripture can be so helpful and important when reading. After I grasped the idea of Jesus being the fullfillment of the Jewish prophecy I could understand the different struggles of the new church. There was a huge transition going on! AKA... moving from Judiasm to Christianity. Some got on the wagon and some did not- and the early Church was stuck in the middle of it. The epistles become much clearer after understanding this. Ideas on spirituality were also very different: in our age of technology one only thinks of seeing an angel on top of a Christmas tree. But in ancient Roman culture, the spiritual world was much more intertwined with daily thought. Many other background context gives understanding to the modern reader in a way that helps to apply God’s word to daily life.
PS. Thanks Danny and NT class for a great experience. I learned a lot that has enriched my personal faith and my outward ministry. Awesome!
