N.T. Wright
Hello all. I apologize for not posting yesterday as I had intended to but I got caught up in March Madness. I'm feeling a bit under the weather today but I plan to post my analysis on the last two lectionary verses later this afternoon.
First though, I'd like to offer up a brief explanation of the title of my blog as well as give the readers (however few they might be) some background as to how I look at the Bible. Feel free to ask questions if you want a deeper explanation either via comments (below), e-mail (jsquiggles23@hotmail.com), or facebook (if I'm not your friend already just request Jason Squires to be your friend. I should gladly accept.).
Now that the generalities are out of the way.......
My Blog Title-When I decided to name my blog Taking Jesus Out of the Box, I knew some people may wonder what I meant by that. I should have probably offered an explanation in my Greetings post but I didn't think about it. The intended meaning is pretty simple: As Christians, or Christ followers, I believe we are called to be formed by scripture and our relationship with Christ (which can mean different things to different people). I believe, however, that many of us put Jesus "in a box" when we express our faith in a limited way. I want to make one thing clear about that last statement though: At some point, we ALL are guilty of allowing our biases to dictate our outlook on the Bible and our relationship with Christ.
Simply put this blog is a way for me to get a lot of my thoughts out as well as remain faithful to a study of the scriptures. I'm doing this in blog form because I want to invite any readers to join me on my journey to be more like clay and less like a potter, if that makes any sense. I have already invited a few others to share their thoughts on my blog, and if any readers I haven't invited are inspired to share their thoughts, they can feel free to contact me and I am willing to give those of you who are willing the space they need. I am also planning on writing thematically to go along with my lectionary analysis, but I don't know when that will necessarily happen.
Biblical Perspective (How I Interpret Scripture)- Much of how I look at scripture and absorb it is influenced by the gentleman pictured above. His name is N.T. Wright. He is an Anglican bishop and the denomination I'm a part of (United Methodist) has roots in the Church of England. If you haven't read any of Wright's many books, I would strongly suggest it.
I basically break the Bible down into three parts, one of which is foretold of and which I can't speak to: The Old Testament (early Judaism as well as the time of the Old Covenant), The New Testament (the New Covenant as established by Christ and the covenant that defines us as Christian which is still relevant today) and the New Creation (either the afterlife or this world's future or the rapture; needless to say I don't think we're called to spend a lot of time on this).
I'm quite surprised at how many fellow Christians I've talked to don't realize that more than half of the Bible is also the base scripture of the Jewish faith (known to followers of Judaism as The Torah). Some acknowledge this but in their Biblical interpretations also remove the Jewish context from their understanding. I was amazed to find out that the Ku Klux Klan believe themselves to be a Christian organization.
Regarding the Jewish faith, the obvious difference we have as Christians is that while we recognize Christ as fulfillment of the law, or Old Testament prophecies, the followers of Judaism do not (aside from messianic Jews, but in my mind I would describe them as Jewish Christians). I believe there are distinct differences between the Old Covenant between God and the nation of Israel in Old Testament times and the New Covenant established by Christ as a call to welcome Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) as well as a call to all nations to invite them into the faith.
I could probably go line by line and share the specific differences in what we should adhere to now and what we shouldn't adhere to, but I think it would not only be a waste of time, but more importantly I don't think people live or think that way. I'd be fooling myself if I didn't think that the Bible contradicts itself, but I think my high school Bible teacher had an excellent take on the Bible: The Bible is perfect in its purpose. In other words, if you are trying to make decisions about things the Bible wasn't intended to decide, you may either find yourself frustrated or find yourself guilty of putting your own agenda in place of God's on certain issues.
I could probably write on and on about this, but I have a hierarchy I use when giving authority to certain types of scripture (sort of a who trumps who):
Jesus Christ
Paul
The Old Testament
If I come across something in The Old Testament that was law then, I don't have to look past Jesus or Paul to at least try honestly to see what we're called to now in the New Covenant. I could type about that all day, too.
Anyways, I hope that gives you all a better picture of where I'm coming from. I would never claim to be unbiased or have a "no spin zone," because I think it's absolutely impossible to not be influenced by our environments and our conclusions based on our life experiences. Anyone who claims to be unbiased is someone who I believe is a liar as well as being a dangerous influence in many cases.
Finally, another lens I look at life in general through with how I look at scriptures is the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (intimidating title):
Scripture
Tradition
Reason
Experience (Anglicans like N.T. Wright think experience is an unnecessary leg to the quadrilateral table)
Hope you enjoyed and please ask questions if you want me to expand on anything I've shared. I'm often guilty of either moving from a topic to quickly or explaining things in too much detail.
God bless,
Jason
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