The Real Hermeneutical Challenge
I wearied many years ago of the hermeneutical discussions in Churches of Christ (especially) and in the larger Christian community.
Here’s the bottom line:
“The ultimate goal of all biblical interpretation is for the readers to become a living exegesis of the texts they read. . . . Paul our contemporary invites us, too, to hear the call and promise of the gospel. He calls us not merely as readers, or as individuals, but as communities of performers. He calls us to a dying with Christ that may not be literal but will nonetheless be costly, and he promises — or rather God promises through him — the joy of new life in the present as well as the certain hope of resurrection in the future.”
Michael Gorman, Apostle of the Crucified Lord
The real challenge of hermeneutics? To live out the Way of Jesus.
I so agree with this train of thought.
The problem is people live private sector life 6 days a week and go to their church to fulfill the obligation 1 day a week. At some point they know they should do more, but it seems scary if they have fluffed off doing anything for years. Maybe that pew sitting all those years, well, maybe it was not enough.
Terry, that’s why I think it has to begin with what the word reveals about the nature of God. “Church” has often told us lies about who God is, what he desires, the degree to which he loves and what he is able to do even in this evil world. Once the reader gets even a glimpse of the true nature of God and “the joy of new life in the present” (and in his presence), believers will be transformed “to live out the way of Jesus.” That surely won’t happen by designating one day a week as spiritual. In fact, I’m not sure it can happen seven days a week by one who is divorced from the realities of evil and suffering. Most of us can’t make the connection between the God we read about and the world that causes so much suffering.
I like the new look – although I’d prefer a big bowl of queso!!!
Gotta ask…….where is the Guac from in your picture? Did GKB take the pic? Thanks for making me hungry at 9:45 in the morning!
Great new look!
DU
No, I didn’t take the shot of the bowl of guac. If Mike starts requesting custom images, then we may start talking about lunch at Joe Allen’s or some place a tier or two above Rosa’s.
Of course, if it involves being within 6 feet of a bowl of guac, then we’re in the Lytle/Perini/Beehive level…
GKB – Love it! I pulled this up right after class when a student told me she liked the new look. (Now I’m wondering if that means she was surfing during class!)
Mike, here’s a sorta related quotation I saw this morning on another blog:
Brothers and sisters, we are not now discussing possible ways of understanding this text: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” It can be grasped in an ineffable way; human words cannot grasp it. We are discussing the Word of God, and why it is not understood. I am not speaking in order to make it understood, but to tell you what hinders it from being understood. … [This text] wasn’t read in order to be comprehended, but to make us humans grieve because we don’t comprehend it, and to make us discover what hinders our comprehension, so that we remove the hindrance, and hunger to perceive the immutable Word, ourselves thereby being changed from worse to better. (Augustine, Sermon 117.3)
A quick comment about the pictures next to people’s comments: Those are called Gravatars and you need to be signed up with a service (like WordPress.com or other blogging platforms) that allow you to upload images to be used as avatars. You can check out http://gravatar.com for more info.
This is a great blog theme; very clean, NYTimes-like, except that you can trust the content here at PreacherMike.com.
qb
I have been thinking about this stuff too. And you are right, it is not some much the knowledge but the living. On my blog, I am starting a series on “beyond the Syllogism.”
http://www.matthewmorine.com
P.S. Love the new look.
Love the new look, Mike and GKB!
love the look!
You know the irony of this post is that the power of the Gospel is lost when church members can subscribe to all the various doctrinal positions and follow all the prescribed religious acts and rituals but have little to no story of personal transformation. As Mike said, the true test of any approach to scripture is who and what is leads to become.
The new look is great, Mike. The content’s not bad, either.
To live out the way of Jesus….Now there is “Sound Doctrine” indeed
The biggest jerk on ESPN Radio (Colin Cowherd) actually boiled this idea down on his show this week. He said “when it comes to the Bible it just: treat others the way you want to be treated. The rest is commentary.” I don’t think he knocked it out of the park necessarily, but he got closer than organized religion.
Can we not have both the way of Jesus and still have doctrine ? Can you constantly do good works of compassion , walk in the footsteps of Jesus and still hold to healthy teaching ? Why do we ever have to seperate the two ?