Comments on: The B - I - B - L - E http://www.thedarkglass.net/2006/09/26/the-b-i-b-l-e/ trying to nail down the shifting signifiers Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:55:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Anthony Velez http://www.thedarkglass.net/2006/09/26/the-b-i-b-l-e/comment-page-1/#comment-269 Anthony Velez Wed, 27 Sep 2006 00:04:39 +0000 http://www.thedarkglass.net/2006/09/26/the-b-i-b-l-e/#comment-269 "Crackle, Pop, Crackle, Pop!" That, Chris, is the sound of you burning at the stake for being such an incorrigible heretic. O.K. really, I can affirm what you say with one caveat, God does speak to us through nature, but his revelation of himself in Scripture is unique, and should be the basis of how we interpret the revelation of nature. Of course, the Bible is a document that is subject to interpretation, and thus working out how we can know God, without resorting to complete subjectivism, is a complex matter. So, let’s hash it out over coffee sometime. “Crackle, Pop, Crackle, Pop!” That, Chris, is the sound of you burning at the stake for being such an incorrigible heretic. O.K. really, I can affirm what you say with one caveat, God does speak to us through nature, but his revelation of himself in Scripture is unique, and should be the basis of how we interpret the revelation of nature. Of course, the Bible is a document that is subject to interpretation, and thus working out how we can know God, without resorting to complete subjectivism, is a complex matter. So, let’s hash it out over coffee sometime.

]]> By: Chris "Lefty" Brown http://www.thedarkglass.net/2006/09/26/the-b-i-b-l-e/comment-page-1/#comment-268 Chris "Lefty" Brown Tue, 26 Sep 2006 18:53:50 +0000 http://www.thedarkglass.net/2006/09/26/the-b-i-b-l-e/#comment-268 I sometimes wonder how "organized" the body of Christ was prior to that first council that decided what books are canon or not. Also, I'm of the viewpoint that the bible is one element of our Christian faith, it's a vital part but I don't make it my one and only means of discovering God. God's fingerprints aren't just in the Bible but also in the world around us. I hear and see God's love for us in the rushing waters of the Merced river as much as the soothing words of the Beatitudes. I sometimes wonder how “organized” the body of Christ was prior to that first council that decided what books are canon or not.

Also, I’m of the viewpoint that the bible is one element of our Christian faith, it’s a vital part but I don’t make it my one and only means of discovering God. God’s fingerprints aren’t just in the Bible but also in the world around us. I hear and see God’s love for us in the rushing waters of the Merced river as much as the soothing words of the Beatitudes.

]]> By: Melinda Gunning http://www.thedarkglass.net/2006/09/26/the-b-i-b-l-e/comment-page-1/#comment-267 Melinda Gunning Tue, 26 Sep 2006 18:17:49 +0000 http://www.thedarkglass.net/2006/09/26/the-b-i-b-l-e/#comment-267 The Shakespeare analogy is great, and I had never thought of it before. Yes, a play should be performed on stage, in public. But when that is not possible, individual study of the written text is an accepteable alternative, and even a necessary precursor to a real understanding of the public performance. In the same way, Christian faith should be practiced in community. The individual study of the Bible is necessary for complete, personal understanding, and sometimes, private reading must take the place of corporate/community worship and practice of faith. I have met too many Christians who refuse to attend church because they can't find (or can't be bothered to find) a denomination or congregation that seems to fit. Some of these people have said, "My faith is private, just between me and God." I am glad that those folks have a faith that nourishes them, but I fear they are underfed. Jesus' primary ministry was carried out in community, healing, teaching, living with his disciples and with the larger community of people from various religious and social backgrounds who came to hear him. The first Christian church in Acts was very much a community. Jesus also took regular time to be alone with his Father, and it is obvious that as a young Jewish boy, he had read the Scriptures which he quoted so ably. The corporate and the private were inextricably intertwined in Jesus' life and ministry. Certainly a mature Christian should strive for this same model of faith. The Shakespeare analogy is great, and I had never thought of it before. Yes, a play should be performed on stage, in public. But when that is not possible, individual study of the written text is an accepteable alternative, and even a necessary precursor to a real understanding of the public performance. In the same way, Christian faith should be practiced in community. The individual study of the Bible is necessary for complete, personal understanding, and sometimes, private reading must take the place of corporate/community worship and practice of faith.

I have met too many Christians who refuse to attend church because they can’t find (or can’t be bothered to find) a denomination or congregation that seems to fit. Some of these people have said, “My faith is private, just between me and God.” I am glad that those folks have a faith that nourishes them, but I fear they are underfed. Jesus’ primary ministry was carried out in community, healing, teaching, living with his disciples and with the larger community of people from various religious and social backgrounds who came to hear him. The first Christian church in Acts was very much a community. Jesus also took regular time to be alone with his Father, and it is obvious that as a young Jewish boy, he had read the Scriptures which he quoted so ably. The corporate and the private were inextricably intertwined in Jesus’ life and ministry. Certainly a mature Christian should strive for this same model of faith.

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