The rest of this week and next, I plan on a series of posts about the background material about our main resource of The Story - the Bible. What is it? What is it or should it be used for? Can we trust what it says? Why or why not? What about...? And so I'm looking forward to discussing the point from which we will start this journey.
Today, we will be looking at what the Bible is. We will delve into how to read it and other hermeneutics in some future posts; but for now, we're sticking to facts; so let's do the lovely reporting questions of: who, what, when, where, why, and how.
What - When we talk about the Bible, the first and foremost distinction we must make is the Bible is not one single, solitary book; it is a collection of 66 books, at least in our Protestant Tradition*. These books also contain many types of literature: historical accounts, poetry, wisdom literature and proverbs, prophetical statements and discourses, letters of instruction, and everyone's favorite... apocalyptic literature.
The Bible is also divided into two sections: the Old and New Testaments. For you people who enjoy etymology, the word "testament" comes from the Latin root for "to testify" which informs the later Latin word for "a will or covenant". So a "testament" means "to testify to a covenant." Therefore, the Old Testament testifies to God's covenant with his people of Israel; and the New Testament testifies to God's covenant through Christ to extend out to the entirety of humanity.
And if I've forgotten something basic about what the Bible is, here is a good link that covers the basics.
* The Roman Catholic Bible includes other books known as the Apocrypha; and the Hebrew scriptures combine several books into one (e.g. 1 & 2 Samuel into one book)
Who - Again, we are sticking to the historical facts, and so while we indeed believe that God wrote this as it is his word, we are only concerning ourselves with the human authors at this point. Therefore, the accepted number of authors of the books of the Bible is in the neighborhood of 40 different authors.
When - The time period that seems to be accepted by most scholars would say that the Bible was written somewhere between the period of around 1,500 BC to no later than 100 AD.
Where - The vast majority of the locales mentioned in the Bible lie around the Mediterranean Sea on the northern and east-to-southeastern shores reaching inland on the eastern side to the Persian Gulf. And for those of you are are not geographically inclined, here's a map :).
Why - I love the words of the apostle John toward the end of his book: "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31).
How - Throughout Jewish history, they wrote down the stories of their fathers in the faith and these were gradually collected into the Tanakh, our equivalent of the Old Testament. In the 2nd Century BC, as the Greeks were in the process of Hellenizing the world, 70 of the most renowned scholars gathered together to translate the Tanakh (written in Hebrew) into Greek and this would be known as the Septuagint. Around the year 400 AD, Jerome translated the Greek Septuagint into Latin (the language of the Roman Catholic Church), and this translation is known as the Vulgate. Within the span of 200 years, the Latin Vulgate became the only accepted form of the Scriptures, exclusively controlled by the Roman Catholic Church. Any further translations into other languages were swiftly met with force and condemnation.
However, this assertion became to be challenged by various Reformers who believe the Bible should be in the common man's language. John Wycliffe (1382) and William Tyndale (1525) published it in English, and were condemned; while Luther translated it into German (1522). And now, 500 years later, the Bible sells over 30 million copies per year; and is in 73 languages on Bible Gateway alone, with many thousands of other languages and dialects worldwide.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Goals for The Story
Yesterday, we took a look at what The Story is. Today, we're going to check out what the goals are for us as a congregation in using The Story for the next 9 months.
Goal #1 - Continue to be immersed in the Word as we search for new insights or facts or connections.
There really are two parts to this goal. Let's look at the first part: "Continue to be immersed in the Word..." -- According to recent research conducted by the Barna Group, we are at an interesting intersection in America. 77% of Americans say believe that morals and values are in decline and the most-cited cause for the decline is a lack of Bible reading [here]. Yet, in a LifeWay research study, well over half the people surveyed said that they read the Bible equal to or less than once a week [here]. And those results were also borne out in our FFPN survey we took as a congregation here at Grace, where 74% of those surveyed said that they read it once a week or less. Therefore, it makes sense to get our members into the Word; and what better way to do that then together as a group who encourages and supports one another.
And now the second part: "...search for new insights or facts or connections." -- As we discussed yesterday, from a purely pedagogical standpoint on comprehension, the way that the Bible is laid out leaves a lot to be desired. When read chronologically, we are hoping that this will give us new insights into how God has worked in the past for his people; and once those insights are found, really begin to internalize God's promises that he is never done working and creating; but that he is continuing to work in and shape our lives today.
Goal #2 - See the broader narrative of God's redeeming work through history; but also Christ's redemptive work through our lives.
Our Lutheran hermeneutic is that the entirety of Scriptures points to Christ. From Genesis 3:15 to Abraham and Isaac, to the Passover, to the life of King David, to the exile and return of the Israelites point to Christ and his cross. Then after Christ rose and ascended, it directly led to Pentecost, the growth of the church, and the promise that Christ will bodily return someday to make all things right. It's our hope that Christ will be plainly seen, but also that through these stories of our faith, we can see that Christ is working in each of us as well.
Goal #3 - Come together as families and interact with God's Word to see what it means.
Here at Grace, we are seeking to become a family-centered, church-supported ministry. In other words, we want the main faith formation to take place in the homes. The Story is a great resource to help provide some momentum to head in that direction as this resource includes a book for each 4 different child age groups. It is our goal to have each family read each chapter of The Story with their kids at least once a week, if not more.
Goal #4 - Be spurred into love and service for our neighbors.
This will be a longer-term goal as the leadership of Grace seek to develop a journey, to take place after this journey through The Story, that will encourage ways of discipleship and service to one another. However, The Story provides several resources to help us start that journey. Here are several pages for parents and grandparents that encourage and invite you to go the Extra Mile and get involved in service for one another!
Goal #1 - Continue to be immersed in the Word as we search for new insights or facts or connections.
There really are two parts to this goal. Let's look at the first part: "Continue to be immersed in the Word..." -- According to recent research conducted by the Barna Group, we are at an interesting intersection in America. 77% of Americans say believe that morals and values are in decline and the most-cited cause for the decline is a lack of Bible reading [here]. Yet, in a LifeWay research study, well over half the people surveyed said that they read the Bible equal to or less than once a week [here]. And those results were also borne out in our FFPN survey we took as a congregation here at Grace, where 74% of those surveyed said that they read it once a week or less. Therefore, it makes sense to get our members into the Word; and what better way to do that then together as a group who encourages and supports one another.
And now the second part: "...search for new insights or facts or connections." -- As we discussed yesterday, from a purely pedagogical standpoint on comprehension, the way that the Bible is laid out leaves a lot to be desired. When read chronologically, we are hoping that this will give us new insights into how God has worked in the past for his people; and once those insights are found, really begin to internalize God's promises that he is never done working and creating; but that he is continuing to work in and shape our lives today.
Goal #2 - See the broader narrative of God's redeeming work through history; but also Christ's redemptive work through our lives.
Our Lutheran hermeneutic is that the entirety of Scriptures points to Christ. From Genesis 3:15 to Abraham and Isaac, to the Passover, to the life of King David, to the exile and return of the Israelites point to Christ and his cross. Then after Christ rose and ascended, it directly led to Pentecost, the growth of the church, and the promise that Christ will bodily return someday to make all things right. It's our hope that Christ will be plainly seen, but also that through these stories of our faith, we can see that Christ is working in each of us as well.
Goal #3 - Come together as families and interact with God's Word to see what it means.
Here at Grace, we are seeking to become a family-centered, church-supported ministry. In other words, we want the main faith formation to take place in the homes. The Story is a great resource to help provide some momentum to head in that direction as this resource includes a book for each 4 different child age groups. It is our goal to have each family read each chapter of The Story with their kids at least once a week, if not more.
Goal #4 - Be spurred into love and service for our neighbors.
This will be a longer-term goal as the leadership of Grace seek to develop a journey, to take place after this journey through The Story, that will encourage ways of discipleship and service to one another. However, The Story provides several resources to help us start that journey. Here are several pages for parents and grandparents that encourage and invite you to go the Extra Mile and get involved in service for one another!
Monday, August 26, 2013
What is The Story?
In just a few weeks, the folks at Grace Lutheran Church will be embarking on a 9-month journey into studying God's Word, using The Story. But before we get into it, a little explanation may be needed on what it is.
At my internship site in the Kansas City area (though this was after my official internship at ended), we started The Story as an adult class at our West campus. This was a small group Bible study, really more intended as a second-option to the larger group study. Overall, those that came seemed to enjoy it, but one lady was worried about adding to or changing God's Word. And right now, I'm guessing a few of the readers here may have the same concern.
The answer simply is that this resource does not add or change anything from the NIV text of the Bible. What The Story does do is take out the chapter headings and numbers as well as the verse numbers. It puts the text into more of a prose format that we are used to reading in this day and age. It condenses the essentials into an easy-to-read package (genealogies, lists of numbers, etc). And finally, it adds easy-to-read transitions between the sections to make the narrative easier to follow.
What The Story also does is to take these words and arrange them chronologically. Our Bible (at least the Old Testament), in the view of this educator (me), is not arranged well. The OT is divided into: the books of Moses, the historical books, the wisdom literature, and the major and minor prophets. In other words, the Bible is separated by genre rather than narrative.
Have you ever tried to read a book with a bunch of chapters; but read it through in such a way that you read chapter 1, then chapter 13 and then back to chapter 5? If not, try it sometime and see how it goes comprehension-wise :) Let's take this for an example from the Bible. The return of the exiles is prophesied about in Jeremiah (Prophets), described in Ezra (Historical), and had a song written for the occasion with Psalm 126 (Wisdom). The way the Bible is arranged, it makes it quite hard to connect the dots between these words. Would it not make much more sense to put them all together?
So that's what The Story is. It's a chronological arranging of the NIV-text of the Bible into a historical narrative about what God is doing in the world. As for our goals in using The Story, that will be a future journal posting.
And before I sign off today, I would like to eagerly point out the fact that this idea isn't revolutionary either. Just this weekend, I found a children's Bible that was arranged in the same fashion as it contains
1901.
At my internship site in the Kansas City area (though this was after my official internship at ended), we started The Story as an adult class at our West campus. This was a small group Bible study, really more intended as a second-option to the larger group study. Overall, those that came seemed to enjoy it, but one lady was worried about adding to or changing God's Word. And right now, I'm guessing a few of the readers here may have the same concern.
The answer simply is that this resource does not add or change anything from the NIV text of the Bible. What The Story does do is take out the chapter headings and numbers as well as the verse numbers. It puts the text into more of a prose format that we are used to reading in this day and age. It condenses the essentials into an easy-to-read package (genealogies, lists of numbers, etc). And finally, it adds easy-to-read transitions between the sections to make the narrative easier to follow.
What The Story also does is to take these words and arrange them chronologically. Our Bible (at least the Old Testament), in the view of this educator (me), is not arranged well. The OT is divided into: the books of Moses, the historical books, the wisdom literature, and the major and minor prophets. In other words, the Bible is separated by genre rather than narrative.
Have you ever tried to read a book with a bunch of chapters; but read it through in such a way that you read chapter 1, then chapter 13 and then back to chapter 5? If not, try it sometime and see how it goes comprehension-wise :) Let's take this for an example from the Bible. The return of the exiles is prophesied about in Jeremiah (Prophets), described in Ezra (Historical), and had a song written for the occasion with Psalm 126 (Wisdom). The way the Bible is arranged, it makes it quite hard to connect the dots between these words. Would it not make much more sense to put them all together?
So that's what The Story is. It's a chronological arranging of the NIV-text of the Bible into a historical narrative about what God is doing in the world. As for our goals in using The Story, that will be a future journal posting.
And before I sign off today, I would like to eagerly point out the fact that this idea isn't revolutionary either. Just this weekend, I found a children's Bible that was arranged in the same fashion as it contains
copious quotations orderly arranged from the more salient passages of the Bible, and by skillful and clear condensations of intervening portions of scripture... [In order that] in less than half the number of pages in an ordinary Bible, and in clear and comfortable type, there is given us a chronological, classified, and condensed arrangement of the whole Bible history, the substance of the whole Bible, with abundance of connecting and illustrative materials"The year...
1901.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Goals for this Journal
Welcome to the third entry, the one that will probably be the most boring and yawn-inducing of the bunch! But I feel like I should be transparent in my aims with this journal so I'm hopefully not branded as a subversive contrarian... again, keeping in mind I'm probably a little more liberal than many might think :)
Of course, there's also the more applicable fact that if one does not have goals or aims going into an endeavor, one will never know if they have succeeded or not.
So, my goals for this journal are:
1) To journal every day.
Journal on what you may ask. Well, as part of our journey through The Story, we are encouraging everyone to read through the Bible chapters along with the corresponding chapter in the book. Why? The Story gives us the framework for us to read through the Bible chronologically, and more importantly, digestibly. But, most of our Bibles now have at least some sort of study notes or footnotes; or questions to think about; or other commentary that helps us to understand even more. So, it is on those chapters that I plan to write about. Here's the link to the plan.
2) To add another viewpoint to your discussions.
It is in community that views are challenged, tested, revised, or refined. If I can make you think, question or challenge; and if you can do the same to me, then I'd say this goal has been accomplished!
3) To hopefully strike a good balance between informational and devotional.
To be up-front with you all, I am definitely much more of a thinker than I am a feeler. That will likely mean that I may very much lean towards the intellectual and informational side of the text rather than a more contemplative and meditative stance. That being said, what good is information if it's not applicable or practical (other than to be a contestant on Jeopardy!)? So, I hope to strike somewhat of a balance between those two sides.
4) To ask, and to field questions.
First of all, imagine how long a journal entry would be if I expounded on everything I found interesting! But I plan to really journal on one particular question and then ask some questions at the end. Feel free to answer them in the comments, or just gnaw on them at your own leisure! Conversely, if you have something that you are wondering about, feel free to ask it over on our website, right here! Then, hopefully, every Monday (while you are all reading the chapter of The Story from the book, I catch up on the previous week's questions).
5) To have fun!
If I didn't feel like this would be fun, beneficial to anyone, or if it would be just a plain waste of time, I wouldn't be doing this! So come on in, and let's make this a neat place to converse, discuss, question and answer!
Of course, there's also the more applicable fact that if one does not have goals or aims going into an endeavor, one will never know if they have succeeded or not.
So, my goals for this journal are:
1) To journal every day.
Journal on what you may ask. Well, as part of our journey through The Story, we are encouraging everyone to read through the Bible chapters along with the corresponding chapter in the book. Why? The Story gives us the framework for us to read through the Bible chronologically, and more importantly, digestibly. But, most of our Bibles now have at least some sort of study notes or footnotes; or questions to think about; or other commentary that helps us to understand even more. So, it is on those chapters that I plan to write about. Here's the link to the plan.
2) To add another viewpoint to your discussions.
It is in community that views are challenged, tested, revised, or refined. If I can make you think, question or challenge; and if you can do the same to me, then I'd say this goal has been accomplished!
3) To hopefully strike a good balance between informational and devotional.
To be up-front with you all, I am definitely much more of a thinker than I am a feeler. That will likely mean that I may very much lean towards the intellectual and informational side of the text rather than a more contemplative and meditative stance. That being said, what good is information if it's not applicable or practical (other than to be a contestant on Jeopardy!)? So, I hope to strike somewhat of a balance between those two sides.
4) To ask, and to field questions.
First of all, imagine how long a journal entry would be if I expounded on everything I found interesting! But I plan to really journal on one particular question and then ask some questions at the end. Feel free to answer them in the comments, or just gnaw on them at your own leisure! Conversely, if you have something that you are wondering about, feel free to ask it over on our website, right here! Then, hopefully, every Monday (while you are all reading the chapter of The Story from the book, I catch up on the previous week's questions).
5) To have fun!
If I didn't feel like this would be fun, beneficial to anyone, or if it would be just a plain waste of time, I wouldn't be doing this! So come on in, and let's make this a neat place to converse, discuss, question and answer!
Thursday, August 22, 2013
A Little Bit About Me, the DCE
Before I get to the actual blog itself; I figure I should probably let you know about me and my background so that as you follow along on our journey together, you know where I'm coming from (well, mostly theologically rather than personally. Just ask if you want to get to know me more! :P).
It makes sense that the most logical place to start theologically is that I was claimed and adopted as one of our Triune God's children in the waters of Holy Baptism on Labor Day weekend, 1980, approximately one month after I was born. As I grew up, I was raised in the tradition and teachings of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod at home and at school (at least through grade 8), and have never identified myself as anything otherwise.
During my life, it has been neat to see the Holy Spirit use different opportunities for me to grow in my faith. I went to a Dutch Reformed College at Northwestern College in Orange City, IA for my undergraduate degree, and there I definitely learned quite a bit about the sovereignty of God along with the paradigm it brings. After I returned home, I struck up a good friendship with a married couple of Jehovah Witnesses, and with them brought much intellectual back and forth (and the obligatory free copy of the New World Translation of the Bible). Working for the State of Nebraska, I had the pleasure of striking up friendships with agnostics, a Methodist-turned-New Age person, a Muslim, and several Baptists. And then, as I pursued my certification to become a Director of Christian Education, I enrolled in Concordia University in Seward, NE.
While the Holy Spirit used all of those encounters and friendships to grow my knowledge, it wasn't until I reached my internship that a whole new dimension of faith was revealed so plainly and explicitly: how to put it in action. Not more than a year before I was assigned to Trinity Lutheran Church in Mission/Shawnee, KS, they had just called two new pastors... but as worker-priests to work in the urban community in Kansas City, KS. And it was the Holy Spirit speaking through their message and working through their constant modeling of Acts 2:42-47 that really put meat on the bones of my faith. It was by watching the Spirit work through these individuals (and really, the entire staff at Trinity) that I was just beginning to fully realize what the gospel means and conversely what the law is for; to see what living a resurrection life means; what the Kingdom of God is; and so many other seemingly abstract concepts now becoming somewhat concrete. It is a journey I look forward to continuing here at Grace in Lafayette, IN!
And so, I am where and what I am by the grace of God :). I am a fully-committed Christian and am, for vast intents and purposes, a person who enjoys and believes the doctrines of the LCMS. But beware, my writings may (and hopefully will) contain a flavor of a more liberal and applied theology than many dyed-in-the-wool LCMSers are used to.
As such, I love hearing other viewpoints and love conversations about theology! So if you would like to question, comment, query or say "well, have you thought about..." I would love to carry on these conversations. I am by no means as theologically-trained as a pastor; nor do I claim to have a monopoly on the truth for only God has that. But, I do love the discussions! So please, never feel afraid to post or ask about anything! Ready for the journey?...
It makes sense that the most logical place to start theologically is that I was claimed and adopted as one of our Triune God's children in the waters of Holy Baptism on Labor Day weekend, 1980, approximately one month after I was born. As I grew up, I was raised in the tradition and teachings of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod at home and at school (at least through grade 8), and have never identified myself as anything otherwise.
During my life, it has been neat to see the Holy Spirit use different opportunities for me to grow in my faith. I went to a Dutch Reformed College at Northwestern College in Orange City, IA for my undergraduate degree, and there I definitely learned quite a bit about the sovereignty of God along with the paradigm it brings. After I returned home, I struck up a good friendship with a married couple of Jehovah Witnesses, and with them brought much intellectual back and forth (and the obligatory free copy of the New World Translation of the Bible). Working for the State of Nebraska, I had the pleasure of striking up friendships with agnostics, a Methodist-turned-New Age person, a Muslim, and several Baptists. And then, as I pursued my certification to become a Director of Christian Education, I enrolled in Concordia University in Seward, NE.
While the Holy Spirit used all of those encounters and friendships to grow my knowledge, it wasn't until I reached my internship that a whole new dimension of faith was revealed so plainly and explicitly: how to put it in action. Not more than a year before I was assigned to Trinity Lutheran Church in Mission/Shawnee, KS, they had just called two new pastors... but as worker-priests to work in the urban community in Kansas City, KS. And it was the Holy Spirit speaking through their message and working through their constant modeling of Acts 2:42-47 that really put meat on the bones of my faith. It was by watching the Spirit work through these individuals (and really, the entire staff at Trinity) that I was just beginning to fully realize what the gospel means and conversely what the law is for; to see what living a resurrection life means; what the Kingdom of God is; and so many other seemingly abstract concepts now becoming somewhat concrete. It is a journey I look forward to continuing here at Grace in Lafayette, IN!
And so, I am where and what I am by the grace of God :). I am a fully-committed Christian and am, for vast intents and purposes, a person who enjoys and believes the doctrines of the LCMS. But beware, my writings may (and hopefully will) contain a flavor of a more liberal and applied theology than many dyed-in-the-wool LCMSers are used to.
As such, I love hearing other viewpoints and love conversations about theology! So if you would like to question, comment, query or say "well, have you thought about..." I would love to carry on these conversations. I am by no means as theologically-trained as a pastor; nor do I claim to have a monopoly on the truth for only God has that. But, I do love the discussions! So please, never feel afraid to post or ask about anything! Ready for the journey?...
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Introduction
Welcome to the new blog, everyone! This is going to be a new experience for me... I've done several blogs before; however, none I've kept up with too terribly well. They've been more like online journals or what is called in the blogging world, "brain-dumps" and so they've never been truly fit for anyone to read. But, since I actually do plan on publicizing this particular blog to the congregation of Grace Lutheran Church, it would definitely behoove me to keep this blog up-to-date! So, to everyone that will be reading this, enjoy the ride :)
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