A recent presentation on “Reading the Prophets” made at Powhatan Community Church, Dr. Brian Hughes, Pastor. The password is “Biddle.”
Category Archives: interpretation
Spousal Abuse and Biblical Interpretation
Eph 4:21-33
A couple of weeks ago, the Baptist Blogger posted a video of a sermon preached in 2000 by fundamentalist SBC leader and president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Paige Patterson. In the sermon, Patterson related a story about a woman who sought his counsel concerning how to deal with her abusive husband. He advised her simply to pray, Continue reading Spousal Abuse and Biblical Interpretation
The “Christian Sabbath”
Saturday or Sunday?
Just as my “medical vacation” has ended (I am “back in the saddle,” as it were, although the horse is old, slow, and docile – no galloping yet), a question has come to me from a former student that probably crosses the minds of many Christians. If God commanded the observance of the Sabbath (seventh) day of the week (Saturday) as a holy day of rest and worship, why do Christians, who presumably desire to obey God’s specific commands, worship on the first day of the week, Sunday? The question invites a practical answer, a “Pauline” answer, and a reaffirmation of the theological purpose of Sabbath observance. Continue reading The “Christian Sabbath”
A Rebuilt Temple?
One aspect of contemporary apocalyptic doctrine held by many evangelical Christians is the expectation that a “third temple” (counting Herod’s temple as a continuation of the second temple rebuilt in the early Persian period) must and will be built in Jerusalem prior to the apocalypse. It is but a component of Evangelical Christianity’s theological program Continue reading A Rebuilt Temple?
Are “these” days “those” days?
No! Grammar matters!
“Whenever you hear of wars and reports of wars, do not fear. This must be, but it is not yet the end” (Mark 13:7, my trans.)
Christians should avoid apocalyptic speculation altogether. I hear and read “end times” talk more lately than I have heard it since the late 1960’s and mid-1970’s. In those days of national (think 1968) and international (think 1968 again) turbulence, the MADD doctrine was still the cornerstone of US strategic planning, no one foresaw the possibility that the Iron Curtain would fall, the United States was awkwardly Continue reading Are “these” days “those” days?
Plain Language is Difficult to Misinterpret, but Easy to Ignore
For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?” Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?” But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. (Deut 30:11-14 RSV)
This summer, I have been blogging about the harm done by propagating misinterpretations of scripture. In most cases, the scripture passages in question have at least been tricky enough to open the door for such misinterpretation – although not enough to excuse it. Recent events at Charlottesville, just a few miles to the west of my Continue reading Plain Language is Difficult to Misinterpret, but Easy to Ignore
Perpetual Poverty?
“…you always have the poor…”
(Mark 14:7; Matt 26:11; John 12:8)
The two most recent entries in this blog have examined how people have used poor biblical interpretation of, admittedly, difficult texts to justify and undergird racism and misogyny. This entry turns attention to the ways in which some have perverted a saying of Jesus – who elsewhere called the poor blessed and equated how one treats the poor with Continue reading Perpetual Poverty?
Eve’s Curse
I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; also that women should adorn themselves modestly and sensibly in seemly apparel, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly attire but by good deeds, as befits women who profess religion. Let a woman learn in silence with all Continue reading Eve’s Curse
The Curse of Ham: An Admonitory Case-Study in Misreading Scripture
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah Continue reading The Curse of Ham: An Admonitory Case-Study in Misreading Scripture
No Stream without a Source
Part II
In the most recent entry in this blog, I reacted to Brent Strawn’s, The Old Testament is Dying: A Diagnosis and Recommended Treatment by offering reflections concerning factors that may contribute to the phenomenon Strawn describes. This second entry on the subject will examine some of the dangers for believers and for the church inherent in Continue reading No Stream without a Source