Loving Lichfield

Bible Meditation, originally uploaded by ericcommando89.

Yesterday I was talking with one of the grandparents of the children in my daughters school. We were talking about the Bible and archaeology and he said, “Of course, there are still some who think the Bible should be taken literally”.

What does that mean to read the Bible literally? If he meant literally as in according to the way one reads literature of any kind then I would agree. But if rather he meant that reading the Bible literally meant reading the words of the Bible with their strict sense of the word without recognition of the context, figures of speech, and genre of literature (e.g. hyperbole, metaphor, simile, poetry, narrative, etc) then I would disagree. This allegation is often put to those who believe in the Bible without defining terms. But the truth is that the Bible should be read just like any other book – recognizing figures of speech, genre, and most importantly the context of the passage you are reading. Every good scholar would recognize this need in order to have an accurate interpretation of the Bible.

So, let’s get our terminology straight first before we even begin to try to answer the question – should the Bible be interpreted literally? If you mean in the strict, straightforward meaning of each word ripped apart form its literary genre then I would say a firm “no”! But if you mean “like any other piece of literature” then I’d say yes – that means recognizing that the words have an immediate literary context, a genre context , a historical context , etc etc – like you read any other book!

Take for example, the passage “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” (Romans 16:16). No responsible interpreter of the Bible would take this instruction literally today. Why? Because back in the New Testament time kissing as a form of social respect and regard at greeting and leaving was culturally the norm in the cities and countries where the early church was present. The principle of showing friendship and warm greetings to Christian friends still holds today but it is expressed in our culture in other ways more appropriate to our culture. For example, one may shake hands with a friend or if the friend is quite close to you the expression may take the form of a hug. This is normative but kissing upon greeting or leaving is not in English culture today and so only the principle carries over.

Another more controversial one is how to read the first three chapters of Genesis. This has a lot of bearing on the Creationism vs. Evolution debate. Chapter 1 could very well be poetry as it has poetic elements – parallelism, repetition of key terms, etc.. Hebrew poetry often tells the story of an important event and what more important than the creation of the heavens and the earth.
Yet, many who debate this subject like to form their chronology of the earth from this account. If it is poetry, it certainly wasn’t meant to set out a chronology of the creation of the earth.

DPCC will be running its Alpha Course at the end of the month of March. Please join us! email Jeff

Selfish, originally uploaded by wonderferret.

As I listen around me today there are a lot of signs of selfishness around which are hurting our world. I include myself in this accusation too. It comes too naturally to the human race I guess. Consider some things reacently heard:
1. Alistair Darling vowed to never let bankers’ greed and selfishness to endanger the lives of millions of people again (his talk at the Labour Conference 28.9.2009)
2. In my “ScienceAlert” email in my inbox today there was an article saying that authorities in Australia are considering whether they should make it a law that you can’t smoke with children in your car!!

When we don’t care enough about our own children it makes you wonder ….

Jesus challenges us with these words …
AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ 31 “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30).

This is good advice even in the realm of banking as Alistair Darling has made clear. There has to be some accountability, some checks and balances because it’s too easy for you and I to just focus on ourselves and lose all perspective about what we are doing.

The Bible warns us that we are created as sinful beings in rebellion against God (Ephesians 2:1-3). Only God can take that rebelliousness out of us and put in His Spirit which is full of love, joy , peace , patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (Galatians 5:22).

More of that please!

my shadow, my crutch and me, originally uploaded by joysaphine.

I often hear it said and have talked to people here in Lichfield who say that Christianity is just a crutch for weak people. It is an interesting theory, but one that I don’t think holds much weight. The often cited scenario is that one person is sharing about their faith with another and the other person says, “Well, its obvious that in your great moment of need in your life you turned to Christianity to help you out because you couldn’t sort yourself out.” It usually goes something like that. To this a few things have to be said.

Firstly, we all have troubles in life and difficulties. Nobody’s life is perfect and trouble-free. In those life troubles we have to find solutions. Those who don’t admit that they have troubles are just kidding themselves. Pride can get in the way when we say we are not going to ask for help from anyone else. Man is not an island.

Secondly, when we have life-problems it is wise to turn to the life-giver in order to find a solution to those problems. It is a wise person who sees that the life-giver, God, should be the one most competent to sort out our life. He made us and knows us inside out (Psalm 139:1, 13 “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me … For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”). God created us and God created this world, so He knows best how to live in this world. True wisdom is to live in His way as put down by the Bible, His word. While living in God’s way doesn’t eradicate all of life’s problems, God does offer solutions to man’s main nemesis which tends to get him into the most trouble – sin or wrong-doing which is mainly selfishness and a me-centred life instead of a God-centred life.

This to me is not a crutch. This to me is just smart, wise living.

20080321_0025, originally uploaded by Andrew Michaels.

Just a reminder about the Lichfield Walk of Witness:

Friday 10 April
Good Friday Walk of Witness
08.15 Start Whittington Post Office
09.15 Boley Park Community Centre
10.00 Backcester Lane/Gresley Row
10.15 Friary Remains Site
Finish at Methodist Church Centre

happy easter, originally uploaded by Bluecherry1408.

Our church, DPCC, is sponsoring an easter egg hunt next Sunday, Easter Sunday, 12 April. Come one, come all!! Everyone is invited as we celebrate Easter – the resurrection of Jesus signifying new life in Christ (1 Peter 1:3). It should be a fun time for the whole family. When I was a kid, the easter egg hunt was one of the highlights of Easter. We will meet for the hunt where we meet for church – Martin Heath Hall off of Christchurch Lane near the Christ Church Primary School, 4:15 – 5:15pm. We will sing a few Easter-type songs for the kids and then we will have a very short Easter Story talk by yours truly and then the hunt. Parents can enjoy a tea or coffee along with some cakes while the kids have a blast gathering up their eggs. Come as you are and put some fun and purpose into your life.