brueggemann on preachers

to church from god

the necessity of ascension

Over the past number of months (perhaps couple of years in some respects) I have become aware of the underemphasis of the ascension of Jesus among Western evangelicals (Acts 1). There are perhaps a number of reasons for this, some of which are quickly identifiable. 1) the disruption of Luke 24 and Acts 1 by the insertion of John's Gospel leads to a dissociation of death and resurrection from the beginning of Acts. 2) Modern Western evangelicalism has been quite content to focus on the cross as a means of individual salvation that the narrative seems exhausted by the time one reaches the empty tomb. 3) Building on this second point, the attention given to the cross as individual salvation leads to a natural underemphasis of the central theme of the ascension, namely, that Jesus is now installed as Lord of the entire universe. There are perhaps more, but this seems to be a good starting point.

So it seems that much of my teaching and preaching on Jesus comes down to this particular point: that culmination of his messianic work is not a two part event (as has been so easily passed along for some time) in death-resurrection; rather, the culmination of the Messiah's work comes in the three part event of death-resurrection-ascension. Further, it appears as though the theme of Son of Man cannot be complete without this particular triad, for Acts 1 is the moment when Daniel 7 finds fulfillment - the clouds of glory enveloping the one to whom the authority and dominion of Yhwh himself is given. (Amazingly, this passage has nothing to do with Jesus' spatial movement.)

Even further, the ascension of Jesus is the necessary step between resurrection and the Spirit's outpouring at Pentecost. I find it odd how many read through Acts 1 simply thinking it is a prelude to Acts 2 without giving it much regard. But this assumes that Acts 1 has nothing of value on its own, dismissing Jesus' words to his disciples and the promise of the coming Spirit. Instead of this dismissiveness, we should read this passage as integral to the ongoing story of Jesus as it moves through the work of the church. Simply put, in order for Jesus to have the authority to send his Spirit into all the world he must first be the rightful sovereign over all the world. And this is precisely what the early church proclaims as the Spirit comes upon them - making this the outworking of the remaining narrative of Acts.

In the end, it must also be emphasized that the scene in Acts 1 is not Jesus' going away from the world. This is a reading which has too often been assumed by believers who are content to read the text with physical eyes only (and those who have allowed the competing voices from the world to direct their biblical interpretation). But if the reading of this scene is set in the context outlined here then we will be able to see that the ascension is about Jesus' drawing near to his creation, especially because of the movement of the Spirit upon the world through the church. And much theology begins to take shape here. Unfortunately, there remains an evangelical community who still acts as though Jesus is not present in this world.

Hopefully, we will not find ourselves in the same position as those 'Men of Galilee' who were caught staring into the sky, trying to get a glimpse of Jesus instead of seeing the work of the world as moving outward.

sadducees as fundies (quote of the day)

"One possible explanation is that the Sadducees were like some Christian fundamentalists who champion what they call the 'literal' interpretation of Scripture as the sole rule of faith and yet hold to various dogmas of Christian orthodoxy that in fact are not contained as such in Scripture - though the fundamentalists manage to find them in the Bible by highly creative and imaginative exegesis."

John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew (v 3): Companions and Competitors (New York: Doubleday, 2001), 405.

contextualess

A student in one of my classes evidently found it more enjoyable to record random comments throughout the semester and post them to her Facebook account. Somehow, I managed to have a list twice as long as any of her other professors. For some reason or another, I post them here . . . Take note that she does admit these are out of context, so I might not be 100% liable. At least I can say that I avoided international incident (. . . this time).

Taken from the 8:30 AM Bible and Religion 111: Biblical Literature and History class, completely out of context and in no particular order:

"God, Jesus, Bible--all banned."

"The iPhones are banned because I don't own one."

"I've been condemned to Hell so many times, it just doesn't phase me anymore."

"We have 12 here, our own remnant--so I will just name you after the disciples. Do you want to pick or shall I assign names as I see emerging personalities?"

"Any time you can drive a Fundie nuts, it's probably worth it."

"We all went into pottery class preparing to create some small version of Michaelangelo's David, and we all came out with some sort of ashtray."

"They used to throw animal intestines down and read those. I'd like to see that come back."

"There are days when a pope is really handy."

"Now some of you are thinking we should just stick to Judaism."

"I wish more preachers would listen to that and think about what they preach. But then we wouldn't have a whole channel devoted to them on cable."

"...and Jesus is going to come back, hopefully not before the wedding night--oh, come on, you've all thought it!"

"Otherwise, you're left with the idea that God screwed up and I don't want to go there. I like what God has done. I think it's very nice."

"That's theologically lame."

"It's like 'Dude, my blind dude was so right!'"

"I learned this from an actual Hispanic."

"The one who's coming in May will be named Natalie which means 'born at Christmas.' But Jesus was born nowhere near Christmas and probably sometime in the spring. I think it works. It makes a great pseudo-historical statement."

"That and 'No, my eyes were closed because I was praying.'"

"I like to think of them on the beach. It's very relaxing. I hate the ocean."

"And I'm just like 'That ain't a cow.'"

"Mary herself said 'All generations--except Protestants--will call me blessed.'"

"And the Philistines collectively change their pants and leave."

"Yeah, it's about love, but so is everything else."

"900 at him every day. Many men buckle living with one woman. It's only a matter of time. But I digress."

"Thus the term chick flick--totally predictable."

"Once you learn people are stupid, you're almost out of here. You might have earned a psych degree."

"I'm not saying women are evil. I'm saying that some women are evil, and she exemplifies the category. Some men are evil, and she does not exemplify that category. She comes close, though."

"He girded his loins! That's what we all want!"

"You all get oxymorons, right? Deafening silence. Jumbo shrimp. Country music."

"We all like you, and I'm sure God is quite fond of you."

"We're just hoping this guy isn't going to be a jerk-butt-face like Samson."

"People tell me I ruin the Christmas story. I think I make the Christmas story."

"Bless you, little Shlomo. Bless you, little Shmooly."

"You start preaching repentance and even San Francisco will run you out."

"It was a significant factor in the decline of Roman civilization. So is American Idol, but we don't get on it."

"Hey, people tattoo 666 on themselves and then claim they're following Jesus. So, anything's possible."

"Because everyone knows when you get drunk you start speaking intelligible languages."

"Then we're in Pentecost! Which goes on for ever. Some people just give up and go into something called 'ordinary time.'"

"It's like enrolling at St. Mary's of the Woods and then complaining there are no guys."

"There are some students who can't find their way out of a wet paper sack, but can finagle every loop hole in a community life agreement."

"Someone accused me of telling them to tear this page out of their Bible. That is completely false. If you did that, you would lose the beginning of Luke and I would never condone that."

"Jesus doesn't want it to be there either." [reference to the longer ending of Mark]

"Nothing against the King James. It's just a piece of garbage."

"So we all started praying for him. Not that his faith would be strengthened, but that he would love stupid metaphors."

"They will know we are beast followers by our T-shirts."

hard to hear

recovering pharisees 4: temple and torah

John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew (v 3): Companions and Competitors (New York: Doubleday, 2001).

In the third of his four-volume work on the historical Jesus, John Meier surveys the competing voices which make up part of Jesus' context (largely devoted to the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes). A clipping out of his comments on the Pharisees says, "The struggle between Jesus (or early Christians) and the Pharisees over questions of law reflects a wider struggle raging in Israel around the turn of the era over the proper interpretation of the Mosaic Law" (315). It has been established well (not least in this series of posts) that the issue with Pharisees comes down to Torah interpretation and resulting practice. Meier goes on to assert the two greatest unifying and divisive symbols in Second Temple Judaism to be Temple and Torah (315), and a picture of the Pharisaic sect would be incomplete without hovering over this notion for a brief moment.

Before that, however, I do wish to address the notion that the four gospel narratives contain more retrojected debate-points than actual historical conflict. Meier assumes this, along with many other who are closer to 'mainline' scholarship, but has failed to provide any solid reasons why this must be the case. While appreciate the breadth of his work, this appears to be a major overstep in the process - it is assumed rather than addressed - something which should be inserted if it is deemed a major piece of his argument. The problem that I have with such notions is that it makes the early Christian community appear more concerned with winning debates than preserving the salvation story. All while proclaiming and suffering and dying for a story which

The issues of Temple and Torah is case-in-point, but here Meier prefers to handle the issue rather than relegate it to a later debate. Jesus and the Pharisees not only differed on Torah interpretation but also on their understanding of Temple (here we would do well to defer to NTW's JVG). Temple refers not simply to a building, but rather to the Jewish covenant as a whole in practice. The debates of Pharisee, Sadducee, and everyone else comes down to the current state of the covenant, not some abstract ideology or theology. Temple and Torah thus work hand in hand to bring about the covenant blessings of God. Fitting Jesus into this is somewhat different than commonly assumed - his challenge was to the leadership of Israel, who directed the covenant story away from its intended goal.

To round out Meier's take: "In my view, what made the Pharisees distinctive was that they openly admitted that some of their legal views and practices were not to be found as such in the written Mosaic Law, that such practices were instead venerable 'traditions' that had been handed down by the 'fathers' or the 'elders,' and that such practices nevertheless were God's will for all Israel" (315).

evolving creationism

Jesus movement: essene or pharisee?

Image from Gabriele Boccaccini, Beyond the Essene Hypothesis (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998).

The chart above (which refuses to be enlarged in blogger for some reason) draws attention to the complexities of Second Temple Judaism. Admittedly, when introducing students to this period I simply cover basic overviews of Pharisees-Sadducees-Essenes-Zealots and do not go into the variations of each. But it is helpful to know that there is a lot more going on than is simply assumed when reading the text. I'll admit: I like this chart - it is a good snapshot of the world of Judaism at this time.

I have one challenge.

My contention with Boccaccini's chart comes down to the emergence of the Jesus Movement. The author's contention is that it emerges out of the Essene group alone. While I am becoming increasingly open to the notion that the Jesus movement looked a lot like Essene Judaism (from delving into Enochic Judaism), I cannot deny that Jesus resembles Pharisaic Judaism as well. In fact, I have heard for many years that "Jesus was a Pharisee" and have myself said that the Pharisees and Jesus were often after the same objectives. (For the record, I cannot hold that Jesus would have been a blanket 'Pharisee' either in card-holding-membership or basic ideology.)

In my estimation (which isn't the most comforting place to theologize, I grant you), the Jesus movement appears to be somewhere between Pharisaic and Essene Judaism of this time period. This is a characterization of theology. Socially, it is much harder to define Jesus - he is somewhere between the Essenes and the Zealots, which doesn't help answer the question at all! But the most significant piece to be gained from this chart is the complexities of Second Temple Judaism and their influence on history and culture - especially Jesus and his followers.

notre dame response

A video worth taking a look at . . . an issue worth thinking about.

This is taking place not too far from where I live and I believe it is an opportunity for statements to be made and character to be demonstrated, if it happens in the right way.

NDResponse website can be found here.

psalmic CSL quotes

I have been conducting a class on Psalms this semester (an undergraduate survey designed for non-Bible majors), and have recently come across a couple of quotes from the beloved C. S. Lewis regarding this collection. Both are insightful.

Regarding 119:

"[It] is not, and does not pretend to be, a sudden outpouring of the heart . . . it is a pattern, a thing done like embroidery, stitch by stitch, through long, quiet hours, for love of the subject and for the delight in leisurely, disciplined craftsmanship."

How much modern worship needs to listen to the wisdom therein. We quickly abandon those things which do not give us instantaneous emotional warmth, thus failing to participate in the deeper disciplines of the faith. And then lament our own shallowness.

The second I wish to mention speaks of righteous indignation:

"Thus the absence of anger, especially that sort of anger which we call indignation, can, in my opinion, be a most alarming symptom. And the presence of indignation may be a good one. Even when that indignation passes into bitter personal vindictiveness, it may still be a good symptom, though bad in itself. It is a sin; but it at least shows that those who commit it have not sunk below the level at which the temptation to that sin exists - just as the sins (often quite appalling) of the great patriot or great reformer point to something in him above mere self."

Interesting. Perhaps also we could learn that mere happiness is not the path to spiritual success, and then stop leading so many people along that road. There is a world to mourn and lament and look upon in anger . . . an then there is comfort to be found.

welcome natalie wynne

May 1, 2009

7:20 pm

6 lb 15 oz

20 in