BOW IN THE CLOUDS (10 OF 49)
Scripture: Genesis 9:8-17, Genesis 9
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Bow in the Clouds (10 of 49)
Series: Lectionary, Year B, Lent01
Christopher B. Harbin
Genesis 9:8-17
We have some bad traditions and history in Biblical interpretation. We all do. I discovered some of the depths of this when I embarked on a process of teaching seminary extension program students how to read and interpret the Bible. It was much worse than I had imagined, especially when we turned to look at the first 11 chapters of Genesis. Somehow, those texts which seem most familiar to us are the ones we have the greatest difficulty understanding. What we have ''always known to be true'' is difficult for us to analyze with fresh eyes. We have too many emotional attachments to the stories we heard in our formative years. When we stop to reread them apart from our traditions and emotional ties, they may seem very different from the stories that are stuck in our heads. Can we set aside our traditional assumptions to hear them as they were actually intended?
One of the missionary groups working with illiterate peoples around the globe developed what they called Chronological Bible Storying. It had some very interesting and positive elements in its aims, goals, and structure. When I started looking into it, however, I quickly recognized that their doctrinal and Biblical foundation was sorely lacking. They began with doctrine and theology, then attempted to apply those traditions over the Biblical stories. I wanted to offer a response for my own students that would apply the principles of a narrative approach to the Bible, but quickly saw that a deep study of the texts had to be done as foundational for any such work.
I began gathering scholarly materials on which to base my response, offering my students more than just a retelling of the stories I had grown up with. I wanted them to have the tools to read these old stories within the theological framework they were written to convey. What I did not necessarily expect was just how much my own assumptions ...
Series: Lectionary, Year B, Lent01
Christopher B. Harbin
Genesis 9:8-17
We have some bad traditions and history in Biblical interpretation. We all do. I discovered some of the depths of this when I embarked on a process of teaching seminary extension program students how to read and interpret the Bible. It was much worse than I had imagined, especially when we turned to look at the first 11 chapters of Genesis. Somehow, those texts which seem most familiar to us are the ones we have the greatest difficulty understanding. What we have ''always known to be true'' is difficult for us to analyze with fresh eyes. We have too many emotional attachments to the stories we heard in our formative years. When we stop to reread them apart from our traditions and emotional ties, they may seem very different from the stories that are stuck in our heads. Can we set aside our traditional assumptions to hear them as they were actually intended?
One of the missionary groups working with illiterate peoples around the globe developed what they called Chronological Bible Storying. It had some very interesting and positive elements in its aims, goals, and structure. When I started looking into it, however, I quickly recognized that their doctrinal and Biblical foundation was sorely lacking. They began with doctrine and theology, then attempted to apply those traditions over the Biblical stories. I wanted to offer a response for my own students that would apply the principles of a narrative approach to the Bible, but quickly saw that a deep study of the texts had to be done as foundational for any such work.
I began gathering scholarly materials on which to base my response, offering my students more than just a retelling of the stories I had grown up with. I wanted them to have the tools to read these old stories within the theological framework they were written to convey. What I did not necessarily expect was just how much my own assumptions ...
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