Some of the most basic questions of human life are ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Why am I here?’ Until we answer these questions, even partially, our lives tend to be dominated by a deep sense of dissatisfaction. In response to this restlessness or ennui, we have three choices: 1. We can languish in it, feeling … Continue reading Called according to God’s Purpose
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the history of how Christians have read their Bibles. While the Bible has always had an important place in the life of Christians and our faith communities, we have understood both the Scriptures and their role in remarkably diverse ways. In some times and places, the … Continue reading Reading the Bible Better Today: Lessons from the Past
Today we celebrate — I trust with great hope and expectation — the wonderful feast of Pentecost, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus’ disciples. It’s an event which can be thought of in many different ways; even in the four years of this blog, I’ve discussed it in terms of the … Continue reading A Gift for All: A Reflection for Pentecost 2022
By the late 1970s, Christian theology and biblical studies appeared to be at an impasse. On the one hand, historical criticism in its various guises was still going strong; for example E.P. Sanders’s Paul and Palestinian Judaism was published in 1977, introducing the revolutionary ‘New Perspective on Paul’. But on the other hand, the Evangelical … Continue reading The Power of Story: Narrative Criticism
The past few posts in this series on the history of Bible interpretation have narrowed in on various Christian responses to modernity. Arising out of the Renaissance, modernity’s bold presuppositions, Big Ideas, and critical questions dismantled traditional European society. And, by the mid-nineteenth century, modernity had transformed the whole world in its own image. All … Continue reading Whose Text Is It Anyway? The Bible and the Postmodern Critique
Matthew Root 