Sometimes I feel like a broken record here. But to my defense, Jesus’ teachings are for the most part pretty straight forward and variations on a few themes. We’re just not very good at embodying them. But, at the risk of repeating myself, one of the strangest and most frightening trends in contemporary Christianity is … Continue reading A Gift of Peace: A Reflection on John 14:23-29
As we continue asking the Big Questions that can help us better understand, interpret, and apply the Scriptures, today we find ourselves in the midst of the last step: Expand. After doing the introductory work of the Experience and Encounter steps and the heavy lifting of the Explore and Challenge steps, we evaluate our emerging … Continue reading Big Questions: How Does My Interpretation Expand Love?
This series on “Reading the Bible Better” has been all about the Big Questions that can help us better understand, interpret, and apply the Scriptures in our day-to-day lives. They are also the questions at the root of the various steps of the Integral Hermeneutic method I developed a few years ago: 1. We experience … Continue reading Big Questions: How Does My Interpretation Encourage Growth?
The other week, we peaked behind the apocalyptic veil of the Book of Revelation and saw how the anticipated Lion of Judah was in fact ‘the Lamb-Who-Was-Slain’, who alone was able unseal the heavenly scroll. In less symbolic language, it was saying that it was the nonviolent offering up his own life is what made … Continue reading Limitless: A Reflection on Revelation 21.1-6
Last time, we looked at the Bible through a critical lens, asking whose text it is and whose it isn’t. But postmodernism isn’t just about asking hard questions of existing systems and structures (including sacred ones), but also about asking those same hard questions of ourselves. We don’t just look for biases in the text … Continue reading Big Questions: How Is My Context Impacting my Reading?
Matthew Root 