Lee Harmon's Blog, page 104
January 22, 2012
Book review: Why Men Hate Going to Church
by David Murrow
★★★★★
I have a confession to make. I accepted this book for review thinking it might be good for a few laughs. Get a guy through the church doors? What are you gonna do, turn it into a sports bar?
I was wrong about David's book. Oh, I laughed alright—a lot!—but all the time I was chuckling, I was nodding. David has nailed it.
Funny thing is, speaking as a guy, we don't know why we hate church. We just know it's uncomfortable. The awkwardness has to be explained to us … and when it is, we finally nod knowingly.
David probably thinks his book is for pastors. No, it's for couples. Ladies, if you want your guy sitting next to you in the pew, read this. Then find a new church together. One where the pastor has read the book, too.
★★★★★
I have a confession to make. I accepted this book for review thinking it might be good for a few laughs. Get a guy through the church doors? What are you gonna do, turn it into a sports bar?
I was wrong about David's book. Oh, I laughed alright—a lot!—but all the time I was chuckling, I was nodding. David has nailed it.
Funny thing is, speaking as a guy, we don't know why we hate church. We just know it's uncomfortable. The awkwardness has to be explained to us … and when it is, we finally nod knowingly.
David probably thinks his book is for pastors. No, it's for couples. Ladies, if you want your guy sitting next to you in the pew, read this. Then find a new church together. One where the pastor has read the book, too.
January 20, 2012
Acts 2:38, The Meaning of Baptism
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
//Today's post isn't meant to instruct or entertain, but to pose a question. I'm not a scholar of current-day religion, so help me out, here. In my observation, baptism is a step that nearly all Christians agree is important, but few agree entirely on its meaning. Perhaps its meaning is meant to be obscure, something personal between the initiate and God. I remember my own baptism as a teenager with a bit of confusion. It seemed to be mostly an initiation into the church, a way for the church to accept me into its ranks, and it had something to do with asking me to cut my hair, which had apparently grown too long for a nice Christian boy. Odd, the things I remember.
So why do we baptize? Can we draw some idea of this ritual's meaning from the New Testament? John the Baptist portrayed baptism as a necessary repentance. Paul saw baptism as a reenactment of the death and resurrection of Christ. The book of Acts associates it with the remission of sins. John's Gospel seems to consider it an antiquated picture of spiritual rebirth, and takes pains to point out that Jesus never performed any water baptisms; the new baptism of the Kingdom would be by fire and Spirit, not water.
How about if we dig deeper, going back to pre-Christian scripture? How about Isaiah 4:4, referring to seven sinful women: The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. Or Ezekiel 36:25-26: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. In both these cases, "baptism" is a cleansing performed by God alone, with spirit.
We can find parallels to Christian baptism in the practices of the Essenes, and in the rebirth ceremonies of mystery cults, but it is its Christian interpretation that eludes me. I'd be curious to hear your opinion.
//Today's post isn't meant to instruct or entertain, but to pose a question. I'm not a scholar of current-day religion, so help me out, here. In my observation, baptism is a step that nearly all Christians agree is important, but few agree entirely on its meaning. Perhaps its meaning is meant to be obscure, something personal between the initiate and God. I remember my own baptism as a teenager with a bit of confusion. It seemed to be mostly an initiation into the church, a way for the church to accept me into its ranks, and it had something to do with asking me to cut my hair, which had apparently grown too long for a nice Christian boy. Odd, the things I remember.
So why do we baptize? Can we draw some idea of this ritual's meaning from the New Testament? John the Baptist portrayed baptism as a necessary repentance. Paul saw baptism as a reenactment of the death and resurrection of Christ. The book of Acts associates it with the remission of sins. John's Gospel seems to consider it an antiquated picture of spiritual rebirth, and takes pains to point out that Jesus never performed any water baptisms; the new baptism of the Kingdom would be by fire and Spirit, not water.
How about if we dig deeper, going back to pre-Christian scripture? How about Isaiah 4:4, referring to seven sinful women: The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. Or Ezekiel 36:25-26: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. In both these cases, "baptism" is a cleansing performed by God alone, with spirit.
We can find parallels to Christian baptism in the practices of the Essenes, and in the rebirth ceremonies of mystery cults, but it is its Christian interpretation that eludes me. I'd be curious to hear your opinion.
January 19, 2012
1 Corinthians 11:8, Why men get to be the boss
For man did not come from woman, but woman from man;
//Women are probably more familiar with the Apostle Paul's instructions in 1 Corinthians 11 than men, precisely because this is the chapter that demands women be in subjection to men. "Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God."
Why is this necessary? It goes back to Adam and Eve, according to Paul. Not so much that Eve was the cause of man's downfall, but that Adam came first, and woman was made from man ... not vice versa. Eve was constructed out of a rib removed from Adam's side. Strange biology indeed, but if it makes me the boss, I can live with it.
Paul's theology lasted 1500 years! When Vesalius in 1543 showed that the number of ribs was the same in males and females, it created a storm of controversy … and ruined a good thing.
//Women are probably more familiar with the Apostle Paul's instructions in 1 Corinthians 11 than men, precisely because this is the chapter that demands women be in subjection to men. "Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God."
Why is this necessary? It goes back to Adam and Eve, according to Paul. Not so much that Eve was the cause of man's downfall, but that Adam came first, and woman was made from man ... not vice versa. Eve was constructed out of a rib removed from Adam's side. Strange biology indeed, but if it makes me the boss, I can live with it.
Paul's theology lasted 1500 years! When Vesalius in 1543 showed that the number of ribs was the same in males and females, it created a storm of controversy … and ruined a good thing.
January 18, 2012
Book review: Gilgamesh, A New Rendering in English Verse
by David Ferry
★★★★★
Gilgamesh is the story of a legendary Mesopotamian king who embarks on a quest for immortality. The Gilgamesh Epic has two primary claims to fame: (1) it may be the oldest surviving written story on earth, and (2) it contains a passage eerily similar to the story of Noah and the Ark. A man builds a big boat, saving his family and lots of animals from a monstrous flood. Like Noah, the flood survivor in Gilgamesh sends out birds (a dove, then a swallow, then a raven) from his "ark" after the rain stops to see if there is dry land anywhere. Like Noah, after exiting the ark he offers a sacrifice to the gods.
Ferry's interpretation is not really an interpretation; it is a retelling based on other scholars' translations. It's a poetic rendition meant to artistically recreate the flavor of the original cuneiform, but in English. The preface calls Ferry's work "verbal art." He does take liberties here and there, most times because all of our copies of the Gilgamesh story are fragmentary, even after piecing them together. Yet, he makes a strong effort to be respectful of the best scholarly translations, thus remaining as true to the original as "feasible" (his word).
I haven't studied any other translations so I can't vouch for the authenticity of Ferry's version, but I certainly enjoyed reading it!
★★★★★
Gilgamesh is the story of a legendary Mesopotamian king who embarks on a quest for immortality. The Gilgamesh Epic has two primary claims to fame: (1) it may be the oldest surviving written story on earth, and (2) it contains a passage eerily similar to the story of Noah and the Ark. A man builds a big boat, saving his family and lots of animals from a monstrous flood. Like Noah, the flood survivor in Gilgamesh sends out birds (a dove, then a swallow, then a raven) from his "ark" after the rain stops to see if there is dry land anywhere. Like Noah, after exiting the ark he offers a sacrifice to the gods.
Ferry's interpretation is not really an interpretation; it is a retelling based on other scholars' translations. It's a poetic rendition meant to artistically recreate the flavor of the original cuneiform, but in English. The preface calls Ferry's work "verbal art." He does take liberties here and there, most times because all of our copies of the Gilgamesh story are fragmentary, even after piecing them together. Yet, he makes a strong effort to be respectful of the best scholarly translations, thus remaining as true to the original as "feasible" (his word).
I haven't studied any other translations so I can't vouch for the authenticity of Ferry's version, but I certainly enjoyed reading it!
January 17, 2012
Genesis 1:1, Did God Create the Universe?
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
//In the beginning. The Greek word translated "beginning" can be either a verb or a noun; either "beginning" or "began." It's a toss-up. Either our Bible starts with "In the Beginning, God created …" or it starts with "When God began to create …" In the first, we have creation ex nihilo, out of nothing. But in the second, when God begins to create, the formless void of the earth is already there. Creation is the act of bringing stability to chaos.
This second interpretation actually fits better with other stories of creation in the Bible. For example, the book of Job, chapter 38, describes creation as a struggle between God and the primordial forces of chaos. God overcomes and controls a monstrous personification of the formless, watery deep that existed before the world began.
Psalm 74 also envisions creation as establishing cosmic order out of chaos:
It was you who split open the sea by your power; you broke the heads of the monster in the waters. It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.It was you who opened up springs and streams; you dried up the ever flowing rivers.The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and moon.It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter. –Psalm 74:13-17
In Proverbs chapter 8, God has a co-creator (wisdom), and this version of creation is reflected by the prologue of John's Gospel ("In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God"). But, again, the creation is a matter of setting boundaries for the sea, and fixing the foundations of the earth.
By all accounts, then, we have mistranslated Genesis 1:1. God did not create the universe; he merely brought order to a chaotic existence.
//In the beginning. The Greek word translated "beginning" can be either a verb or a noun; either "beginning" or "began." It's a toss-up. Either our Bible starts with "In the Beginning, God created …" or it starts with "When God began to create …" In the first, we have creation ex nihilo, out of nothing. But in the second, when God begins to create, the formless void of the earth is already there. Creation is the act of bringing stability to chaos.
This second interpretation actually fits better with other stories of creation in the Bible. For example, the book of Job, chapter 38, describes creation as a struggle between God and the primordial forces of chaos. God overcomes and controls a monstrous personification of the formless, watery deep that existed before the world began.
Psalm 74 also envisions creation as establishing cosmic order out of chaos:
It was you who split open the sea by your power; you broke the heads of the monster in the waters. It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.It was you who opened up springs and streams; you dried up the ever flowing rivers.The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and moon.It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter. –Psalm 74:13-17
In Proverbs chapter 8, God has a co-creator (wisdom), and this version of creation is reflected by the prologue of John's Gospel ("In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God"). But, again, the creation is a matter of setting boundaries for the sea, and fixing the foundations of the earth.
By all accounts, then, we have mistranslated Genesis 1:1. God did not create the universe; he merely brought order to a chaotic existence.
January 16, 2012
1 Samuel 6:19, Don't look in there!
Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter.
//There's some confusion in translating this verse; most ancient Hebrew texts read 70 men, not 5,070. Some say the correct reading is 70 men and 50 oxen.
But what's the big deal? They peeked in the ark, and God struck them down. Shades of the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark (which does, indeed, draw themes from today's verse).
Here's the deal. The Law, capital L, resided within the ark. The tablets of the covenant, which Moses brought down the mountain from God, were frightening and often meant death. But sitting atop the ark was God's "mercy seat," and from there, from between two cherubim, God spoke to Moses (see Numbers 7:89). The Mercy Seat served as a covering for the ark, a reconciliation.
So, for the people to peek in the ark, they had to first remove its covering of mercy, exposing the Law's undiluted, frightful power. Pow!
//There's some confusion in translating this verse; most ancient Hebrew texts read 70 men, not 5,070. Some say the correct reading is 70 men and 50 oxen.
But what's the big deal? They peeked in the ark, and God struck them down. Shades of the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark (which does, indeed, draw themes from today's verse).
Here's the deal. The Law, capital L, resided within the ark. The tablets of the covenant, which Moses brought down the mountain from God, were frightening and often meant death. But sitting atop the ark was God's "mercy seat," and from there, from between two cherubim, God spoke to Moses (see Numbers 7:89). The Mercy Seat served as a covering for the ark, a reconciliation.
So, for the people to peek in the ark, they had to first remove its covering of mercy, exposing the Law's undiluted, frightful power. Pow!
January 15, 2012
Book review: What the Bible Really Tells Us
by T. J. Wray
★★★★★
Wray starts her book with a five-question quiz, which any faithful Bible reader should pass with ease, but the vast majority cannot. It's the same quiz she uses to open each new course at Salve Regina University, where she teaches as an Associate Professor of Religious Studies. When she next recommends that I go purchase a Bible and read her book with the Bible open in front of me, I felt a nostalgic flashback to my University days. :)
After the pop quiz opening, I expected the book to be a Bible Introduction course, and I worried that perhaps it wouldn't hold my interest. I was wrong. It's true, Wray writes down to the level of readers who know little or nothing about the Bible, but her writing is insightful and fun. Wray "seeks to address the real and urgent problem of contemporary biblical illiteracy," not by teaching us everything that's in the Bible, but by stimulating a curiosity about it, so that we'll read it for ourselves.
So this book is not a Bible overview. It is instead, after a short Bible Basics lead-in, an insightful discussion of seven critical issues that we should all find vital to our philosophy of life and spiritual well-being. Precisely the sort of instruction we expect to find by turning to our Bibles—yet most of us hold an erroneous assumption about what the Bible really says. These seven topics are:
[1] Why do we suffer?[2] Heaven and hell[3] What the Bible says about wealth and riches[4] Sexuality and gender[5] Biblical law and justice[6] The Bible and the environment[7] Prayer and worship
All seven proved to be great reading! Made me want to sign up for her class.
★★★★★
Wray starts her book with a five-question quiz, which any faithful Bible reader should pass with ease, but the vast majority cannot. It's the same quiz she uses to open each new course at Salve Regina University, where she teaches as an Associate Professor of Religious Studies. When she next recommends that I go purchase a Bible and read her book with the Bible open in front of me, I felt a nostalgic flashback to my University days. :)
After the pop quiz opening, I expected the book to be a Bible Introduction course, and I worried that perhaps it wouldn't hold my interest. I was wrong. It's true, Wray writes down to the level of readers who know little or nothing about the Bible, but her writing is insightful and fun. Wray "seeks to address the real and urgent problem of contemporary biblical illiteracy," not by teaching us everything that's in the Bible, but by stimulating a curiosity about it, so that we'll read it for ourselves.
So this book is not a Bible overview. It is instead, after a short Bible Basics lead-in, an insightful discussion of seven critical issues that we should all find vital to our philosophy of life and spiritual well-being. Precisely the sort of instruction we expect to find by turning to our Bibles—yet most of us hold an erroneous assumption about what the Bible really says. These seven topics are:
[1] Why do we suffer?[2] Heaven and hell[3] What the Bible says about wealth and riches[4] Sexuality and gender[5] Biblical law and justice[6] The Bible and the environment[7] Prayer and worship
All seven proved to be great reading! Made me want to sign up for her class.
January 13, 2012
1 Timothy 6:16, No one has ever seen God, part II of II
Who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
//Continuing the topic from yesterday, we're talking about people who have "seen God." 1 Timothy repeats the claim of John's Gospel, noting that no man has seen nor can see God. But what exactly do these verses mean? Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Job, Samson's parents, Isaiah, and Daniel all saw God in yesterday's verses. Once, all the seventy elders of Israel saw God. We can't just pretend that the writers of John's Gospel and 1 Timothy didn't know the scripture.
The reason no one has ever seen God, according to 1 Timothy, is because God lives in "unapproachable light." This brings to mind the day Paul saw Jesus as a blinding light from heaven.
John, in similar fashion, makes the claim that no one has ever seen God in his prologue. I provided that verse yesterday. There, Jesus is described as "the true light that gives light to every man." The logical conclusion is that the many who had seen God before never witnessed the blinding glory of God, until Jesus arrived and put that glory on display. John then makes clear that the only way one really "sees" Jesus is to be born again ... to receive new sight.
It turns out that there is one more verse on this topic:
1 John 4:12, No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Putting it all together, may we conclude that no one in the Old Testament had "seen" God, but thanks to the coming of Jesus, every loving Christian since that day has?
//Continuing the topic from yesterday, we're talking about people who have "seen God." 1 Timothy repeats the claim of John's Gospel, noting that no man has seen nor can see God. But what exactly do these verses mean? Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Job, Samson's parents, Isaiah, and Daniel all saw God in yesterday's verses. Once, all the seventy elders of Israel saw God. We can't just pretend that the writers of John's Gospel and 1 Timothy didn't know the scripture.
The reason no one has ever seen God, according to 1 Timothy, is because God lives in "unapproachable light." This brings to mind the day Paul saw Jesus as a blinding light from heaven.
John, in similar fashion, makes the claim that no one has ever seen God in his prologue. I provided that verse yesterday. There, Jesus is described as "the true light that gives light to every man." The logical conclusion is that the many who had seen God before never witnessed the blinding glory of God, until Jesus arrived and put that glory on display. John then makes clear that the only way one really "sees" Jesus is to be born again ... to receive new sight.
It turns out that there is one more verse on this topic:
1 John 4:12, No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Putting it all together, may we conclude that no one in the Old Testament had "seen" God, but thanks to the coming of Jesus, every loving Christian since that day has?
January 12, 2012
John 1:18, No one has ever seen God, part I of II
No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
//Here's an interesting topic. Is it true that nobody has ever seen God? I would enjoy hearing your thoughts after I post the second half tomorrow. Let me start the topic by presenting a list of verses where people DID see God:
Genesis 32:30, So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
Exodus 24:9-11, Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.
Genesis 17:1, When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.
Exodus 33:21-22, "Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen." When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. (Y'all recognize this as God speaking to Moses, right?)
Numbers 12:7-8, But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. (See also Exodus 33:11)
Judges 13:22, "We are doomed to die!" [Samson's father] said to his wife. "We have seen God!"
Job 42:5, My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.
Isaiah 6:1, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Daniel 7:9, "As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze."
//Here's an interesting topic. Is it true that nobody has ever seen God? I would enjoy hearing your thoughts after I post the second half tomorrow. Let me start the topic by presenting a list of verses where people DID see God:
Genesis 32:30, So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
Exodus 24:9-11, Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.
Genesis 17:1, When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.
Exodus 33:21-22, "Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen." When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. (Y'all recognize this as God speaking to Moses, right?)
Numbers 12:7-8, But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. (See also Exodus 33:11)
Judges 13:22, "We are doomed to die!" [Samson's father] said to his wife. "We have seen God!"
Job 42:5, My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.
Isaiah 6:1, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Daniel 7:9, "As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze."
January 11, 2012
Book review: Banned Questions about Jesus
by Christian Piatt and others
★★★★★
Let me say first that this is shaping up into a great series! This is the second book, following closely on the heels of Banned Questions About the Bible . As with book one, Piatt's MO here is to collect a number of uncomfortable questions, typically issues that we would feel awkward about discussing with our pastor, and then pose the questions to contributors. There are fifty questions in each book.
While it deserves a five-star review in its own way, I found the second book a little different in flavor from the first. Book two is more inspiring and comforting, less thought-provoking. Less puzzle-solving and more opinions. Or maybe it just seemed that way.
Partly, the differing flavor is because some of the questions are simply impossible to answer with only a Bible in your hand! Was Jesus ever sick? How soon did he know he was divine? Was he ever wrong? Yeah, we all want answers to these questions, but who's got them? Contributors in book two are forced to dig inside themselves, and discover what Jesus' life really means.
But the book has its theological doozies as well. When Jesus participates in the Last Supper, doesn't that mean he's eating his own body and drinking his own blood? If Jesus had to die in order to save us from sin, how did he get away with forgiving people of their sin before he died?
As with book one, I loved it and hope to see the series continue!
★★★★★
Let me say first that this is shaping up into a great series! This is the second book, following closely on the heels of Banned Questions About the Bible . As with book one, Piatt's MO here is to collect a number of uncomfortable questions, typically issues that we would feel awkward about discussing with our pastor, and then pose the questions to contributors. There are fifty questions in each book.
While it deserves a five-star review in its own way, I found the second book a little different in flavor from the first. Book two is more inspiring and comforting, less thought-provoking. Less puzzle-solving and more opinions. Or maybe it just seemed that way.
Partly, the differing flavor is because some of the questions are simply impossible to answer with only a Bible in your hand! Was Jesus ever sick? How soon did he know he was divine? Was he ever wrong? Yeah, we all want answers to these questions, but who's got them? Contributors in book two are forced to dig inside themselves, and discover what Jesus' life really means.
But the book has its theological doozies as well. When Jesus participates in the Last Supper, doesn't that mean he's eating his own body and drinking his own blood? If Jesus had to die in order to save us from sin, how did he get away with forgiving people of their sin before he died?
As with book one, I loved it and hope to see the series continue!
