Thursday, September 11, 2008

updated: The broadband Bible. A living text for I or we?

update: The seminar went well. About 30 in the room and some excellent interaction. I got a bit polemical at the end, but hey, I’m not a protest-ant for nothing! It took longer to prepare than I thought, with my thoughts ending up being about 3,000 words and taking a whole day to pull together. But I probably have the guts off a paper, (which is a bonus) – just need to find a home for it. — Wanted — journal publishing in the area of how the Bible is used in communities today.

I am due to deliver a post-graduate seminar at Tabor College tomorrow, 10 am-12pm. Here is where I think I am going ….

Modernity has been traced to Rene Descartes famous dictum: I think therefore I am. While a robust Trinitarian theology offers a more complex relationship between the one and the many, the “I” and the “we”, Descartes might well feel at home amid much contemporary church practice, where the dominant use of the Bible tends to focus on the intellectual employment by one individual, commonly called a sermon.

The relationship between the individual and the community, with specific reference to practices with regard to the Bible, will be probed through seven case studies

1 – art images referencing Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
2 – the authoring of the Pauline corpus
3 – the Book of Kells and a Celtic scriptorium
4 – the front cover of a NIV Life application Commentary
5 – the practice of Dwelling in the Word
6 – Lectionary readings
7 – Kingdom signs blogs

Posted by steve at 01:32 PM

2 Comments

  1. I am interested to hear your critique of the sermon within the community. I would assume that we still need someone or some-ones to provide teaching and background. The problem is, that process has often been one way. Can we develop a healthier process of feeding back and listening to how the text is lived out?

    I am stuck here between agreeing with you and not agreeing. I think this is the way post-modernity learns/engage, yet is it the way God reveals?
    Does this type of reflective community engagement take place (and replace) the sermon or does it take place within homes or in smaller groups for you Steve?

    Comment by mark — September 11, 2008 @ 3:24 pm

  2. exactly the questions i am going to engage – the use of the 7 case studies is intended to offer some imaginative possibilities, but to place them within a trinitarian framework rather than a “this is cool” let’s try it 🙂

    steve

    Comment by steve — September 11, 2008 @ 3:29 pm

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