Reading from Monday, July 5

So my friend Henry is currently in Seminary at Princeton and he is in a class called Introduction to Systematic Theology. Henry sent me his professors lectures from this class and I've had a chance to read through the introductory lecture which kind of sets up the terms and there are some really interesting things from an intellectual standpoint when it comes to Christianity.

One of the things that really struck me was the idea of Contextual Theology. This is the idea that your interpretation of the message of the Bible is filtered through your race, gender, upbringing, and the time and place in which you live. For example, puritanical Christians of early colonial America were very much focused on avoiding sin and the devil, had a high degree of belief in "the devil" and "evil spirits". Today, there is a movement in Christianity to focus on charity and loving and caring for the outcasts. That's not to say that either view is wrong, but that all views should be considered when getting into a theological discussion.To me it seems like these sort of contextualizations are necessary to put Christianity in a way that is palatable to the people of the day. If pastors were still preaching Hell fire and brimstone (some are), Christianity would not have much growth.

The professor then goes on to talk about the idea of these contextual frames going beyond meeting the needs of the immediate culture and actually distorting the core theology of the faith:

The good example of the ideological distortion of Christian theology was the "German Christian" ideology elaborated in the 1930s in order to provide Adolf Hitler's political program with a religious (even churchly) justification.  Among the statement of principles of the "German Christian" party at that time we find the following: "We see in race, folk, and nation, orders of existence granted and entrusted to us by God.  God's law for us is that we look to the preservation of these orders.  Consequently, miscengeneration is to be opposed.  For a long time German Foreign Missions, on the basis of its experience, has been calling to the German people: `Keep your race pure,' and telling us that faith in Christ does not destroy one's race but deepens and sanctifies it. ... We want an evangelical Church that is rooted in our nationhood."  The root of this German Christian ideology lay in the direct identification of divine revelation with the ethnicity of the German peoples (Aryanism).  The three watchwords of the movement were: blood, race, and soil.

In my eyes we have this problem in America today. Too often are political agendas carried by the Evangelical voters, and when that happens, messages get distorted and squeezed to little boxes that fit to benefit specific groups of people and rather than the American people as a whole. Obviously we are not in a Hitler controller Germany, but I do think it's a serious problem and I don't think it accurately represents Christianity.

I am hoping to read through all of these lectures in the coming weeks (I think there's about 15 of them), so if I catch something cool I will be sure to bring it up here.

Reading for July 5
1 Chronicles 1:1-2:17
OK. Chronicles. Probably the slowest and most dreaded books of the Bible. If you don't know, these books are literally lists of who were the sons of whom. From a historical standpoint, I know these books hold a TON of value, but from a narrative or bloggable standpoint, these aren't the best or most interesting books to write about.

It is interesting to read (or, honestly, skim) through these chapters with the knowledge of who these people are rather than just picking up the Bible, opening to Chronicles and going "Eugh! No!"; but its still very slow. So forgive me if I don't have much to write about as I work through 1 and 2 Chronicles. I will do my best to find some interesting nuggets of information, but I don't have the highest of hopes.

What I will do is repost the twelve tribes of Israel, because I think that's something that I should have memorized. First I'll try to recall as many as I can without looking. Scouts honor.

Judah, Benjamin, Levi, Simeon, Dan, Gad, Naphtali...that's all I got. Seven - not bad. Let's see the full list:

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, ² Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Acts 23:11-35
Paul's sweet escape.

So the Sanhedrin begin their plot to kill Paul. They are planning to ask the Roman officials to send Paul back before them to question him some more, but when he gets in, they planned to ambush him and kill him. Paul's nephew hears about this plot and goes and reports it to Paul, who has him report it to the commander of the Roman army.

The commander wants to do what is right because Paul is A) a Roman citizen and B) not guilty of anything deserving of death and probably C) because of that colossal screw up with Jesus and Pontious.

So in the night, the commander sets up a guard of hundreds of Roman soldiers and puts Paul on a chariot going as far away from Jerusalem as possible. It's a pretty exciting story and almost reads like an action movie. I would recommend reading it if you have five minutes. Just click the "Reading for July 5" link above and scroll down to the Acts section.

Psalm 3:1-8
I was tempted to not re-read the Psalms after I had finished them earlier this month, but I'm glad I am. There is so much more in here for me than the first time around. This Psalm was written by David when he was fleeing from his son Absalom, one of the darkest times of David's life.

¹ O LORD, how many are my foes!
       How many rise up against me!
 ² Many are saying of me,
       "God will not deliver him."
       Selah ^[a]
 3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD;
       you bestow glory on me and lift ^[b] up my head.
 ⁴ To the LORD I cry aloud,
       and he answers me from his holy hill.
       Selah

It's no wonder that David was one of God's favorite sons. He had a spirit about him that was of constant praise, no matter the circumstances. Of the few Kings of Israel that did worship God, I'm sure a very small percentage of those would continue to praise God when times got as tough as they did for David. I think we should all try to learn from David's example and remember to praise God and remember his power and glory in times of struggle. 


Proverbs 18:14-15
 ¹⁴ A man's spirit sustains him in sickness,
       but a crushed spirit who can bear?
 ¹⁵ The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge;
       the ears of the wise seek it out.

Alright, chums. Until tomorrow.