In my first religion class in college, I learned that "myth" was fiction but a way of understanding/explaining how the world works and our place in it. The professor connected many of the same stories across multiple religious faiths to demonstrate similarities and differences, ending with Christianity. In our current landscape where scientific knowledge is denigrated out of preference for unfounded opinion or religiosity, we have lost the sense of the sacred along with compassion. Thank you for reminding me of the meaning of sacred myth.
Nobody watches The Odyssey and screams, “Show me Poseidon’s birth certificate!” We understand ancient stories can carry truth without functioning like CCTV footage. Then we open Genesis and suddenly everyone turns into a forensic meteorologist. Maybe the Bible gets more interesting when we stop asking whether every detail happened exactly that way and start asking what the story is trying to tell us about God.
Yes, and (not but, I want to open up not close down) I find there's a problem with the 'Jesus as lens' in that it implies that Hebrew scriptures are only valuable via Jesus rather than on their own merit...a recipe for supersessionism, it seems. This is a challenge I've been walking with for a few years. I like Zach Lambert's 'Lens of flourishing' for a way to read.. asking ourselves how our interpretation of biblical texts leads to human flourishing. Zach says it better, though...
Absolutely love the image of the container not being the point! Thank you!
I’d love Oh brother Where Art Thou and now I’ll have to re-watch it. ☺️
Me too!!!
Me, too.
You don’t have to defend every line of the Old Testament like a lawyer stuck with a bad case.
That's great! Thanks.
In my first religion class in college, I learned that "myth" was fiction but a way of understanding/explaining how the world works and our place in it. The professor connected many of the same stories across multiple religious faiths to demonstrate similarities and differences, ending with Christianity. In our current landscape where scientific knowledge is denigrated out of preference for unfounded opinion or religiosity, we have lost the sense of the sacred along with compassion. Thank you for reminding me of the meaning of sacred myth.
I love the way you see things!!
Well done.
You must read P. T. Henderson’s The Babel Horizon!
Nobody watches The Odyssey and screams, “Show me Poseidon’s birth certificate!” We understand ancient stories can carry truth without functioning like CCTV footage. Then we open Genesis and suddenly everyone turns into a forensic meteorologist. Maybe the Bible gets more interesting when we stop asking whether every detail happened exactly that way and start asking what the story is trying to tell us about God.
Jesus as the lens rather than the magnifying glass on every verse is not a retreat from Scripture. It's the most honest way into it.
Thanks for letting us in on your thought process, Beau, and challenging us to do the same. Bless you.
Yes, and (not but, I want to open up not close down) I find there's a problem with the 'Jesus as lens' in that it implies that Hebrew scriptures are only valuable via Jesus rather than on their own merit...a recipe for supersessionism, it seems. This is a challenge I've been walking with for a few years. I like Zach Lambert's 'Lens of flourishing' for a way to read.. asking ourselves how our interpretation of biblical texts leads to human flourishing. Zach says it better, though...
Absolutely love the image of the container not being the point! Thank you!