Jesus the Galilean

Introduction

There is not an entirely consistent picture of Jesus’ life and ministry across each of the four Gospels. However, general ideas about Jesus and his likely situation in the social and political context of his time can be discerned from recent “historical Jesus” research. Interestingly, despite the disparity of Gospel portrayals, some researchers have concluded that the Gospel accounts are consistent with the available historical evidence about Galilee.

The research into Galilean life at around the time of Jesus can be categorised into a number of areas, namely:
• Cultural and religious life;
• Political and economic systems which impacted in the region;
• The land in both its geographical and agricultural aspects; and
• Sociological considerations.

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

The God Delusion
Richard Dawkins
Bantam Press 2006

(Clicking on this image will take you to Fishpond.com where you can purchase the book online)

My review starts with a question about Doctor Who, which is in the end, one of the points which I found really interesting in the book. Did you know that Richard is married to Lalla Ward? She played the spunky and intelligent blonde Romana on Dr Who, a female Time Lord, who journeys with the Doctor for some time before being replaced by the spunky and intelligent Adric, a male companion for the Doctor.

Anyhow, my question is: If the companions of Dr Who can be male or female, why is the Doctor always regenerated as a male? Time Lords can be female, right? Doctor doesn’t imply a gender, right? So what hasn’t it been done?

You might argue that this is a stupid question to begin a review of this book, except that I reckon that if this question had been the bee in Dawkins’ bonnet he could have written substantially the same book, but replaced the concept of “religion” with the concept of “gender”.

Frank Wesley

An extraordinary artist - born in India, and based in Queensland until his death in 2002.

A good retrospective can be found at http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/research/theology/ejournal/aejt_4/farrell.htm

Ursula Laverty

I love this woman’s art. An Australian artist, she uses colors and images in a way that explodes into your conciousness. A predominant theme is that of water, one that resonates strongly with me as I drown in in the water of life.

You can find more of her paintings at http://ausarts.com.au/Ursula%20Laverty%20Gallery/index.html

John 9:1-14 Jesus spits

A miracle story

Chapter 9 begins with a sign. However, to get to that point we place Jesus and disciples in a context that does not flow from the previous chapter. Commentators have noted the jump in sequencing, particularly because previously Jesus had fled the temple in fear of his life, but now he encounters a blind beggar, probably within the vicinity of the temple. Similarly we have not encountered the disciples since chapter 6, but now they have joined him. Sanders and Mastin suggest such that “John is more concerned with the theological development of his story than the verisimilitude of its details.”

Such theological development is an issue explored by Dodd who argues that trying to synchronise the chapters would disrupt the flow and continuity of the story in its context. Dodd writes that “10:19-21, similar as it is to parts of 7 and 8, seems to be anchored in its present place by the reference to the healing of the blind, which would be senseless unless 9:1-7 had preceded it. It would indeed be quite agreeable to the Johannine method to regard this back reference as designed to clamp the whole of 9:1 – 10:21 into a unity…a sequence of narrative, dialogue and monologue.”

As such we begin to understand that the story sits within a broad theological framework which is intended to develop an understanding about who Jesus was, namely the light of the world. Sanders and Mastin note that although the scene opens with “characteristic abruptness and quite without circumstantial detail” it is nonetheless “”dovetailed into the preceding episode with which it is closely united by the common theme of the encounter between the light and the darkness.”

And indeed, very quickly in this passage we have Jesus reinforcing this message in the context of what appears to be a “rabbinic aphorism”.

Having re-established this theme, we enter into a chapter which is heavy with irony, contrasting the growing faith of a new disciple with the growing blindness of the church authorities.

The Jesus History wars - build a bridge guys!

Introduction

The “Third Quest” for the historical Jesus, is the latest manifestation in over 100 years of research dedicated to uncovering as much information about Jesus as a real person in a particular place and time.

Recent research appears to be based on generally agreed models for determining the authenticity of biblical witness to Jesus and is fuelled by contemporary academic developments which Borg notes have emerged as a result of “insights and models gleaned from the history of religions, cultural anthropology, and the social sciences.”

As a result, the area is ripe for further exploration. Currently however, three key issues appear to be presenting as a result of the research.

The first is the nature of the research itself. The literature surrounding the approach and methodology of the research is reminiscent of the recent “history wars” in Australia, as scholars argue about the legitimacy of each other’s approach. Such discussions evoke the broader questions about the relevance and application of the research to New Testament studies generally.

A second is the new information that is emerging about the social and cultural milieu in which Jesus lived.

The third is the struggle to come to conclusions about the nature of Jesus himself in light of new information.

Romans 5: 12-21 Tangled Theology

Introduction
When writing about Paul, the presenting story is often not the whole story. Too often, we approach biblical text and tune in to the story that makes sense to us. But Paul’s writing does not allow this. His letters are not simply narrative accounts of the purpose or function of Christ’s presence in the world, instead, his text is potent theology, dense, but with enormous gaps, logical, but inconsistent, linear, but tangled.

The purpose of this essay was to explore the passage of Romans 5:12-21, with particular reference to Paul’s understanding of sin. However, of course, it’s not that simple. How do you arrange an essay to cover the most salient points of this area, when other issues, such as the relation of sin and the law, or the absence of Eve, or the concepts of space and time, keep intruding into the discourse?

The solution is to break the text into distinct parts, all the while acknowledging that such an approach risks separating ideas that are in some way inseparable.

The first part will cover the text and commentary with a “linear approach”. That is, it will discuss the history and context of the text, and approach the text in a form that follows the pattern: A happened, B happened and C is the result.

Paul’s context as a first century Jewish writer will be explored, particularly those underlying influences in his social context which clearly had impact on the way he wrote and thought. Following this, (with the assistance of a number of commentators whose work fits within a linear framework), the primary notions of Adam, sin and its effect and Christ will be canvassed.

The second part will deal with the tangle of theology and interpretation that Paul’s approach evinces. It is in this chapter that the gaps, the questions and the limitations of the linear approach become more apparent. As such, understandings of sin and grace become more amorphous and less stable and the Adam/Christ illustration invites us into paradox.

The third part will conclude the essay, but in the end provides no conclusion at all. Instead, it will stay within the paradox of the reality of those who as contingent creatures in history, name themselves Christian.

Galatians 4:15-5:1 A Pregnant Pause

Introduction
While acknowledging that this is not normally treated as one pericope, v. 15 introduces a sequence of images, which allows Paul to claim a deeply intimate kinship connection with the Galatians. These images which centre mainly on the images of maternity, tie the passages together.

Paul’s claim of kinship underwrites his appeal to the Galatians to remain, like him, a child born into freedom through Christ. The theological key is that that the death and resurrection of Jesus had created a new epoch for humanity which was based on faith and grace. His passionate appeal to the Galatians is that they should not renounce this birthright.

Job, Karl (Barth) and Carl (Jung)

Introduction
Writing anything that might compare Carl Jung and Karl Barth is asking for trouble. The two authors can be regarded as representing the opposite poles in the mid twentieth century debate about how to “do” biblical scholarship and theology.

Jung, as a psychologist, wrote substantially on religion and religious experience, and on the archetype of God. Although not a theologian, it has been argued that his approach epitomises the breadth of the Liberal Protestant tradition, which seeks to include contemporary disciplines into its thinking about God.

In contrast, Barth is known for his strong critical response to the Liberal Protestant movement. Richmond has summarised Barth’s approach. He writes,
“Over against liberalism, Barth denied that Christianity is one religion among others, stressing rather that it concerns only God’s unique self revelation. He vigorously tried to free Christianity from philosophical influences; he stressed the centrality of the kerygmatic character of the biblical writings, the radical discontinuity between God and human nature, and made much of the concepts of crisis, judgement and grace. Above all, against liberalism, he taught God’s unqualifiable and indissoluble subjectivity: it is God who acts upon and toward man (sic) and not vice versa.”

However, despite the obvious tension between the approaches of the writers, the fact that they both wrote substantially on the Book of Job makes the comparison worth the trouble. What makes the comparison irresistible is the fact that their texts were published within the same decade, Jung in 1952 and Barth in 1959 , they were of a similar age when they wrote them (Jung was 9 years older than Barth) and they were both children of pastors in the Swiss Reformed Church.

Attempting to explore why two people from the same cultural milieu approach the Book of Job so differently, is a task beyond this essay. However, exploring the different approaches does give an insight into that time of post war theology and how the engagement with Job, a book that is ostensibly about pain and suffering, might still speak to us fifty years on.

The Book of Job and the idea of Theodicy

In February 1987, “Diamond Jim” McClelland wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald that Senator Graham Richardson was a numbers man who took politics to the extent of ensuring power at any cost. After describing what was essentially a political career of expediency he finished his essay with the adage, “Those who live by the sword shall perish by the sword”. In this he expressed contemporary folk wisdom that encapsulates the concept of cosmic cause and effect.

In the Solomon Islands, swimming in the reef is safe if you are pure of heart and mind. It is said that if a shark takes you, it is inevitably because you have transgressed a religious or moral code and have been living in a state of disgrace, secret or otherwise.

In December 2004, the tsunami in the Asia Pacific region destroyed many villages on the coastal ring of the Indian Ocean. Countless lives were lost and the aid and repairs across those countries continues. Those who died were young and old, of many religions and were inevitably both just and unjust, sinners and saints.

Our very existence as human beings in history means that we will respond to incidents of evil, disaster and suffering with a moral framework in which to make sense of what is happening. Carol Newsom draws from Bakhtin when she calls our moral frameworks “Moral Imaginations”. She describes these as “the fundamental aesthetic and cognitive means by which persons and cultures construct meaning, value and significance”.

The concept of theodicy describes a process where the meaning, value and significance of suffering, guilt, and experiences of evil are explored and constructed within theological discourse.