When we ignore or minimize the importance of the original context, our default position will be to fill in the textual backdrop with our own social context. In other words, we will assume that things in the biblical context are just like they are in our own. So there is no way to attain a reading of a biblical text without a context. - Jeannine K. Brown, Scripture as Communication
Jesus & the Legion - Rev. Chris Currie | 8.13.23
When we read Scripture in light of the resurrection, we understand Scripture as testimony to the life-giving power of God. The resurrection of Jesus is not an isolated miracle but a disclosure of God's purpose finally to subdue death and to embrace us within the life of the resurrection.... The God with whom we have to do is a God who wills life and wholeness for us. If we read the biblical story rightly as a story about this God, we will learn to read it in hopeful trust, open to joyous surprises. - Richard B. Hays, "Reading Scripture in Light of the Resurrection"
Jesus & the Twelve Apostles - Rev. Chris Currie | 8.6.23
"We need a way of approaching Scripture that will move us very concretely from our overreliance on information gathering to an experience of Scripture as a place of intimate encounter." - Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rhythms