| I promised a new section from Brueggemann's book "An Unsettling God" and it will be a from 'Jewish Probes of the Dialogical.' Entry into the Old Testament does not require Christian readers to deny their Christian confession. It does, however, require them to recognize the complexity of reading the Old Testament as Christians, and an attempt to take the text, as much as possible, without imposing Christian readings. Beyond that, however, I suggest that a Christian reading of the Old Testament requires, in the present time, a recovery of the Jewishness of our ways of reading the text. Whereas a recurring Christian propensity is to give closure to our readings and interpretations, it is recurringly Jewish to recognize that our readings are always provisional, because there is always another text, always another commentary, always another rabbinic midrash that moves beyond any particular reading. Jewish reading knows that "final readings' are toxic and eventually lead to "final solutions." Reading in ways that refuse finality causes our dialogic way with the text to be commensurate with the substance of the text, namely, YHWH's dialogic transaction with YHWH's several partners. I have found these kinds of comments about how to read the Old Testament ( and the new) to be invigorating. It really makes the Word - a living word that keeps pushing us and moving us and unfolding more and more of what it is to be a called people who trust our God to set up shop here and now - right in the midst of us. It is very important to keep the notion of "toxic" reading fresh in our minds. We too often grab hold of one way to see a text. At that point, we can become and we do become frozen. We lose the Spirit of the life that is in any text that is attempting to unveil the God who is the story. It sure sounds like Brueggemann is pointing to the kind of toxic reading that led so many folks to seek out the Jews and attempt to put an end to them. I also see how toxic reading of texts has led to the way many folks have made war against gay and lesbian people. There seems to be no willingness to open up the reading and allow it to be something more - filled with voices that bring forth new insights and directions and a bit of hopefulness. Recently I talked with a pastor who will be leading his congregation out of the ELCA. He is close to my age and therefore had many of the professors I had in seminary. With all his talk about reading the bible and getting back to the bible and reading right - he shows no ability to listen to the Word break into the time at hand. Even the tools were were given some 30 years ago - tools to help us crack open the wideness of a text - seem to have been tossed for something 'easier.' Connection: There is always a door waiting to be opened in a text. Too often we don't go there. Unfortunately, if it not opened, the community never gets the opportunity to re-view the text and the Word that is pressing into our day. O God, whose Word lifts us into new life - continue to lift us. We need more room to see what it is that you call life eternal - life abundant. Amen. |
No comments:
Post a Comment