The modern/post-modern/evangelical/skeptic

Educated Exegesis = Crazy Worldview

Today during one of my thousands of exegetical assingments, i was faced, yet again, with the reality that any educated individual can easly see holes in the view of most conservative christians. This education that i speak of is not in reference to time spent in a schooling situation, rather comon sense and the ability to read. The materials that i read from people who are highly educated, like commentaries, and books by proffesors all point to a common theme "Christians are way off the mark in most of their biblical exegesis."
It is amazing what we can uncover in scripture by actually looking behind the text and not take it literly. There is a danger when we read a letter from paul, and for his opinions to fit situations in our lives. He was writing his letters to a completly different culture, in completly differnt time period, with imensly differnt problems. When we look behind the original meaning to the heart of the message, or the significance in the greater story we see a much differnt paul, a much differnt church, and even a much different God.
The bottom line is that we are never as right as we think we are. The un-negotiable we hold as christians can be highly asinine, and in need of some revision. We can't fear change or transformation, instead we need to wrestle with it to regain our relevance to the world around us. With this type of aprouch to scripture we will be different, and threatening. To most our worldview will seam crazy, un-inspired, sinful, and a clear abominashion of the text, however its actualy the complete opposite. The only worldview that is truly messed up and crazy is the one we are all duped into fallowing, aka the current christian worldview.

posted by Mike Willis @ 9:28 AM