Quote of the Day
[I don't entirely agree with old Soren here, but found his statement to be very provocative and worthy of reflection. Do I use scholarly theological pursuits as an excuse for not engaging more in the nitty-gritty of following Jesus? Hmmm...]
"The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. 'My God,' you will say, 'if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world?' Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament."
- Soren Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard
"The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. 'My God,' you will say, 'if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world?' Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament."
- Soren Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard
1 Comments:
Hey Danny,
I agree with Kierkegaard on this. The Bible is a dangerous book! It can't possibly mean what it says! We have got to carve it up, examine it in minute detail, and come to the conclusion that we were right all along: I'm ok and you suck.
I mean, how many times must we examine the same Greek word and discuss all its possible meanings? To what end?
Frankly, I find what Jesus and the Apostles said to be challenging enough to live out in my life. Love your neighbor; pray for your enemies; feed the hungry; care for the sick; give a reason for the hope that is in you. These are kind of time consuming. When would we have time for proper exegesis and hermenutics - which we are commanded to do...where again?
Sorry for using your blog to rant. I just found the Kierkegaard quote to be provocative. Thanks!
Michelle
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