So...um, heresy. Amen?

This is what passes as the gospel at the largest church in North America. And it is. So distinctly. North American. I'm not sure that any additional commentary is needed. The video condemns itself.

The Bible was ‘clear’…

Some really interesting historical illustrations from Rachel Held Evans of the pitfalls of a "the Bible clearly says" type of hermeneutic. I don't beleive that these examples should keep us from EVER making final statements about the meaning of scripture, but they do admonish us to be ever more honest and humble in our interpretations. So often that which we think is clear from scripture is really nothing more than our effort to justify our own culture with the words of scripture.





See the blog here: The Bible was ‘clear’…

Investing Money Bible Code (aka How to use the Bible to support your idolatry)

And Jesus said, "He who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who invested heavily in gold and avoided European stocks like a plague. Also, Merica."

More adventures in bad exegesis

One of the things that I like to do on this blog is to catalog examples of glaringly bad exegesis. Typically these examples come from the more "lunatic fringe" of biblical exegesis - sometimes from the far right and sometimes from the far left. It is striking to me just how often a really bad interpretation of the text can be directly traced in some way to political leanings on certain issues of government and society - whether it is the supposed emasculation of the American male (as in the famed "pisseth against the wall" video) or the more recent debate about same sex marriage (as in this case). Political agendas are often caustic to attempts at a faithful and humble reading of the text. So, behold the latest example here. What makes this example most alarming is that this is coming from a presiding bishop in a major Christian denomination who should have more common sense than this. She isn't just preaching to a small group of Christians in her living room. Her politicizing of the text is, in my mind, inexcusable but not altogether surprising.

Ugh

I'm very confused by this. Schools should offer training in biblical interpretation and fire arm usage? I am not a pacifist and I am not in principle opposed to Christians owning and using fire arms, but the naked equivocation of scripture and fire arms in this picture makes me a little nauseous. Add to it the inherent nationalism...and well....ugh. I've got serious questions about whether or not the creator of this actually does know how to use the Bible.

More Nationalistic Hermeneutics

I know that I can always count on the "local Bible store in the mall" for some wonderful Christian tchotchkes and some fantastic examples of the Bible handled poorly. My issues with this banner are: 1) It totally ignores the context and the historical situation of Numbers 10. 2) This exercise of prooftexting is done in the service of an unapologetically American nationalistic theology. 3) It reduces the message of scripture down to mere sloganism - as if the purpose of scripture was to supply us with endless witty sayings for our T-shirts, church signs, and decorative wall art. 4) If a cult group did this with scripture we would be justifyably indignant and the "local Bible store in the mall" would never dream of selling it.

Trayvon Martin and the media's tribalistic hermeneutic

(This brief video clip shows both the edited and the unedited versions of the 911 call of George Zimmerman on the night that Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. The producer of the NBC segment has recently been fired as a result.)

Hermeneutics from everyday life. It is getting more and more difficult to get to the truth of any matter due to the rampant politicization of every event (be it tragic or sublime). The tribalistic hermeneutic drives the media's (and therefore also our own) interpretation and understanding of virtually everything. There is no truth. Only spin. So Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman become useful pawns to support whatever narrative we would like to protect. (It needs mentioning that both the left and the right are equally guilty of this.)

And of course what is true of the Trayvon Martin case is also increasingly true of biblical hermeneutics in a tribalistic society as well. We choose or interpret the data in ways that support our narrative. Interpretations are politicized and weaponized against those outside of our tribe. What gets lost in the process? The voice of the Other speaking (often very uncomfortable and often very liberating) truth into our lives and into our communities.

More Nationalistic Interpretations

Where do you even begin with a picture like this? The shocking equivalency of an American soldier to Jesus Christ? The misunderstanding and oversimplification of why and what Jesus died for? The in-your-face nationalism? I am a fan of this nation (much of the time) and of the American military (in general). I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with citizens of the Kingdom desiring the well-being of the nation that they happen to live in. I also don't think that fighting on behalf of your nation in the military is necessarily wrong and can be praiseworthy. I have several very good friends who are in the military and whom I admire greatly for their service and also for their faithfulness to Christ. But this is just ridiculous and border-line offensive.

when nationalism and dispensationalism collide on a church sign

By the way, bad theology aside - Psalms!!!!! Really?! Almost as bad as Revelations.

via Ed Stetzer

The NIV is the Antichrist!!

Surprising Predictions from the Bible!

Bible Name Code

More End Times Predictions

The end is coming - on May 21st of this year!  Shoot!  And the Cubs season will only just be beginning.  This is a great demonstration of the ridiculous and laughable (and tragic) inconsistency of "Bible literalists."  They enjoy taking a passage from 2 Peter 3 out of its context and hyper-literally while ignoring clear statements made by Jesus himself about calculating dates and times.  This passage from 2 Peter 3 has been consistently misinterpreted.  This particular interpretation was extremely popular in the Middle Ages.  This band of merry travelers are by no means the first or the last group (unfortunately) to make a splash (and also a profit?) off of apocalyptic paranoia.  They really aren't even worth mentioning except that the biggest shame of it all is that Jesus' name is mocked and even dismissed in the midst of this craziness.  When asked, this group couldn't even articulate how to get to heaven.  How about...wait for it...Jesus?!  See the article here.

Shakes in a Church!!

Jesus Wore Pants!

"Natural" Readings

...What seems "ordinary" or "natural" as a reading of a particular biblical text may owe everything to habituation within a tradition (Think of the medieval reading of "repent" as "do penance"!) and nothing to actual awareness of what Paul was talking about. The legend that makes the point most strikingly is the Calvinist commentator who headed the story of Salome's dance and the Baptist's beheading as "the dangers of dancing." That seemed natural enough at the time.

N.T. Wright, Justification (Downers Grove: IVP, 2009), 83.

She's a witch!

King James Only Idiocy

Check the Context

Apocalypse Now

I discovered this lovely poster on the outside of an Adventist Church in Bartlesville, OK.