.

Dear OzSpen,

.

Yes, I had Gideons in mind when I wrote « bibles are rarely “given” to “theologically uneducated individuals ».

But I didn’t know they still existed as I haven’t seen a bible in a hotel room for many years now despite the fact that I spent most of my working life travelling around the world as the international director of a major multinational group with subsidiaries and representatives in over 60 countries.

My memory of Gideons goes back to my early years in Australia where I was born and raised as a third generation Australian in the Queensland outback. I must confess that I did not know they handed out bibles to school kids. They certainly didn’t when I was at school.

As far as I know, nobody has ever given a bible to any of my family members or friends in Queensland or in Sydney for that matter – including the two generations (children and grandchildren) that have come after us.

Thanks for the information. It’s good to hear that they are still going strong.

.

.

Dear Yuyutsu,

.

You wrote :

« Thank you, Peter, for this great article. I wish half the readers will actually understand the depth of what you wrote … »

That’s a very modest wish, Yuyutsu. Why not all readers ? But then, perhaps you are right. Not everybody should attempt to swim in deep waters. It can sometimes prove to be a dangerous enterprise.

Take, for example, Peter’s statement :

« … the early Church was doing theology long before a word of the bible had been written. This means that the bible was derivative of the theological ideas of the early Church rather than being a source of factual information from which theology was derived. This means that we have to read the bible through the lens of theology »

Peter plunged in on the deep end there – without even taking a breath. I see what you mean when you say that half the readers would not want to follow him on that one. It’s far too dangerous.

One would normally imagine that when Peter speaks about “the early Church” he means the early Christian Church because he is (apparently) an Anglican deacon. And as we are led to believe that Christ (Jesus of Nazareth) was born sometime between 6 and 4 BC it is difficult to imagine that “the early Christian Church” was “doing theology long before a word of the bible had been written”.

Why ? Because the Christian bible is composed of the Old Testament (the Jewish bible) and the New Testament. “The early Christian Church” did not exist before Jesus was born. Therefore, it could not have been “doing theology long before a word of the bible had been written” as Peter indicates.

There is no consensus among historians as to when the Old Testament was composed but there is no doubt that it existed long before Jesus was born and long before the Christian Church was established as well.

.

(Continued …)

.

.

(Continued …)

.

Also, the bible was composed long before the Bohemian Reformation in the 15th century and the creation of the Moravian Church which was followed by the Protestant Reformation a century later and the emergence of Evangelicalism. These new theological ideas constituted a different manner of interpreting the holy scriptures. They were directly derived from the bible. The bible was not derived from them.

It is not surprising that Jan Hus, the historical first protestant and founder of the Moravian Church, was judged a heretic at the Council of Constance and burned at the stake on 6 July 1415.
.

That is why I say Peter should have taken a deep breath before plunging into those deep, murky waters. Perhaps he should have written : « … the early conceptors of monotheism were doing theology long before a word of the bible had been written ». But, of course, that did not correspond to his objective which was to demonstrate the ineptitude of Evangelicalism to interpret the bible correctly, according to Peter’s own liberal precepts and, no doubt, those of his “Church”.

I hope you will consider, Yuyutsu, that I am one of those readers who understand Peter’s objective, correctly – that I “understand the depth of what he has written” (to use your expression). But I fear that he is a little bit out of his depth, if you don’t mind my saying so.

.

To Peter.

In your article you wrote:

"My criticism of Evangelicalism is that it inappropriately imposes modern epistemology onto biblical texts."

Expand on this thought, and talk about the correct interpretation on biblical texts. Make sure you actually reference the texts you are interpreting as well.

Show your better interpretation by showing a theology of these biblical texts that are being misunderstood by Evangelicalism. Give examples of these points you present or consider them weak and empty words.

There are many passages to consider when discussing theology. Pick one passage. Pick two passages. Show examples so that you can back up the point of impositions on the bible and what the correct interpretations would be.

Banjo,

<<My memory of Gideons goes back to my early years in Australia where I was born and raised as a third generation Australian in the Queensland outback. I must confess that I did not know they handed out bibles to school kids. They certainly didn’t when I was at school.>>

It depends on the number of available Gideons to distribute the Bibles in schools, motels, etc. I live in one of the northern Brisbane suburbs. A Christian couple I know have been in the local Gideon camp and have distributed New Testaments to schools in my region. As of this year, the Qld Dept of Education has prevented Gideons from offering a NT to students in person. The NTs must be placed on a table near the door for students to take one voluntarily.

Voluntary taking of NTs has been the way it is for Gideons in schools.

I have been in both public and private hospitals in Brisbane and a Gideon Bible has always been available. Again, it depends on Gideon members taking the initiative to have Bibles placed in hospitals. As for motels, the issue is the same: Availability of members to initiate contact with motels.

Since the Gideons came to Australia in 1956, they have distributed almost 16 million Bibles - in schools, motels/hotels, hospitals, etc.See: http://www.gideons.org.au/about-gideons-in-australia. On average, Gideons Australia distributes a Bible to non-Christians every 2 minutes.

Sells,

<<My criticism of Evangelicalism is that it inappropriately imposes modern epistemology onto biblical texts. Exegesis then consists of gathering data, and then drawing a conclusion based on evidential fact. Thus, evangelical exegesis consists of gathering all of the "facts" in the texts and coming to certainty. This has never, before the modern age, been a method of exegesis and it misses entirely the intention of biblical writers...>>

Please take leading evangelical Anglican exegete, the late Prof Dr Leon Morris, and his commentary, 'The Gospel According to John' (Eerdmans 1971) and show me where he does what you accuse him of.