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Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Welcome to the Bible Challenge
We are excited to begin St. John's participation in the Bible Challenge. Please join us by reading the Bible each day and share your reflections online.
Welcome! In the first week of January, reading three chapters of the Old Testament you will encounter two very different accounts of the Creation, as well as the familiar stories of the great flood, the Tower of Babel and the call of Abraham. Great classic tales from the Old Testament.
The first few psalms begin with a love of Torah (the Law) in Psalm 1 and the coming of the Messiah (Psalm 2), followed by several laments, a type of poetry common to the psalter. The laments are personal complaints directed at God, complaints which resolve in renewed praise.
In Matthew's gospel we will hear once again the story of our Lord's birth and come to the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount.
I have been reading the Bible paraphrase The Message by Eugene Peterson. Translations for the Old Testament are engaging and very good. The translations of the psalms, however, are not good. The poetry of the Old Testament is lost, but the new insights in the OT and the gospels have been very good
This is a great idea and I am signing on to the challenge. Blogging is new for me but it seems like an excellent way to share thoughts if we are not meeting face to face. Pat and I started last night, reading the Bible aloud.
I am looking forward to participating in the Bible challenge. In reading the first account of the creation I was reminded that evening leads to morning, so we move from darkness to light, rather than the other way around. I also noticed that God used the plural when he said, "Let us make humankind." It reminded me of the royal use of "we."
Continuing to read Peterson's paraphrase, The Message, and feel as if I am whizzing through the story of the patriarchs. His translations of the psalms are lacking in some ways, but then again...Psalm 7:7 is "Look at that guy! He had sex with sin, he's pregnant with evil!" Pretty gutsy and straight to the point.
Reading today in Genesis 31 the story of Jacob fleeing from Laban I am struck anew by Laban's neediness, his desire to hold on to everything and let nothing go. In contrast to that is Peterson's translation of "my burden is easy, my yoke light" as "unforced rhythms of grace" in Matthew 11
Just started The Message (NT) on iPad - some of the language is pretty radical, but it is a page-turner. Read most of Matthew last night. A few years ago during long Chicago commutes I listened to the entire KJV (downloaded for free from the Mormons - lds.org). Also a couple years ago we got The Bible Experience on CD - a dramatic reading of TNIV by mostly African-American actors - Angela Bassett, Samuel Jackson, Cicely Tyson, etc. Highly recommended - if anyone would like to borrow it let me know.
I have a new Kindle Touch and am trying a sample of Peterson's paraphrase, which for some reason is called "The Message Remix 2.0". I am also trying the latest version of the NIV Bible on the Kindle. I am a little disappointed that the Kindle Touch does not have any sophisticated ability to jump around. If I want to go to another place in the Bible I have to tap the top of the screen, touch GoTo, touch Table of Contents, touch the name of the book (e.g. Genesis) and I go to the first page of that book. The NIV is a little better - when I touch the name of the book it expands that book to show all chapters and I can touch the chapter I want to go there. The Kindle also has a search capability - I can put in a word like Rebekah and it will show me all instances of that word, allowing me to jump to any of the passages. I suppose i can't expect it to work like it was designed by Google. Anyway I am just starting to get used to the Kindle and maybe I will be more comfortable with it soon.
I have finished Matthew now and am moving on to Romans. Although Matthew is familiar to me from reading it in the past, I was struck this time by the two sides of Jesus portrayed in the gospel - the Jesus of love for his flock, and the Jesus of righteous anger. For example, on one hand Jesus says "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." (11:28) But shortly before this, Jesus is reproaching many of the cities where he preached, "And you Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades." (11:23) In the chapter before that he says "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword" (10:34) If I wanted to package Jesus up and get a simple message from him I would find all this confusing and upsetting. But I find it endlessly fascinating. For me, the complexity of the Bible reflects the complexity of life. It never gets old - every time I read it, it seems fresh and new.
Welcome! In the first week of January, reading three chapters of the Old Testament you will encounter two very different accounts of the Creation, as well as the familiar stories of the great flood, the Tower of Babel and the call of Abraham. Great classic tales from the Old Testament.
ReplyDeleteThe first few psalms begin with a love of Torah (the Law) in Psalm 1 and the coming of the Messiah (Psalm 2), followed by several laments, a type of poetry common to the psalter. The laments are personal complaints directed at God, complaints which resolve in renewed praise.
In Matthew's gospel we will hear once again the story of our Lord's birth and come to the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount.
I have been reading the Bible paraphrase The Message by Eugene Peterson. Translations for the Old Testament are engaging and very good. The translations of the psalms, however, are not good. The poetry of the Old Testament is lost, but the new insights in the OT and the gospels have been very good
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea and I am signing on to the challenge. Blogging is new for me but it seems like an excellent way to share thoughts if we are not meeting face to face. Pat and I started last night, reading the Bible aloud.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to participating in the Bible challenge. In reading the first account of the creation I was reminded that evening leads to morning, so we move from darkness to light, rather than the other way around. I also noticed that God used the plural when he said, "Let us make humankind." It reminded me of the royal use of "we."
ReplyDeleteContinuing to read Peterson's paraphrase, The Message, and feel as if I am whizzing through the story of the patriarchs. His translations of the psalms are lacking in some ways, but then again...Psalm 7:7 is "Look at that guy! He had sex with sin, he's pregnant with evil!" Pretty gutsy and straight to the point.
ReplyDeleteReading today in Genesis 31 the story of Jacob fleeing from Laban I am struck anew by Laban's neediness, his desire to hold on to everything and let nothing go. In contrast to that is Peterson's translation of "my burden is easy, my yoke light" as "unforced rhythms of grace" in Matthew 11
ReplyDeleteI am reading the Old Testament and Psalms using the Jewish Study Bible (Tanakh translation) and am discovering the readings with new insights!
ReplyDeleteJust started The Message (NT) on iPad - some of the language is pretty radical, but it is a page-turner. Read most of Matthew last night. A few years ago during long Chicago commutes I listened to the entire KJV (downloaded for free from the Mormons - lds.org). Also a couple years ago we got The Bible Experience on CD - a dramatic reading of TNIV by mostly African-American actors - Angela Bassett, Samuel Jackson, Cicely Tyson, etc. Highly recommended - if anyone would like to borrow it let me know.
ReplyDeleteI have a new Kindle Touch and am trying a sample of Peterson's paraphrase, which for some reason is called "The Message Remix 2.0". I am also trying the latest version of the NIV Bible on the Kindle. I am a little disappointed that the Kindle Touch does not have any sophisticated ability to jump around. If I want to go to another place in the Bible I have to tap the top of the screen, touch GoTo, touch Table of Contents, touch the name of the book (e.g. Genesis) and I go to the first page of that book. The NIV is a little better - when I touch the name of the book it expands that book to show all chapters and I can touch the chapter I want to go there. The Kindle also has a search capability - I can put in a word like Rebekah and it will show me all instances of that word, allowing me to jump to any of the passages. I suppose i can't expect it to work like it was designed by Google. Anyway I am just starting to get used to the Kindle and maybe I will be more comfortable with it soon.
ReplyDeleteI have finished Matthew now and am moving on to Romans. Although Matthew is familiar to me from reading it in the past, I was struck this time by the two sides of Jesus portrayed in the gospel - the Jesus of love for his flock, and the Jesus of righteous anger. For example, on one hand Jesus says "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." (11:28) But shortly before this, Jesus is reproaching many of the cities where he preached, "And you Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades." (11:23) In the chapter before that he says "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword" (10:34) If I wanted to package Jesus up and get a simple message from him I would find all this confusing and upsetting. But I find it endlessly fascinating. For me, the complexity of the Bible reflects the complexity of life. It never gets old - every time I read it, it seems fresh and new.
ReplyDelete