The Bird & Babe Public House

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Saturday, February 03, 2007

Who Wrote the Bible?

A friend of mine (who happens to be in the hospital right now in a lot of pain, and could use your prayers) and I frequently get to talking about what the Bible is. We have lamented how so many Christians consider the Bible to be a sort of magical book that just fell out of the sky, or that some deistic god just took over the minds of various authors, and forced their hands to pen the words that we find in the Old and New Testaments.

Another friend of mine recently asked me what I thought of N.T. Wright's book, Simply Christian, and I told him that it was disappointing. After having given this low view of one of my favorite author's books, I thought I better reread it afresh to make sure that I still agreed with my assessment. To my delight, I found it a wonderful read the second time. To make a long story short(er), while rereading this book I found a passage where Wright puts so eloquently what I have been trying to express regarding scripture, so I thought I would post it here, and see what you all think:

Supposing scripture, like the sacraments, is one of the points where heaven and earth overlap and interlock... In particular, it enables us to say that the writers, compilers, editors, and even collectors of scripture were people who, with different personalities, styles, methods, and intentions, were nonetheless caught up in the strange purposes of the covenant God--purposes which included the communication, by writing, of his word. It enables us to speak about God the creator (the one we know supremely through the living Word, Jesus) being himself (so to speak) a wordsmith. [It] enables us to insist that, though words are not the only thing God specializes in, they are a central part of his repertoire. It also helps us see that when this God is going to work within his world, he wants to work through his image-bearing human creatures, and that, since he wants to communicate with and through them verbally--in addition to, but also as a central point within, his many other ways of getting things said and done (182).
Any thoughts?

5 Comments:

Blogger Jeff Miller said...

Drew,

Thanks for your post. Your thoughts remind me of something Goldsworthy says in According to Plan. He writes, "God did not suspend the humanity of the biblical authors any more than he suspended the humanity of Jesus. The Bible bears all the marks of its authors. Their language, thought forms, literary styles and forms, and their culture all shape the actual way the messages were given." (p. 63)
I'll be teaching on this topic this week in my Biblical Theology class and may use Wright's quote as well.
Thanks.

February 06, 2007 1:49 PM  
Blogger DrewDog said...

Thanks, Jeff. That's a great quote as well.

I'm so glad you will be teaching on this, as I think there is considerable misunderstanding on this point. Way to disperse the gloomy clouds of thought!

Cheers,
Drew

February 06, 2007 2:10 PM  
Blogger DrewDog said...

Thanks, Aaron.

I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I think that the assertion that "the original followers were illiterate, it follows that what we have in the Evangelist's writings represents (at least) 20 years of oral tradition," needs to be proved.

I've heard various takes on this. Does Dunn provide evidence that these followers were indeed illiterate? I know that it makes sense (fishermen and tradesmen were not typically readers/writers), but I'd like to do some more research. Any ideas?

Cheers,
Andrew

February 09, 2007 1:01 PM  
Blogger DrewDog said...

Also, I noticed that first you said that the Jesus' original followers were probably illiterate, and your next statement was that it is a fact. Which does Dunn maintain?

Cheers,
Andrew.

PS- I'm glad that you're finally out of the hospital, and getting back on your feet! How long before you're aloud to enjoy good food and drink again?

February 09, 2007 1:04 PM  
Blogger DrewDog said...

No, but I own a DVD course by the good bishop entitled, "Living Faith." It seems to hit the same main points that the book does. I was going to try offer it as a course for adults at my church, but, I'm not working there much longer...

Thanks for the tip; I'll check it out.

Anyone seen Brother Quotidian on the internet anywhere? I've been trying to get a hold of him.

February 14, 2007 9:58 AM  

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