What does the phrase "Theologized History" mean? How does viewing the narrative parts of the Bible in this way change how we interpret them?
This video deserves many more viewings. If I may, I would like to show it to my high schooler because he is a history nerd. We've been talking about reading the Bible as both a living document and a writing of its time and people.
My perspective on theologized history is that we are looking at the Bible through a variety of lenses so that we honor the time, people, and cultures for which it was originally intended. The narrative aspects of the Bible allows us to have a better grasp on the fuller picture of God's work of grace for humanity.
Which of the characteristics or principles of biblical letters was new to you? How does that principle inform your understanding of these letters?
The truncation of Scripture has led so many people to poor theological understanding. Honestly, this causes me to become disinterested in many "Christian writings" or to even question sermons from the pulpit. We've taken such a literal approach to figurative language in some situations that we completely miss the point. As someone who is responsible for the sharing of Scriptures to the youngest of our congregations, this is something that I deeply wrestle with.
Have you ever worked in an apple orchard? My mom made us do it one fall afternoon for the experience. It gave me a whole new appreciation of apples. Anyway, the interesting thing to me was that there was use for the apple all the way through the cycle. Whether to sell for direct snack purposes, to become the best cider ever, or to be left on the ground to feed the deer and fertilize the trees. There was no waste. Sometimes I feel like we treat Scriptures as something that has been redacted - where we get the most palatable portions only but lose the substance. I wonder how much greater our individual and communal connections would to God if we had a much better understanding of the full picture of Scripture.