From page xvii of Galatians: A Participatory Study Guide by Bruce Epperly —
When we encounter scripture with heart, mind, and hands, the Bible comes alive and changes our lives and communities. We become the Galatians of our time, reveling in Christian freedom and living in the Spirit. We discover that God’s liberating Word, incarnate in the crucified and risen Christ, challenges everything that gets in the way of spiritual freedom and faithful discipleship.
Sounds like fun!
Again, I’m announcing this late, but you can get more information on the Google+ event page, and you can watch using the viewer below. Note that the Q&A app will be active and you can ask questions or make comments.
Tonight, internet permitting, I continue my study of the gospel according to John following Dr. Herold Weiss’s book Meditations on According to John. You can find more information at the Google+ Event Page, and view either there or via the embedded viewer below.
On the Energion Hangout tonight at 7:00 PM central time, we’ll be discussing the topic of violence in the Bible, with a particular emphasis on the Old Testament. But as participant Dr. Alden Thompson will doubtless remind us tonight, there’s violence in the New Testament as well. Alden Thompson is author of the very first title in the Energion catalog, now in its 5th edition, Who’s Afraid of the Old Testament God?. Joining Alden will be Dr. Allan Bevere, author of The Character of Our Discontent, a book that resulted from his decision to preach from the Old Testament more, even though he’s a New Testament scholar.
I’ve known Alden Thompson for a long time. He was my professor for two years of undergraduate Hebrew and for my first quarter of Aramaic. It is no accident that Who’s Afraid of the Old Testament God? was first in the Energion catalog. It was out of print and I ask to reissue it because I wanted to use it in my own teaching.
I would say, in fact, that Alden is one of the major reasons why, despite all the doubts I’ve had over the years, I’m still a Christian. No, he didn’t prevent me from leaving the church following seminary, and I’m no longer a member of the same denomination, but the kinds of approaches to the various problems in both biblical studies and theology have stuck with me. In addition, I use some of the approaches he teaches, both to inspiration and to dealing with diversity in the church, quite frequently.
Alden takes a kind and gentle approach to working with those who disagree, no matter what their perspective. He’s careful with questioners’ faith, while still being willing to take their questions seriously.
I met Allan Bevere more recently, through the medium of blogging and then of print publishing, but I’ve also developed a friendship with him. Allan takes orthodox Christian doctrine seriously and is a pastor first and foremost. He is also an adjunct professor, and helps prepare other pastors.
Tonight I intend to challenge both these scholars regarding difficult passages of scripture. Can we bypass the violence? Can we look at some aspects of scripture as just plain wrong? If not, how do we deal with such passages as Numbers 31?
I think this discussion will be lively and lots of fun!
If you prefer YouTube:
I posted this hangout incorrectly in my previous post. The Google+ link is now on my own page, and the correct YouTube viewer is below:
I apologize for the confusion!
Tonight I discuss the 15th chapter of Dr. Herold Weiss’s book Meditations on According to John, “Salvation is from the Jews.” You can find more details at the Google+ event, or watch using the embedded YouTube viewer below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JR8ZRWFFVE
Tonight’s study on According to John, based on Chapter 14 of Dr. Herold Weiss’s book Meditations on According to John, will have me going far afield from the gospel of John into a discussion of individual and community memory and the importance of a message transmitted by and shaped by a community. I will argue that rather than seeing this type of transmission as a weakness, it is, in fact a great strength and should be embraced.
What does it mean today to hear Jesus saying “Remember” (John 15:20) today? What is the role of the Holy Spirit in all this?
You can go to the event for more information or watch using the embedded YouTube below. I’ll be talking to Thomas about the text of John and textual criticism in general for about half the time and then talking about John 17 in the second half with some discussion of rhetorical criticism.
I will resume my study of According to John tonight with chapter 12 of Herold Weiss’s book Meditations on According to John, I Have Overcome the World. We’re going to look at the meaning(s) of “world” in John and what it means to overcome it. You can either watch via the Google+ event or with the YouTube embedded below.
I know it’s very late, but I’ve had an extremely hectic week. Here’s the link for tonight’s hangout. I’ll be interviewing Dr. C. Drew Smith, author of Reframing a Relevant Faith.
According to John: Interview with Drew Smith
And the YouTube:
