textweek

The Jesus Factor

At PBS Frontline, April 29, 2004: The Jesus Factor, exploring President George W. Bush's religious beliefs. From the PBS Frontline website:

To what extent do the president's spiritual beliefs impact or influence his political decision-making? And how closely do Bush's religious views mirror those of the country's burgeoning--and politically influential--evangelical movement?

Following the broadcast, the Frontline website will offer supplementary material about Bush, Kerry, political beliefs and religious beliefs, etc.

Alice Walker on Zora Neale Hurston

At NPR's Morning Edition: "Intersections: Crafting a Voice for Black Culture," Alice Walker on Zora Neale Hurston's "Spiritual Food." At this link, you can listen to the Morning Edition audio of this interview, and find audio "web extras" including Alice Walker reading from Zora Neale Hurston's Moses: Man of the Mountain.

Evangelicals and Politics - PBS

At PBS Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly this week: Evangelicals and Politics, part two of a series on America's Evangelicals. From the PBS site:

Correspondent Lucky Severson takes a look at evangelical political activity, interviewing evangelical Congressman Mark Souder (R-Indiana) and author Tony Campolo, an evangelical Democrat. He also talks with George Washington University historian Leo Ribuffo and Wesley Theological Seminary ethics professor Shaun Casey about the political concerns of evangelicals, their role in the 2004 presidential election, and the history of their involvement in American politics.

Also at PBS Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, a report on "Faith and Politics" by Bob Abernathy:

Bob Abernethy talks with Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals, and Robert Franklin, professor of social ethics at Emory University, about President Bush's sense of religious mission and his recently reported references to following "a higher Father" and being "a messenger of His will" as he decided to go to war in Iraq.

Easter 4C - John 10:22-30

A few resources not to miss for studying the John 10 text for this Easter 4C:

Dr. Gregory Jenks at Faith Futures Foundation's AdvanceWord has a list of references to (good) shepherd from both the Hebrew Scriptures, and the New Testament. Jenks writes:

Reflecting the role of shepherd in ancient oriental societies, this term has a rich history as a title for rulers and teachers as well as being a metaphor for God. In the early Christian texts we see this rich complex of traditions being applied to Jesus.

In Girardian Reflections on the Lectionary for Easter 4C, Paul Nuechterlein suggests a context for the Good Shepherd passages within the narrative flow of the gospel of John. Neuchterlein cites Gil Bailie: The most important reference to sheep in the New Testament is sacrificial. Sheep are the sacrificial animals par excellence...If we are correct in suggesting that the ones who come in by the gate are victims, then the thieves and bandits are those who manipulate the system by redirecting its sacrificiality towards more expendable victims.

Another resource not to miss for this week is "The 'Noble' Shepherd in John 10: Cultural And Rhetorical Background," by Jerome H. Neyrey, Journal of Biblical Literature 120 (2001): 267-91. In this article, Neyrey examines the "Good" ("Noble") Shepherd passages in John 10, from within the context of "noble" death in Hellenistic culture. Neyrey understands these "Good Shepherd" passages to be critical to our understanding of Jesus' death in the Gospel of John, and critical to the theme of the gospel itself:

Therefore, in addition to the our reading of John 10:11-18 and 11:45-52 in light of the rhetoric of a noble death, other passages and themes in the gospel seem to contain either direct references to the noble shepherd material or to illustrate one or another of the criteria which serve to qualify a death as noble. In this sense, "noble death" is not just another aspect of John's presentation of the death of Jesus, as are sacrifice or departure. It might be said to emerge as the dominant articulation of Jesus' death in the Fourth Gospel.

How can we use comparative texts and "historical contexts", both within our scriptural texts and outside of them, in preaching and teaching within congregations? How do we use them for our own personal understanding of a text, not just for historical information, but for "meaning"? What is the relationship between our understanding of the context of a specific text, its original function within its culture, and our own responsibility for communicating the text within a congregational setting?

Jesus Through Jewish Eyes

Featured at BBCi today: "Jesus Through Jewish Eyes," by Clive Lawton.

I was even more puzzled by why everyone seemed to get so heated about whether or not Jesus thought he was the Son of God - aren't we all? - or even the Messiah - might not anyone be? And each gospel had its own angle – its own story. I could see, even at 17, what Matthew was doing. He was proving that all the prophecies relating to the Messiah were manifest in Jesus. Virgin birth? Tick. White donkey? Tick. Hanged on a tree? Tick. But I'd never been taught as a Jew to pay much attention to these details of messianic credential. How will we know the Messiah? Easy. The world will be at peace.

"Divine Confrontation and Conversion"

From "Divine Confrontation and Conversion," by Mark Harris, at A Globe of Witnesses:

We who profess to be progressive in our Christian faith need to recognize the visceral character of true conversion. The body does matter; the sensual is the source of loving care as well as the basis for the demand for justice and the hope for mercy.

We are not turned around by an idea, but by a brother or sister newly found in the reconciling moment, by the stranger for whom our hearts ache as if that stranger was the one who loved us, by vision so strong that it fills us with awe and we fall down before it.

I am not sure we 21 st century mainliners see it, but perhaps we will when by way of reconciliation or being beloved or by vision the scales fall from our eyes. And then it will matter very much indeed.

Conversion and Packaged Food

"Something from the Oven" - The Rise of Packaged-Food Cuisine in 1950's America, All Things Considered, April 19, 2004. Reading this article and listening to the show on NPR, reminded me of the issues surrounding conversion! How are we convinced about all sorts of things which seemed unimaginable prior to our "conversion" to them? How has our culture exploited this? How can understanding these sorts of mundane (or even "negative") "conversions" give us insights to religious conversion and/or our experience of Christ and the community of the Church?

Easter 3C at Pilgrim Preaching

Mary Hinkle of Luther Seminary has posted thoughts about the Easter 3C texts You'll find her comments on John 21:1-19 (Grace Upon Grace), Revelation 5:11-14 (Doing Revelation), and Psalm 30 (Mourning into Dancing).

John 21:1-19

There are a number of interesting messages on this text from 30 Good Minutes, available at The Chicago Sunday Evening Club site. Among them:

"Forgiveness for Peter Moments," the Rev. Dr. Teresa Fry Brown, Associate Professor of Homiletics at the Candler School of Theology, 2003.

"Freed to Follow," Dr. Yvonne V. Delk, Executive Director of the Community Renewal Society of Chicago, 1994.

"More Than Conquerors," The Rev. Dr. Gil Bowen, 1992.

"Learning to Fish In a New Place," the Rev. Dr. John Killinger, 1992.

"Do You Love Me? Feed My Lambs," Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, Archbishop of Chicago, 1992.

Fine Arts Images of the "Conversion of Paul"

I've collected links to a number of artistic imagees of "The Conversion of Paul" as it has been titled by most artists/collectors. How do each of these artists imagine the event? What do you notice in the cultural/theological influence of each artist? How would you draw/paint the event, or express it without using words? How does your own understanding of the "conversions" in your life affect that expression?