Beyond Criticism

A few days ago, after our class discussion of the presentations by people who are reading the commentaries, I posted on my tumblr. You can read that post by clicking the link provided. It will give meaningful context to what I am about to say.

In all of our discussion, along with some of my discussions with Dr. Reid after class the other day, I was intrigued by the way contextual readings of Scripture conflict with the ideals we purport to follow, with our critical methodologies, our "modern sensibilities," our alleged-enlightenment; all of which seek objectivity, the removal of context and cultural biases. And yet here is a group worth reading, who admit- up front- that they are reading from a context. They have biases. The liberationists even go so far as to speak of God's "preferential option" for the poor.

I think what I love about contextual reading and contextual theology is this willingness to admit that they don't read "objectively"- as if that were even possible. And so with all honesty we have to admit that we all read from our context; just as any theology is by nature contextual, so any reading of scripture is done from context. I believe that this is okay, because it recognizes the limits of criticism. We should not, and indeed cannot afford to completely dismiss critical method, however criticism's insistence on "authorial intent" and what the "original audience" would have "heard" seems to presuppose that the only meaning we can derive from the text is a meaning that has little bearing on our lives today. It means that the text has nothing to say to us today. It means the text is dead.

This is why we must take what criticism can give us, and then move beyond it.

The Power of Words

Words are powerful. Since we were kids, we have been told that sticks and stones may break our bones, but words can never hurt us. As we grew up, we learned that that was untrue, and words could indeed cut us deeper than the sharpest sticks, and bludgeon us worse than stones. However, the analogy carries further: words can, like sticks and stones, be used to build or destroy.

Words are formative. Words define a society. Words are necessary to communicate meaningful ideas and expectations between people. Thus, Deuteronomy begins, "these are the words..." Moses spends almost all of the book speaking, reviewing, and outlining the expectations God has for the people of Israel. As Dr. Reid mentioned in class, the words in Deuteronomy defined and effectively created the society of Israel.

This reminded me that Deuteronomy began much the same way that Genesis did: someone speaks, and things are changed forever. In Genesis, God speaks, and the experiment that is creation came into being. Words are of tremendous importance.

In the Gospel of John, the logos, or Word, puts on flesh and redefines society. More generally, all of the gospels utilize language and the teachings of Jesus Christ, framed by his messianic life, to redefine or clarify the expectations of hopes of God for his people.

There is power in words. More power than sticks and stones.

A Bridge of Biblical Proportions

In the first chapter of Deuteronomy, the LORD speaks, permitting the people to "Resume their journey" (v. 6), finally entering the promised land. This connects the book to all that is to follow. But God also reaffirms the promises he had made "to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob" (v. 8), which connects the book to all that has proceeded it. This is reflective of the dual status of Deuteronomy as the last book of the Torah/Pentateuch and the prologue to the Deuteronomic History of Josh.-2 Kings. But it can also be seen as a reinforcement of a profound theological point: this God, the same God who delivered the people of Israel from persecution and would deliver the land to them, this is the very God who made the promises of old to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. This speech is a bridge between Torah and Deuteronomic History, it is also a bridge between the God of a people and the God of a nation. It is a profound piece of salvation history.

God is on our side, but not Always...

"Do not go up, for the Lord is not with you; do not let yourselves be struck down by your enemies." Numbers 14:42

The implications of this passage for the people of Israel must have been almost palpable: God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob- the God who brought them out of Egypt, with whom they had a covenant, was not bound to protect them in their sin. They had tried God's last nerve, and he had sentenced them to forty years wandering in the wilderness. They decided they liked the previous promise of God better- you know, the one they had chickened out of seizing on?- and were going to invade the land and take it. But the time for that had passed, and Moses was warning them. Going up against the prevailing call of "God bless Israel!" Moses spoke up and said: "No, the Lord is not with you!"

This passage also has implications for any country or people that presumes to have God's blessing: there is no carte blanche. God will not back you up no matter what. God only backs you up when God wills to back you up. As Senator Carl Schurz famously said: "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right." May we always have the courage of Moses and the good senator, to try to set our country right.

Memory Lane

In Numbers 14, the people finally get on God's last nerve with their complaining and their selective memories of "the good old days" back in Egypt. And like so many parents on extended road trips, God decides to turn the car around. In 14:25, God tells Moses, "Turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Re[e]d Sea." The textual notes in the NOAB suggest, and rightly so, that God is allowing them to turn back toward Egypt indeed, but I think there is more to it than that. God is taking the people back to the scene of one of the most dramatic divine acts, and reminding the people of what the Lord has done for them. Remember back to Exodus 15, and the songs they sang? I like to think that became a prototypical hymn for the people of Israel, and that they had been so inculcated with it by then that a return to the Reed Sea would shame them. They had turned against a faithful God; a God who had not held back deliverance from them.

On the Importance of Following Directions

Sometimes, we think we know what's best.

The classic example of failing to follow directions is the story of a teacher giving a test and explaining to the students that they need to read each of the fifty questions before answering any of them. Of course, most students fill in the answers or complete instructions as they go along, and get to the fiftieth question and read "don't complete any of the above, write your name and turn it in." I've never experienced this test, but I have friends who have, and they assure me it is frustrating for those who shirked the teacher's early instructions.

In Leviticus 10, not following directions has far more serious consequences for Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu. They offer unapproved incense, probably with the best of intentions, and experience- for lack of a better term- the heat of God's wrath. The two are burned up on the spot. Priests, we learn, are to follow the Lord's instructions to the letter.

This little narrative piece brought the book, which I've always considered to be a bit (a lot) dry and dense, back to life for me. When the stakes are life and death, it seams you'd better study study study. And know 'em like the back of your hand.

And you sure as heck better read ahead.