I am VERY interested in this book:
http://www.amazon.com/God-Disappointed-You-Mark-Russell/dp/1603090983/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414679894&sr=8-1&keywords=God+disappointed
I will be reading and reviewing it piece by piece over the next few weeks, letting my readers know how accurate it is. The idea of getting to the core of each Biblical book intrigues me. I doubt it can be done perfectly, as many books have multiple authors with competing visions. The Biblical conversations are not just between the various books, but within the books themselves. I suspect this tome will get a lot right and a lot wrong, and leave a lot out. There is no substitute with direct and personal encounter with the text itself. Such an encounter must include actual study, and especially of the original languages because without this, much that is of value is left out. Particularly lost in translation is the humor, and my hope is that this book WILL get to the heart of some of the more humorous moments. If it gets the theology wrong but the humor right, it will be worth the buy as most Bible studies get very little of the humor right. But I'll let you know how each Book of the Bible is dealt with, and how accurately.
One thing I do like is the title. It is almost a perfect title for the Bible. The Bible should probably be CALLED "God is very disappointed in you...but still loves."
Here's a dilemma: you've made it clear that w/o studying the scriptures, in their original language you just aren't getting the message.
ReplyDeleteWho really has time for that? We can't all be as rabbinical in our lives as you are. I don't have a better term than rabbinical, I'll take a better suggestion but I think you get what I mean. Not all persons are called to such a level of interaction with the text. Which means most of us must get by with interpretation layered upon interpretation reduced to something actionable.
Therefore when you say things in the way you do vis-a-vis the original language, I hear "No user serviceable parts inside". As a consequence of that, I just don't bother to open the text at all. Seems that I would be wasting my time. Any interpretation I might reach would be shot down, indeed has been, with "But in the Greek that actually meant..."
What is an option for someone unlikely to learn Greek or Hebrew at this advanced age?
I don't think one has to learn Hebrew or Greek, but having a study Bible that lets one know about the original languages is what I'm really talking about. No one has to engage in some all-encompassing study to get to the message. But a good study Bible with notes about the original languages is probably important to really grasp what the book is about. The Oxford Annotated is great, though I think Robert Alter's translations of some Biblical books to be the absolute best. Taking time to read the notes, that's all I'm really suggesting.
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