The Psalms

One of the most helpful resources I have ever bought, and I did so in my "Contemplate" visit to the seminary in 2007, is the CPH book Reading the Psalms with Luther. It is the complete Book of Psalms with some notes on each Psalm by Luther himself. In addition each Psalm begins and ends with a prayer.

The Psalms as a book of prayer is definitely something we ought to be communicating to people. For me personally I find it easier to "read" the Psalms when I am immersing myself in them as prayer rather than something I am reading just to say I have read them, or studying for the purposes of a test. In the fall I took the course at the seminary pertaining to the Psalms with Dr. Reed Lessing (CPH Commentaries Amos, Jonah, and the upcoming Isaiah 40-55). He communicated, in no uncertain terms, the the Psalter (another word for the entire collection of Psalms) is the Christian book of prayer and it should be a part of our praying for our entire lives. The Psalter seems to cover the topics of human life as they weave in and out of human suffering and joys, and even many times combining the two in one Psalm!

Plus, if you're like me, maybe you struggle with prayer as in how to pray and what to say. The Psalter provides for us the how and what in prayer. This is important especially in a "postmodern" world that looks for answers and truth in a variety of places, and does not allow anyone else to speak for them, the Christian can be comforted by this book of prayer where we do allow Another to speak for us, the human authors of the Psalms, but also the Holy Spirit who leads us to pray. The Psalms are very human, yet also very much divine as God's Word speaks to us through them. Most notably God's Word speaks to us through them in the person and work of Jesus the Christ.

So often the weight of sin and brokenness in this age brings us down, the Psalter is the perfect book for those who have broken hearts because it communicates the reality of our broken world so clearly and honestly. Yet they do not leave us in our brokenness, but drive us back to Yahweh, our God, and His faithful promises. One such promise is the one received at Baptism. As the Psalms communicate it is there that we know that even if God feels far off, He is not far at all, but close to delivering us. What a great comfort! It's the comfort of being joined with Christ, which does not "save" us from the realities of this world, but plunges us head first into them to not only find comfort ourselves, but also for our neighbors around us.

Honest and Thoughtful Reviews of Rob Bell

I regret actually posting about a book I have not read. But since this has been blowing up all over the Christian interwebs for a couple of weeks now, I figured I would point people into the direction of two non-reactionary, honest, and yet thoughtful reviews of Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins (Harper Collins). Big ups to Mockingbird Blog for supplying their readers with these thoughtful analyses. One is by Mark Galli and the other by Casey Hobbs.

I hope to read this book after spring quarter. I think it is very important to engage a book like this because it does open up a worthy conversation and because Bell is such a popular person. It is much better to engage someone and speak the truth in love than lob reactionary critiques and use big words which tickle us silly. Let me know what you think!

P.S. I think its helpful to cite folks who are actually coming from a similar--or similar enough--environment to Bell to understand his thought process and context. Again, I hope to read the book and come at it from a Lutheran perspective, but that is a good couple months away yet.

P.S.S In the interest of being "fair," here is a link to Bell's reaction to the reaction(s).

The Unobtainable Deity

Very interesting quote from an article on the latest "Jesus Seminar" meeting in Santa Cruz, CA. For more information on the Jesus Seminar just google or go to their website. The long and short of it is this is an academic community searching to find the "real" Jesus, the "historical" Jesus, opposed to the Jesus of orthodox Christianity.

These quotes, one from a presenter in the seminar, and the other from a student observer were striking to me:

"We are not here to advocate religion," said Sheehan, who has participated in the Jesus Seminar since 1999. "We study religion critically. We're scientists of religion. We come here to say what we have learned about the historical Jesus Christ. It's more to inform people who may not have an opportunity to hear what university professors are saying about Jesus."

Miller, 21, who sat with fellow UCSC students to hear Scott's lecture, said "I do identify as a Christian, but I am very interested in learning about who Jesus was as an actual person."

Miller, who plans to graduate early with a degree in American studies, said, "I want to know more about the humanity of Jesus rather than the Divinity.

"It makes it more believable for me when I think of Jesus as a person rather than an unobtainable Deity."

My thoughts:

Has the church made Jesus an "unobtainable deity?" There are numerous issues with the Jesus Seminar. Their academic integrity is highly questionable and they throw out any sniffs of deification in regards to Jesus, because well hey that just isn't "historical." What Christians know is that the Jesus of the New Testament, the Jesus the early church attests to, the Jesus the church throughout the ages into today attests to is the very "historical" Jesus.

I do wonder however, if Christians have propped up Jesus as some "unobtainable deity." When we defend Jesus' deity and neglect his humanity we don't have Jesus. The church needs to affirm his humanity, as attested to in scripture, and affirm his deity together as a whole. There is no such thing as a historical Jesus a part from the God-Man. Jesus is fully God and fully man. When either is backed off of problems ensue.

The student observers quote from above shows how askew folks' view of Jesus and Christianity are. Jesus is the most attainable deity there is, given He came down out of heaven incarnate and born of the Virgin Mary. Why is it that society views Jesus as an unobtainable deity? Perhaps we would do well to teach the whole Jesus to our people?