Strange Book the Bible

An impression gradually emerged that when all is said and done, many of the arguments and reconstructions are interesting, but in order to understand what the Jesus of history was all about we ultimately have to step back and try to grapple with the gist of the accounts, to find the impressions Jesus left on his followers and try to recover why they got those impressions. If we waste our time like some (but not all) text critics have done, pulling each phrase out of context and stitching them all back together like some kidnapper’s ransom note, we’ll never reach the more interesting and, arguably, more attainable goal of seeing the bigger picture. - See more at: http://undeception.com/jesus-criteria-and-the-demise-of-authenticity-review/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Undeception+%28Undeception%29&utm_content=Google+Reader#sthash.4Gm2kpj4.dpuf

An impression gradually emerged that when all is said and done, many of the arguments and reconstructions are interesting, but in order to understand what the Jesus of history was all about we ultimately have to step back and try to grapple with the gist of the accounts, to find the impressions Jesus left on his followers and try to recover why they got those impressions. If we waste our time like some (but not all) text critics have done, pulling each phrase out of context and stitching them all back together like some kidnapper’s ransom note, we’ll never reach the more interesting and, arguably, more attainable goal of seeing the bigger picture. - See more at: http://undeception.com/jesus-criteria-and-the-demise-of-authenticity-review/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Undeception+%28Undeception%29&utm_content=Google+Reader#sthash.4Gm2kpj4.dpuf

An impression gradually emerged that when all is said and done, many of the arguments and reconstructions are interesting, but in order to understand what the Jesus of history was all about we ultimately have to step back and try to grapple with the gist of the accounts, to find the impressions Jesus left on his followers and try to recover why they got those impressions. If we waste our time like some (but not all) text critics have done, pulling each phrase out of context and stitching them all back together like some kidnapper’s ransom note, we’ll never reach the more interesting and, arguably, more attainable goal of seeing the bigger picture. - See more at: http://undeception.com/jesus-criteria-and-the-demise-of-authenticity-review/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Undeception+%28Undeception%29&utm_content=Google+Reader#sthash.4Gm2kpj4.dpuf

Some thought provoking posts on Bible reading and ambiguity, problems and fuzziness from:

Ben Myers 

In authoring scripture, Origen argues, God has deliberately planted all sorts of interpretive obstacles: problems, difficulties, mistakes, morally objectionable stories, and so forth. These manifold obstacles lead us to press beneath the surface of the text and to search more deeply for its spiritual meaning. Such spiritual exegesis isn't just a scholarly technique. It requires ascetic purification, the spiritual transformation of the reader. So the problems in scripture – the same problems which Marcion takes as proof of divine wickedness – are planted there by God to lead us into the depths of spiritual life, just as a wise teacher might plant mistakes in a class discussion in order to lead the class, gently and unobtrusively, towards the truth. 

 
Jonathan Martin

The interesting thing for me is that I didn’t learn to embrace the ambiguity and complexity from television or contemporary storytelling in any form—I honestly believe I got it from reading the Bible since I was very young. Scripture is as undomesticated as the Spirit who breathed it, and thus is full of tensions that will not and should not be prematurely or easily resolved, if resolved at all.  When the story of your faith is mediated through texts that tell of Jacob, Moses, David, and Peter, and yet bears witness to the reality of God, you will either gloss over the texts or learn to live with a certain amount of tension.

Steve Douglas

An impression gradually emerged that when all is said and done, many of the arguments and reconstructions are interesting, but in order to understand what the Jesus of history was all about we ultimately have to step back and try to grapple with the gist of the accounts, to find the impressions Jesus left on his followers and try to recover why they got those impressions. If we waste our time like some (but not all) text critics have done, pulling each phrase out of context and stitching them all back together like some kidnapper’s ransom note, we’ll never reach the more interesting and, arguably, more attainable goal of seeing the bigger picture. 

Check out the full posts!

sion gradually emerged that when all is said and done, many of the arguments and reconstructions are interesting, but in order to understand what the Jesus of history was all about we ultimately have to step back and try to grapple with the gist of the accounts, to find the impressions Jesus left on his followers and try to recover why they got those impressions. If we waste our time like some (but not all) text critics have done, pulling each phrase out of context and stitching them all back together like some kidnapper’s ransom note, we’ll never reach the more interesting and, arguably, more attainable goal of seeing the bigger picture. - See more at: http://undeception.com/jesus-criteria-and-the-demise-of-authenticity-review/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Undeception+%28Undeception%29&utm_content=Google+Reader#sthash.4Gm2kpj4.dpuf

An impression gradually emerged that when all is said and done, many of the arguments and reconstructions are interesting, but in order to understand what the Jesus of history was all about we ultimately have to step back and try to grapple with the gist of the accounts, to find the impressions Jesus left on his followers and try to recover why they got those impressions. If we waste our time like some (but not all) text critics have done, pulling each phrase out of context and stitching them all back together like some kidnapper’s ransom note, we’ll never reach the more interesting and, arguably, more attainable goal of seeing the bigger picture. - See more at: http://undeception.com/jesus-criteria-and-the-demise-of-authenticity-review/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Undeception+%28Undeception%29&utm_content=Google+Reader#sthash.4Gm2kpj4.dpuf

An impression gradually emerged that when all is said and done, many of the arguments and reconstructions are interesting, but in order to understand what the Jesus of history was all about we ultimately have to step back and try to grapple with the gist of the accounts, to find the impressions Jesus left on his followers and try to recover why they got those impressions. If we waste our time like some (but not all) text critics have done, pulling each phrase out of context and stitching them all back together like some kidnapper’s ransom note, we’ll never reach the more interesting and, arguably, more attainable goal of seeing the bigger picture. - See more at: http://undeception.com/jesus-criteria-and-the-demise-of-authenticity-review/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Undeception+%28Undeception%29&utm_content=Google+Reader#sthash.4Gm2kpj4.dpuf