Crossley’s ‘Reading the New Testament’ – Chapter 10

Chapter ten seems to me to be, for all intents and purposes, a continuation of chapter nine, since both treat the issue of reception history.  But, whereas reception history as method didn’t strike me as all that useful (especially in its third manifestation- see the previous segment review), in this chapter it makes considerably more sense and is even quite sensible.  I attribute that fact to a couple of things that Crossley points out.

First, he clarifies reception history a bit more and suggests, following Räisänen, that it concerns itself with the ‘effective history’ of biblical texts (p. 141).  That, to me, is much more helpful than imagining reception history as having to do with how Joe Blow interprets the Last Supper in his artistic or cinematic retelling.  And more precisely, he cites Luz who writes

Instead of Wirkungsgeschichte I could have said Rezeptionsgeschichte… I did not do so, because Rezeptionsgeschichte connotes for me primarily the people who receive the text, while Wirkungsgeschichte suggests for me the effective power of the texts themselves (p. 142).

Crossley then illustrates the ‘effective history’ of the text using Burton Mack’s rather idiosyncratic reading of Mark.

Were I to have advised Crossley on this and the preceding chapter I would have suggested that he reverse their order.  Had he made the contents of chapter 10 appear in chapter 9, and only then discussed what he did in chapter 9, his volume would have flowed at this point more smoothly and more seamlessly.  Indeed, when you lay hold of the book, I suggest just that: read chapter 10 before you read chapter 9.  I think the entire subject of reception history will make much more sense that way.

Furthermore, examination of and interest in the ‘effective history’ of the New Testament (and the entire Bible) surely will be an important tool in the scholar’s toolbox for, I think, quite some time.  There certainly is more than ample material for it as how the Bible is ‘used’ is nearly limitless.  And Crossley shows just that in a very fine way in the present chapter when he talks about how the bible has been utilized by American politicians.

Next time, Chapter 11.

The Sad Truth About Modern Day ‘Revivals’

A very large, or a major denomination of the United States which has 11,500 churches throughout the US – in 1991, their first year of what they called “the decade of harvest,” they got 294,000 decisions for Christ. They found that only 14,000 remained in fellowship. That is, they couldn’t account for 279,000 of their decisions for Jesus. And this is normal modern evangelical statistics when it comes to crusades and local churches. -True and False Conversion, Ray Comfort

(via)

While I’m a bit put off by the grammar- certainly Comfort could have phrased it all better- the fact is, what he says is true.  Most people converted at large evangelistic gatherings seldom take any further steps in Christian faith or life.  But that’s simply because evangelism was never intended to be a mass experience, it was intended to be a personal experience.

Real, meaningful, and lasting religious experience comes in the wake of personal friendship and personal engagement.  Lifestyle evangelism, in other words, is the only evangelism worth the name.

The Five Most Overrated Blogs of 2010

Surprisingly, Joel Watts, Jeremy Thompson, and Mark Stevens didn’t make the list! Unsurprisingly, I didn’t either!!!!  (But of course the millions of faithful daily readers already knew that and in fact realize I’m not yet rated highly enough).

So, which of the world renowned blogs are overrated according to Time?  Fail Blog, The Big Lead, Perez Hilton (I’ve never understood why anyone read that simpering weirdo anyway), Mashable, and the Daily Kos.

I have to say, Time, well called.

James Crossley: Does the Center Need an Extreme?

That’s the title of an essay James has published in Bible and Interpretation today.

In the wake of the Hendel v. SBL thing Crossley writes

I want to raise the question (with the probably obvious answer) of whether constructing a stark opponent ends up being important in creating a specific academic identity and perpetuating certain cultural trends.

It’s a great and thought provoking piece.

Quote of the Day

As the bird with a broken wing is “free” to fly but not able, so the natural man is free to come to God but not able. How can he repent of his sin when he loves it? How can he come to God when he hates Him? -Loraine Boettner

(via the guy who runs the previously referenced blog, on FB)

Oh This Really Makes my Blood Boil

The town of Spring Lake, Michigan, near Grand Haven, has become the front line in the ongoing war from Progressivism. Christ Community Church has changed it’s named to the C3 Exchange and has removed it’s cross. Pastor Ian Lawton claims this was done to reflect it’s diverse membership. “Our community has been a really open-minded community for some years now. We’ve has a number of Muslim people, Jewish people, Buddhists, atheists, we’re catching up to ourselves.” Removing the cross, as well as the name of Christ to the church may not be the only changes. Lawton is considering painting images of a heart and a globe on the exterior walls. On March 21 of this year, Lawton gave a sermon where he compared using the cross as a symbol of Christ to that of using a bullet to remember Martin Luther King, Jr.

What the…. What kind of lunatic leads a church to act that way- to dismiss its own heritage- to ignore its own tradition- to water down Christianity to a tasteless, colorless, odorless mass of nothingness???? What kind of lunatic and heretic is this ‘pastor’?

Lawton hails from Australia where he was ordained as an Anglican priest. After getting a degree in sociology, he began developing a more progressive political slant and left first for New Zealand, then America. A believer in Liberation Theology, Lawson has been busy preaching social justice since 1994. Since his arrival in America, Lawton has become a leading figure in Progressive Christianity. He helped create SBNR.org, Spiritual But Not Religious, a worldwide network to advance his views. Now practicing Zen and meditation, Lawton has caused a stir before. Last year, he delivered a sermon on how Mardi Gras was a celebration of sexuality. He mixes a wide range of other beliefs in his preaching, from Paganism to Sioux mythology. He blogs that he is proud to be a heretic.

What a senseless prat.  A theological illiterate dabbling in a faith he knows nothing about.  Not that it matters really, because the ‘church’ he ‘pastors’ isn’t a church anymore. It’s some sort of monstrosity; the offspring of Satan and Lilith.

I’ll let the good Vicar address this fellow and his ‘spiritual but not religious’ vomit

(via a very cool new blog I recently learned of).

Oh Pick Me, Pick Me!!!!

Here’s an Office in the Catholic Church I could really enjoy:

Pope Benedict XVI is creating a new Vatican office to fight secularization and “re-evangelize” the West — a tacit acknowledgment that his attempts to reinvigorate Christianity in Europe haven’t succeeded and need a new boost.

I hope they call it The Office of the Holy Inquisition and De-Secularization of the Church. Oh to be a Grand Inquisitor… my life’s dream.  If anyone knows the Pope, could you please put in a good word for me?  I’d do a good job and I’m well suited to sniff out both irregularities in faith and the demon secularization.  I don’t mind at all forcing conversions (just like the Church did in Latin America in the 16th and 17the centuries) and I don’t even mind reinstating the good, tried, and true practice of burning people at the stake.  I have several in mind already…

The World Cup Today

Paraguay will whip Japan. And Portugal will defeat Spain. How do I know that? Because Portugal’s uniforms are more colorful. At this stage, that’s all I have to go on. It certainly won’t be determined by actual goals because the refs will either disallow good ones or count as goals those which aren’t.

Quote of the Day

So far, the iPad makes me realise how good my laptop is: I can multitask, listen to music while using other apps, watch non-iTunes movies, organise my files, use MS Office, type faster — and I don’t get lured into buying crappy games… (On the other hand, iPad is great for kids and ebooks.) — Ben Myers

[I suppose the gist is, iPads are perfect for kids but adults need something they can do real work with]

It’s Hard to Feel Sorry for Tax Cheats

When the Gulf oil crisis started I felt bad for the people of the Gulf affected by it and of course I still feel bad for most of them, and for the animals that are suffering, and for the people whose lives have been adversely affected.  But when I heard this report today, it tempered my sense of compassion for a segment of the Gulf’s population.  The tax cheats.

It seems that lots of folks in the Gulf work off the books and under the table, evading taxes and thereby evading their responsibility as part of society to bear their share of the burden.

I’m not sure why I was surprised by this.  People being people, you can usually expect the worst.  I suppose the fact that now these same tax cheats are in line for money from BP and are having a hard time justifying their claims because they have no tax records did it.

What hubris.  They don’t want to pay taxes (greed of course being the underlying sickness) but now they want free money.  I’d like to keep everything I make and I’m sure everyone else would too.  But I can’t fathom people who aren’t willing to do their rightful part in society.  It makes their complaining about the money they’ve lost since the disaster began taste sour.

Perhaps all those filing claims without sufficient tax payment documentation should be investigated by the IRS.  That would be fair, right, just and equitable.