Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Andy Naselli

Mirror Reading

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Several years ago I took a class from an expert in Second Temple Judaism who made this argument on the first day of class:

The biblical text is always reacting against a certain set of assumptions, beliefs, or presuppositions, so when interpreting any biblical text, you must always ask, “What is this reacting against in its context?”

I raised my hand and asked follow-up questions to make sure I understood the argument correctly.

I wasn’t convinced then, and I’m not convinced now.

Here’s what three other New Testament scholars have written about this:

1. Bob Stein

Robert H. Stein, A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible: Playing by the Rules (2nd ed.; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011), 205–6:

The Danger of a Mirror Reading of the Epistles

It is immediately apparent in reading the Epistles that their occasional nature assists the reader in reconstructing the situation in life for which they were written. [Read more…] about Mirror Reading

Ten Fatal Dangers of Materialism

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Randy Alcorn, Managing God’s Money: A Biblical Guide (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2011), 47–56:

Beyond the examples in Scripture of many people who are warped and destroyed by greed, and its warnings against idolatry, the Bible also lists various dangers of becoming centered on money and possessions. Warning: Don’t dismiss this as negativism. On the contrary, if we understand the dangers of materialism, it will help liberate us to experience the joys of Christ-centered stewardship.

  1. Materialism hinders or destroys our spiritual lives. . . .
  2. Materialism is a broken cistern that can’t hold water. . . .
  3. Materialism blinds us to the curses of wealth. . . .
  4. Materialism brings us unhappiness and anxiety. . . .
  5. Materialism ends in futility. . . .
  6. Materialism obscures many of life’s greatest blessings. . . .
  7. Materialism spawns independence and self-sufficiency. . . .
  8. Materialism leads to pride and elitism. . . .
  9. Materialism promotes injustice and exploitation. . . .
  10. Materialism fosters immorality and the deterioration of the family.

Related: What We Should Do with Our Money (esp. the resources at the bottom of the post)

Dignity

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This week I listened to the audiobook of Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (Nov. 2010). Wow. What a story.

One of the book’s motifs is that POWs craved dignity as much as they craved physical necessities like food and clothing:

Few societies treasured dignity, and feared humiliation, as did the Japanese, for whom a loss of honor could merit suicide. This is likely one of the reasons why Japanese soldiers in World War II debased their prisoners with such zeal, seeking to take from them that which was most painful and destructive to lose. On Kwajalein, Louie and Phil learned a dark truth known to the doomed in Hitler’s death camps, the slaves of the American South, and a hundred other generations of betrayed people. Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food, and oxygen. The stubborn retention of it, even in the face of extreme physical hardship, can hold a man’s soul in his body long past the point at which the body should have surrendered it. The loss of it can carry a man off as surely as thirst, hunger, exposure, and asphyxiation, and with greater cruelty. In places like Kwajalein, degradation could be as lethal as a bullet. (p. 183, emphasis added)

What is “the only real foundation for human dignity and human rights”? Humans are created in the image of God.

Charlotte’s Web: A Model of Good Writing

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Last month Tony Reinke encouraged me to read E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web (1952) to my daughter. Not only would my daughter love it, but I could learn a lot about how to write better.

That was good advice. My daughter Kara and I read it together in late April and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was her first “chapter” book without pictures on every page. I watched the 1973-film several times as a child, but I had never read the book (nor have I seen the 2006-film).

E. B. White knows how to write. Simple. Clear. Elegant. Magical.

That didn’t just happen. White worked tirelessly at it. He revised Charlotte’s Web many times until the wording was just right. (White contributes to the first of the “Six Useful Books on Writing” I list here.)

I love how the book ends. Someday I hope my friends can say this of me: “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.”

A Good Excuse for Not Wearing Neckties

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Public-health officials trying to reduce hospital-acquired infections have adopted this one:

forbidding doctors to wear neckties because, as the U.K. Department of Health has noted, they

  • “are rarely laundered,”
  • “perform no beneficial function in patient care,” and
  • “have been shown to be colonized pathogens.”

—Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Super Freakonomics, p. 298 (bullet-points added).

Mark Driscoll: A Fundamentalist in Everything but Name?

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One of John R. Rice’s grandson just wrote this book:

Andrew Himes. The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family. Seattle: Chiara, 2011.

Himes (b. 1950), who identifies himself as a follower of Jesus but not as a fundamentalist or evangelical, has a provocative perspective on Mark Driscoll (pp. 13–14):

Mark Driscoll is the prominent pastor of Mars Hill Church in a neighborhood near my home in Seattle. I’ve attended Driscoll‘s church several times to listen to his preaching and get a clear sense of his theology, which is identical in almost every respect with older fundamentalists such as John R. Rice, although he adds a twist of Calvinism . . . .

Driscoll does not claim to be a fundamentalist, and many who today willingly accept the label of fundamentalist would not claim him as their sectarian brother. Nonetheless, Driscoll is a fundamentalist in everything but name, and shares virtually all his doctrinal positions and attitudes with any other fundamentalist. [Read more…] about Mark Driscoll: A Fundamentalist in Everything but Name?

Hymns: Modern and Ancient

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This hymnal should be available by early next week:

Fred R. Coleman, ed. Hymns: Modern and Ancient. Milwaukee: Heart, 2011.

“These 134 songs from both present day and past hymn writers have been arranged in four-part harmony for local church, congregational singing. This songbook is intended to be a supplement to traditional hymnals.”

Each song also includes guitar chords.

You can view the list of the 134 songs here. It includes some of my favorites:

  • Before the Throne of God Above
  • How Deep the Father’s Love
  • I Will Glory in My Redeemer
  • In Christ Alone
  • The Gospel Song
  • O Church, Arise
  • The Power of the Cross
  • O Great God

Fred writes in the acknowledgments that his wife, Ruth Coleman, “did the majority of the harmonization of the tunes and all of the Finale typesetting. The concept and the song content were my only contributions; she did all the work and made it a reality.”

Our understanding of God and the gospel affects the quality of our worship through singing, and the quality of what we regularly sing affects our understanding of God and the gospel. These rich hymns engage our affections for the Triune God, and I thank God for them.