Nathan was enraged. The King had not only yielded to adultery, but had a man killed to cover it up. And not just any men--- one of his select men--- Uriah! He was one of only a very select group of individuals who knew what was going on. But he was the only one of …
Category: stories
Is the Bible “Perspicuous”?
Reading my posts it should be pretty obvious that I am not a Systematic Theologian. In some sense, I am not much of a theologian at all. But I still try to see how to build a bridge between God's (relatively) unchanging revelation and Man's changing context. As such, theology is really supposed to be …
Is There a Place for Aggadic Midrash in Oral Cultures?
The following is the first part of an article I wrote for a class I took on teaching in orality cultures. The title is "Biblical Commentary as Story: Is There a Place for Aggadic Midrash in Oral Cultures?" Stories have many purposes in their religious communities. Much of Scripture is in the form of story. Bruce …
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Mythic and Parabolic Functions in Stories
Here is a section from "Theo-storying: Reflections on God, Narrative, and Culture." If interested, it is available by CLICKING HERE. Definitions As I have said or implied previously, there is no real agreement on definitions for the terms “myth” and “parable.” The term “myth” was used in chapter 5, but the definition used (as supplied …
Why Did David Grab Five Stones?
This an excerpt from an article I wrote, suggesting the value of midrash discussions on Biblical narratives. In a group theological reflection, suppose the story of David meeting Goliath is discussed using aggadic midrash. Focusing on the initial part where David enters the field of battle, perhaps one of them, named “Bill,” tells a part …
Storytelling and Samson’s Seven Braids
Something like 40 or 50 years ago I was in church and we had a guest preacher. He was in his 60s, possibly 70s. He gave an interesting little story--- probably not true, but perhaps it was. It was something like this... "When I was a young boy in church, our pastor was preaching, and …
Article on Storytelling for Theological Reflection
I recently wrote an article titled: "Biblical Commentary as Story: Is There a Place for Aggadic Midrash in Oral Cultures?" https://www.academia.edu/108401821/Biblical_Commentary_as_Story_Is_There_a_Place_for_Aggadic_Midrash_in_Oral_Cultures?source=swp_share
Poisoning the Waters of Learning
I was looking up two things this week with quite similar results. First, I was looking up Narrative Theology. I really see value in narrative theology but it is a challenging topic to wrap one's head around. It really steps back from some of the common ways of doing theology--- emphasis on word etymologies, establishing …
Book Review: “Basic Bible Storying” by J.O. Terry
Basic Bible Storying: Preparing and Presenting Bible Stories for Evangelism, Discipleship, Training, and Ministry, Revised Edition, by J.O. Terry Christian non-fiction is fairly diverse. At one end I call Inspirational/Devotional (not completely sure what publishers call them). These are books that have some generally positive Christian theme (perhaps on how to pray, or "have victory," …
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Quote on Bible Storying
The beginning Bible storyer may be tempted to take one of the existing popular model sets of Bible Storying lessons, translate the story lessons verbatim, and begin using them. While this may serve to produce some quick, though limited results, it must be realized that each story lesson model must be crafted for addressing worldview …