Better Bibles, Better People?

I just watched a couple of the promotional videos for the recently released ESV Study Bible. Everyone is raving about the book, and it looks to me like a lot of work has gone into this project. There are extensive notes, cross-references, maps, and other resources on almost every page. It is truly and impressive work of literature. I wonder if now, finally, Christians will understand the Bible enough to put what it says into practice? Will there be diagrams and maps to explain complicated and oft neglected sayings like:

• "Love your neighbor"


• "Pray for those who persecute you"


• "Sell all your possessions and give to the poor"


• "Whoever wants to become great among must become a servant"

These are the really hard parts of the Bible that Christians have struggled to apply to their lives for centuries. Hopefully the maps, cross-references, and other features will finally help us be better people. And all we have to do is buy another Bible! ;)

God forsakes God

"In the night before his arrest, Jesus went into the garden of Gethsemance. He took three disciples with him and 'began to be greatly distressed and troubled', writes Mark (14.33). 'He began to be sorrowful and fearful [troubled]' writes Matthew....Then he throws himself on the ground in horror and fear (Mark 14.35). Earlier too, he had often withdrawn at nights to the solitariness of some mountain in order to be united with his Father in the prayer of his heart. But in Gethsemane for the first time he does not want to be alone with his God. He is evidently afraid of him. That is why he seeks the protection of his friends. Then comes the prayer which in its original version sounds like a demand: 'Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me' (Mark 14.36) -- spare me this suffering....

In fear that laid hold of him and lacerated his soul, what he suffered from was God. Abandonment by God is the 'cup' which does not pass from him. The appalling silence of the Father in response to the Son's prayer in Gethsemane is more than the silence of death. Martin Buber called it the eclipse of God. It is echoed in 'the dark night of the soul' experienced by the mystics. The Father withdraws. God is silent. This is the experience of hell and judgment....

The Father forsook him and delivered him up to the fear of hell. The One who knew himself to be the Son is forsaken, rejected and cursed. And God is silent....

Finally, it is important to notice that it is only here on the cross that, for the first and only time in his life, the Son addresses God not as Father but as God (hebrew Eloheni, Aramaic Eloi). The prayer in Gethsemane was still addressed to 'the Father'. But the Father did not hear the prayer. On the cross the Father forsook the Son and hid his face from him, as the sun was hidden in the deepest darkness on Golgotha....It is precisely this that is the cross in Jesus' crucifixion; the being forsaken by the God whom he called 'my Father', and whose Son he knew himself to be. Here, in the relationship between the Father and the Son, a death was experienced which has been rightly described as 'eternal death', 'the death of God'. Here 'God is forsaken by 'God'. "

from Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom, pg 77-80

Self-Love or Self-Hate?

Self-hatred plagues our culture. So many people at our church, school, and even the elite in pop-culture exude a drive for perfection that betrays a deep-seeded self-loathing. After reading the paragraph quoted below, I think this self-hatred that I feel and I perceive in others is rooted in misguided self-love. A love that seeks repeated personal indulgences without regard for the well-being of others.

"It is therefore of supreme importance that we consent to live not for ourselves but for others. When we do this we will be able first of all to face and accept our own limitations. As long as we secretly adore ourselves, our own deficiencies will remain to torture us with an apparent defilement. But if we live for others, we will gradually discover that no one expects us to be 'as gods.' We will see that we are human, like everyone else, that we all have weaknesses and deficiencies, and that these limitations of ours play a most important part in all our lives. It is because of them that we need others and others need us. We are not all weak in the same spots, and so we supplement and cmplete one another, each one making up in himself for the lack in another."

Merton, Thomas No Man is an Island. pg. xxi

Traditional Reasoning

I'm reminded that there is no part of my thinking that takes place outside of tradition; there is no reasoning that I do in an objective sense. The way that I engage in critical thinking is traditional--meaning, it is a method of critical thinking unique to the cultures in which I have been taught.

I believe that some traditions of reason are better than others. I believe that individuals trained in the art of one reasoning tradition can effectively converse and even learn from those trained in other traditions. I believe there is an existential commonality that provides the groundwork for communication across traditions.

I believe it is dangerous, to say the least, to act like there are aspects of our reason that are outside the influence of tradition--to believe that there is a section of our understanding that is accepted a priori as objectively and undeniably true, and worse yet to maintain complete certainty about such reason. This is especially egregious when this supposedly certain type of reason is employed to critique relgious practice and faith.