Playing telephone...

I wish I knew Greek. Or Hebrew. Sometimes I just wish I could read the Bible the way it was written - or at least close to that. Everything we read now, or think we know has been interpreted and even at times had the meaning drastically changed by translation. The best words/translation according to whoever was doing the translating are filtered through their understanding/lens. I'm tired of searching commentaries when I really want to know something. Or reading ten different theories to try and understand what was really being conveyed. (Especially, since goodness knows, I should only be reading certain commentaries anyway - the ones that are Baptist or some evangelical, fundamental variation of that and right of course....none of that mainline or Catholic stuff.) Certainly knowing the culture of the times helps with understanding. Historical context is critical. But even after all that, it still frustrates me. And if my understanding just doesn't mesh with what I've been taught, or what is being preached as the right way - well what then?

I enjoyed reading Doug Pagitt's book, A Christianity Worth Believing. I appreciate that he shows the differences between Western/Greek thought and reasoning and Jewish understanding. I appreciate him explaining how and why codification took place and why the creeds were written. I appreciate that he isn't afraid to say that we don't know the answers, and that even after re-evaluation, and different understandings there are still nagging questions that haunt him. Cuz they do me too. It's hard to put it all together. To sift through and decide what I believe and don't believe, what I think or don't think. Why some beliefs are held so tightly to, even if just maybe they don't make sense. There's a lot to think about in the book - and it challenges what you know about original sin, heaven, hell, Jesus, the kingdom of God, what the gospel is....

I also just read Phyllis Tickle's new book: The Great Emergence. I would recommend this book to anyone, even if you are not a history person. She does an excellent job of showing the cycles of religious thinking; why the church believed certain ways in certain times, and why it changed in the past, and why it will again. And why that seems to cause such concern and fear.

I also watched an couple episodes of the series on the Seven Deadly Sins on the History Channel. The one I really enjoyed was Greed. Amazing how the concept of greed then and now has changed. From bad, and some believe, the sin from which all other sins spring, to good - in the sense that capitalism is based on greed.... Very interesting stuff. I enjoyed the sound bites by Phyllis Tickle and the show left me with a lot to ponder. Again, showing the differences in how greed (and the other temptations as they were originally called) is perceived in Eastern thinking and Western thinking. In the Jewish culture and in ours....

As an aside; I thought of greed again when I read a rough draft of Julie Clawson's upcoming book on every day justice and encountered the question many people today ask when they are confronted with justice issues surrounding large companies who profit while the farmer/seamstress/whatever stuggles in poverty.

“But isn’t that the point of free market capitalism?” some may ask. "Isn’t making as large of a profit as possible the goal of any company?"

And what does this go back to? Greed! Does making a profit justify the exploitation of the worker? Wow, interesting rabbit trail! I bet I could post on the thought of greed all by itself...

So, again, I say I wish I could read the Hebrew scriptures and understand it as a Jew would have. I wish I could read the Greek scriptures understanding the climate and culture of that time - especially regarding the political overtones, and just how radical Jesus was at the time. And why he was perceived as being so dangerous.

Am I just weird? Or does anybody else ever feel this way? I mean regular people, not seminarians or scholars...

Just my thoughts for today.