Biblical criticism that does not labor for the good of the church and of the world is truly a dead letter. For this reason African biblical scholars are explicit that they are reading the Bible with their commitments and interests declared up front. They do not hide their hopes that their scholarship may have some kind of small impact on a suffering world. They do not write merely for the sake of scoring debating with their fellow scholars. Africa’s problems are many, and they are serious: HIV/AIDS, famine, desertification, political instability, war, ethnic tension, gender inequality. The Bible is not silent about these issues. Biblical scholars who claim to follow the God of life should not ignore the groanings of creation all around us as we study, teach, and write.
Global Voices, page 112
<idle musing>
Amen! Good preaching!
Too often, scholars are writing for scholars. Without compromising the scholarship, scholars should write for the growth of the church. I had a theology professor who used to say that his goal was "every pastor a theologian and every theologian a soul-winner." A noble goal indeed.
That's the final excerpt from this book. As I said in the first post, this is a great book. I'm glad I read it; it definitely broadened my horizons. We need more books like this. Thanks again to Bobby for making it known to me—even though it took me a year to read it!
</idle musing>
No comments:
Post a Comment