Relational Exegesis

So since we know that reading the Bible is mysterious - i.e. it must be revealed to you...

http://youarethechrist.blogspot.com/2010/10/two-ways-to-read.html

we then can come to a conclusion that exegesis is also relational

sometimes people are always accused of reading Scripture anachronistically..

i.e. you read it using information they did not know at the time

so examples of this are reading the OT purely Christologically

which of course can be called allegorical reading, but sometimes it's simply called 'jumping to Jesus'

or more recently - reading the gospels in the light of Paul

but exegesis is always relational - i.e. the Bible is always read in the light of something else

whether that is your own culture, your own prejudice, your own experience, etc

like history - no one can have an objective view of Scripture

theologically - your relationship is with the world, i.e. with Satan, the voice of the world - who has many facets of a split tongue

so whatever you read - you will put in your light into it

So then as much as you try to read 'just the gospels' or 'just the OT'

you are going to either put the NT into it, or something else into it

it is NOT an objective - therefore right - reading of Scripture!!

Scripture then has to be read using relational dynamics

i.e. you read, it tells you something about Jesus, then knowing that thing about Jesus, you read 'that Jesus you know' back into Scripture, at the same time, trying to discover more about Christ - pointing back to Him

of course this sounds like an impossible cyclical argument

but the Christian arguments are not cyclical - they are spiral

you either spiral upwards or downwards

so the more you know Jesus, the better you understand any part of Scripture - in the Light of Him

and then you know Jesus more.. 

of course the necessary added 'element' here is prayer

i.e. a direct communication with the 'real Jesus' by the Spirit

then the exegesis is truly no longer stationary..

because He Himself begins to correct you and push you up the spiral of knowing Him

That is how the church fits in as well,

individual exegesis is incomplete, because it cannot have the whole picture - since that is the nature of the Spirit's work - He is many-fold in His revelation of Christ

Relational Exegesis comes from communicating with the Jesus you NOW know, and Him pointing more of Himself to you (plural - i.e. the fellowship), by being there in your twos and threes - you read Him not just out of the text, but out of each other 

It is the light of Christ you see in each other that adds to the Light of Scripture - you read the text based on the relationships you know - so the more Christ-like a teacher is - the more you read Scripture according to Him

and of course the downward spiral is true as well....

So how do we read Scripture better? 

1.Put the Jesus you know into your exegesis

2. Ask the Jesus you know to help you know more about Him, starting from what you know

- therefore this will have practical consequences as He tells you to deal with things in your life before you can move on

3. Hang out with Jesus-like friends, who illuminate more Jesus characteristics into your Bible reading - their lives will help your exegesis

- and yet they will also, being Jesus friends, make sure your life is also put on track

thus you will then read Scripture rightly - pointing to Him, knowing Him and having legitimate transformation - through prayer and the church

How to be Useful?

Continuing short series from here: on 2 Tim 2

http://zionbpc.org.sg/resources/audio/2010/2010-10-17%20The%20Christian%20-%20Workman%20Vessel%20Servant%20-%20Dr%20Dev%20Menon.mp3

using this : http://youarethechrist.blogspot.com/2010/10/two-ways-to-read.html

and this: http://christthetruth.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/my-minds-made-up-by-the-way-that-i-feel/

plus one more thing.. coming up...

Who's Wisdom

I'm still of the opinion it's the Spirit, not the Son...

here's another reason why:

Proverbs 8:1-3  Does not wisdom cry out, And understanding lift up her voice?  2 She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, Beside the way, where the paths meet.  3 She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, At the entrance of the doors:

Isaiah 42:1-2  "Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.  2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.

they seem to have quite different ways of operating no?

Two Ways to Read

I think i've finally figured out how this Scripture thing works:

1st - if you cannot be bothered - you won't read it - you'll just pick the verses you like... too bad for you...

2nd - what happens if you can be bothered - and you study diligently?

1st option - you study it to improve yourself (like most secular education) - inevitably you end up being a Pharisee - this can be known as the Satanic way of reading Scripture

2nd option - you study it to know Christ alone - you become like Christ, since you now are beginning to love Christ


Therefore if you read any passage,  OT, parable, NT, etc...
without going to Jesus - you inevitably become more Pharisaical
you are not reading it 'spiritually' - because that implies reading it 'relationally'

e.g.  Psalm 1
Blesed is the man,.... etc, etc right?

what were the Pharisees doing? not walking with sinners, not eating with prostitutes, etc....  Psalm 1 followed?

what did Jesus do? walked with sinners, ate with prostitutes - Psalm 1 understood in the Jesus context means to not associate with the Pharisees!

take ANY ANY ANY passage in the Bible - try it out
you will always be a Pharisee if you don't read it looking for Jesus

YET - our natural tendency IS to read it the Pharisee way (if we are bothered with studying it) - so our first conclusion to every passage is not Sola Christus, Fide, Gracia, etc..
it is always, works-based, legalistic, pride causing moralism...

Read again.. with prayer, with humility, not trying to justify yourself, but looking for Jesus to either affirm or rebuke you...

Very hard to do...

So Scripture will always always be Mysterious....

Spaced out...

here's a bit of me going bonkers:

previously i commented on Gunton's need for 'space' in the Trinity - http://youarethechrist.blogspot.com/2010/06/space.html

Now think about this...

In childbirth, the mother makes 'space' for her baby.. it is space for new life, and that new life grows until it is permitted 'to have life in itself' and comes out of the mother...
yet of course is utterly linked to the mother in various ways,
first in the milk,
then in being provided for
then in genuine spiritual relationship

therefore it is no wonder that Christ makes space within Himself for His creation - of course all this done within the Spirit

yet by Christ making space, He only does what the Father has always done, made space within Himself for Christ - i.e. Christ is begotten eternally

but by making space for Christ, He Himself gets bigger - just like any pregnant lady

So the Father always enlarges Himself even as He constantly makes room for Christ and allows Him to grow

now the Son also has for the first time enlarged Himself - and in creation we see 1 cycle of an eternal expansion in God - something the Son has been subjected to ad infinitum

no wonder then creation and redemption are but 'the corner of His robe'

practically speaking - it means as Christ makes space for us, we must enter into the darkness with Him, and let Him feed us

for others, we make space for them - but only when we ourselves are full of the seed, and filled to the full..
then can they grow within us, and we hand them over to Christ (think John 4)
yet not apart from Christ when they are in us (think John 5) for Christ is in our flesh (Gal 2)

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