Last time I stated that noticing discourse is helpful not only for epistles, but also for other genres. I thought it might be helpful to present a narrative example.
In Mark 8:22-26, Jesus heals a man in two stages. Many a commentator and teacher has foundered in seeking an explanation, especially given that just a few verses earlier in Mark 7:31-37 Jesus healed a deaf-mute completely and immediately, and in Mark 10:46-52 He heals the blind beggar Bartimaeus. The suggestion has even been made that Jesus healed the blind man of Mark 8 in two stages because a two-stage miracle would have looked more powerful to the Jewish authorities in the cultural milieu of the day. I will comment on historical and cultural context in a later post. But for now let me observe that if we paid more attention to the broader flow of the text, we would come up with a more textually and theologically satisfying explanation.
One trope of the Gospel according to Mark is the “Messianic Secret.” More so in Mark than in the other gospels, Jesus commands those with whom He interacts not to tell anyone who He is. The series of stories in Mark 8 helps us understand why as well as what Jesus’ solution is. In vs. 1-9 Jesus performs a great miracle in feeding the 4000. In vs. 10-13 Jesus confronts the Pharisees, and then He warns the disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees in vs. 14-21. When they do not grasp what He means, Jesus rebukes them: “Do you not yet understand?” Why are you worried about mere bread? Do you not yet see who I am? Are you yet so spiritually blind?
Now they come to Bethsaida in vs. 22-26. Jesus partially heals the blind man. Initially he sees in part but not in full. So Jesus continues the healing and gives him full sight. When we see this healing, what we are seeing is an acted-out parable. Rather than telling us a parable about spiritual blindness, Jesus acts it out in a physical healing. The disciples only see in part, but eventually they will come to see in full who Jesus is. And when they do, it will be because Jesus Himself has granted them sight. It is no coincidence that in the very next passage Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, but then receives Jesus rebuke because he does not understand that the Christ must suffer (Mark 8:27-38). Messiah must be kept secret until His work is completed and they receive spiritual sight. But eventually Peter will understand.
When we grasp the narrative flow of Mark’s Gospel, we are kept from confusion and speculation. Instead we arrive at textually grounded truth that is a great encouragement. Jesus gives spiritual sight. Those that belong to Him can come to Him asking for greater insight into the Word of God, and can ask expectantly knowing that Jesus will indeed give sight to the blind. We can also be encouraged in regard to those who do not have faith in Jesus, who lack that kind of "spiritual sight," that Jesus is able to give it to them even as He has done for all who now believe in Him.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
The context of the discourse
Previously we looked at the importance of linking words, of conjunctions and repeated words that link a passage to its immediate context. In a sense, that is just an example of the next type of context, what I will call the context of discourse.
I should note that this post is getting as close as I am going to come to the discipline of discourse analysis. If discourse analysis were a well, then I have taken only a drink or two from it. But there are insights here into handling the biblical text that are helpful. The basic idea is that even as there is structure to a sentence, so also is there a deeper structure to the "discourse" or "text" that goes beyond the grammar of its component sentences.
What I intend to do is take this basic insight that sentences are placed in paragraphs, and paragraphs in larger units, and these larger units in books of the Bible, and apply it to how we handle the Scriptures.
Every book in the Bible is written to make a point or a bundle of points. Genesis tells God’s people how they came to be and where they are situated in God’s world. Isaiah prepares God’s people for their coming exile and offers the hope of pardon and return, particularly through the Servant. Matthew describes Jesus as the new Moses and the true Israel, and defends the Gentile mission to Jewish believers. Galatians serves as a polemic against legalism.
One of the keys to adequately understanding a particular passage of Scripture is to understand how it functions to advance the argument of its book, or how it functions in the discourse. In other words, we need to ask each passage of Scripture how it relates to what comes before it and after it in the book. This is easiest to see in the New Testament letters. But this principle also holds for other genres.
The apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians is often called “the epistle of joy” because its main theme is taken to be joy. And within this letter, Phil 4:10-13 is a key passage for understanding Christian contentment. But when we understand the rhetoric of the letter, we see that the letter is not simply about joy. In the first chapter, Paul reframes the difficulties that both he and they are experiencing so that they will see how God is being glorified and the gospel advanced through it all. In the second chapter, he exhorts them to work towards unity rooted in service for one another, using not only the example of Jesus Christ but also that of Timothy and Epaphroditus. In the third chapter he warns them against the danger of self-righteousness, using the negative example of the circumcision group and the positive example of his own life, pointing them to the righteousness that can only be found through faith in Christ. In the fourth chapter he begins by begging Euodia and Synteche to live at peace before continuing into the familiar teaching on prayer, anxiety, and contentment.
Paul’s immediate concern in Philippians seems to be preserving unity against dangers from without and broken relationships within. The key to unity is self-sacrifice. The ground of self-sacrifice is having our hope, encouragement, joy, and righteousness in Christ alone. So now we can turn to Phil 4:10-13 and understand better what Christian contentment means. Philippians does not teach that we should be content regardless of our circumstances. Too often this passage is used to teach resignation to whatever happens rather than gospel-centered contentment. There are some things with which we should not be content: broken relationships, disunity, self-righteousness, false teaching, lack of gospel-centered living and ministering. But the people who know Jesus Christ as their all-sufficient righteousness and joy, who are therefore freed to live in radical love and self-sacrifice, will not worry about whether they have plenty or poverty, whether they receive praise or disparagement. Those things do not occupy central stage in their hearts.
Seeing the flow of Philippians and the place of 4:10-13 within the book as a whole can keep us from confusing contentment with resignation. The former is a Christian virtue; the latter, as Martyn Lloyd-Jones helpful reminds us in his book Spiritual Depression, is stoicism.
I should note that this post is getting as close as I am going to come to the discipline of discourse analysis. If discourse analysis were a well, then I have taken only a drink or two from it. But there are insights here into handling the biblical text that are helpful. The basic idea is that even as there is structure to a sentence, so also is there a deeper structure to the "discourse" or "text" that goes beyond the grammar of its component sentences.
What I intend to do is take this basic insight that sentences are placed in paragraphs, and paragraphs in larger units, and these larger units in books of the Bible, and apply it to how we handle the Scriptures.
Every book in the Bible is written to make a point or a bundle of points. Genesis tells God’s people how they came to be and where they are situated in God’s world. Isaiah prepares God’s people for their coming exile and offers the hope of pardon and return, particularly through the Servant. Matthew describes Jesus as the new Moses and the true Israel, and defends the Gentile mission to Jewish believers. Galatians serves as a polemic against legalism.
One of the keys to adequately understanding a particular passage of Scripture is to understand how it functions to advance the argument of its book, or how it functions in the discourse. In other words, we need to ask each passage of Scripture how it relates to what comes before it and after it in the book. This is easiest to see in the New Testament letters. But this principle also holds for other genres.
The apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians is often called “the epistle of joy” because its main theme is taken to be joy. And within this letter, Phil 4:10-13 is a key passage for understanding Christian contentment. But when we understand the rhetoric of the letter, we see that the letter is not simply about joy. In the first chapter, Paul reframes the difficulties that both he and they are experiencing so that they will see how God is being glorified and the gospel advanced through it all. In the second chapter, he exhorts them to work towards unity rooted in service for one another, using not only the example of Jesus Christ but also that of Timothy and Epaphroditus. In the third chapter he warns them against the danger of self-righteousness, using the negative example of the circumcision group and the positive example of his own life, pointing them to the righteousness that can only be found through faith in Christ. In the fourth chapter he begins by begging Euodia and Synteche to live at peace before continuing into the familiar teaching on prayer, anxiety, and contentment.
Paul’s immediate concern in Philippians seems to be preserving unity against dangers from without and broken relationships within. The key to unity is self-sacrifice. The ground of self-sacrifice is having our hope, encouragement, joy, and righteousness in Christ alone. So now we can turn to Phil 4:10-13 and understand better what Christian contentment means. Philippians does not teach that we should be content regardless of our circumstances. Too often this passage is used to teach resignation to whatever happens rather than gospel-centered contentment. There are some things with which we should not be content: broken relationships, disunity, self-righteousness, false teaching, lack of gospel-centered living and ministering. But the people who know Jesus Christ as their all-sufficient righteousness and joy, who are therefore freed to live in radical love and self-sacrifice, will not worry about whether they have plenty or poverty, whether they receive praise or disparagement. Those things do not occupy central stage in their hearts.
Seeing the flow of Philippians and the place of 4:10-13 within the book as a whole can keep us from confusing contentment with resignation. The former is a Christian virtue; the latter, as Martyn Lloyd-Jones helpful reminds us in his book Spiritual Depression, is stoicism.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Children's Bibles
In this review by IX Marks, several children's Bibles are reviewed by Justin Taylor. Some friends whose theological judgment we trust had recommended The Big Picture Story Bible to us for toddlers, so we bought it and started reading it to our daughter before she turned one-year old. And indeed, it has been everything we had hoped for, with a big picture view of God's plan to bring His kingdom, just enough text but not too much for a child her age, helpful questions along the way, and detailed illustrations that keep both children and adults paying close attention.
But as much as we love The Big Picture Story Bible, we recognize its limitations too. Our daughter is now a very precocious two-year old, and soon we will want more text and more detail from the biblical narrative in the children's Bible that we use. So when we saw a copy of The Jesus Storybook Bible during a recent trip to a bookstore, we took a long look while our daughter ran amok in the children's play area.
And we were impressed. While preserving the big picture storyline of the Bible that culminates in Christ, and offering helpful illustrations, there is more explanation. This will help our daughter learn the Bible stories and connect them to the cross. So when Zondervan asked for bloggers to write about The Jesus Storybook Bible (and thereby enter a drawing for free copies), I was happy to oblige. The Jesus Storybook Bible will be the next Bible we use as our little girl continues to grow.
But as much as we love The Big Picture Story Bible, we recognize its limitations too. Our daughter is now a very precocious two-year old, and soon we will want more text and more detail from the biblical narrative in the children's Bible that we use. So when we saw a copy of The Jesus Storybook Bible during a recent trip to a bookstore, we took a long look while our daughter ran amok in the children's play area.
And we were impressed. While preserving the big picture storyline of the Bible that culminates in Christ, and offering helpful illustrations, there is more explanation. This will help our daughter learn the Bible stories and connect them to the cross. So when Zondervan asked for bloggers to write about The Jesus Storybook Bible (and thereby enter a drawing for free copies), I was happy to oblige. The Jesus Storybook Bible will be the next Bible we use as our little girl continues to grow.
The importance of linking words
After a lengthy hiatus, I would like to return to the importance of context in interpreting Scripture. In the last post, I wrote about literary context – the kind of writing in which a passage occurs.
The next topic I would like to discuss we could call linking words. Many churchgoers have heard this heuristic of Bible study: If you see the word therefore, ask what it is there for. And that idea is what I mean. We need to notice linking words that connect a passage with what comes before it or after it. That means noticing conjunctions (and, but, for, since, therefore, although, etc.) and repeated words and phrases.
Noticing these sorts of details is crucial to understanding what the writer of Scripture is trying to get done with the passage at hand. In a talk given at the Worship God 2009 conference, John Piper quipped that he spends two or three years with his students at Bethlehem just helping them see conjunctions. (Yes, John Piper quipped.)
An example should help us see how important conjunctions and repeated words are. In 2 John 1:4, the apostle John rejoices that the Christians he is addressing are following the truth. In v. 5 he writes “and now” (kai nun in Greek), indicating not a new command (entole) but a renewed emphasis on an old command to love one another. John tells us in v. 6 that we love God by obeying his commands, and goes on to say that the command we must obey is to love one another. Many commentators take vs. 4-6 and 7-11 as separate units. But notice that in v. 7 the apostle uses the conjunction “for” (gar) to link our love with the problem of false teachers. Through the use of conjunctions and a repeated word, the apostle is telling us that our love for one another within the church is vital to standing firm as a community against the danger of false teaching.
Noticing conjunctions and repetition will make us better students of Scripture, and it will help keep us from using a passage of Scripture for different purposes than that for which it was intended.
The next topic I would like to discuss we could call linking words. Many churchgoers have heard this heuristic of Bible study: If you see the word therefore, ask what it is there for. And that idea is what I mean. We need to notice linking words that connect a passage with what comes before it or after it. That means noticing conjunctions (and, but, for, since, therefore, although, etc.) and repeated words and phrases.
Noticing these sorts of details is crucial to understanding what the writer of Scripture is trying to get done with the passage at hand. In a talk given at the Worship God 2009 conference, John Piper quipped that he spends two or three years with his students at Bethlehem just helping them see conjunctions. (Yes, John Piper quipped.)
An example should help us see how important conjunctions and repeated words are. In 2 John 1:4, the apostle John rejoices that the Christians he is addressing are following the truth. In v. 5 he writes “and now” (kai nun in Greek), indicating not a new command (entole) but a renewed emphasis on an old command to love one another. John tells us in v. 6 that we love God by obeying his commands, and goes on to say that the command we must obey is to love one another. Many commentators take vs. 4-6 and 7-11 as separate units. But notice that in v. 7 the apostle uses the conjunction “for” (gar) to link our love with the problem of false teachers. Through the use of conjunctions and a repeated word, the apostle is telling us that our love for one another within the church is vital to standing firm as a community against the danger of false teaching.
Noticing conjunctions and repetition will make us better students of Scripture, and it will help keep us from using a passage of Scripture for different purposes than that for which it was intended.
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