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Cultural Consciousness and the Practice of Prophecy

Detail from Solomon at his throne, by Andreas Brugger

Brueggeman presents the notion of “Royal Consciousness” in his second chapter (pages 21-37). This Sunday we will examine this idea and our own cultural consciousness as objects of prophetic criticism and energizing. Join us for a lively discussion.

We will read three short passages from 1 Kings and explore questions raised by the royal agenda and impact of Solomon. We will also examine ways these same questions remain relevant in today’s world.

The presentations that I will use can be found here.

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The Alternative Community of Moses

Moses with the Ten Commandments
Philippe de Champaigne, Moses with the Ten Commandments

On Sunday, September 17, we will discuss the Alternative Community of Moses, an idea presented by Brueggemann for understanding the impact of Moses. We will discuss the first 18 chapters of the book of Exodus in very summarized form and examine what Brueggemann is claiming about Moses’ significance as a prophet.

The presentation that I will be using can be found here.

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Book to accompany the Prophetic Imagination Class

In this morning’s discussion introducing the class, I failed to mention the book by Walter Brueggemann that I will be referencing during the first several weeks. The book is entitled The Prophetic Imagination. You can obtain a print copy of the book at Amazon.com, or an electronic copy for Kindle.

The class schedule will let you know which pages to read before each class. Next Sunday we will discuss Exodus 1-18 and pages 1-19 of Brueggemann’s book. You are not required to read the book, of course, but you may find that it makes the discussions more meaningful.

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What does it mean to call someone a prophet?

Rembrandt, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, c. 1630
Rembrandt van Rijn, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, c. 1630

Our class this coming Sunday (September 10, 2017) will focus on two things.

  • First we will do some housekeeping, getting contact information, giving out information about the class and about online resources to help with our study.
  • Second, we will begin to discuss the question of what it means to call someone a prophet. If we refer to someone like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a prophet, do we mean the same thing we mean by calling Isaiah a prophet? If not, what is different? Is so, what are we asserting about Dr. King? This discussion will include some examples from the biblical prophets to give us context.

I look forward to a great first class and to seeing you there.

For directions, click here.

Added September 16:

I’ve uploaded the presentation I used to teach this class. You can view it here.

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Schedule page for the Prophetic Imagination class

Schedule ImageI have added a page for the new class (The Prophetic Imagination in the Bible and in American Culture). It includes a tentative schedule with three open Sundays at the end of the term. I have left those Sundays open so we can adapt the class as we go along, expanding where needed to suit the interests of those of you who attend.

I’m looking forward to seeing many of you there on September 10!

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Coming this Fall: The Prophetic Imagination in the Bible and in American Culture

This fall at Binkley Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, NC I will offer the following class:

Title: The Prophetic Imagination in the Bible and in American Culture

Synopsis: From Moses to Jesus, and from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Rev Dr William Barber, the ability to imagine a different future from the one that seems inevitable is central to the biblical notion of prophecy. Join us for a look at the roots of this tradition in the Bible. We will look at what it meant to be a prophet in ancient Israel and what that notion of prophecy has to do with today’s church. You will learn a lot about the contents of the Bible along the way.

Parallel Reading?

While it is not required that you read anything to attend the class, and each class will be clear and easy to follow even if you don’t, I will refer from time to time to Walter Brueggemann’s book, The Prophetic Imagination. Before each class session I will let you know which part of the book will be relevant for the following week.

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Thinking about forgiveness…

I wrote a blog post today at GreekLanguage.blog (now blog.greek-language.com) that does not really require competence in Greek to read (though it does throw in a Greek word here and there), and it is relevant to the purpose of this website, so I’m sharing it here.

Yesterday Allen Davidson and I spoke briefly about the meaning of the Greek word ἄφετε in Luke 18:16—a verb often translated as forgive, but it clearly does not mean that in this text. If you are interested in the way our worldview shapes our ability to understand ancient texts, or more specifically how a notion like “forgiveness” had radically different implications in the ancient world from what we assume today, I invite you to read the post at blog.greek-language.com.

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A new home for an old site

Until recently this site was housed at WordPress.com. In July of 2017, though, we moved to BibleAtChurch.com. This will allow us to continue to provide quality material but without having unwanted advertisements appear on our pages.

If you were following the site at bibleatbinkley.wordpress.com, you will want to create a new account here. You can do that under the heading “Subscribe to this blog via email” in the column on the right.

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Have a Happy Summer

It has been a pleasure to gather with you each Sunday this spring to discuss John’s Gospel, even though looking for the origins of Christian Anti-Judaism was not an uplifting topic.

I hope you all have a great summer. If you have ideas about what you would like to study in the fall, you can post them as comments here, or suggest them to Stephanie at the church.

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Flu, Influenza, and Ancient Greece

I have the flu.

Tengo gripe.

Ich habe Grippe.

Ἔχω ________.

In 412 BC Hippocrates—often called the father of medicine—described a disease at Perinthus in Northern Greece that sounds like what we call influenza. Hippocrates’ discussion seems to be the first description of the disease, but he did not use any word related to our current term.

I am almost certain I will not be present at the church on Sunday. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend.