an insignificant opinion

Has anyone seen God? – Esther: a review

Darren — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:09:34 +0000

Call me old-fashioned but surely, when it comes to the Bible, the main character should at least get a mention. I’ve just finished Esther and although I knew it before, once again it struck me that God doesn’t get a mention. There is celebration and praising so implicitly you could argue a case, but it would be a very weak one.

The girl who would be queen

A Queen at the right time

The story of Esther is that of a young Jewish girl who becomes Queen to Xerxes in Susa in Persia. When she is Queen she gets the King to reverse an order from Haman, who wants to kill the Jews. She then gets the King to go further and in the end Haman gets killed. And to round-up the story the Jews celebrate with the very first Feast of Purim.

Again, implicitly, you could read God into the events. Esther is placed into the royal household at just the right time to make an impact. Through Xerxes becoming distressed through a dream Mordecai, the other main character in the book, is brought to his attention. So looking back on the events you could say that God was working behind the scenes to make sure that the Jews weren’t destroyed as Haman wanted to.

Main character study

Once again though, I’m led to wonder who the main character of this book is. We can read God into it, and I have a little problem with that; if you believe in an interventionist God (as Nick Cave sings) then fine. However, it is very east to miss the other main character through this book and the rest of the bible… humanity! Esther suggests that life isn’t just about God getting on with things, but about humanity getting on with God’s things.

Oh and it’s a pretty good story to read, why not take a few minutes and try it yourself, it isn’t long.

Has anyone seen God? – Esther: a review is a post from: an insignificant opinion

Thunder and brimstone lite – Zechariah: a review

Darren — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:33:29 +0000

Do you get annoyed with adverts? I’m talking pop-ups on websites and applications. I do, but they are also quite useful. Software developers often off a free or lite version of a product for you to try, and this is often supported by ads. Either you like the software so much you pay for the full version or the ads are so annoying you remove the free version and wonder what the full version would have been like. Well here is the book of Zechariah, meet my most unfavourite prophet.

Your house is finished!

How cool is that? He’s a prophet and a priest

First of all a little bit of background and description. Zechariah was most likely a priest who was also a prophet. He spoke, and presumably priested, from 538 onwards, that’s BC not almost twenty to six. His message was to encourage the rebuilding of the Temple, as it seemed that this was lagging behind the rebuilding of the rest of the city, when the Jews returned to Jerusalem.

Ezekiel Lite

There were two things that left me polling Zechariah so low.

Zechariah uses visions and powerful images and metaphors just like Ezekiel. The problem is he does it without the zest that I liked from the big E. Although perhaps my impression of Ezekiel is still too clouded by seeing him as Samuel L Jackson.
I must admit that I really lost the flow of Zechariah. At times I had no idea what he was on about and where he was heading. Now this could be due to me being in a bad mood, a bit of a rush, or my own stupidity in prophetic hermeneutics.

Either way, I didn’t find Zechariah easy-going. If you’re looking for a prophet to read I think starting elsewhere would be helpful. Fortunately there are one or two to try. Now if only there was a book in the Bible that didn’t mention God every five minutes… Oh look, its Esther, the next stop in my trip through the Old Testament.

Thunder and brimstone lite – Zechariah: a review is a post from: an insignificant opinion

Better, better, better, better – Jude: a review

Darren — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:11:12 +0000

Sorry couldn’t resist that. Well here I am, the last little bit of the New Testament before the big one at the end. And it is nice and pleasant too, just like the Lennon and McCartney song. Well pleasant for those who are still holding on to the faith. For those who aren’t this little letter is a warning.

Flesh and blood

The letter concerns those who have rejected God’s grace. By that I mean the free gift of unconditional love, well I might be reading a little into this letter from elsewhere in the New Testament, but that is the thrust of things. This is something that is expected though, it comes as no surprise to the author that this will and has happened. The group that the letter is talking about are probably a sub-sect of the christian sect within Judaism (you can see how this begins to get complicated) who don’t take the body, or physical existence, as important. They were only concerned about the soul or spirit, therefore what you did with the body didn’t matter. But Jude points out that matter does matter.

Jude who?

So who was Jude? Well he says he is the brother of James, and the James he means is the brother of Jesus. What is interesting about this little letter is:

It is very similar in language to 2 Peter, so there was likely some copying or adapting of either letter or an unknown common source.
Jude quotes and makes allusions to non-biblical religious writings, using them to argue his point. Nothing wrong in that, but it is interesting. How often do we hear the Pope quoting the Dali Lama?

So, with Jude out of the way, onto the last book in the New Testament as my journey through the Bible nears its end.

Better, better, better, better – Jude: a review is a post from: an insignificant opinion

Love unlimited – 1,2 and 3 John: a review

Darren — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:20:45 +0000

In the beginning was the gospel of John. And John was with the gospel and the gospel was John. Oh, but there were also these 3 letters. 1 John was the longest, and 2 and 3 John were little bitty ones. And this is the review of the 3 Johns. Although there will be no goldilocks here, the content is quite loving and wholesome… unlike the porridge that Goldilocks had.

God is love

John, Johannine or Old John.

There are big similarities between the gospel of John and these letters. The language is very similar, such as the ‘remain in Jesus’ etc. Therefore you can assume that the author is the same. But we all no what happens if we assume! The point is that many think that the gospel and these letters were perhaps written by a group of people, who were perhaps disciples of John. So although the main content comes from John the disciple, the deep theology, comes from the group. Still others think that the John in question wasn’t the disciple but someone called John the Elder. Again, I don’t think it makes much difference in the course of things. The content in the gospel and here is pretty orthodox.

All you need is love God

The simple message in these letters is that God is love, therefore those who follow God should also love. If you don’t show love to one another, then you don’t love God. (What was I saying about deep theology?) Belief and faith is once again linked to actions, you can’t have one without the other. The 3rd letter is a little more personal but still feels the same

I liked these letters, they were practical yet had a spiritual, mystical feel. Now I just have Jude to go in the New Testament before I hit something else linked to John.

Love unlimited – 1,2 and 3 John: a review is a post from: an insignificant opinion

Walking the walk – 2 Peter: a review

Darren — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:00:34 +0000

And so I get to 2 Peter in my journey through the bible. Another letter to the church urging the faithful to keep the faith and live the way a good believer should. Just another run of the mill New Testament letter. Or is it? It seems 2 Peter has a little controversy attached to it.

Time to write

I was simply going to review 2 Peter with 1 Peter, to save a bit of time and keep up with these posts. However, I wanted to take a little look at the issue of who actually wrote it. Throughout the New Testament there are a lot of books that claim to be written by people who ‘scholars’ think may not have been. Of all these books 2 Peter is perhaps one of the most questioned.

The main reason for questioning whether Peter wrote this letter is because the language used is so different to 1 Peter, in fact it is very different to the rest of the New Testament. Now there are several reasons why this could be and yet still be ‘written’ by Peter. The main one being that as Peter was a simple fisherman, he probably used someone else to write the words anyway, and perhaps this scribe was a little more colourful than the one used for the previous letter.

Psuedepigraphy

But there is another option that is quite popular. It is possible that Peter didn’t write this letter, and that it was written by someone else blatantly pretending to be Peter. Psuedepigraphic writing was common during the time the letter was penned. Quite often a famous person was named as the author to add authority and gravitas to text. And it is suggested that this is what 2 Peter was.

Does it matter?

As always that is the big question. Personally I don’t have a problem with it being Peter or someone else. It doesn’t say anything that is out-of-place, and 2 Peter 1:5-9 seems like a good rule to live by. However, it does leave some feeling uneasy about something that today we would see as a downright lie. Either it is Peter or it is lying, and I suppose that would be unacceptable. As to whether it ultimately matters, I’d have to say no, because we can’t be sure one way or the other. We have no way of proving whether Peter wrote it or not. But I thought I’d mention it anyway.

Walking the walk – 2 Peter: a review is a post from: an insignificant opinion

I want to break free – Haggai: a review

Darren — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:44:23 +0000

God and the Temple went hand-in-hand for the kingdom of Judah. So when the Temple was destroyed, it felt like God had been thrown from the throne and turned into as much rubble as the Temple. And like many other things through the ages history has repeated itself as people have tried to lock the Divine into building after building.

Ruins

Softly, softly

Haggai dates his words to 520BC. Times were tough as the people had returned to Jerusalem in 538BC, after exile and the Temple being destroyed in 587BC. What was once their spiritual home was now a place of sad memories and ruin. Into this Haggai speaks. He isn’t a shout it out prophet, but a gentle and persuasive teacher. Although his message is still one of make sure you live out your faith.

Haggai is more of a teacher than a prophet in my view. I like my prophets like my Royal Shakespeare Company actors; loud, over the top and authoritative. But sometimes we need a little practical advice instead of visions and shouting. Although neither are effective unless the listener responds. Let those who have ears…

I want to break free – Haggai: a review is a post from: an insignificant opinion

Reading between the lions – Daniel: a review

Darren — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:28:21 +0000

I remember the story of Daniel in the lions’ den as a Sunday School favourite. The story of someone whose faith in God was such that he defied the King’s law and was punished by being thrown into a den of lions, surely to meet his death. However the following day he is found safe and sound, having been saved by God. What I don’t remember from Sunday School is that the people who had tricked the King into making his law were thrown into the same den and were torn to pieces before they hit the floor. It seems we all suffer from selective hearing at times.

Come into my den

Sunday School Dispensationalist

Another Sunday School story I remember is that of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who like Daniel were punished for their faith. Again a nasty fate was in store for them, to be burnt in a fiery furnace, but again they were saved. Welcome to Daniel the book of Sunday School stories that chill the hearts of the little ones but build faith through tough times. But not just stories of the past, Daniel is also full of stories of things to come. It forms part of the dispensational hand book that is the basis for that particular brand of Christianity. For more on dispensationalism you can take a look here.

A mixed bag

Daniel contains narrative and vision. It tells the story of a young Jew who is taken to Babylon and rises up the civil service to become a respected leader. Throughout all this he displays his faith in God and is rewarded(?) with visions of the future. Unfortunately both the stories and the visions are often distorted and the whole story isn’t always told. Visions by very nature are open to interpretation and applying absolutes to prophetic visions doesn’t guarantee understanding.

Greatness in humility

I liked reading Daniel, firstly because it did begin to allay some earlier misconceptions. But also because Daniel seemed like a good bloke. He rose to prominence but not once did he take the praise. He lived a life in reliance of God, through difficult times. I thought this was exemplified in the words of a prayer recorded in the book.

We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Daniel 9:18

Daniel isn’t the easiest book to read and I can’t say that I have any great revelation about what it is about beyond what I’ve mentioned above, but it was memorable. If you’d like to read a little more about Daniel, in a fiction setting, then I highly recommend Dark Chapters: Babylon by Hannah McFarlane. And while you’re reading that I’ll read the rest of the books in my journey through the bible.

Reading between the lions – Daniel: a review is a post from: an insignificant opinion

Turn and face the strange ch ch ch ch changes – 1 Peter: a review

Darren — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:09:11 +0000

We last came across Peter in the book of Acts. In that book he had already begun the transition from fisherman, with a penchant for acting before thinking. But here he is with his very own letter, written to the church. It’s a change on the scale of Bowie going from Ziggy Stardust to a Young American. Once he denied Jesus but now he’s the Rock, can you smell what he’s cooking? Okay enough of the pop culture references Darren, what’s the letter about?

Anyone for fishing?

Life’s a pain, and then you live

The main thrust of the letter is about keeping going through suffering and hard times. He points out that yes there is a lot of pain at present but those who believe have something to look forward to; God’s return. And he’s not asking the followers of Jesus to do anything that Jesus wouldn’t do, in fact that’s point, suffer as Christ suffered – this isn’t for the sake of suffering, or to look for suffering, just that it can be endured. Weaved around this theme Peter also talks about orderly living, looking out for one another and not acting like those who don’t know Jesus.

A career change

Peter was originally a fisherman, and yet here he is some twenty or thirty years later writing an articulate letter to a church who see him as an authority figure. Admittedly the letter states that it is co-authored with Silvanus, so perhaps he is the literate one here, however there is still a huge change from who Peter was to who he is now. And perhaps that is something that struck me when reading through this letter. An encounter with Jesus had a big effect on Peter’s life. Can such an encounter have the same effect on us?

Turn and face the strange ch ch ch ch changes – 1 Peter: a review is a post from: an insignificant opinion

Like taking candy from a baby – James: a review

Darren — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:53:54 +0000

It has been said, and by people not a million miles away from this blog, that the bible can be a little hard to understand. If you can manage to understand what is said, it is a whole different ball-game as to whether it is applicable today. However, I have now arrived at the letter James wrote to the church, and the difficulty factor has been reduced by a factor of several million.

Easy as A B C

Meet the boss

The writer of the letter is identified as James. He was the leader of the early church in Jerusalem and was a brother of Jesus, although John 7:2-5 identifies his brothers as not believing. So there seems to have been a change of mind somewhere along the way, and 1 Corinthians 15:7 may have had something to do with that. So it all turned out nice and religious for James in the end, although he was martyred in AD62, so perhaps not completely rosy.

Faith works

Anyway, back to the letter. We have several chapters of good, plain and practical advice. Unlike Paul’s letters, James is clear and precise in what he says. As to whether you want to follow his advice that is down to you, but the it is there for all to see and understand. He points out the importance of prayer and also confession. He also emphasises the importance of doing good stuff in relation to faith. And before you think this could be a plant by Rome into the New Testament his take on this faith and works is something any follower of the Galilean should note.

James isn’t about works being more important than faith, or faith being more important than works. As I read through this letter it is clear that neither can exist without the other. For a letter that is so clear and practical it is a shame so many get that simple fact wrong.

Like taking candy from a baby – James: a review is a post from: an insignificant opinion

You will know your God – Ezekiel: a review

Darren — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:58:22 +0000

One of my favourite film scenes is from Pulp Fiction. Samuel L Jackson plays a gangster about to kill some minor characters. Before he opens fire, and at the end of a wonderful piece of dialogue, he quotes the bible, and he quotes from the book of Ezekiel, a paraphrase of Ezekiel 25:17. Apologies to those who read the bible aloud in their churches every Sunday, but I’m sorry, Samuel knows how to quote the bible. (here)

Rhetoric of a prophet

The first part of Ezekiel is full what I call good solid, run of the mill, classic prophet talk. It is all about what will happen and how, when it does, those who it happens to will know that there is a God. It involves vivid imagery that is more poetry than prose. We have pictures of bones coming to life and some pretty psychedelic beasts and wheels. If you’re after some weird and wonderful language then Ezekiel is the prophet for you. That said things aren’t looking too good for those he is talking to.

All change please

And then he drops the Samuel L Jackson approach. Having said things are looking gloomy he does the other classic prophet party piece and says that one day things will be better. The end of the book is all about a new Temple, the previous one having been pulled apart when the nation of Judah fell. Whereas the first part of the book read like a Pentecostal preacher the final part of the book sounds more like a builder’s brief; we have dimensions and definitions.

If it wasn’t for the change of styles Ezekiel could possibly be my favourite OT prophetic book. Although I’m wondering what that says about me. Do I really prefer the disaster predictions rather than the rosy future? Ezekiel is the final major prophet on my journey through the bible and as I’m a little behind in these reviews I’d best leave this here and get going.

You will know your God – Ezekiel: a review is a post from: an insignificant opinion