Chapter two of Scot McKnight's wonderful new book The Blue Parakeet begins with a story about bird watching. I could relate well to this opening narrative because I myself enjoy birdwatching. Scot tells how he discovered a blue Parakeet-a house pet- eating and squawking amongst sparrows. The blue Parakeet freaked the other birds out at first but eventually they become accustomed to the birds presence. Scot tells us that reading the bible is similar to this experience. He tells us that, " chance encounters sometimes lead us deeper into thought". When reading the Bible we come across elements of the narrative that shock, inspire, confuse and frustrate us; and that's OK. I have found this to be true in my own faith. There are parts of the Old Testament that disturb me and other parts that bring me to my knees. Through my frustration with parts of the Bible I have sought God deeper and more fully.
Scot continues by outlining three ways in which many people read the Bible. The three are: Reading to Retrieve (literalistic), Those Days, Those ways (picking and choosing) and Reading Through Tradition (classic, historical reading). Which one are you?
Highlights:
" What we've got in the pages of the New Testament are first-century expressions of the gospel and church life, no permanent, timeless expressions. They are timely expressions; they are Spirit-inspired expressions; but they were and remain first-century expressions." (26-27)
"God spoke in David's days in David's ways, and God spoke in Solomon's days in Solomon's ways...and we are called to carry on that pattern in our world today.
Chapter 3 to come...
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