Brian asked 'What would Paul say to a Salaryman? Exploring the implications of masculinity in the New Testament for Japanese working men'. Brian observed that to a Japanese Christian man, it is the "man" bit in which he is most likely to unthinkingly transmit an Australian, rather than a Christian perspective. This was an interesting observation - even if we are aware of our culture, I think we're often unaware of how our culture defines our masculinity/femininity.
When Paul is explaining how people are to live, he starts with Christ and then appropriates helpful cultural ideas. But some Christian books about masculinity (eg Wild at Heart) will start with cultural ideas and then appropriate the Bible.
Brian had lots of other interesting things to say, but I'll stop there.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Scantily clad women and sex scenes
Kathryn's paper was 'An evaluation of the effect of western media on Muslims' views of Christianity'. She said that Muslims interpret America's support of Israel as a holy war intent on bringing western (read Hollywood) values/Christianity to the Middle East. Culture and religion is seen as all of a piece.
Work
Andrew's paper was called 'Don't give up on your day job: Toward a theology of work'. I took fairly comprehensive notes which I'm a little hesitant to write down in case I got something wrong. But I don't think I did. Andrew said that the Bible speaks about work in five significant ways:
- Ontological. God is a worker. We are by nature workers. Work is about making order from chaos. When we work: we do a good thing; we honour God by imitating him and we bear witness about the sort of God that he is.
- Instrumental. Work can be used to achieve good things.
- Relational. Work can bring justice and mercy to people.
- Arena for worship. In this new covenent age, we are God's temple, and wherever we are (including at work) can be a place for worship.
- Arena for receiving gifts. Ecclesiates says that working to gain things for yourself is very toilsome. However working to receive gifts is enjoyable and not as toilsome. [I can't fully recall this last point.]
How not to screw people round
The problem with churches getting involved in social action is that they don't always have the resources or experience to do a good job of it. An antidote to this is for a church to employ a social worker. Of course!
H/T Fiona
H/T Fiona
In his hands
Jill looked at Job too. She observed that for non-Christians, grief can eventually resolve into acceptance. Christians, however, do not have to 'merely' accept the reality of what has happened and move on. They have a personal, powerful God who is present in the midst of grief and in whom they can find trust and hope.
Right confusion
Roger's topic was something about Calvin's interpretation of Job. I'm only going to mention a few side issues.
The Job narrative adds some nuance to the view of man as the centre of all creation (Genesis 1-2). In Job we read that God "cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it" (38:25-26). God's care for the earth, even when people are absent, should humble us.
The creatures called Leviathan and Behemoth (40:15-34) show the world to be chaotic and evil. It is partly because this is a crazy, complex world that God acts with unfathomable wisdom.
The book of Job presents three reasons why we cannot understand (all of) God's will. The first is our creatureliness (above); the second is because God hides his will; and the third, because we are sinful (we are, but Job isn't).
The Job narrative adds some nuance to the view of man as the centre of all creation (Genesis 1-2). In Job we read that God "cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it" (38:25-26). God's care for the earth, even when people are absent, should humble us.
The creatures called Leviathan and Behemoth (40:15-34) show the world to be chaotic and evil. It is partly because this is a crazy, complex world that God acts with unfathomable wisdom.
The book of Job presents three reasons why we cannot understand (all of) God's will. The first is our creatureliness (above); the second is because God hides his will; and the third, because we are sinful (we are, but Job isn't).
Oh sorry was I being ambiguous?
After exams the students who did projects held a 'Project Fair'. I'll share some of their findings and reflections with you over the next few posts.
Derek looked at 'Deliberate ambiguity in the Solomon narrative'. He noted that scholars who commentate on 1 Kings decide from the outset if Solomon's being portrayed as a good or bad man. Their decision influences their interpretation of various passages throughout the book. However Derek argued that the writer of 1 Kings is deliberately employing ambiguity to make the reader ask questions and become engaged in the story. Passages are supposed to remain ambiguous, until the climax is reached and ambiguity resolved in 11:4-6.
Derek looked at 'Deliberate ambiguity in the Solomon narrative'. He noted that scholars who commentate on 1 Kings decide from the outset if Solomon's being portrayed as a good or bad man. Their decision influences their interpretation of various passages throughout the book. However Derek argued that the writer of 1 Kings is deliberately employing ambiguity to make the reader ask questions and become engaged in the story. Passages are supposed to remain ambiguous, until the climax is reached and ambiguity resolved in 11:4-6.
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