tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29789432.post1227647733610789406..comments2008-02-04T14:45:24.317-05:00Wonders for Oyarsahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17986630130864617816noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29789432.post-82257063256073271492008-02-04T14:45:24.317-05:002008-02-04T14:45:24.317-05:00Hi WFO,<BR/><BR/>I just posted on King Solomon today, and thought I'd come over here and see what you had to say about him. :-) <BR/><BR/>This post is convincing. There's more implied in the biblical description of Solomon's splendour than just Solomon.writer2bhttp://writer2b.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29789432.post-16387072770839122142007-11-28T02:04:07.096-05:002007-11-28T02:04:07.096-05:00Sorry I've taken so long to respond to your comment. <BR/><BR/>Let me just say that I can absolutely relate to what you are talking about. It's been fairly recent that I really feel like I've been given new eyes to read the Bible (largely through the liturgy and from reading N. T. Wright), and all of a sudden it has opened up before me. But I can't help but ask myself why, when these themes are so apparent, I couldn't see them before?<BR/><BR/>More and more I am convinced that the key is what questions you are asking. When we come to the Bible with our own questions (which, naturally, we should and must do) we inevitably are framing our reading around them. Then we open ourselves up to the danger that we will hear the Bible saying x when it is longing to tell us y.<BR/><BR/>I've come to believe that it is extremely important not only to look to the Bible for answers, but also for <B>questions</B>. What questions seem to be on the mind of the Biblical authors? What themes seem to echo throughout? Questions like this come to mind:<BR/><BR/>- what is man in relation to God?<BR/>- what is he in relation to creation?<BR/>- what is the knowledge of good and evil?<BR/>- what is wrong with the heart of man? <BR/>- why can he not do what is right in his own eyes?<BR/>- what is the law of God, and what is its effect on his people?<BR/>- what does it mean to be the people of God?<BR/>- what is God looking for in a king for his people?<BR/>- what are the connections between God's mighty acts of judgment and redemption?<BR/><BR/>There are thousands more, of course. But the point is that we will get much more out of the Bible if we let it set the agenda.Wonders for Oyarsahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17986630130864617816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29789432.post-52797365476213661772007-11-21T06:10:40.327-05:002007-11-21T06:10:40.327-05:00I've been churched most of my memorable life. I'm familiar with the Bible. Sometimes too familiar. Sometimes, I can't bear reading it because I can't see anything new. The Big Picture is lost. There's no connection between what was, what is and what will be.<BR/><BR/>Then I read something like this post and it's like I've been given fresh eyes. It never occured to me that the time of Solomon was a picture of the New Creation, even though the language is certainly there.amtoghttp://amtog.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com