Almost Revealed

I had the next-to-last night of my "Reclaiming Revelation" course/Bible study last night. It's been a good experience, and the response from those who have been attending has been really encouraging. If anything this has taught me not to be afraid to share what I've learned back in Seminary as far as the Biblical stories are concerned. For the most part, that hasn't really been a large concern with myself, but I think there is a clerical "fear" of sorts about sharing what scholars have to say about given sacred texts. Perhaps there is a worry that people will either 1) lose their faith, or 2) want to stone the minister for being apostate. I must admit to having a certain amount of this nervousness as well, not so much from my own congregation, as much as it is the memory of those first-year seminary classes where the Old and New Testament professors come under fire from their classes when the students learn that their grade 3 Biblical understanding isn't going to cut it.

I think in part is an accusation that somehow this process undermines the credibility of scripture, or that it somehow rejects its authority. While good scholarship may get us to reconsider how we might understand some of our basic theological ideas, I guess I am one who understands that the Bible is quite able to withstand whatever light we shine on it. Perhaps what we have trouble with is that it may indeed challenge some of the assumptions that we've either make, or have been taught from a very young age. Maybe what we react to is what real in-depth study reflects back onto our own faith, and a discovery that we may need to let go of our traditional understanding in order to gain a new one. That alone can be a scary experience.

Pulling a little bit of wisdom from the book of Job: I think Job learned that's it's okay to question God, but are we really ready for the answer? Either way, God is still God.