6.20.06

6/20/06

I had an interesting thought this morning. It comes out of some reading that I have been doing in Brian McLaren’s book More Ready than You Realize, and the devotion that one of the sampler kids did. McLaren argues that as “church insiders” we need to remember that the Bible is a foreign text which can be intimidating to people, especially those who have not grown up with it. It makes use of strange images and was not written to score a spot on the New York Times best seller list. It can be a genuinely tough nut to crack. As a part of the devotions this morning Ian read from the version of the Bible which he likes best, the KJV. Now, I have long been opposed to using the KJV because its language is so much different from that which is in common use today. However, today it struck me that such language might actually be useful in helping to cue the reader that they are approaching a strange, foreign text. Now, don’t get me wrong, I believe that the Bible is full of truth which transcends time and culture, but sometimes these truths are expressed in culturally specific language and images which can distort how we interpret them. I don’t think I am going to run out and buy all KJV Bibles for all of my friends, but the learning about the strange nature of the Bible will be something that I keep with me for quite some time.