Exegesis and Theology...Not!

Over the years -- at retreats, continuing education programs, courses, etc. -- I've heard a lot of odd things roll off the tongues of professors, theologians, scriptural scholars and others. Because I'm such a compulsive note-taker, I've written down many of these remarkable comments. This morning, while doing a little housecleaning in my den, I came across a few of the old notebooks in which I had jotted down some of these gems. And so, I thought that at least a few of you might enjoy reading them along with my inadequate responses.

"You have to be careful when reading the New Testament since some of it really doesn't apply today, at least not without substantial additional redaction." -- By a well-known New Testament scholar in answer to a student's question (1995)

Whoa! There are so many troublesome things in this statement that one hardly knows where to begin. Let me begin by stating that once one gets so caught up in the zeitgeist and decides that some of the Gospel doesn't really apply to today's more "sophisticated" forms of Christianity...well he might as well toss the whole thing. This, of course, is exactly what many folks like this have done. And what they haven't tossed, they have turned into an ideological manifesto that can be massaged and reinterpreted to ensure it applies to and supports their constantly changing lifestyles and shifting politics.

Why these people think they even need the Gospel is beyond me, but I suppose many are still at least culturally attached to their "faith" and need the reassurance and consolation they have associated with it. Or perhaps it's all about power, and their appeals to Scripture are needed to attract new adherents to whatever cause they espouse. Or I suppose it could just be simple intellectual arrogance and pride of the sort that's behind the generation of so many off-the-wall, wacko concepts.

And then there's that "redaction" comment. Of course, by "redaction" the exegete really meant a form of radical editing of the sort that has generated some of our more questionable Biblical translations. Ah, well, let's pray that our scholar has changed his views since 1995 and is now more willing to accept the Gospel as the Holy Spirit gave it to us. Trust me, it's radical enough as it is.

"We really don't know who the real Jesus was since virtually everything we know about him was written by his followers." -- By a priest and professor of theology during a Sunday homily (2004)

This has to be one of the more absurd comments I've ever heard in a homily, and so I won't expend too many words critiquing it. What the good father seems to be saying is that we really can't trust those disciples to speak or write the truth about Jesus. After all, they obviously liked Him and so would be unlikely to say anything negative about Him.

It's important to remember that the four evangelists never intended to write biographies; they were witnesses who wrote testimonies of their faith. The Holy Spirit had them include just enough biographical information about Jesus to support that faith and show Jesus as the fulfillment of Scripture. Unfortunately it would seem our homilist also completely disregards the rather important role of the Holy Spirit in the development of Holy Scripture. Either that or He doesn't trust the Spirit to speak the truth either.

I suppose if Pontius Pilate or Herod Antipas or Caiaphas or all three had left us their impressions of Jesus, our theology professor would have given these more weight than the Gospels.

"You can't understand the Gospel unless you have a strong grasp of the cultural, political, and religious aspects of life in first century Palestine." -- Moral theologian during a lecture on "Morality in the Gospels" (1996)

This is one of those statements that, to the educated person, sounds fine at first...until you think about it from a perspective of faith. Believe it or not, the Gospels were not written for theologians or Scriptural scholars. They were written for all of us -- for the wise and the not so wise, for the rich man and the beggar, and for the the educated and the illiterate. Yes, the Gospels were written even for the illiterate, for those unable to read them. My own first exposure to the Gospels came before I had learned to read, largely from my father who would regularly read or recite Gospel passages to my brother and me. And do you know something? Even as a child I could grasp the essential meaning of much of what I had heard.

Too many scholars get so wrapped up in the cultural and political particulars of the setting that they fail to grasp the timelessness of the Gospel message. And it is this message that the average Christian will usually comprehend without access to all that specialist knowledge. Yes, the Gospel can enlighten the mind, but through the mysterious working of the Holy Spirit it moves the hearts of all who approach it with humility and faith.

Enough for now. The grandchildren are calling for Papa, so I must respond. More later...

God's peace...