Christian Scriptures Are Revelations - Essay Example

Order 332849 Topic: Pentateuch Laurence A. Turner, Back to the Present: Encountering Genesis in the 21st Century. Introduction: Christian scriptures are revelations. Mind is not the originating point for such revelations. It transcends the mind. At that level, they are conflict-free; confusion-free, tension-free and interpretation-free. Turner, works from the conviction that Genesis can be read as a coherent whole. This commentary goes in tandem with the Hebrew narrative art. The plot and characters are depicted in that style. Its inter-textuality raises many interpretative possibilities. Therefore, simple and independent episodes turn as complex but interconnected. The reader is set to think and judge constantly, without intermission, and reevaluates the characters and the style of plot development. This text is predominantly for a first-time-reader. The narrative has many surprises, authentic innovations and ironies. Take for example Turner’s comments about the first verse of Genesis. To quote the first verse, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”(Genesis 1:1, 2, NIV) Turner responds to this revelation thus: “The first verse of Genesis not only reveals a lot about God, but also attacks the common ancient view about religion. In doing this, it sets the trend of the creation account as a whole, which takes every opportunity available to confound the conventional wisdom of its time.”(p.19) The thinking of the people impacted by the materialistic civilization, scientific advancement, industrial and internet revolution have put many of the original contents of the Genesis in dock. Voluminous literatures, a number of books have been published on Genesis, and many attempts have been made to probe its depths. The intellectuals, the mind-level scholars interact with biblical texts in novel ways, and this stand was unthinkable a generation ago. Many have the audacity to comment that Genesis reflects the viewpoints of the time to which it belonged. Turner is quick to counter such mind-level architects of the scriptures vehemently. He writes, “This is not the case. Genesis has always been out of step, not only with the prevailing views of its own time, but also with ours today. It was radical then. It is radical now.”(p.19) To put God in the weighing scale of intellectualism and treat His revelations like the oscillating pendulum, is the worst mistake committed by the present day scholars who make attempts to interpret Genesis. But it is possible for a discerning reader or critic, to understand how Genesis has the intrinsic divine strength to speak to a contemporary readership. Many contentious texts provide divergent presuppositions and come to mutually exclusive conclusions. But that exhibits the weakness of the minds doing such exercises; it has nothing to do with the divine merit of the revelations of Genesis. Turner again writes emphatically. “He is the lord of time and space, who has control over matter, making a fertile and richly varied world. He creates human beings, with whom he can have a relationship, whose destiny is in his hands and not decided by the random position of the sun, moon or stars. And he concludes his creation with holy Sabbath rest, building it into the rhythm of history, to indicate that life needs spiritual nurture if it is to be lived as God intends it.”(p.32) Conclusion: Genesis makes it abundantly clear that whatever exists was created by God, as per his will. He is capable to bring order out of chaos. Everything is happening as it should. Human destiny lies in the hands of God. He transcends physical laws. The Torah Story: An Apprenticeship on the Pentateuch: Introduction: Adequate knowledge is needed for the serious student of the Scriptures. The intricacies of the scriptures are sometimes, beyond the comprehension of even the intelligent ones. The Torah story provides the backgrounder information about the five scriptures and the further understanding becomes easy and entertaining. The quantum of one’s reading is no doubt important; but the exercise of experiencing the correctness of the read material is what matters really. By pronouncing the word candy, one can not know about its sweetness. But with the actual process of eating, the taste buds will reveal the essence of its content. Torah story, that introduces the first five books of the Old Testament, is one such story. The story goes beyond the secular controversies of time and date theories and that of authorship. Understanding salvation becomes easy via the Torah Story. Gary E. Schnittjer has made an honest attempt to bring the tough explanations provided in the scripture Pentateuch. It is meant to take a beginner to the path of Christian spirituality, not the verse by verse interpretation of the Five Books. Torah means Law. Any law prescribes dos and don’ts. Human freedom stands restricted. Any restriction on individual is not conducive to one’s inner growth. Provisions of law are generally like hurdles and they curb the speed. Torah is the beginner’s guide who wants to do further intensive study of the scriptures. This instructional story lays the foundation for the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old testament) and also the New Testament. It is drafted from the perspective of a Christian. Schnittjer’s approach is critical, the trait of a true man of faith. Faith is not blind acceptance of what is told to you. You try to investigate and scrutinize and try to understand the issue to the best of your ability and judgment. He gives advice like a management consultant to his apprentice student of the scripture and tells him to proceed with caution. He also tells you to hasten slowly and expects the student to use discretion when to say, “I do no know.”(p.68) Admission of ignorance about an issue is no guilt. To say ‘yes’ without understanding, is compromising with one’s inner conscience. A good book must not tell the reader to read it with ‘yours faithfully’ approach; it must challenge and stretch the reader and take out the best from his thinking faculty. The wise-men have written many thousands of pages in an attempt to solve the controversies surrounding dating and authorship of scriptures. These mind-level controversies will perhaps never come to an end. For every argument there is a counter-argument. The solution lies in transcending the mind, where bliss alone reigns; all differences cease. The chapter-wise ‘syllabus’ has been arranged methodically from the learner’s point of view. The first chapter is the introduction to the book. The second chapter is the introduction of the Torah story, which is divided into 5 parts, relating to 5 books. The concluding twenty-ninth chapter reintroduces the Torah. Torah shows how God is Immutable Power, ever present; our efforts are only directed to redeeming Him in our lives. Conclusion: The purpose of the book is not to avoid the controversies altogether, but prepare the mind to be ready for such encounters with a proper, steady frame of mind. Solving the controversies should not become the main issue, but progress in the path of spirituality to attain Christhood is! *************** Works Cited: Schnittjer, Garry Edward: The Torah Story: An Apprenticeship on the Pentateuch; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006 Turner, Laurence A: Back to the Present: Encountering Genesis in the 21st Century; Grantham, Eng: Autumn House, 2004. Read More