by nomad » November 12th, 2007, 12:49 am
I've only read The Challenge of Jesus and found it very interesting. At the very least, Wright is correct in pointing out that our interpretation has been effected, and not always in a good way, by our culture. The enlightenment's emphasis on the individual, for instance. This is a subject that has become of more and more interest to me since I started attending a multicultural church with a Korean-American pastor and an African associate pastor. Because, of course, everyone does the same thing. So, as my pastor says, we can lovingly challenge each others assumptions by saying, "Is that Jesus, or is that the Enlightenment?" or "Is that Jesus, or is that Confucius?" And when you start those question, it's amazing to discover how much of what you thought was just "reading the Bible" is really filtered through Rousseau, Jefferson, or Adam Smith without your even realizing.
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"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.