A Good Read

Preparing, getting the mind set for small group Bible Seminars that begin next Tuesday and Wednesday. A friend recommended The Dust Off Their Feet, which is the Book of Acts retold by Brian McLaren, and I ordered it. For some reason, it took longer than the usual Amazon.com order, which normally comes a day or so later, but it arrived Thursday and I found it almost “can’t put down,” not unlike reading a novel. Honestly, it’s as good a story as there is, and if one hadn’t already read the Book of Acts many times, it would have been a cliff-hanger. My reaction is to be somewhat astonished at the quality of it, though I shouldn’t be, having read other of McLaren. 

The Book of the Acts of the Apostles is not inappropriately called the sequel to the Gospel according to Luke. In the first book Luke -- whoever that was, it’s written anonymously and the early church’s attribution to the Luke who traveled with Paul is tenuous, as is McLaren's naming Luke as the storyteller at Acts 16:10 -- Luke tells his story of Jesus’ conception, birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection. Oh, and he takes it to the ascension outside Jerusalem forty days after Easter. Acts then begins where Luke leaves off, repeating the ascension scene and going from there to get the early Church underway. The primary stars are first Simon Peter, and second Saul of Tarsus, Paul.

It is undeniable that Luke has an agenda, namely that Jesus was in the line of all God’s prophets who were rejected by the people of Israel such that God’s message of salvation is then offered to the Gentiles; an agenda that Luke pursues faithfully and pointedly in his gospel from beginning to end, and that he carries all the way through Acts even more pointedly to the conclusion that God’s message and salvation now belongs to all nations, which is to say, the Gentiles.

We won’t use Brian McLaren as a text in our Bible Seminars. At first we’ll use YLT, Young’s Literal Translation from the Greek, and then if the classes wish we’ll switch to the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). Or we could switch to the King James Version, which in my experience is not only more memorable but is a more literal translation of the Greek than any modern version except YLT which tends to be awkward semantically. Nevertheless, McLaren is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to understand the story clearly without pondering some sort of textual criticism, and certainly is a good backup to enrich the study.

Tuesday morning, February 5, gather between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m. in my office Through The Garage at Holy Nativity. Convene 10:05 sharp, adjourn 11:15 sharp so people can count on it.

Wednesday afternoon, February 6, gather before 1:00 o’clock p.m. in Jewell Hall at St. Thomas by the Sea, Laguna Beach. Convene 1:05 sharp, adjourn 2:15 sharp so people can count on it.

All are invited and welcome, one needn't be a member of either parish, or an Episcopalian, or even a Christian. It is helpful but not essential if I'm told ahead of time by email who's coming. twellerpc@gmail.com

TW+