Livermore as a town and circumstances of life more generally have been re-exposing me to more conservative theology. I find it balancing and struggle with the merits of each (progressive and conservative theologies) in drawing me into a closer relationship with God. I felt this tension at a biblestudy I attended this past Sunday evening. I was frustrated with a bible study for being too academic and contextual (this is a first). It left very little room for God to be expansive, timeless, present.
We opened to Isiah 55. I came to the scripture rather indifferent about it, but hopeful to experience God. I don't always connect with many of the prophets of the OT.
It started, "Come, you who are thirsty, drink."
My mind was taken to the woman at the well. To Jesus inviting us to living water.
It went on to say... "Gods word is like the rain and snow. It falls to earth but doesnt rise back up again without watering the earth."
I thought about rain. The mystery of it falling and evaporating, but in the process nourishing grass and trees. I thought of Jesus, word made flesh, filling the earth with Gospel before leaving again. I thought of living water. Always nurishing.... The earth never dried up. Jesus came and through us the word keeps circulating. Re-nurishing us again and again. I made progress on thoughts of jesus. But the pastor continued to refocus our understanding of Isiah to the prophecies of liberation for Israel from Babylon.
Is there some theology that allows me to critically understand scriptural context without bounding God to a specific time or place? Can biblical writers write both to their contemporaries and to a future generation looking back? Can this happen without misintrepretation or coopting the scriptures for ones own purposes or renegade theology? Can one see Jesus and the church in the old testament while respecting its Jewish context and history? How can you tell what's what?
