The Jesus Family Tomb?

I’m sure most of you have heard about the special the Discovery Channel will have on a tomb found that could be the tomb of Jesus and his family. Ben Witherington has a series of posts on why this probably isn’t the tomb of Jesus and his family. He starts his critique of the special with this:

First of all, I have worked with Simcha [Jacobovici, one of the producers]. He is a practicing Jew, indeed he is an orthodox Jew so far as I can tell. He was the producer of the Discovery Channel special on the James ossuary which I was involved with. He is a good film maker, and he knows a good sensational story when he sees one. This is such a story. Unfortunately it is a story full of holes, conjectures, and problems. It will make good TV and involves a bad critical reading of history. Basically this is old news with a new interpretation. We have known about this tomb since it was discovered in 1980. There are all sorts of reasons to see this as much ado about nothing much.

Ben goes on to list those reasons in The Jesus Tomb? “Titanic” Talpoit Tomb Theory Sunk from the Start.

He has also posted two other posts as more evidence has come to him: Problems Multiply for Jesus Tomb Theory and The Smoking Gun—Tenth Talpoit Ossuary Proved to Be Blank.

The picture is from The Discovery Channel.

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The Power of Presence

Chuck Warnock has a wonderful post about the time he made a pastoral call to a strip club because the owner’s wife and children went to his church, but Freddie never got closer than the parking lot in dropping them off and picking them up. The day I went to the stip club is an excellent post, and I encourage you to go read it. It made me think about a short essay I wrote about meeting people where they are at.

“The Power of Presence”

I had read yet another well-meaning, although very narrow-minded, diatribe of how Christians should only frequent and hang out in places that are Christian owned and/or operated, and whose clientele are other Christians.

When I read or hear this line of thought, I always think: didn’t Jesus say something about His followers being salt and light to a dark world that needs some seasoning? Didn’t Jesus say He would make us fishers of people? Wasn’t Jesus the one who commissioned us to go into the world and make disciples? So how are we supposed to make disciples if we spend all of our time in the great, almighty evangelical bubble? Just with each other for “edifying” company?

At the time I worked within the “evangelical bubble.” I spent my whole day with other Christians, so I made it a point, when I went out, to frequent places where I knew lost people were. It was the only way I ever met people I could be salt and light to. If I took this person’s advice I would have never seen a person who wasn’t a Christian. Not only then, but now, how in the world can I be like Christ if I’m never around the people he hung out with–the tax collectors, sinners, and prostitutes–people who needed God?

But I don’t want to be like those people who only talk about being saved and shoving tracks down the poor, lost person’s throat either. This is where my thoughts on the power of presence come in. I wonder if Christians underestimate the power our presence simply has somewhere? As a Christian I represent Christ. That means where I am, so is Christ. I have noticed that when I hang out in a place for a long enough time the people who work there and other regulars start noticing that I’m different. If I hang around one place long enough the questions start coming. Then I have the opportunity to talk about God, and I am always ready to give “an accounting for the hope that is in in” me (1 Peter 3:15, NRSV). But I don’t necessarily go looking for opportunities to evangelize. I don’t want to be a person that the only time I ever talk to lost people is so I can “save” them. I have this belief that even if I never get an opportunity to talk to them, that my presence, Christ’s presence, still has an impact on them. So even if I don’t get a chance to give an accounting of my hope, I still believe that I have had a positive influence on the place I was in simply because I brought Jesus with me.

In The Message Eugene Peterson translates John 1:14 this way: “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” If Christians aren’t willing to “move” into the neighborhoods and hang-outs of the lost, why should they take us seriously or listen to anything we have to say? (Personally, I don’t trust anyone who won’t hang out with me on “my turf,” and I am a Christian!) If Jesus was willing to meet and hang out with people right where they’re at, should we do any less?

So when I lived in Kansas City, I would still go to Westport and hang out in all of my favorite coffee shops where I was surrounded by people who were atheists, agnostics, New Age gurus, Gaia high priestesses, Buddhists, and a smorgasbord of other religions, spiritualities, and beliefs. No…wait….Jesus and I still hung out these places. One of the things I’ve noticed is that when you get to know people, then you can’t take a whole group of people (say the Wiccans) and demonize them as those evil, evil people. You find out they’re a lot like you. You find common ground. I think we need to be concerned with getting to know people and loving them and leave the convicting and saving to the Spirit (that’s the Spirit’s job anyway).

Now I live in Chicago things still haven’t changed; although, I don’t think I have met a Gaia high priestess yet…but I will.

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Ten Questions about the Bible

Jendi Reiter wanted to know what my answers to these questions are. So here we go.

1. State briefly what you believe about the Bible. I believe the Bible is the people of God’s theological confession of faith. This is how God came to us, started a relationship, and continues that relationship.

2. How is the Bible inspired? I believe in the plenary inspiration of Scripture, which means I believe the Bible contains all truth necessary for faith and Christian living.

3. So is the book of Judges inspired, or only the Gospels? Yes, I believe the book of Judges is inspired. Most of it is a manual on how not to live, and the danger of everyone doing what is right in their own eyes.

4. How is the Bible authoritative? The Bible is authoritative in all things pertaining to faith and salvation. I don’t believe the cultural institutions of the day are authoritative today (like patriarchy and stoning someone for working on the Sabbath). That was the culture God had to work with and should not be taken as authoritative or inspired.

5. Is the Bible a human book? It is both a human and divine book. I don’t believe God zapped people and dictated through them. I believe God revealed God’s self to the people, and inspired them to write what they experienced. I believe it’s the faith community’s confession of faith in this God, and how this God has a relationship with us throughout history. It is both divine and human.

6. Are there aspects of the Bible that are not divine? As I said in 4, there are cultural things that are not divine. That is what God had to work with.

7. Why do you call the Bible a conversation? Because both God and people talk and have a relationship throughout the Bible. It’s not a one-sided monologue, but a diverse conversation with many different points of view.

8. What do you believe about canonization? These are the writings that have led people to a better understanding of God through time and many different communities. The community said these are the writings that are sacred and show us God and the way to live.

9. Do you reject the inspiration of some books? I don’t believe the Apocrypha is inspired.

10. Anything else you want to say? Nope, I think this covers it.

The picture is from The Book of the Kells. I found this picture at the University of British Columbia Library.

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The God of Human Worth

In a recent article on God’s Politics, Diane Butler Bass wrote this:

As we recited the baptism liturgy, I was struck by the final promise. The minister asks, “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” The parents (or the candidates in the case of adult baptism) respond, “I will, with God’s help.”

Christian tradition connects justice and peace with the practice of respecting the dignity of every person. The idea that every creature is dignified, related to God, formed in love, and connected to the whole of the universe forms the center point of Christian theology and ethics. Respect for each person in the web of creation supports the work of justice and peacemaking. Without a profound spirituality of human dignity, practices of justice and peacemaking may slide into the realm of power politics. The baptism liturgy strongly implies that without respect for human dignity, there exists no motive to strive for God’s justice and peace.

Reading this I realize how short we fall short of this particularly in the evangelical tradition. So much of the time we look at people as “us” and “them.” And until “they” join “us” they are somehow less than human, and God does not love them as much as God loves us. We may never say it that bluntly, but that is how we live and act. But the Bible teaches that God made every human being in God’s image, and for that reason alone every person is worthy of respect and dignity.

This is most clearly seen in the book of Jonah where God sends the Jew Jonah to the pagan Assyrians (the Nazis of the ancient world) and tells him “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me” (1:1). Jonah does not want to go and preach at Ninevah because “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing” (4:2). He tried to run away to Tarshish, but a storm and a big fish brought him back, and he went to Ninevah. He proclaimed that God would destroy the city in three days. And Ninevah repents; God does not destroy the city. Jonah’s response to God’s saving work is “O LORD! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing” (v. 2).

The tale of Jonah is one of the Bible’s literary gems. Marked by symmetry, balance, word-play, irony, and surprise, the book purports to teach Jonah (and all readers) about the problem of gracious acceptance for one’s own people (“Deliverance is from the LORD,” Jonah says in 2:9) while churlishly resenting similar treatment for others (see 4:1-5) (The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, 1297).

What do we do with this God who insists on loving people who do not acknowledge this God, let alone serving God? What do we do with a God who insists we take care of the marginalized: the homeless, drug addicts, whores in order to be like God (remember who Jesus hung out with)? What do we do with this God who loves our enemies and insists that we do the same? These are the questions Jonah asks us, and like Jonah we are left to contend with the God who loves and reaches out to all human beings, no matter how corrupted or sinful we are.

The Christian Bible, tradition, and liturgy all proclaim that everyone is made in the image of God and worthy respect and dignity. Do our lives and words reflect what we claim to believe?

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The Wisdom of Winter

I’m menstruating. I decided to work on the novel this week. I’m aiming for 100 pages by the end of Sunday. I’ve written around 9. I didn’t feel good today, and it was hard to think. But I really tried not to take it out on my body. I told my body to do what it needed to do. To menstruate. To cleanse my body and renew herself. I told my body it was okay for us to be slow today. And it is okay. This is the way I was created. This is part of who I am. I am in that sacred space of life and death. A time of great mystery and worthy of great respect. Today I respected and honored my body. I did what I could and I rested. It was a good day.

Winter is traditionally the time of wisdom–the time of the wise ones. Spring is coming: the season of the youth and maiden is upon us. What has this winter taught me? What wisdom have I learned? What has the Spirit of Wisdom taught me?

The Spirit of Wisdom has taught me to be in a place I don’t want to be: the Nazarene denomination. She has taught me that I need to stand and prophecy–be a sybil–and not run. She has given me a wonderful church with good friends–new and old. The Spirit is faithfully with me through my resistance and foot dragging. I am learning to trust the Spirit, although I feel I cannot trust the leaders of my church.

The Spirit of wisdom is teaching me to accept love unconditionally. The Spirit has given me a precious husband who reaches for me in his sleep and draws me close. I am learning to trust him and tell him what I want without veiled threats and manipulations. I am learning that I don’t have be afraid of disappointing him or making him angry. He puts situations in their context. He is understanding and kind. He is the Love of my life, and I have no idea how I lived without him. I am so glad I waited and held out for my Lappidoth—my power that I am equal to. I am so glad I didn’t settle. He was worth every minute of the wait.

I have learned how to be kind to my body and not constantly beat her up. I have learned there is wisdom in every cell of my being, and I need to listen. I can trust my body: she knows what she needs, and she will tell me. I need to listen. I am learning being female is good. My body is good. God created me that way.

The Spirit of Wisdom has shown me the critics that I let run me into the ground: voices from the past that are no longer valid. Perhaps they were never valid. The constant stress I keep myself under trying to live up to impossible, imaginary expectations. These need to be ignored and put away. There is nothing wrong with the choices I have made. I need to let go of childish expectations and live my own life. It is my life to live.

I have learned a lot this Winter. Spirit of Wisdom, thank you for the things You have taught me. Thank you for the wisdom You have given me.

God of the spring and new beginnings, I look forward to the spring of fertility, renewal, and creativity. I look forward to what we will conceive and birth together. Teach me how to be light-hearted and filled with joy. Teach me new songs and new dances.

God, Creator of the young and old, thank you for Your grace and the wisdom You teach me. Thank you for the way You have created my body. Thank you for the life You have given me. Continue to teach me Your ways. Amen.

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The Fall and Women

In Does It Really Mean Helpmate? we saw that God created man and woman to be equals in every way. In Genesis 1 both male and female were given the mandates to procreate and to have dominion over the earth. The human had been placed in the garden to tend it and guard it, and one assumes the male and female continued to do what the human was created to do, and they fulfill the mandates given in chapter 1 together and as equals. There we saw that complementarians try to subordinate woman under man because man was created first, and she was created to be an ezer cenedgo, a word that is normally mistranslated “helpmate” instead of its literal meaning: a power equal to.

Another tactic complementarians use is that women’s subordination is due to the Fall. When God said that a woman’s desire would be for her husband, and he would rule over, God meant it for all time. It doesn’t matter that the rest of curse is not meant for all time: we have made farming easier through machinery, we have diminished labor pains with drugs, and we normally don’t actively look for snakes to mutilate. Complentarians seem to think that the only part of the Fall that is for all time is the a man ruling over his wife.

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Sally Did It Again

Earlier this week I linked to Sally because she had some beautiful art work up. Today I am linking for a creative writing piece. Last month I posted The Samaritan Woman. We looked at the first evangelist in the Gospels. Sally has a wonderful reflection written from the Samaritan Woman’s (does anyone else want to give this woman a name?) point of view when she met Jesus: Woman at the Well. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.

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Beautiful Art

Sally introduced me to a new artist: Farid De La Ossa. Here are my two favorite paintings he has done along with his inspiration for painting them.

The Eucharist, represented by the Host held by the male and female hands that appears in the middle, is a way of solidarity with the poor. Justice that they seek is represented by the scales that appear within the host. The painting depicts a way of action to achieve justice for the oppressed and those wronged in the past (right-hand side) This is represented by the people wearing garments from the Earliest Christianity gathering for worship within the catacombs. The present and future generations (wearing contemporary clothes) are represented on the left side of the picture while the whole artwork, made with color pencils, color pastels, water paint and black ink, is represented by the Mandala of hope which the Eucharist, daily prayer, the cycles of time (represented by the plants and the sky), and the range of Sacramental Life can bring.

All these elements are gathered in the central circle, which is illuminated by the light (yellow color) in spite of darkness and opposition (black color) that confronts the whole Earth (brown color).

Jesus is on the Cross but will resurrect through the power of God’s light. Jesus’ body is presented as a compound of triangles (symbols of the Trinity). The Cross is connected to the Earth, the Universe and to Nature itself, showing the inter-connection that there is between the cross and all Creation. These elements are included in the main circle of this mandala held by a hand of a person which symbolizing the Eucharist which is given to the people. The host is eradiating grace (represented as light rays) to all Creation – a symbol of God’s presence in the Eucharistic Consecration.

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Our Iraqi Brothers and Sisters

They have been in Iraq for 2,000 years. At the turn of the 20th century they made up 20 percent of the population. In 2000 their numbers had sunk to two percent. For the past three years they have been leaving in droves because of violent persecution from Muslims. They are Iraqi Christians, and it is estimated that 200-300,000 Christians have fled from Iraq since the war began. According to Radio Free Europe:

When Saddam Hussein was still in power, the country’s estimated 1.2 million Christians lived peacefully side by side with Sunnis and Shi’ites, but after Hussein was arrested, they became a target of violence. In some quarters, they are associated with the majority Christian armies of the United States and Britain, who many Muslims believe are waging a modern-day crusade against Islam.

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RevGals Friday Five: Badda Bing Badda Boom

The questions are simple, the answers unlimited. Go!

Who: Professor Plum

What: With the candlestick

When: In the wee hours

Where: In the library

Why: No Emily Dickinson first edition should be treated that way.

Bonus: How: A solid thwack to the back of the head.

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