The Walking Closer Podcast

This episode touches on reading some of the biblical text through the lens of the "honor shame" culture. 

If we are going to better understand the biblical text we first need to acknowledge the challenges we face when it comes to reading and understanding the biblical narrative. 

Resources:

http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/New_Testament_Greek/Text/Metzger-TranslationProblems03-BS.pdf#:~:text=Problems%20involved%20in%20translating%20the%20Scriptures%20are%20many.,punctuation%20of%20the%20Hebrew%20and%20the%20Greek%20texts.

Further reading on the cultural and social context of the Bible. Non affiliated links.

"Cultural Tools for Interpreting the Good News" John J. Pilch

"Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes" E. Randolph Richards & Brandon J. O'Brien

"Honor, Patronage, Kindship, & Purity" David A deSilva

"The Social Sciences and New Testament Interpretation" Richard Rohrbaugh 

"Modeling Early Christianity" Philip F. Esler

"The New Testament World" Bruce J. Malina

Much of Christian talk is shrouded in highly charged religious phrases which prop up certain theories that most people are unaware of or would struggle to articulate practically. How do we make sense of it all? This is the first of a series of episodes that seeks to challenge our perspectives when it comes to what we believe and why in hopes of better understanding the information we actually have.

Episode Resources:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-big-questions/201108/we-see-in-others-what-we-fear-in-ourselves

It's much easier to adapt when you keep the focus on the "purpose" behind why you do what you do. What keeps us from adapting is when we get stuck on the "how" we do something. This can be clearly seen right now as Churches make decisions during this pandemic.

Christians have a tendency to claim lots of things, but the old cliche rings true "actions speak louder than words." 

We may not want to hear it. We may not like it. We may disagree, but here is the solution to working through all the tension.

If you want to understand some of the anger people are feeling right now, just stop and listen with the intention of gaining a new perspective. Even if you still end up disagreeing, seeing things from other people's perspective helps us to walk closer.

Resources

https://waterbrookmultnomah.com/books/592177/be-the-bridge-by-latasha-morrison/

https://bethebridge.com

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BetheBridge/

In Part 2 we talk about what we think might change as our communities begin to move forward through this pandemic. We also talk about what we hope will result from this time.