Saturday, January 21, 2012

I Am Back for Scriptures II


Before I begin this process of blogging on the Old Testament post II Chronicles, I should note that prophetic Biblical literature is certainly the genre that I feel the least comfortable with in interpreting and applying Scripture.  I fear that in the process of living as a Christian for the past decade and a half, I have often overlooked the prophets because I did not understand them.  Well, no more!  Over the course of this semester (and ideally for the rest of my life) I will be exploring these important Scriptural works in an effort to see how they fit into the entire story of God and man. 
My time in seminary (particularly the last two semesters) has left me entirely persuaded that the New Testament leans heavily upon-even depends upon-the prophets to set the backdrop for Jesus and the early church.  Some may disagree with me, but I think it correct to say that we as Christians cannot understand the total theological narrative of what God has done and continues to do through Jesus, Paul, and the early Church without reading and understanding the prophets.  Intentional ignorance of these passages is not acceptable, particularly for those who plan to teach within the church.  Thus begins my trek to struggle and engage with the prophets and the wisdom literature. 
One more note of importance: many of the things that I write in this blog may very well be delivered with conviction and confidence.  However, I am still in a formative stage in understanding and interpreting Scripture, therefore my exegesis and theological takeaways from each given passage are certainly subject to change.  If I end up saying anything that upsets anyone, please be patient with me.  I am still learning, and any errors of mine are likely to be corrected in time.  I hope that this is a constructive process for me as a theological thinker and teacher, and I pray that this may also be helpful and encouraging to others (the maximum of 5 or so people) who encounter these posts.