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I finished reading The Blue Parakeet by Scot McKnight. A very helpful book. There are many books that cover the same subject, but this is the best one I've read. Oh, the subtitle is 'Rethinking How You Read the Bible.' Scot McKnight is one of the most interesting New Testament scholars writing today.
He says the seven most important words in reading the Bible are "that was then and this is now." His motto is: God spoke in Moses' days in Moses' ways; God spoke in Jesus' days in Jesus' ways; and he spoke in Paul's days in Paul's ways. And God speaks in our days in our ways.
McKnight uses the principle of 'reading the Bible with tradition' rather than 'reading the Bible through tradition.' He reminds us that we are all 'pickers and choosers' when it comes to interpreting the Bible. He reminds us that God is not the Bible, and the Bible is not God. McKnight emphasizes that an important part of the plot of the Bible is the development of a covenant community. He writes about how we tend to jump from Genesis 3 to Romans 3—from the Fall to Redemption. He says, "So, now that we've got the fall, let's get to redemption. I like this, but there's something missing. (Like 1033 pages!)"
I really like the way he outlines the plot of the Bible. He uses five themes:
- Creating Eikons (Gen. 1-2)
- Cracked Eikons (Gen. 3-11)
- Covenant Comunnity (Gen. 12 – Malachi)
- Christ, the Perfect Eikon, redeems (Matt. – Rev.20)
- Consummation (Rev. 21-22)
McKnight's book teaches us to understand the Bible as Narrative, not as a law book or a list of blessings or a Rorschach test or a puzzle to be solved. It's a love story. It's about our relationship with God and others.
At the end of the book he uses the passages in 1 Cor. 14 and 1 Tim. 2 about the silence of women as examples of how understanding the historical and cultural context frees up the Scriptures to make sense for contemporary believers. He shows that neither 1 Cor. 14 nor 1 Tim. 2 command all women at all times in the church to be silent. Both passages are about certain kinds of women who are temporarily admonished to become educated before teaching others.
This book would be a wonderful text for adolescents or confirmation study or new Christians. Professor McKnight says at one point: "God bless 'em, but some folks see some of the goofiest things in the bible, and I wish I could just blow Holy-Spirit-air on them and cure them of their silliness."
I think it is this kind of reading of the Bible that would throw new light on questions about homosexuality and other controversial questions. "That was then and this is now."
