2.10.2009

on the stretch between the library and olson.

I thought to myself...

though story-telling, enticing rhetoric, and flashy points are often good tools for engaging people in the word.  It often masks the truth of what we are trying to relay, as if we need those tools to up the excitement factor of the actual content of our message.  

"It is the dogma that is the drama--not beautiful phrases, nor comforting sentiments, nor vague aspiration to loving-kindness and uplift, nor the promise of something nice after death--but the terrifying assertion that the same God who made the world, lived in the world and passed through the grave and gate of death.  Show that to the heathen, and they may not believe it; but at least they may realize that here is something that a man might be glad to believe." --Dorothy Sayers, Letters to a Diminished Church

Maybe I thought about this because Fergus MacDonald gave a great talk tonight about engaging scripture in a postmodern context.  He did it mostly in a monotone voice and he definitely wasn't there to entertain. But i was drawn in. I was drawn in by truth, not by rhetoric.  By scripture not by anecdotes. And by exposition, not entertainment.

Thanks Fergus.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

sounds productive. I really enjoy a good exposition.

Contrast from last week?

I might come up for McLaren.

annie.marie.dimond. said...

HUGE contrast. And it was beautiful because he so readily acknowledged his discomfort with the Emergent church's answers, but was very ready to accept their questions and engage with them with language they would be open to, while relying most heavily on the biblical narrative--errr, metanarrative that scripture provides. It just shows such a confidence in scripture, that it is, at all times, relevant and compelling.

josiahdhatfield said...

Fergus was indeed a breath of fresh air. Thanks, Fergus.

I think the bare bones of the Gospel is indeed something I'm "glad to believe." What's fantastic though is that the Bible itself uses story-telling to give us the Gospel.

Your blog is quickly moving up in my 'Favorite Blogs Rankings.'

annie.marie.dimond. said...

That is the beauty. You have to share the truth somehow, and the Bible so exquisitely tells a story that cultures can understand, and yet always draws our attention back to who the story is about.

Thanks Josiah.

BT said...

Sounds like a familiar topic.

annie.marie.dimond. said...

why does it sound so familiar. to what do you refer?