My uncle, a retired Army colonel and economics professor, as well as all around religious skeptic, likes to say "If you want to read a dirty book, read Genesis." I never disagree. He's also the one who asks my Mom if I am over my holiness phase yet. To which I respond that I am still waiting for it to start! This way of looking at Scripture, along with the truth of what Tripp asserts, was brought home to me clearly and in a powerful way by The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb, one of my favorite book purchases of last year, the book from which the illustration of Joseph being seized by his jealous brothers above is taken. Crumb does a good job of depicting the agony and the ecstasy.
Let's not forget, that, at least according to Matthew's genealogy of Jesus, Tamar is one of his ancestors (Matt. 1:3)
Alithos Anesti
This is why the bible shouldn't be worshipped from afar. It is life. It truly is a "people's history" of salvation.
ReplyDeleteAmen. In the end, Christians are not a people of the book, but of the resurrected and living Lord who is always present in our midst, via the Holy Spirit. He is the Word of God, whereas the Bible are the inspired words of God that point us to Him, beginning with the need that constitutes our incomplete and broken humanity.
ReplyDeleteThe story told in the Bible does not end with Revelations 22:21, the last verse of the Bible, which is why the last two verses of the Bible read this way: "The one who gives this testimony says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all."
yes, because if we are "people of the book" it becomes nothing to us--a relic. Our faith is then not lived but is more akin to a museum piece.
ReplyDelete