I have been called both "fundamentalist" and "pietist" by unsympathetic readers, since they put me in an already-closed slot in their minds, to which they had relegated the use of the Bible. They did not read me carefully enough to be aware that my reading of the scriptural texts was post- and not pre- critical.
John Howard Yoder
"The Politics of Jesus Revisited"
unpublished lecture delivered in 1997, Can Mennonite Center, full text here (pdf) from Notre Dame archive
Well, that's just it, isn't it?
He's brilliant, isn't he?
Posted by: Tim | November 27, 2007 at 10:21 PM
Yes. I think I've found some Christmas reading. From what I know of Yoder (bits and pieces over the years) there are some things upon which we might not see eye to eye, but there is real thought provoking stuff going on there.
Posted by: joseph | November 27, 2007 at 10:32 PM
Check my sabbatical blog for some recommendations.
Posted by: Tim | November 28, 2007 at 02:21 AM
What's the difference between "pre-critical" and "post-critical"?
Posted by: alex | November 28, 2007 at 09:34 AM
Very many years ago I read Yoder's The Politics of Jesus and I think it did something to my Mind. I just may go pull it off the shelf and give it a re-read.
Posted by: Susan | November 28, 2007 at 07:37 PM
alex - I'll lend you a book with a great essay in it - "The Bible in a post-critical age"; in the volume "After the Deluge: Essays Toward the Desecularization of the Church".
Here's the snapshot:
Pre-critical: "Oh, you're just a fundy who doesn't know history and culture and context and semantic range and the place of the redactor and blah, blah, blah, so you don't really understand the bible like I do."
Post critical: "I've done the doctoral seminars, learned the languages, analyzed the parallel sources, and blah, blah, blah, and I still believe that Jesus is God, that miracles happened, and that it is reasonable to believe so, contrary to the modernist project."
Caricature, but you get the drift. Maybe to do it justice I'll pull out the book and post some thoughts. But right now I'm still watering the rink. Minus 20 tonight, so I'm hoping we will have some skating in this weekend.
Posted by: joseph | November 28, 2007 at 08:27 PM