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Ash: How to pray the psalms in Christ

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Christopher Ash, in Teaching Psalms, Vol 1, has developed a case for interpreting and preaching the Psalms in a rigorously Christ-centred way.

He espouses the view that all the psalms are ‘about, for, or to the Anointed King (Messiah).’

My initial reaction to this proposal was twofold:

(a) Yes, I want to exalt Christ in every possible way, and therefore to celebrate an approach that is thoroughly Christ-centred.

(b) But I suspected that Ash’s approach is actually quite restricted, in inhibiting a Trinitarian reading of the Psalms and in (potentially) leading to a neglect of their original meaning. …

1 Jn 5:16f – The sin that does, and the sin that does not, lead to death

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16 If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

Various interpretations have been put forward:-

1. That the difference is between intentional and unintentional sins.  …

‘Fundamentalism’ revisited (again)

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Some years ago, I wrote:

‘It occurs to me that theological liberalism reached the height of its influence in the period leading up to 1977.  In fact, Alister McGrath makes a comment to this effect in his biography of J.I. Packer, To Know and Serve God, p212.  In that year two books were published by SCM Press which seemed finally to demonstrate that liberalism was, in the end, an impoverished, negative, destructive influence that was incapable of serving the purpose of Christ in this or any other generation. 

…

Reading While Black – 7

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What does the Bible have to say about freedom from slavery?  Do we have to privilege the story of the Exodus over the teachings of Paul in order to arrive at an acceptable answer?  Or do we have to ditch the Bible as our holy book, because we believe that it fails to condemn slavery in its various forms?

In chapter 7, Esau MacCaulley tackles the most important biblical texts on this question.

Reading the Bible like Jesus did

When Jesus was asked about divorce, he pointed his questions back beyond the Mosaic law (Deut 24:1-4), which permitted it under some circumstances, to God’s creational intention:

Mt 19:3 Then some Pharisees came to him in order to test him.

…

Reading While Black – 6

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In chapter 6, Esau McCaulley discusses the anger that African Americans feel about their historic and ongoing mistreatment at the hands of others.

McCaulley writes movingly of his own and others’ experiences.  However, I shall focus on his biblical and theological reflections, for it is these which give the book its unique character and value.

In the chapter, the author presents four reflections on the issue of ‘Black rage’.

1. Israel’s anger as a means of processing Black grief

We turn especially to the psalms of imprecation, and especially Psa 137. …

Reading While Black – 5

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In chapter 5, Esau McCaulley discusses the issue of black identity.

For some people, he says, Black Christianity is a false notion, foisted upon black people by their oppressors.

History says otherwise.  In the days of the early church, there were three centres of Christianity – Rome, Antioch and Alexandria.  It cannot be true, then, that Christianity first came to Africans via slavery.  Christianity belongs to Africans as much as it belongs to Europeans.  Ethiopia was evangelised in the 4th century, and Nubia (in what we now call the Sudan) by the 6th century.…

Reading While Black – 4

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Chapter four is subtitled: ‘The Bible and the Pursuit of Justice.’

The burden of this chapter

‘is to outline the ways in which the Gospel of Luke contains a vision for the just society transformed by the advent of God that speaks to the hearts of Black Christians.’

Luke was a Gentile Christian.  As such, his very place in the Christian community would have been a matter of some controversy at first.

Luke’s Gospel reflects the resolution of this early controversy by heralding the fulfilment of God’s age-old plan to create an international, multi-ethnic people for his own glory.…

Reading While Black – 3

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In chapter three, Esau McCaulley discusses ‘the New Testament and the Political Witness of the Church’.

The white Christian consensus in America, writes McCaulley, has reduced its political theology to two things: prayer (as per 1 Timothy 2:1-4) and law and order (as per Romans 13:1-7).  Not, of course, that that there is anything wrong with these two things!  But to limit political theology in this was is to misread those very texts, and also to ignore the wider witness of the New Testament.…

Reading While Black – 2

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Chapter 2 of Esau McCaulley’s book Reading While Black discusses ‘The New Testament and a Theology of Policing.’

McCauley selects two texts for consideration.  The first has implications for the state, and the second for the individual law enforcer.

Romans 13:1-7

13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 13:2 So the person who resists such authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment 13:3 (for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad).…

Reading While Black – 1

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Having read Ben Lindsay’s book We Need to Talk About Race, I have now turned to Esau D. McCaulley’s Reading While Black (IVP, 2020).

I am finding it a more satisfying read.

McCaulley is an American biblical scholar and Assistant Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, Illinois.

Subtitled, ‘African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope’, this book advocates an approach to biblical interpretation that is faithful to the inspired Scripture but that also reflects the experiences, needs and perspective of black readers.…