I, together with approx. 19 others are in Auckland next weekend for a conversation with Brian Walsh - previously mentioned here. In preparation I've been catching up on some of his writing. Dipped into Truth is Stranger Than It Used to Be: Biblical Faith in a Postmodern World. I liked this. For me it connected to an earlier post on William Stringfellow and Bible Study. This is part of what I was trying to say:
"...We need to come through our [cultural / Scriptural] disorientation to reorientation, a return to our biblical roots, that propels us forward to grapple with life in a postmodern culture. Rejecting both postmodern abandonment and a myopic conservative retrenchment, we desire...a renewed encounter with the historic Christian faith that takes seriously where we have come [from] historically.
As the re of reorientation indicates, there is a sense in which we must go back....[for] without a renewed rooting in the Scriptures Christians will have nothing to say to postmodernity and no basis for living as Christians in a postmodern ulture. So the first and indipensable step we need to take is to immerse ourselves in the Bible..." (pp.173-74)
It's a chapter well worth re-reading and reflecting on if you have access to the book. Also Beth Maynard left a comment recently, "His [Walsh] juxtapositions of scripture with contemporary life are amazing. He has a sermon in our "Get Up Off Your Knees" book where he reads "Wake Up Dead Man" with Psalm 44. ." It's in my shopping basket!
I really love Walsh's book 'Truth is stranger...'. I remember reading it at college - I think it was one of the first theological books to really connect with where I was, I still try and flick through it one a year.
Hope your conversations go well, would be great to hear how they went :-)
Posted by: gareth | Monday, 16 February 2004 at 09:07 AM
this comment is nothing whatever to do with theology (well, possibly in its broadest possible definition!!! ) but we took your and Steve T's advice and chilled a bottle of Marlborough region Sauvignon at the weekend. Wow. Yes. Mouthfuls of gooseberries. Thanks for the tip: we'll be doing that again sometime!
Posted by: maggi | Monday, 16 February 2004 at 10:21 AM
Great Maggi, I'm pleased you enjoyed it. Now you have to try a Hawkes Bay (region) Chardonnay...not chilled. Take out of the fridge an hour before you drink it...
Posted by: Paul Fromont | Monday, 16 February 2004 at 05:44 PM