Thought Provoking!

The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible by Scot McKnight
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been recommending this book to many of my friends--I found it to be thought provoking and think it would make worthwhile discussions with both Christians and non-Christians.

This is how the author starts:

"One: We believe everything the Bible says, therefore. . .
Two: We practice whatever the Bible says.
Three: Hogwash!"

The author posits that no-one can believe the Bible literally - it's just not possible. We all take verses or passages and put our own spin on them. He reminds us that the Bible is relevant for every generation.
The author further states that God spoke to each generation in that generation's ways, and the Bible is always relevant for whatever generation we are in. The author says:

"Our task is to take the timely timelessness of the Bible and make it timely timeliness for our world."

"God gave the Bible so we could live it, so we could be mastered by it."

The chapters on Eikon (being created in God's image) and the story of Adam and Eve are especially profound for me. God created Adam in His Eikon (and remember, it is three in one: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit), and then to assuage Adam's loneliness He split him in two, "into an Ish (man) and Ishah (woman). The man and the woman come together to form one flesh. The author states:

"God wanted 'The Adam' to enjoy what the trinity had eternally enjoyed and what the Trinity continues to enjoy: perfect communion and mutuality with an equal. . . God wants the Adam to be two in order to experience the glories of communion with love and mutuality".

The author further says:

"God is a Trinity, three equal persons in one(ness). God designs Eikons for oneness in love. God makes 'The Adam', who isn't one with an equal. So, God splits 'The Adam' into two so Adam and Eve can enjoy oneness."

"When Eikons are at one with God, self, others, and the world, the glory of the One God illuminates all of life."

Sin, of course, "distorts oneness because the Eikon is now cracked . . . Oneness has becomes otherness".

As you go deeper into the book the author states:

"The fall turned the woman to seek dominance over the man, and the fall turned the man to seek dominance over the woman. A life of struggling for control is the way of life for the fallen"

Then the author states: "The church has too often perpetuated the fall as a permanent condition."

Okay stop,and think about this - do you think it's true? When you think about your marriage in terms of the oneness like in the Trinity, does it stop you in your tracks? It kind of does for me. And the statement of the struggle for dominance between men and women, instead of lives of oneness! It's a lot to think about.

The whole book has this kind of thought provoking narrative in it. It would be a great small group study, or just good information to talk about with friends. You should definitely add it to your booklist.

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