So I had this idea...

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 I was listening to a podcast the other day, and while I didn't agree with everything they said, the discussion did spark an idea.

The people in the podcast believe that the best way to understand the Bible is to see it through the eyes of the rabbis.  I won't go into arguments for or against here and now, just leave it that I disagree.

I believe that the best way to get the fullest view of what the Bible means is to 1) study it, 2) study the context of the Biblical world (not the rabbinic world 100's of years later), and 3) pray.

Their discussion was on the difference between our culture and the culture of Jesus' day and how we understand truth. They were talking about how our Greek-influenced mindset needs systematic knowledge, lists of ideas and logical syllogisms, while the ancient Hebrews saw everything in terms of story. That's why the Bible isn't a 4-volume systematic theology textbook. 

When someone came to Jesus with a question, He usually asked them a question in return. And if that didn't satisfy, then He told them a story. And his listeners would ruminate on that story until they had seen it from as many different angles as possible, applied it to as many different situations as they could. And quite possibly, they learned more than we do by reading our systematic theologies.

So for the next however long it takes, I'm going to study Jesus' stories - His parables. I'm going to see how many different ways I can think about them without getting TOO weird - and see where it leads.

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