Presented at St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, March 2010.

1. the song we almost forgot

2. recovering the gospel melody

3. 5. Now, here on earth may your
commonwealth come.
4. Here on earth may your
dreams come true.
3. Hallelujah
2. Hallelujah
1. Amen.

4. From the place where we
But doubts and loves
are right
Flowers will never grow Dig up the world
In the spring. Like a mole, a plow.
The place where we are And a whisper will be
right heard in the place
Is hard and trampled
Where the ruined
Like a yard.
House once stood.
Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai

5. Look what they've done to But maybe it'll all be all right,
my song, Ma Ma
Look what they've done to my Maybe it'll all be OK
song
Well, if the people are buying
Well it's the only thing I
could do half right tears
And it's turning out all I'll be rich some day, Ma
wrong, Ma Look what they've done to my song
Look what they've done to my
song
Look what they've done to my Look what they've done to my song,
brain, Ma Ma
Look what they've done to my
Look what they've done to my song
brain
Well they picked it like a Well it's the only thing I could
chicken bone do half right
And I think I'm half insane, And it's turning out all wrong, Ma
Ma Look what they've done to my song
Look what they've done to my
song
Melanie Safka

6. Statements
! ?
Questions

7. Statements (or theses) create
debates that bring us to new a
state (or status).
! ?
Questions create conversations
that launch us on new quests.

8. Systems
! ?
Stories

9. Modern & postmodern
systems & stories

10. Big stories
episodes
The Bible story
Bible stories

11. Question 1:
What is the shape of the
biblical narrative?
(A pre-critical question)

13. Eden Heaven
Fall Salvation
History/
The world
Hell

14. Platonic Ideal Platonic Ideal
Fall Atonement,
purification
Into
Aristotelian Aristotelian
Real
Real
Hades

15. Pax Romana Pax Romana
Civilization,
Rebellion development,
into colonialism
barbarism Barbarian/ assimilation
pagan
world
Destruction,
defeat

16. Is there an
alternative
understanding?

17. sdrawkcab gnidaer
Rick Warren, Billy Graham, Charles Finney, John Wesley (or Calvin), Luther,
Aquinas, Augustine, Paul, Jesus
reading forwards
Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Jesus

18. Exodus: Liberation & Formation

19. Exodus: Liberation & Formation
Genesis: Creation and Reconciliation

20. Isaiah: Peaceable Kingdom - Justice and
Mercy
Exodus: Liberation & Formation
Genesis: Creation and Reconciliation

21. G
e
Isaiah: Peaceable Kingdom - Justice and
n
Mercy
e
s
i
s
Exodus: Liberation & Formation

22. HUMAN DESTRUCTION
G
e
Isaiah: Peaceable Kingdom - Justice and
n
Mercy
e
HUMAN VIOLENCE
s
i
s HUMAN EXPLOITATION
Exodus: Liberation & Formation

23. HUMAN DESTRUCTION
G
e
Isaiah: Peaceable Kingdom - Justice and
n
Mercy
e
HUMAN VIOLENCE
s
i
s HUMAN EXPLOITATION
Exodus: Liberation & Formation

24. Reading Paul in light of Jesus:
Acts 28:23 ff: “the kingdom of God ... and Jesus.”
“the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans: “to the Jew first and also to the Greek ...”
Galatians 3:7 ff
Understand, then, that those who believe are children
of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would
justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the
gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be
blessed through you.” So those who have faith are
blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

26. Ivan Illich (Austrian
former priest,
philosopher, social
critic, 1926-2002)

27. Neither revolution nor reformation
can ultimately change a society,
rather you must tell a new powerful
tale, one so persuasive that it sweeps
away the old myths and becomes the
preferred story …

28. one so inclusive that it gathers all the
of our past and our present into a
erent whole, one that even shines
e light into the future so that we can
the next step…. If you want to
nge a society, then you have to tell an
rnative story.
ttributed to Ivan Illich (Austrian former priest,
philosopher, social critic, 1926-2002)

32. the song we almost forgot

33. recovering the gospel melody

34. Question 2:
The Bible Question
What is the Bible?
Or: What is it for?

35. What do we mean
when we say the Bible
is authoritative?
What do we mean by
authority?

36. The Bible as
Constitution
• What purposes do constitutions (or social
contracts) fulfill?
• What problems arise with this approach?

37. Bible as Conversation
• The Bible as a cultural library
• Artifacts from stories within stories

38. LEGAL CONSTITUTION COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Uniformity Diversity
Preserve order Preserve diversity
agreement argument
enforcement encouragement

39. LEGAL CONSTITUTION COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Rules to live by Stories to live by
Conformity Creativity
Analyze, interpret, argue Enter, inhabit, practice
amendments? new acquisitions

40. Inspiration
• what would an inspired constitution look
like?
• what would an inspired community library
look like?