Scott Stein announces “A Frank Conversation with Frank Wilson.” That’s Frank Wilson of Books, Inq.
on April 11, 2008, 2:00 PM, at Paul Peck Center, 3142 Market Street, Drexel University, Philadelphia. I will not be there, because I don’t have a pass to leave my room this year. Maybe the warden will get me a live feed, but he’s been in a bad mood lately, so I doubt it. More information on Scott’s blog.
storySouth Best Online Short Award
The storySouth 2008 Million Writers Award for Fiction is open to nominations this month. The Rules: “Any story published during 2007 in an online magazine journal is eligible. The caveats are that said online mag or journal must have an editorial process–meaning no self-published stories–and the story must be at least a 1,000 words in length. Readers may nominate one story for the award. Editors of online publications may nominate up to three stories from their publication. All nominations are due by March 31.”
I confess that I do not read online fiction, though perhaps that would be a more edifying use of my time than browse news/blog tidbits. I do waste time online, but I also see far more interesting articles than I read.
Bookshelves
You know that Kimbooktu has a focus on bookshelves and home libraries. Here she links to some cool designs in shelving, some more practical than others. I love this Ellipse Bookcase. It has a hobbit feel. This Ceiling Book Storage is impressive too.
The Incarnation of Evil
By way of Kimbooktu, I have learned the William J. Clinton Presidential Library has a representation of Cthulhu overlook the visitors. Scroll down a bit to see a couple photos of it. It’s labeled a “Chihuly Sculpture,” but [not so] seriously, doesn’t that remind you of the biggest force of evil in this universe this side of Darth Vader?
Country Quiz
The question should be, “How many country names can you spell correctly under pressure?” I burned seconds trying to spell “Mozambique” and “Colombia” and many I would not have tried.
Two Thoughts
I’ve been thinking of my sister lately. I think she’s a fan of NPR’s “What, What . . . Don’t Tell Me!” It’s hilarious. I have it on now, one of the repeats they have during the weekend. Have you heard it?
Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea makes this comment on something my sister told me she is enjoying too: “Don’t get me started on having Michael York . . . ruining The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe from the Chronicles of Narnia boxed set I got — although I have to say the bad experience was nicely balanced by the heaven of listening to Jeremy Northam reading The Silver Chair – oh yummy yummy, I could just eat him up!”
Recommended Reading on Modern History
I’m listening to the current edition of the Mars Hill Audio Journal, and the host, Ken Myers, recommends Fred Turner’s book From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism.
Kingdom Blends Works to Help Third World
Pastor David Banks of Chattanooga challenged his congregation to set a goal for this year to do something out of their comfort zone which would influence someone’s life. Taking the challenge himself, he started Kingdom Blends coffee, which sells in the Folk Heart store in Northgate Mall and by phone. Part of the sale price goes to Kiva for third world family loans.
Parabola
James Lileks at www.buzz.mn says they’re having a try-out for the game show, Jeopardy at the Mall of America tonight.
Ah well. If God had intended me to go to the try-out, He wouldn’t have scheduled a Viking Age Society meeting for tonight.
My subject, in lieu of phrasing my answer in the form of a question, is the parables of Jesus.
Most Christians think they know all about the parables. It’s my opinion that most of what we think we know is… not exactly mistaken. But inadequate.
I grew up (and I don’t think I’m alone) with the idea that the parables were essentially allegory. You go to them with the idea of figuring out what this or that symbolizes, and then you have the meaning.
But have you noticed that that approach doesn’t actually work very well when you go to the text?
It works fine for some of the parables. The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-9) is a classic of this form. In fact, the disciples ask Jesus what it means, and He gives an allegorical interpretation. The seed stands for something, and the various kinds of ground on which it falls stand for various kinds of people.
And yet… what does that interpretation tell us? That some people accept the gospel, and some people don’t. Hardly news to anybody who’s ever tried to share his faith.
So it seems to me that Jesus’ interpretation wasn’t meant to be exhaustive. I think He meant us to meditate on the story and read the deeper implications—the fact that people who want to spread the gospel have to be prepared to see most of their work appear to be wasted, holding onto faith that the portion that falls on the “good soil” will bring a return that makes up for the disappointment of the others. In other words, courage and persistence and optimism are the point, as any good salesman could tell you.
Some parables seem to be plain narrative, with no symbolism involved. Take the parable of the Rich Man with the storehouses (Luke 12:16-21). I look in vain here for any symbolism or allegory. The rich man represents a rich man. He’s accumulated so much grain (which symbolizes grain) that he’s making plans to tear down his old storehouses (which I interpret for you to mean storehouses) and build new ones to hold it all. He doesn’t know that he’s about to die, and then all his wealth will do him no good. This isn’t allegory. It’s a cautionary tale. Jesus says, “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (verse 21). We miss the point of this story, I think, when we look for symbolism when we ought to be taking it literally.
And then there are the “difficult parables.” There’s the parable of the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1-8). How are we to take a story where Jesus asks us to think of God as being like an unjust judge? (No wonder the Sanhedrin considered Him a blasphemer!). Or the parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-13). Here Jesus seems to be holding up an embezzler as an example for His disciples. What’s with that?
This is again a problem of looking for allegory where something else is intended. These two stories aren’t allegories. They’re… I don’t know what to call them. There’s probably a literary term. They’re stories intended to shock, to twist paradigms, to deliver a narrative kick to our pants. Jesus is simply telling fantastic, shocking (and somewhat comic) stories to get our attention. He doesn’t want us to take the Unjust Judge or the Unjust Steward as reliable symbols or role models. He just wants us to look at the things we do from a different perspective. These stories are like the two-by-four with which the farmer in the old joke smacks his mule, just “to get its attention.”
My point in all this is to say that the parables, considered merely as a group of stories, are highly remarkable, and far more textured and complex than we usually think.
It seems to me that even someone who didn’t believe the Christian religion would have to stop a moment in puzzlement if he encountered these stories for the first time, and was informed that they came from an obscure, First Century Jewish peasant. I think he’d say, “This must have been some peasant.”
The Reason for God
The website for Tim Keller’s book, The Reason for God, is fantastic, loaded with audio downloads and a study guide. This looks like a great book for the modern church. First Things has a lengthy interview with Keller, which appears to be linked from many blogs. Keller says:
I think the new-atheism thing was an impetus [to writing the book], and it was also an opportunity, because I believe that this book, say, three or four years ago, the average secular person in a Barnes & Noble wouldn’t necessarily—why would you pick up a book that’s designed to say orthodox Christianity’s true? But now, as part of the cultural conversation, the book’s title immediately positions it as an answer.
…
Penguin probably was willing—which doesn’t even have a religion division—the reason Penguin was interested in it was because of the cultural conversation and the new atheists. I don’t think they would have picked it up otherwise, frankly. But they’ve been really supportive, wonderful.