Bible Peity.

I was recently scouring Amazon.com (what a great brand story) for an NRSV study Bible. Once in my cart, there were the numerous suggestions based on my choices. One of those (in addition to a bb-gun and an external harddrive) was a book by Terence E. Fretheim, About the Bible.

What sold me was this hard hitting observation. "All too often for Christians, Bible piety is not matched by Bible literacy. That is, we revere the Bible highly, but we often don't really know very much about it."

I have found out just how much I don't know by being married to a seminarian (who would not for an instant think that she has the answers either -- but is equiping herself with the tools). But just like the rest of life and worldview, the more you learn the more that you realize that you don't know. The more you travel, the more you realize that you have not seen.

I have come to the realization that having attended a "Christian" school from k-12, and spent 4 years at two Christian colleges, I understand next to nothing in the Bible contextually. What I got was the "rights and wrongs crash course", the Cliff's notes on the parables, and some well intentioned (and less well intentioned) folks niave understanding of the king's english translation of what things mean. I don't understand the culture, I certainly don't understand the language, and I DEFINITELY don't understand how these contrast and parallel other cultures of the periods.

What an awesome thing to find out that I don't know! And what an incredible challenge to get to do something about.