Elaine Pagels and Henri Nouwen

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/07/148125942/the-book-of-revelation-visions-prophecy-politics

If anyone is up for an intellectual challenge. This interview certainly provides room to grow and think.  See the link above.

Well, after waiting for 3 days, the transcripts aren't posted for the interview even though the two days after this interview are. I'm not sure why this interview isn't be posted.  So I will have to try to explain her points without the transcripts.

Elaine Pagels made two points that caught my ear. First, she discusses approaching the Scripture as a non-believer.  (see minute 32:50)  She discusses how she approaches the reading the Scripture in a fundamentally different way then a believer.  I can say exactly what she does in terms of any classic and powerful piece of literature.  Also see 34:50 for her words of approaching the text as a journalist and a historian.  She approaches the Scripture in someways like an outsider, but as a historian she says she wants to be able to see all sides to the story.  Also, if your interested the first 30 minutes are her discussion of Revelation itself and quite informative and useful.  In fact, she is more accurate than plenty of other things said and believed by Christains today.


Moving on to Nouwen and thinking about Pagels' words.  The devotional I'm working through for Lent is a collection of Henri Nouwen's words.  In Wednesday's post he said:

"To take the holy scriptures and read them is the first thing we have to do to open ourselves to God's call. Reading the scriptures is not as easy as it seems...We tend to make anything and everything we read subject to analysis and discussion.  But the word of God should lead us first of all to contemplation and meditation.  Instead of taking the words apart, we should bring them together in our innermost being; instead of wondering if we agree or disagree, we should wonder which words are directly spoken to us and connect directly with our personal story. Instead of thinking about the words as potential subjects for an interesting dialogue..., we should be willing to let them penetrate into the most hidden corners of our hearts, even to those places where no other word has yet found entrance." (Reaching out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life.)

Now, my problem with Elaine Pagels is that she approaches the text as a nonbeliever.  I find it very hard to think that she can approach the text objectively.  She has her biases as much as a believer does.  Nonbelievers do have a place in biblical study and history, but we must always understand where they are coming from.

Similarly, I think Nouwen deserves a critique.  As much as I agree with him, I feel that at least this quote makes everything too personal and individual.  Believe it or not the Bible wasn't written for us!  We are privilege to read it, study it, and be meet by the Holy Spirit through it, but it wasn't written to us, like a personal love letter as I sometimes hear.  The Scriptures must meet us individually, but they also speak to the church, our culture, and speak of all creation.  Scriptures tell the story of God. 

Bringing Pagels and Nouwen together, biblical scholarship does have its place.  It's a mistake to focus on either extreme.  There are times when we must let the Scriptures speak to us personally.  However, I am wary of personal interpretations and opinions of people who have never studied the Bible academically.  The meaning of the biblical text isn't always self-evident and can be complex.  We must let the text speak to us, while also being humble enough to receive the instruction of those who have spent a life time studying the text.