Thsnk you for this! As a literature major turned psychotherapist (who also happens to be reading the Gospel of Mark) I am finding this utterly fascinating. The neurobiology of reading Scripture--"What did we feel and where did we feel it?" This takes us so far beyond just gleaning facts and data, and reminds me that Scripture is meant to engage us as whole persons, not disembodied intellects. Please, please put this on your books-to-be-written list!
Thank you, Bev! This is definitely something I’d like to write about at length (I’m experimenting a little on here—glad to see the positive response!).
There are so many resources out there about how people should read the Bible. I’m increasingly interested in how people actually do read and what happens in our minds and bodies when we read.
"I wait for the story to finish, trusting that the whole will make sense of the parts. Sometimes that means getting to the end and starting over again, equipped with a new set of reactions and observations that you can employ, this time, from the beginning.
It’s the difference—if I may put it starkly—between strip mining a text for “takeaways” and surrendering yourself to a story."
This is my favorite quote. Holistic reading is so important, I appreciate the encouragement here to look at the story with fresh eyes and a fresh heart. I have been teaching inductive bible study to a wide variety of people in many countries over the last 23 years and I have seen people walk away amazed that they have never seen the things they discovered before. Reading the bible in its literary context can be life changing if you have only been taught to read verse by verse.
Thsnk you for this! As a literature major turned psychotherapist (who also happens to be reading the Gospel of Mark) I am finding this utterly fascinating. The neurobiology of reading Scripture--"What did we feel and where did we feel it?" This takes us so far beyond just gleaning facts and data, and reminds me that Scripture is meant to engage us as whole persons, not disembodied intellects. Please, please put this on your books-to-be-written list!
Thank you, Bev! This is definitely something I’d like to write about at length (I’m experimenting a little on here—glad to see the positive response!).
There are so many resources out there about how people should read the Bible. I’m increasingly interested in how people actually do read and what happens in our minds and bodies when we read.
One of the things I couldn't help but notice was how Mark connects physical blindness of people to spiritual blindness in his disciples
Discussing only three features--a heroic display indeed. Well worth the effort (depending on how long it took you to edit it down). =)
"I wait for the story to finish, trusting that the whole will make sense of the parts. Sometimes that means getting to the end and starting over again, equipped with a new set of reactions and observations that you can employ, this time, from the beginning.
It’s the difference—if I may put it starkly—between strip mining a text for “takeaways” and surrendering yourself to a story."
This is my favorite quote. Holistic reading is so important, I appreciate the encouragement here to look at the story with fresh eyes and a fresh heart. I have been teaching inductive bible study to a wide variety of people in many countries over the last 23 years and I have seen people walk away amazed that they have never seen the things they discovered before. Reading the bible in its literary context can be life changing if you have only been taught to read verse by verse.