Pentecostal missional hermeneutics; a sermon on Elijah; and free Bible commentaries
Welcome to my newsletter, ‘Bible, Mission, and More’, where I share what’s on my mind as I teach, research, and write on the Bible and mission, children-at-risk in the Bible and contemporary society, Psalms and Wisdom Literature, and a range of other topics. I teach at All Nations Christian College in the UK, though views are my own. You may also like to check out my Bible and Mission website.
Each Tuesday I’ll share something I’ve read, something I’ve written or recorded, something on learning and teaching, and a quote to reflect on.
Something read – Pentecostal Missional Hermeneutics
Generally speaking the conversation around reading the Bible through the lens of mission hasn’t been focused on particular church denominations or networks. However, part of the growing diversity of approaches reflects a recognition that different parts of the global church family with have particular and rich contributions.
Jason Morrison’s short Evangelical Missions Quarterly article, ‘Pietism to Pentecostal Witness Via a Missional Hermeneutic’ (2021) is a welcome addition to the conversation. Interestingly, Morrison begins his discussion in a Czech context, noting generational attitudes that create tension within different approaches to being church. A missional hermeneutic, he suggests, has the potential, ‘to help bridge cultural and generational differences in understanding of scripture.’ (p. 18)
Morrison quotes Craig Keener’s 2016 book, Spirit Hermeneutics: Reading Scripture in Light of Pentecost to justify a missional approach to Scripture: ‘Although a missional hermeneutic approach is not specifically “Pentecostal,” it should, in any case, resonate with the Pentecostal church. “If the Spirit empowers us especially for mission, it should not surprise us if a Spirit-led reading of Scripture should highlight the theme of mission.”’ (p. 18)
In particular Morrison uses the angles of the Bible as a story of God’s mission and the formative function of Scripture to develop his argument. He focuses on Jesus’ priestly prayer in John 17 to look at three themes (prayer, sanctification, and the work of the Holy Spirit) and show how they are both missional and also applicable to the Czech context.
He concludes (again quoting Keener):
‘For Pentecostals, a missional reading of Jesus’ promise of the Spirit throughout John’s Gospel reinforces the idea that the church should be by nature a witnessing community, because the Holy Spirit is a witnessing Spirit (John 15:26). “… the central thrust of the Pentecost narrative is empowerment for mission, so reading from this standpoint invites us to read scripture missionally: sensitive to the work that God has for us to do, not just work that believers might want God to do for them.”’ (p. 20)
Albeit only three pages, I enjoyed Morrison’s article, especially because it was set clearly within a particular geographical and theological context. I hope there will be many more articles like this from Pentecostal scholars.
You will need access to EMQ for the article:
Morrison, Jason. ‘Pietism to Pentecostal Witness Via a Missional Hermeneutic’ EMQ 57.1 (2021), pp. 18-20.
Something written – Preaching on Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18)
I recently preached a sermon on 1 Kings 18 at our church, which was part of a short, three-part series on Elijah. The passage focuses on Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. But, of course, it is a confrontation with the people of Israel as well. Baal worship had become the state-sponsored religion in the Northern Kingdom – the dominant story that made promises to the people over and against those of Yahweh. As John Goldingay puts it: ‘Elijah is urging Israel to trust in Yahweh alone for its health care, its harvest, and its security. This is counterintuitive and countercultural.’ (in 1 and 2 Kings for Everyone)
Elijah issues a demand to the people: ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’ (v. 21, NIVUK) As the drama unfolds, Yahweh is seen undeniably to be the true God.
This dramatic confrontation is one of several points in the Old Testament when the LORD is depicted as supreme over and against Baal. The book of Hosea and Psalm 29 are two other examples. And this is no theoretical exercise as it raises questions for us today as well.
You can listen to the sermon on the church website:
Elijah on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18)
Learning and teaching – free Bible commentaries
A while ago I posted about the website Missiology.org.uk which houses a lot of open access Missiology resources. Rob Bradshaw, its curator, runs a number of related sites that provide access to thousands of books and articles. He has his own Substack, Theology on the Web Update.
A number of years ago when Redcliffe College was moving premises we found we had several hundred items that we thought would qualify as out of copyright and so we sent them to Rob and he has gradually worked through them, checking their copyright status and, where appropriate, putting them on the site for everyone to have access.
Recently Rob posted that the Biblical Studies site now features over 1000 commentaries and has added an easier way of searching for them. He says:
In 2019 Tyndale House kindly sent me a copy of their library catalogue for their holdings of Bible commentaries. This included over 800 public domain commentaries, which I have gradually been adding to biblicalstudies.org.uk. It has not been necessary to scan all of these, as many are available on archive.org. However, as anyone who uses material from archive.org will know, the scans there vary widely in quality and I have had to re-process (in some cases, rescan) the books in order to produce copies of consistent quality. While this project is still on-going, with more being added each week, biblicalstudies.org.uk now hosts over 1,000 commentaries. As physical copies of most are held in the Tyndale House library, one of the finest biblical studies libraries in the world, I can be confident that they will be of great help to today’s Bible Students.
You can find the main commentaries page here: Commentaries
For reference, here these are his descriptions of the different websites:
BiblicalStudies.org.uk hosts full-text theological articles linked into bibliographies on each book of the Bible. It also covers hermeneutics, biblical languages, criticism, language, etc. - in short almost everything connected with the Bible and its study.
TheologicalStudies.org.uk throws its net slightly wider, providing material on a range of theologies and theologians, as well as specific doctrines such as the Trinity, for example. The section on practical theology seeks to provide material on how theology is applied in daily life, in such areas as politics and ethics.
EarlyChurch.org.uk covers church history until the rise of the medieval Papacy (c.600 AD).
MedievalChurch.org.uk takes over where EarlyChurch.org.uk leaves off, covering church history from the rise of the Papacy to the time of the Reformation.
ReformationChurch.org.uk - covers church history during and after the Reformation.
BiblicalArchaeology.org.uk provides material relating to the archaeology of the lands of the Bible.
Missiology.org.uk provides resources for students of Christian missions from the first Century onwards.
Quote - Yohanna Katanacho on Psalm 1
‘O Lord, make your church the dream of our society and the embodiment of the kingdom of God on earth. May I be a spark that fans the flames of this vision, and may I be a bed for this wonderful dream! Open our eyes to understand that these celestial dreams will become the realities of our mornings and evenings when we are a branch in the tree of life in Christ.’
(Yohanna Katanacho, Praying Through the Psalms (Carlisle: Langham, 2018), p. 1.)
Thanks for joining the journey and see you next week,
Tim
Enjoyed your sermon. We need more preaching like that here in the States. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the shout out Tim