Praise, polemic, and mission; Encounters Mission Journal; and what to do with essay feedback
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 – Psalms, praise, polemic, and mission
One of the ways we can read biblical texts missionally is to discern in them an effort by the biblical writers to assert the uniqueness of the LORD over and against other claims. So, for example, when the New Testament declares that, ‘Jesus is Lord’ the speaker would be claiming that Caesar was not: a deeply subversive (and dangerous) thing to do in the Roman world.
But what about the Old Testament? We see this kind of dynamic at play frequently in the Hebrew texts as well. I previously hinted at the possibility of a reading of Psalm 19 as a polemical text, asserting the LORD’s reign over and against the claims of sun god worship. Recently I’ve been spending some time in Psalm 29, which is an excellent example of the Bible’s contrasting claims in relation to its neighbours’ assertions about the Canaanite god, Baal.
I’ll go into detail on that psalm another time. The main thing I want to point to today is the overall idea that a missional reading of Psalms will be attentive to how a particular psalm may be read against the background of alternative claims, contrary to the uniqueness and supremacy of Israel’s God.
Carmen Joy Imes has written a couple of very helpful short articles on this topic using Psalms 67 and 148 as case studies. She points out that ‘Israel’s psalms were far grittier than we realize. Every time they sang a psalm, they were making a bold claim that was simultaneously for Yahweh and against other gods.’ (‘Praising God as an Act of Political Defiance’)
Have a look at the way Imes works through each of the psalms and shows how, read in the polytheistic environment of the Ancient Near East, psalms that might appear to be ‘internal matters’ for Israel are actually much more subversive and globally focused than we might imagine.
A missional reading of the Bible will look for ways the biblical authors are claiming the supremacy of the God of the Bible over and against alternative claims. And, as Imes reminds us in both her articles, contemporary readers need to reckon with and be formed by these claims just as much as ancient ones. Here are the links to Imes’ articles:
Praising God Is an Act of Political Defiance, Christianity Today (July 2024)
The Politics of Praise—Psalm 148, Political Theology (May 2019)
Something written – Encounters Mission Journal
Between 2004 and 2017 Encounters Mission Ezine (renamed Encounters Mission Journal) was an open-access, mission-focused journal published through Redcliffe College. (This was prior to Redcliffe’s merger with All Nations)
I became involved in the journal in my early days at Redcliffe, including editing some of the issues; most notably, Mission and the Old Testament (April 2007); The Bible and Mission (June 2009); and The Psalms and Mission (June 2010).
I’ll write more about these individual issues in future posts. I would say, though, that Encounters was my first foray into academic writing and editing, and I learned a lot from the experience. The editors at the time were very generous with these opportunities.
Recently I was given permission to house the issues on my Bible and Mission website. You’ll find them here: Encounters Mission Journal. (NB. I’m still tracking down some of the older issues).
Learning and teaching – What to do with your essay feedback
When you get your marks back for an assignment, how much attention do you pay to the accompanying comments? Do you take a quick look to see how they justifies the mark, or is there a more helpful and formative way you can use them?
Each institution has a different method for giving feedback to student work. Usually there will be detailed comments on the work itself and then a summary document that includes the grade and overall comments within different categories. There might even be a section where the tutor can point to concrete actions for future work.
This is some advice on what to do with feedback from the University of Sheffield:
‘Collect your feedback and read it.
When assessing your feedback, be objective – if you’re upset by the grade or wording, come back to it later when you’re less emotional. Always ask your instructor or tutor to clarify if you don’t understand what they have said.
Take feedback records. Adopt a strategy for recording and storing your feedback – it's useful to compare across modules.
Follow up on your feedback if you need to – it doesn't have to be the end of the conversation between you and the person who is giving you feedback.
Help each other assessing feedback. Swap and discuss feedback with your peers.
Stay positive. Pay attention to positives as well as negatives. But be aware that, while positive feedback makes you feel good, it is usually less positive feedback that makes you sit up and pay attention, which leads to real change and progress.’
The point about keeping a record of feedback is particularly helpful. It can be a useful exercise to take a number of feedback documents and look for common themes: do several tutors point out the need for more critical evaluation or more diverse reading lists? Do they highlight how clear the structure is or how well your argument flowed?
Put together, these pieces of feedback tell a story and provide opportunities to develop tailored specifically for you. Don’t miss out!
Quote – Elisha Kwabaena Marfo on God and mission in Isaiah
‘The mission theology in the Book of Isaiah is the portrayal of YHWH’s attributes… The attributes show the goodness and greatness of YHWH in Israel, among the nations, and the universe as a whole. They bring out the importance of a right understanding of YHWH in relation to His mission to humanity.’ (p. 226)
(Marfo, Elisha K. “Who Said, No Mission in the Old Testament: A Theological Framework of Mission in the Isaianic Literature.” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies 6, no. 4 (2020): 223-235. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.2020072)
Thanks for joining the journey and see you next week,
Tim