The Joy of the Gospel; A Minecraft version of Psalm 23; and making your essay talk to itself

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 – The Joy of the Gospel

Evangelii Gaudium, or The Joy of the Gospel, is the title of the 2013 ‘Exhortation on the proclamation of the Gospel today’ by the late Pope Francis. This wonderfully titled reflection on mission came out around the time when Lausanne had recently published its 2011 Cape Town Commitment, and the World Council of Churches had approved its 2013 statement Together Towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes. All three documents are available for free – just click on the links.

Evangelii Gaudium is structured along the following lines:

• Chapter one: The Church’s Missionary Transformation

• Chapter two: Amid the Crisis of Communal Commitment

• Chapter three: The Proclamation of the Gospel

• Chapter four: The Social Dimension of Evangelisation

• Chapter five: Spirit-Filled Evangelisers

As a side-note, if you are in theological education why not ask your students to compare and contrast these documents, in particular by focusing on a particular theme? I’ve seen this type of assignment work really well and it’s a great way of getting students to engage with traditions other than their usual circles. A good engagement with these kinds of documents will note points of tension and disagreement but also appreciation and learning.

I wanted to share some quotes from Evangelii Gaudium. They are not meant to be exhaustive or representative but are rather statements that struck me as a read through the document a while ago.

‘I have always been distressed at the lot of those who are victims of various kinds of human trafficking. How I wish that all of us would hear God’s cry: “Where is your brother?” (Gen 4:9). Where is your brother or sister who is enslaved? Where is the brother and sister whom you are killing each day in clandestine warehouses, in rings of prostitution, in children used for begging, in exploiting undocumented labour? Let us not look the other way. There is greater complicity than we think. The issue involves everyone! This infamous network of crime is now well established in our cities, and many people have blood on their hands as a result of their comfortable and silent complicity.’ (211)

‘The best incentive for sharing the Gospel comes from contemplating it with love, lingering over its pages and reading it with the heart. If we approach it in this way, its beauty will amaze and constantly excite us. But if this is to come about, we need to recover a contemplative spirit which can help us to realize ever anew that we have been entrusted with a treasure which makes us more human and helps us to lead a new life. There is nothing more precious which we can give to others.’ (264)

‘Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is nothing else than the culmination of the way he lived his entire life.’ (269)

Something written – A Minecraft version of Psalm 23

I was recently doing Sunday school on the topic of trust and we were looking at Psalm 23. It’s always interesting what contemporary images people replace ‘shepherd’ with if asked. In preparation I wondered what ChatGPT would suggest as a reading of the psalm using the world and language of Minecraft. This is what it came up with:

Minecraft Psalm 23 (ChatGPT)
(Survival Mode Edition)

The Lord is my server admin; I shall not lag.
He makes me lie down in fields of emerald-green grass;
He leads me beside still waters — no creepers in sight.
He restores my hearts.
He guides me along right paths — for His username’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest caves,
I will fear no mobs, for You are with me;
Your sword and your shield, they comfort me.

You prepare a crafting table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with golden apples;
My inventory overflows.

Surely XP and rare loot will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the Mansion of the Lord forever.

I kind of like it and it made the kids laugh (and hopefully think). On a wider note, I wonder if this kind of exercise could be a good teaching tool at college. So, students could evaluate the way AI updates the metaphors and language and whether it conveys the psalmists’ points appropriately. They could also consider how approptiate the rewording is for a particular audience.

Learning and teaching – make sure your introduction and conclusion talk to each other

We are in dissertation writing season for many undergraduates here in the UK. One of the most common pieces of advice I give to students when they are writing up their work is to think carefully about how they relate their first and last chapters.

A helpful way of thinking of it is to imagine that your audience (i.e., your marker(s)) read your introduction first, then skips ahead to the conclusion, before starting to read properly from chapter two. Have you explained clearly in the introduction what you are going to be doing, and have you explained clearly in the conclusion how you done it? Would your reader see a consistent line of thought between the way you set up the work, and the way you ‘land’ it?

In other words, think of your introduction as making promises to the reader, and think of your conclusion as showing how you have fulfilled them. Don’t be afraid to start your introduction with something like, ‘The purpose of this dissertation is to…’ and then begin your conclusion with, ‘The purpose of this dissertation was to…’.

The point is: make the reader’s job as easy as possible to lavish you with marks.

Quote – one more from Evangelii Gaudium

‘True Christian hope, which seeks the eschatological kingdom, always generates history.’ (181)

Thanks for joining the journey and see you next week,

Tim