Vol. 1 Issue 2: On Genesis, Augustine, and reading assumptions
Conversation and Hidden Assumptions
This fall, Joshua led a six-week seminar on Genesis 1-3 with the other seasonal staff. (Affectionately known as “seasonals,” these are the nine mostly college-aged folks who volunteered at Barakel this fall.) Eighteen hours of personal study and twelve hours of conversation around our dinner table later, I was curious to pull out Augustine's Literal Commentary on Genesis and see what he had to say about some of the questions that were raised.
The first paragraph could be a case study in being surprised by different assumptions about how to study the Bible:
All divine scripture is twofold, as the Lord points out when he says, A scribe learned in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder bringing forth from his treasury new things and old (Mt 13:52), which are also said to be the two testaments. In all the holy books, however, one ought to note what eternal realities are there suggested, what deeds are recounted, what future events foretold, what actions commanded or advised. So then, in accounts of things done, what one asks is whether they are all to be taken as only having a figurative meaning, or whether they are also to be asserted and defended as a faithful account of what actually happened. No Christian, I mean, will have the nerve to say that they should not be taken in a figurative sense, if he pays attention to what the apostle says: All these things, however, happened among them in figure (1 Cor 10:11), and to his commending what is written in Genesis, And they shall be two in one flesh (Gn 2:24), as a great sacrament in Christ and in the Church (Eph 5:32).
For starters, are you shocked when you hear Augustine say the text might only have a figurative meaning? Or do you believe him when he says that no Christian would have the nerve to deny a figurative reading? I don’t know about you, but I am more used to hearing debates about whether it might have a figurative meaning, in addition to the “straightforward” historical meaning.
One reason Joshua and I love the seminar discussion format is that it pushes you to recognize and your own assumptions—and to remember that others who love the Scriptures might not share them. Two hours around the table with your Bible open in front of you and other human beings sitting across from you, makes you grapple with others understanding the world (and the text) differently than you do—in fact, coming to it with different assumptions about how to understand and where to start. One example of this came when we were trying to tease out the meaning of of 2 Timothy 2:15: "Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control" (ESV). This is a difficult passage from any angle, but to begin with, who do these elusive pronouns refer to? Is "she" Eve herself and “they” the women who followed her? Or is “she” the everywoman and “they” her children that she has borne? Or are “they” some other persons from outside the immediate context? Or some different combination of explanations? As conversation progressed, we all realized we had made assumptions about these questions, and we all discovered options we hadn’t considered.
Learning to listen well in face-to-face conversation is great preparation for listening well to the authors and saints of the past. Through talking together about Genesis 1-3 this fall, I have found I love the word God has given to us more, and have been encouraged by the richness of God's gift to us, his people.
In other news...
Joshua and I are having a great time at camp. Joshua honed his discussion-leading skills during our seminars, and I honed my hospitality skills in the dinners that preceded them—and the coffee and dessert and dish-washing that followed. Joshua asked us all to spend 3-6 hours with each week’s passage in preparation for our conversation, and at the end of each Tuesday evening we spent some time in reflection and writing about how our understanding of the text had grown and matured.
During these weeks, Joshua and I also got to meet one-on-one with the seasonals to help them work through identifying an idea or question to consider, write about, and present at the end of the six weeks.
Joshua has also been presenting a weekly lunch lecture this fall. It's been an overview of the Old Testament at different "altitudes"—the main themes of the whole, then how those show up and shape each genre and book, and a few specific passages within each genre.
We've hosted morning prayer + coffee a few times, too—it's sweet to gather with others to read and sing and bring our requests to God.
And then of course there is the regular work of camp: running the archery range for ladies retreats, writing newsletters for Barakel’s campers and contributers, standing out in the rain on Friday evenings to direct campers to housing and parking, mopping the floors in the lodges to prepare for the next weekend. Now that we've had one big snow, and more flakes are falling as I write, I'm sure snow shoveling will soon join the list of activities.
There are many other stories we could tell. Let us know if you'd like to catch up sometime by phone or video chat!