What a crazy year it's been...
This year, Elizabeth turned 3... Josh 6. Me? 32. Kimme the same.
We started Horizon of Towson... Mark stepped in. Awesome.
Beth Ann David spent the summer with us @ Horizon. :)
Went to Disney World. It was amazing.
Made a cool short film with Dave Reichley and Jenn Stephenson. Very fun.
Kimme's family came to visit. Her dad hadn't seen where we have lived since 1996.
I ate a $2,000 dinner in a tux @ the Waldorf in Manhattan for free. That was wild.
Had my hardest (debateable) and yet most fulfilling (for sure) year in ministry.
I lost half my salary, only for God to raise the other half. Go God!
Kimme quit her job, only to come back again. Bigger pay, so it worked out.
My grandfather died... Captain is sorely missed! :(
Kimme and I have the best year of our marriage, by far. What a woman!
Josh started 1st grade! Elizabeth started pre-school (um... sort of).
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I wonder what 2005 will bring!?
12.31.2004
12.25.2004
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone... Our family is currently in Allentown, PA visiting my mom and Len for the Holidays. It's been a good one, mainly just being able to relax and enjoy time together. The kids have been wonderful... what a Christmas for them!
My prayer is for all of you that may read this... May God answer your prayers, your concerns, and your heart's desires as they move into alignment with His.
God's Peace to you.
DCCowan
My prayer is for all of you that may read this... May God answer your prayers, your concerns, and your heart's desires as they move into alignment with His.
God's Peace to you.
DCCowan
12.01.2004
Understanding the Bible
There is so much distortion out there about bible interpretation. Here's a helpful introduction for any interested.
There is a science of sorts behind Scripture interpretation (called hermeneutics). One does not interpret some things literally and sometimes not so an argument may be won. Everything biblical (as with ANY ancient document) needs to be interpreted through these two lenses: genre and context.
Genre: Just like when you go the movies and there are a variety of genres of movies, the same goes for scripture. The movie Saw is of a different genre than The Incredibles, for obvious reasons. Think of the bible in the same way... there are several basic types of genre of Scripture, some (but not all) I have listed below:
1. Narrative (like today's documentaries): This genre tells a story. There is plot development, characters are described in detail -- their statements/their actions. A majority of the Old Testament is of this genre (Much of Genesis-Deuteronomy is this, though also a sub-genre of Law, as well as 1-2 Samuel, which is also a part of a subgenre called the Prophets, as quoted above, and the four Gospels found in the NT). To quote Fee and Stuart in How to Read the Bible for All it's Worth, "Each individual narrative or episode within a narrative does not necessarily have a moral all it's own. Narratives cannot be interpreted atomistically, as if every statement, every event, every description could, independently of the others, have a special message for the reader.... the whole unit gives the message, not the separate individual parts."
2. Wisdom Literature (Like poetry or lyrics to songs): This genre includes a lot of poetry, illustration, similie, allegory, and all kinds of imagery. It is basically about choices and how our choices chart the course of our lives. One is not to take many of these sayings literally. For instance, in one of the Psalms the writer says that the trees will clap their hands in praise to God. Do trees have hands? Of course not, but one gets the idea... creation itself is an expression of praise back to God. Not surprisingly, I have seen website after website that try to discredit the bible with verses like that without understanding the importance of understanding a text's genre.
3. Epistolary (like a letter to a friend): This genre includes all of the letters found in the New Testament. Each one contains a particular form that was contemporary to most of the hellenistic world in the 1st century CE (with a few exceptions). Each was written by someone of honor among the community that addressed various issues among the community itself. Sort of like an instruction guide of sorts, a personal letter, as well as a hallmark card in some ways.
4. Apocalyptic: (think of political cartoons today): The strangest of genres and the least understood, this genre is a literary form that does not exist in our own day. The closest example in modern life of what apocalyptic genre was is today's political cartoons. Imagery is used that everyone understands to convey meaning. For instance, if you saw an elephant and a donkey in a cartoon, you would know that one represents a republican and the other a democrat. But, stick that newspaper in the sand for 2,000 years after those parties are long gone, the people 2,000 years from now would think we were nuts (and though we are, that's another discussion). The same goes for the imagery in Revelation with beasts with seven horns and tons of eyes. To readers in the first century, they knew exactly what was being said. This genre cannot be interpreted literally (Though, in the case of the Book of Revelation, one finds 3 different genres at the same time: apocalyptic, prophesy, and epistolary... making it very interesting indeed).
*whew* So... that being said, one cannot simply pick and choose to interpret literally or not. If someone does this, they are abusing the text. Also, one can abuse the text by looking at the Scriptures out of context to their day and apply one's own worldview to the text.... i.e. applying the values/mores of 2004 to a document that's roughly 3,500-2000 years old.
To quote Fee and Stuart again:
"A text cannot mean what it never could have meant to it's author or his or her readers."
That's hard for many Christians to deal with when it comes to Revelation. Much of the stuff one hears from TV preachers about the end times is bunk. Why? Because of what that statement says above: A text cannot mean what it never could have meant to it's author or his or her readers.
There is a science of sorts behind Scripture interpretation (called hermeneutics). One does not interpret some things literally and sometimes not so an argument may be won. Everything biblical (as with ANY ancient document) needs to be interpreted through these two lenses: genre and context.
Genre: Just like when you go the movies and there are a variety of genres of movies, the same goes for scripture. The movie Saw is of a different genre than The Incredibles, for obvious reasons. Think of the bible in the same way... there are several basic types of genre of Scripture, some (but not all) I have listed below:
1. Narrative (like today's documentaries): This genre tells a story. There is plot development, characters are described in detail -- their statements/their actions. A majority of the Old Testament is of this genre (Much of Genesis-Deuteronomy is this, though also a sub-genre of Law, as well as 1-2 Samuel, which is also a part of a subgenre called the Prophets, as quoted above, and the four Gospels found in the NT). To quote Fee and Stuart in How to Read the Bible for All it's Worth, "Each individual narrative or episode within a narrative does not necessarily have a moral all it's own. Narratives cannot be interpreted atomistically, as if every statement, every event, every description could, independently of the others, have a special message for the reader.... the whole unit gives the message, not the separate individual parts."
2. Wisdom Literature (Like poetry or lyrics to songs): This genre includes a lot of poetry, illustration, similie, allegory, and all kinds of imagery. It is basically about choices and how our choices chart the course of our lives. One is not to take many of these sayings literally. For instance, in one of the Psalms the writer says that the trees will clap their hands in praise to God. Do trees have hands? Of course not, but one gets the idea... creation itself is an expression of praise back to God. Not surprisingly, I have seen website after website that try to discredit the bible with verses like that without understanding the importance of understanding a text's genre.
3. Epistolary (like a letter to a friend): This genre includes all of the letters found in the New Testament. Each one contains a particular form that was contemporary to most of the hellenistic world in the 1st century CE (with a few exceptions). Each was written by someone of honor among the community that addressed various issues among the community itself. Sort of like an instruction guide of sorts, a personal letter, as well as a hallmark card in some ways.
4. Apocalyptic: (think of political cartoons today): The strangest of genres and the least understood, this genre is a literary form that does not exist in our own day. The closest example in modern life of what apocalyptic genre was is today's political cartoons. Imagery is used that everyone understands to convey meaning. For instance, if you saw an elephant and a donkey in a cartoon, you would know that one represents a republican and the other a democrat. But, stick that newspaper in the sand for 2,000 years after those parties are long gone, the people 2,000 years from now would think we were nuts (and though we are, that's another discussion). The same goes for the imagery in Revelation with beasts with seven horns and tons of eyes. To readers in the first century, they knew exactly what was being said. This genre cannot be interpreted literally (Though, in the case of the Book of Revelation, one finds 3 different genres at the same time: apocalyptic, prophesy, and epistolary... making it very interesting indeed).
*whew* So... that being said, one cannot simply pick and choose to interpret literally or not. If someone does this, they are abusing the text. Also, one can abuse the text by looking at the Scriptures out of context to their day and apply one's own worldview to the text.... i.e. applying the values/mores of 2004 to a document that's roughly 3,500-2000 years old.
To quote Fee and Stuart again:
"A text cannot mean what it never could have meant to it's author or his or her readers."
That's hard for many Christians to deal with when it comes to Revelation. Much of the stuff one hears from TV preachers about the end times is bunk. Why? Because of what that statement says above: A text cannot mean what it never could have meant to it's author or his or her readers.
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