pearliegates

I had a pretty long day today but fascinating nonetheless. The beginning of the day was filled with stress of one kind and the closing of the day with stress of an entirely different nature. It is almost paradoxical - the first of the body, sarx; the second of the spiritual, pneuma.

The first is reminiscent of the frailty of humankind, the glutton for power and standing in society and yet with a tinge of desire for justice; although whether it is justice for the purpose of justice alone or justice for the purpose of self-gratification remains a question.

The second however, is something quite weighty and complex for me to grasp at this point of time. It is the realisation that as far as biblical hermeneutics is concerned, can one really, truly and genuinely interpret God's word? With the stalwarts of the Christian faith holding onto clearly contradicting positions on various issues - including the concept of hell and eternal damnation, salvation and the possibility of it being universal and, annihilation being the cessation or shall I even say damnation of hell itself - make one ask the question: "to what end?"

I am reminded of a book entitled To What End Exegesis: Essays Textual, Exegetical, and Theological by Gordon D. Fee: definitely a book I am now tempted to get.

Seriously, this is the question I now ask - "to what end exegesis?"

Maeghan
Picture by Scouts Caslu