Theres a distinction in C.S. Lewiss theory of literary criticism between poiema (something made) and logos (something said). The chief error of the literary critic is that, in his effort to decipher some sort of philosophical meaning behind the text, he jumps preemptively past the stage of Enjoyment (entering into the thing-as-something-made) to the stage of Contemplation (considering the thing-as-something-said). I wonder if there is something similar at work in how we tend to approach Scripture. There seems to be an approach amongst Evangelicals today to view the Word as useful insofar as it can be cognitively understood, assimilated into ones metaphysical view of the world, and applied to daily life. The sacramental traditions (especially Lutheran) stand in stark opposition to this, teaching instead that the Word is transformative simply because of what it is. This is not to say that Contemplation is bad, far from it. But perhaps reading Scripture to work it into a systematic theology is starting in the wrong place. Perhaps, by entering into the Word and rediscovering how to first Enjoy Scripture, we may find that ray of light that strikes through the text, illuminating us to a reality that cannot fully be captured by even the most elaborate tomes of philosophy.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 23:00:39 +0000
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