we make the road 1

we make theroad by

walking

Broadway was originally the Wickquasgeck Trail, carved into the brush of Manhattan by its Native American inhabitants. This trail originally snaked through swamps and rocks along the length of Manhattan Island.

When all else fails ...go back to the

beginning.

The Christian religion was originally a grass-roots movement called the Way, which mobilized marginal people in the Roman Empire. The movement trained people as non-violent activists for “justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

CementCurbsSignsLines

Gridlock

CementCurbsSignsLines

Gridlock

Open spacePossibilityRiskUnknown

PROVERBIOS Y CANTARES - XXIX

Antonio Machado (1875-1939)

Caminante, son tus huellas el camino y nada mas; Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. Al

andar se hace el camino, y al volver la vista atras

se ve la senda que nunca se ha de volver a pisar. Caminante no hay camino sino estelas en la mar.

Traveler, the road is your footsteps and nothing more;

Traveler, there is no road.We make the road by walking.

To walk is to make the road,

and to look back is to see thatwe can never pass this way again.

Traveler, there is no road, only wake-trails in the sea.

Last night while I was asleep, I had a dream.

O blessed illusion! A fountain flowed through my heart.I said: why is this hidden canal, this water, coming to me,This spring of new life from which I have never drunk before?


O blessed illusion! There was a beehive within my heart,and bees of gold were making, from my longstanding disappointments,

White wax and sweet honey.


O blessed illusion! A radiant sun shone within my heart.

It was radiant with the warmth of a glowing home,and it was a sun because it illuminated and brought me to tears.

Last night while I was asleep, I had a dream.O blessed illusion! It was God I had within my heart.

As a living tradition,Christian faith is not

a dead end,a parking lot,

a warehouse, ora circular track.

As a living tradition,Christian faith is in the making,under construction,a direction, trajectory,a road we make.

PROVERBIOS Y CANTARES - XXIX

Antonio Machado (1875-1939)

Traveler, the road is your footsteps and nothing more;

Traveler, there is no road.We make the road by walking.

To walk is to make the road,

and to look back is to see thatwe can never pass this way again.

Traveler, there is no road, only wake-trails in the sea. How do yo

u resp

ond?

A fresh vision of the

road we make

A fresh vision of the big picture:

- the Biblical story

- the Christian way of life

- looking back to look ahead

52+ short chaptersCan be read aloud in 10-12 minutesCover the whole Bible from Genesis to RevelationA comprehensive biblical lectionaryFollows the general contour of traditional church year- Pre-Advent - Hebrew Scriptures- Advent - transition to Jesus- Epiphany - life of Jesus-Lent - Sermon on Mount- Passion Week - passion- Easter - church as community of resurrection- Pentecost - Epistles/RevelationPresent a coherent reading of the biblical narrative(s)- An evolving view of God- And evolving view of humanity - Focused on creation and new creation - Outside of traditional atonement categories

Plus ...

6 discussion questions for each chapter5 Guidelines for Learning Circles

- Participation- Honor- Silence- Understanding- Brevity

Introductory LiturgyEucharistic Liturgy

conversational

&eucharistic

R. Allan Street, Subversive Meals: An Analysis of the Lord’s Supper under Roman Domination in the First Century

Greco-Roman Two-Part Meal:Deipnon - reclining meal- Libation - to honor the Emperor and godsSymposium - discussion, interaction, drinking, entertainment

Eucharistic Meal/Agape:Deipnon - reclining meal (with differences)- Eucharist - “Jesus is Lord”Symposium - discussion, interaction, singing, prayers, mutual ministry

Eucharist as transformative ritual ...- bonding to bottomless meaning- identifying with a family and identity- joining a revolutionary movement- receiving spiritual empowerment

My hopes:1. Churches can use it for a season or whole year

- Breaks routine, provides liturgical innovation- Provides framework for Revised Common Lectionary- Provides space for invitation, outreach- Frees pastoral time for other activities for a year

2. Families, small groups, classes, campus groups, senior living groups, summer camps, prison groups, spiritual directors, etc., can use the book as a curriculum or catechism.

3. Spontaneous learning circles can form - and become affiliated as “satellites” or partners with existing congregations.

4. Individuals can use it for their own orientation and reorientation.

Why?1. We need a fresh, coherent understanding of the overarching Biblical story of God and creation.

2. We need to rediscover Jesus as the Word of God.

3. We need to recover liturgy as group spiritual (Holy Spirit) formation - and eucharist as profoundly transformational.

4. We need to practice honest spiritual conversation.

5. We need to face critical issues - especially about the Bible.

science

violence

miracles

historicity

abuse

lectionary

authority

7

science

violence

miracles

historicity

abuse

lectionary

authority

7How do yo

u resp

ond?

Reading the Bible Afresh:4 Options

(beyond liberal and conservative)

Literal: Like a newspaper, science text, or work of nonfiction - attempting to tell objective, literal, observable, scientific facts.

Literary: Like a poem, novel, journal, or movie -

attempting to convey meaningful, mysterious, multi-faceted beauty and truth.

Critical: Questioned. Tested. Scrutinized. Evaluated.

Treated as human, situated, constructed, and interpreted.

Innocent:Taken at face value. Unquestioned. Univocal. Treated as divine, transcendent, incorrigible, or absolute.

Literal Literary

2. Critical Literal 4. Critical Literary

1. Innocent Literal 3. Innocent Literary

Inn

oce

nt

C

riti

cal

Option 1: Innocent Literal

The Bible is a divine text, akin to a

TextbookInstruction manual

Objective historical accountAudit reportConstitution

Option 2: Critical Literal

The Bible is a human text, akin to

a collection of mythsa collection of folk tales

a collection of propagandaa collection of misinformation

Option 3: Innocent Literary

The Bible is a collection of literary artifacts, akin to ...

an anthology of moralistic fablesa collection of magic chants or mantras

a source of inspiring stories and quotations

Option 4: Critical Literary

The Bible is a collection of human literary artifacts, akin to ...

a museum an heirloom quilt

a family scrapbook or photo albuma refrigerator door or classroom bulletin board

a specialized library

Literal Literary



Inn

oce

nt

C

riti

cal

Literal Literary



Inn

oce

nt

C

riti

cal

FaithfulFaithful

Option 4: Faithful Critical Literary

The Bible is a collection of human literary artifacts, akin to ...

a museum an heirloom quilt

a family scrapbook or photo albuma refrigerator door

a specialized library

through which God can speak to us today.

Why Faithful Critical Literary?

1. Takes the text seriously2. Takes art of interpretation seriously3. Takes humans seriously (producers/readers)4. Takes God seriously5. Takes Jesus seriously6. Takes the Spirit seriously7. Takes the living tradition seriously8. Takes both liberal and conservative concerns seriously

What is the shape of the biblical narrative?

(A pre-critical question)

Hell

Salvation

Fallen history/

Fallen world

Fall

HeavenEden

Hades

Atonement, purification

Aristotelian

Real

Fall

Into Aristotelian

Real

Platonic IdealPlatonic Ideal

Destruction, defeat

Civilization, development,

colonialism

assimilationBarbarian/ pagan world

Rebellion

into barbarism

Pax RomanaPax Romana

Is there an alternative understanding?

sdrawkcab gnidaerRick Warren, Billy Graham, Charles Finney, John Wesley (or Calvin), Luther, Aquinas, Augustine, Paul, Jesus

reading forwardsAdam, Eve, Sarah, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Mary, Jesus

Exodus: Liberation & Formation


Genesis: Creation and Reconciliation


Genesis: Creation and Reconciliation

Isaiah: Peaceable Kingdom - Justice and Mercy


G

e

n

e

s

i

s



G

e

n

e

s

i

s


HUMAN DESTRUCTION

HUMAN VIOLENCE

HUMAN EXPLOITATION


G

e

n

e

s

i

s


HUMAN DESTRUCTION

HUMAN VIOLENCE

HUMAN EXPLOITATION

How do you re

spond?

The Bible places us in three great narratives:

CreationLiberationReconciliation

Tensions reveal deeper truths.

Not contradictions to be “resolved” or exposed ... but statements, counter-statements, new insights, new counter-statements, etc.

Constitution?

Library?

The Bible as Constitution

• What purposes do constitutions (or social contracts) fulfill?

• How is the Bible like a constitution?

• What problems arise with this approach?

Bible as Library• Culture as community united by

arguments

• Library as preserver of minority opinions and ongoing arguments

• Meaning emerges among stories in tension

Stories in tension ...David, Goliath, and the Temple

Two ArksPharaoh, Hagar, Solomon

Ezra, RuthJudges, Ruth

Call of Abraham, Blessing for cursingJoshua, Jesus, and the Canaanites

Convergence happens.

Narrative theologyLiberation theologyMimetic theoryOrality/AuralityChristo-focal theology


Narrative theologyThe text records the evolutionary emergence of new ways of thinking about God and life ... and reveals a trajectory that continues today.


Liberation theologyThe primary storyline is an audacious claim that God takes the side of the oppressed, and that salvation is God’s liberation from all that oppresses the goodness of creation.


Mimetic (Girardian) theorySacrifice (human, animal) was an early anthropological means of reducing violence. The Bible reveals a new way of peace ... a new “covenant” to replace violence with peace.


Orality/AuralityThe Bible was a spoken and heard composition before it was a written text. It should be rediscovered as “performance art” in a communal experience.


Christo-focal theologyJesus was a faithful radical who introduced a new way of interpreting ancient texts, thus opening up new possibilities for humanity.

Go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” (Matthew 9:13)

Mercy - compassion, love, empathy, human kindness, nonviolence

Not sacrifice - blood, death, fear, violence, priesthood, temple, holy city,

sacrifice industrial complex

a newroad to

walk

Lord, inspire us to read your Scriptures and meditate on them day and night.

We beg you to give us real understanding of what we read, that we may in turn

put its precepts into practice. Yet we know that understanding and good

intentions are worthless, unless rooted in your graceful love. So we ask

that the words of the Scriptures may also be not just signs on a page, but channels

of grace into our hearts.--Origen of Alexandria (c.186-254)

we make theroad by

walking

we make the road 1

Spiritual

life of jesus

se hace camino

camino y nada mascaminante

senior living groups

evolving view of god

prison groups

campus groups

small groups