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Between Babel and Beast
(America and Empires in Biblical Perspective)
The Glory of Kings: A Festschrift for James B. Jordan
Fyodor Dostoevsky
(Christian Encounters Series)
Athanasius
(Foundations of Theological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality)
The Four: A Survey of the Gospels
Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom
From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John
Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
The Reformers claimed to unleash and unchain the Bible, to shine the light of the Bible into the darkness. How well do Protestants keep this legacy?
Not so well, judging from the surveys that inform us of the shocking ignorance of the Bible among Bible-believers.
Not so well, judging from the weightlessness of the Bible has in the “pop culture” of many churches. I have often told students that for Catholic monks the Bible was pop culture. They heard the Bible constantly, sang the Psalter each week, spent hours a week poring over its pages. What the Reformers aimed for was a “monaticization of believers” – the spread of the Bible as the popular culture of the whole church, not of a religious elite.
Christian imaginations are today shaped as much by popular music, films, TV shows as they are by the Bible. Such imaginations have nothing to offer the world beyond lightly Christianized versions of what the world already has. Only a church with a Bible-saturated imagination will offer a genuine alternative to worldly art, poetry, fiction and film.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 2:59 pm
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