Bible Discussion for Monday 30th of January at 6.30pm

 For the Bible Discussion on Monday with Arek Malecki:

SQUARING THE CIRCLE: CHANGING MIND IN THE LIGHT OF NEW UNDERSTANDING, MENTAL GYMNASTICS, OR DOWNRIGHT COGNITIVE DISSONANCE?

This week will talk about the passage from the Book of Jeremiah below. It maybe good to have a gist of the context of the exile. So, if you wish, you may also watch the following two short introductory videos. You should be aware that they are part of a series of videos addressing many aspects of biblical literature, and that the group that produced them has a particular worldview or agenda - they want to persuade you that the whole Bible can be read as having a single, expansive, narrative-arc. For this reason, the video on the Exile focuses on both Old Testament and New Testament themes. To put it bluntly, “no matter what the question is, the answer is Jesus”. Other than that, I think that their videos are very good and informative.

• Introduction to Exile:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSua9_WhQFE

• Introduction to Jeremiah:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSK36cHbrk0

I will introduce the concept of using trauma theory as a lens for reading biblical texts. Using trauma theory as a lens is currently a highly fashionable approach in biblical studies.

After a short introduction we will break into smaller groups. Each group will be asked to read a different short story of fiction by Kathleen O’Connor (professor of Old Testament Studies at Columbia Theological Seminary) to help us put ourselves in the shoes of the people to whom Jeremiah would have been writing.

The overarching question for the entire session is: what effect does trauma (of any kind) have on our personal theologies? Should we hold on, revise or abandon our deeply held beliefs when those are no longer helpful at times of crisis?

Well-being notice: although we are using trauma as a lens for our reading of Jeremiah, rest reassured that you will not be asked to share any specific examples of how your personal trauma shaped your faith. Though, of course, you can, if it's helpful for you.

Jeremiah 31: 27 – 34

27 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. 28 And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. 29 In those days they shall no longer say:

‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,

    and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

30 But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge. 31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband,[g] says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Join Zoom Meeting; Monday 30th January, starting at 6.30pm 

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82378042367?pwd=REgrU1Y5MlI4dWFPMk1RVkYvOEpWQT09

Meeting ID: 823 7804 2367

Passcode: 460019