Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Ink & Blood
I read about textual criticism. Can't say I'm a fan. I just sometimes it's losing the forest for the trees. In it I see the very worst of deconstruction for its own sake. It's too easy to lose, amongst all the debate over what exact words should be in the Bible, how exactly the words that are there transform us into the image of Jesus. Granted, I see the validity of the discipline. It's the card to pull on The Inerrancy Question. (Which document fragment are we deciding is without error?) I am thankful my faith is in the saving work of Jesus Christ and not in either a hierarchal institution or a book. And on that note...

I went to Ink & Blood. (Thank you for the ticket, Debi). It is a museum exhibit chronicling the story of the Bible from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the English Bible. Being the Bible geek that I am, I ate every bit up. There were 3000-year-old cuneiform tablets, Dead Sea Scroll fragments, medieval Hebrew scrolls, a mock-up Guttenburg press--just tones of stuff. A highlight for me was an illuminated (that means its in color with lots of picutes) Book of Hours dated 1415. I also find myself fascinated with the stories of John Wyclif and William Tyndale. The two provided the first translations of the Bible into English under the most clandestine circumstances. Tyndale was burned at the stake before he could complete the entire Bible. Interestingly, Tyndale chose to translate the Greek ekklesia as "congregation", rather than "church" as the later Geneva Bible and nearly all subsequent English translations would. He passionately believed that the church was defined by any assembly of believers together and not any building or structure. The exhibit is in Lexington until August 28. If you're local, you really need to see it. A full list of the artifacts on display can be found here.

I played a rousing game of capture the flag. In the end, I was huffing and wheezing like an old man. Two hours later my legs are still throbbing. I hope I can move them in the morning.

posted by Peter at 12:50 AM
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