Have always loved that about Wright – he manages to infuriate both liberals and fundamentalists alike. I think he’s definitely on to something.

I would take it a step further and isolate, what I think is the core issue reguarding the American perspective of Scripture, and that is, how Americans read the Scriptures via the English language. The Holy Text was intended to be understood through a Hebrew linguistic comprehension, containing multiple meanings, even from syllable to syllable. The depths of Hebrew are unparalleled and the most sacred of ancient lore. If one considers the difference between a Hebrew translation and a Greek translation of any given word, it is actually quite eye opening when one starts to realize how much we are missing as an entire western culture, when it comes to truely understanding God’s Word.

[...] Do Culture Wars Beget Bad Exegesis? 2010 February 3 tags: culture wars, Exegesis, Genesis, NT Wright by Dan N.T Wright examines how the opening chapters of Genesis are seen in the light of the culture wars in North America (HT): [...]

[...] N.T Wright examines how the opening chapters of Genesis are seen in the light of the culture wars in North America (HT): [...]

Ian - You’re quite right about Hebrew, although I’m certainly no linguist. Still, from what little I do understand the layers of meaning only reinforce the typology of myth that Wright is referring to here. Good stuff Ian, thanks for speaking up…and tell my nieces I said hello : )

i love how bishop wright is so tolkien-eque….warms my heart.

i’m definitely with ian and how the hebraic linguistic-conceptual world brings real depth to reading and understanding the profiound narrative. realted to this, i like how walter brueggemann teases this out the ‘living Word’ aspect of scripture, in which he refers to inherency…that the living Word is inherent in scripture (of course i am a brueggemann fanboy)…

Briliiant- I must listen to it again. I suppose I would not sound too intellectual if I said “i wish i had the intellectual capacity of one of the hairs on N.T’s earlobes, then I’d be immensely more edumacatedery than I am now”….