As she was grading final papers for four classes, my wife received a link to a bit of higher education satire from a Facebook friend. You can see it here. It was a fictional college memo regarding a rubric for a “Core Educational Competency In Reading Things In Books And Writing About Them.” As many college instructors will attest, it is, all humor aside, a competency sadly lacking among students today.
A general inability for or disinterest in “reading things in books” has severe consequences for the practice of Christianity. As we find in the Gospel lesson for Ascension Day this week (it’s Thursday, though we, like some other churches, celebrate it the following Sunday), Luke 24:44-53, our faith was founded from the beginning in what was written, first in the Hebrew Bible to which the text refers in verses 45 and 46, and then in the writings of the New Testament.
Rembrandt pictured the prophetess Anna, who appears in Luke 2:36-38 to meet the baby Jesus, as a thoughtful reader of the Hebrew Scriptures, presumably studying and coming to some understanding of the prophecies regarding the Messiah. The portrait, which speaks of a life-long devotion to such reading, is a fitting image for that to which we all as Christians ought to aspire.
Luke tells us in chapter 2 verse 38 what Anna did after she came to the temple and recognized the fulfillment of the Scriptures in Mary’s baby. Anna “began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” That’s the order of things in the Ascension texts as well. Jesus explains what has been written about Him and then commissions the apostles to witness, beginning in Jerusalem.
During this time between the Ascension and the Return of Jesus, it’s a core competency for Christians that we be able to read things in The Book and then tell about them. Whatever the rubric is for that, we need to accomplish it.
it would be interesting to see your list of other core competencies required of a christian. i recently reread james baldwin’s go tell it on the mountain–a great book i still think. i read it differently now than i did 50 years ago as a high school boy. and i also read the bible differently now–not necessarily a good thing but inevitable.
I’m surprised both by my knowledge and ignorance of The Bible. Through numerous sermons and readings, I’ve internalized many stories and verses. But I often am missing details, such as Anna, “The Prophetess”. It’s more of a patchwork knowledge, parts with out a cohesive whole.
Maybe related, this talk of studying The Scriptures relates to my own ruminations on the claim of various other beliefs regarding the validity of Christian doctrine. The most prominent one being our faith is a corrupt one, with theirs being the true faith.
I just wonder how they are so certain that theirs isn’t the corrupt one. If it’s possible that a faith as old as Christianity, with two thousand some years of scrutiny by intelligent God fearing men and women, can be corrupt, why is theirs any better?
Jacob: your ignorance of the character Steve mentions is another sign that a virtual bible which a guy can use to quickly look up passages for reading on his little screen is not the same as a physical book–codex technology–that he has spent years handling–a weighty physical thing he held as he paused to reflect on what he read. After doing this for a long time he finds that the physical book becomes an object of love because he has been challenged, consoled, healed, entertained, and puzzled, rescued by the world it holds.
My ignorance persisted thru several physical bibles, so I doubt physically holding The Word would improve my understanding of it.