Week One: JtME Discussion
On reading texts of the past & Jesus as Judge
Hello bookish friends,
If you’d like to discuss the questions for chapters 1 & 2, here is the place to do it.
Here are the questions you received in your email:
Chapter 1:
In this opening chapter, we’re challenged to examine our own ideas about who Jesus really is. What is your answer to Christ’s question to the disciples, “Who do you say I am?” How has your answer been shaped by your personal and institutional histories and contexts, for good or for ill?
Discuss the value of surprise when it comes to reading old books. Do you think our culture is open to surprise? In what ways have you been surprised lately? How has that shaped your view of other people, and of God?
Chapter 2:
How do you feel when you look at the Doom, or listen to the words of the York plays? How do they challenge you in our present contexts; do they change how you see Christ?
Let’s think about the gift of fear. Does it change how you feel about fear when you think of it as a gift? Do you think fear can help us in our practice of justice or neighborliness?
Feel free to engage with other readers in the comments, ask your own questions, or share your thoughts about these themes and other themes in the book. Thanks for reading with me!
-Grace
Your passages on being neighborly hit home. It reminded me of a conversation I had with my dad about his work as a psychologist. He’s clocked something like 40,000 hours of therapy over the years and has a strong reputation in the business. I asked him how he has been able to help so many people and he said “Because I look for Jesus in each one of them, no matter how hidden. I can help my patients because I love them.” It was such a beautiful thing to say. I feel inspired by those words to meet Jesus in this way too, by loving others despite their flaws. This of course can be a real struggle for me.
Chapter 2
Wow, I loved this. And I also want to thank you for the meditation and practices at the end, they were so meaningful for me.
I have always struggled to capture the right idea of the fear of God. Awe and respect don't capture the idea of fear fully, but to be afraid of God didn't feel right from what the Bible teaches me of His character. So I loved how you brought out the nuances of fearing Jesus the Judge as bringing humility and working out justice towards others.
I didn't expect this view of Jesus the Judge from medieval Christianity for sure.