Reading the Bible with Passion and Engagement- Notes for 100 Bible Studies

About the Book This book illustrates the author's passion for the Bible from a young age, having experienced a conversion from Fundamentalism to the Fundamentals of the Bible. The notes for 100 bible studies have resulted from a long journey of reading and rereading the biblical texts with commitment and openness, sharing in conversations and leading bible studies for church groups. They are meant to help the users to move away from ritualist and literalist readings on the one hand and rigorous analysis with scientific tools on the other, and to be reflective with some basic critical questions. The questions for group discussions assist in relating biblical insights to contemporary realities. Readers of the Bible with genuine passion and sustained engagement will be surely equipped to be clearer in understanding the core message of the Bible and effective in communicating the good news.

About the Author The Rev. Dr. Israel Selvanayagam hails from the southern tip of India. After initial pastoral work in churches, he joined the Tamilnadu Theological Seminary in Madural for theological education and ministerial training. On completion, based in the same seminary, he was engaged in interreligious dialogue, teaching, lay theological education, and writing and editing theological books, mainly in Tamil. His higher studies were in the area of the Hindu Religious Traditions, and from an interreligious perspective he has approached Christian scripture, theology and mission in a unique way as is evident in his extensive publications. After teaching in several theological colleges both in India and the UK, he is currently a Methodist Minister in the multi- religious city of Leicester.

Foreword It is indeed a great privilege to have been asked to write a Foreword for Reading the Bible with Passion and Engagement, a monumental work of Rev. Dr Israel Selvanayagam. This privilege he has given to me as we had quite a few discussions on the need to provide help to pastors and people to read the Bible with proper discernment which would lead them to be committed for justice (my emphasis), and for Israel with a larger ambit of passion leading to engagement in God's Mission in all its aspects.

Israel started as a student with a fund of knowledge of the Bible, though with a fundamentalist stance. However, by the time he became a teacher, director of the lay people's institute called Theological Education for Christian Commitment and Action, and editor of the publications of the Tamil Theological Book Club he had developed a broad vision. His love for the Bible remained the same and he believed that the Bible could be made to teach people about it. This is the path he has followed in this task, putting in much hard work. I understand it has taken nearly four years to complete the 100 Bible Studies. For me, I too started with a rather conservative perspective schooled in the teachings of Rev. Dr John Stott, but as a of theological training under people like Dr Russell Chandran and participation in the social action programmes of the Tamilnadu Theological Seminary my reading of the Bible tended to move in the direction of Marcion, not going all the way but with a liberal use of the scissors to excise what were considered as unwanted parts of the Bible. My inclination rather is to follow the hermeneutic of suspicion by people like Segundo. This latter path helps one to seek answers for the findings of social analysis and analysis of current affairs.

Israel's work does provoke profound interest in reading the Bible with interest. It enables people to develop a critical perspective. However, I would like to have seen a little greater emphasis given to socio-political and cultural questions as the Bible is expounded with a variety of references back and forth.

Preface Growing up in a remote village in the southern-most part of India, in a strange way the word of God was my food, energy-tablet and hope provider. When I joined the church ministry as a teenage probationer, in-charge of a village congregation for four years, the Bible was my sole resource for inspiration, preaching and engaging with members of the congregation. A fair amount of bible knowledge among the people and a passion for knowing more enthused me to further my scripture knowledge. The scripture examination for the church workers, conducted by my diocese, gave encouraging words and prizes. But. I was not then aware of being among the bible-loving popular preachers who were of fundamentalist piety.

I joined the Tamilnadu Theological Seminary Madurai, an ecumenical and 'experimental' institution, for theological education and ministerial training. For the first time I was introduced to critical studies of the Bible, and this shook my long-held opinions. However, I was aware of the woolly and non- committal liberal positions. Instead, I was fascinated by some excellent teachers of the biblical subjects, including those who taught introduction to the biblical languages, Hebrew and Greek. Then it was natural for them to encourage me to do my postgraduate studies in the area of Biblical Studies in view of faculty development in that rather new seminary situated (since 1969) in the Temple Town of South India.

Nevertheless, there was a sudden turning point. I was asked to stay on in the seminary to organise the newly introduced programme on interreligious dialogue. It was not easy to get settled in an uncharted and unrecognized ministry. My higher studies were World Religions in general and Hinduism in particular. Though it was not an enjoyable and fulfilling ministry, the experience led me to perceptions of profound nature, particularly of how people of other religions see the Christian church and its mission. Equally challenging was to understand the uniqueness of the Christian scriptures in comparison with other religious scriptures. After much thought I came to realize that fundamentalist piety has done great damage to the understanding of the gospel and Christian witness. I was able to articulate by a conversion from fundamentalism to the fundamentals of the Bible.

**Contents and Sample Pages**