The Bible and the Land (Ancient Context, Ancient Faith) PDF
Preview The Bible and the Land (Ancient Context, Ancient Faith)
ZONDERVAN The Bible and the Land Copyright © 2009 by Gary M. Burge All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non- exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on- screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan. Mobi Edition August 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-86578-0 Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Burge, Gary M. The Bible and the land / Gary M. Burge. p. cm. — (Ancient context, ancient faith) ISBN 978-0-310-28044-6 (softcover) 1. Bible — Geography. 2. Bible — Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title. BS630.B87 2008 220.9’1 — dc22 2008026352 Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version™. TNIV®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers printed in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other — except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Interior design by Kirk DouPonce, www.DogEaredDesign.com Maps by International Mapping For my parents Who have always brought wisdom to the wilderness C ONTENTS Title Page Copyright Page S I ERIES NTRODUCTION Ancient Context, Ancient Faith 1 I NTRODUCTION Life, Holy Land, Pilgrimage, and Deserts 2 T L HE AND 3 W ILDERNESS Deuteronomy 6 – 8; Matthew 4 4 S HEPHERDS Psalm 23; Ezekiel 34; John 10 5 R OCK Deuteronomy 32; Joshua 4; Luke 6:46 – 49 6 W ATER Deuteronomy 11:10; John 4:1 – 30; 7:37 – 39 7 B READ Exodus 16:1 – 21; John 6:1 – 58 8 N AMES Exodus 3:13 – 15; Isaiah 43:1 – 7; Revelation 3:5 About The Publisher Share Your Thoughts Series Introduction: A C , NCIENT ONTEXT A F NCIENT AITH EVERY COMMUNITY of Christians throughout history has framed its understanding of spiritual life within the context of its own culture. Byzantine Christians living in the fifth century and Puritan Christians living over a thousand years later used the world in which they lived to work out the principles of Chris tian faith, life, and identity. The reflex to build house churches, monastic communities, medieval cathedrals, steeple-graced and village-centered churches, or auditoriums with theater seating will always spring from the dominant cultural forces around us. Even the way we understand “faith in Christ” is to some degree shaped by these cultural forces. For instance, in the last three hundred years, Western Christians have abandoned seeing faith as a chiefly communal exercise (although this is not true in Africa or Asia). Among the many endowments of the European Enlightenment, individualism reigns supreme: Christian faith is a personal, private endeavor. We prefer to say, “I have accepted Christ,” rather than define ourselves through a community that follows Christ. Likewise (again, thanks to the Enlightenment) we have elevated rationalism as a premier value. Among many Christians faith is a construct of the mind, an effort at knowledge gained through study, an assent to a set of theological propositions. Sometimes even knowing what you believe trumps belief itself. To be sure, many Christians today are challenging these Enlightenment
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