Holy: Understanding it Better Through Knowing AND TEACHING

I had a great conversation yesterday with one of my college professors in the philosophy department of Bethel University.  His name is Dr. Stanley D. Anderson.  The thing that made it exciting was that he is the author of a book that now goes out to all Bethel University freshman called Becoming Whole and Holy.  It can be found through Worldcat as published in 2004, the same year I began my work on holy in earnest.  If you have read any entries for this blog previously, then you will know why I am interested.  But what was different in my discussion yesterday was that I was able to say I agree totally with him and with Bethel University on a knowledge level and from the perspective of life that their order of "Whole and Holy" is correct, as they define the word holy as "set apart".  This agreement is important. 

From that starting point, my quest is to find out if holy means "set apart" or if other words in the biblical text mean "set apart" and if fact, holy means "whole".  So he and I know already about "whole" and "set apart" in terms of their priority order in real life.  My quest is also that suggested by Andrew Murray in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  He may turn out to be right on, when it comes to the quest for understanding the Bible

The project that I am currently working on is to qualify to be a teacher of what holy means.  The difference here is the difference that we find in Paul's letters to Timothy, when he says "Pay attention to your life and teaching".  So in paying attention to my life, I find that being whole or being healthy (not just physically!) is a necessary priority.  But that does not mean that being "set apart" goes away.  But also knowing about being whole does not make me qualified to teach that from the Scriptures!  That is a different task.  Teaching is like a map for the territory of real  life.  For that, I study to be an expert not only on territory, but on reading ancient maps like the Bible. 

So my old alma mater and I agree as knowers and as people learning from real life.  But it is important for teachers to know that I am not boasting before I put my suit of armor on for battle as opposed to returning from battle as to what holy means.  This is very important to teachers.  They want to know that a fellow teacher has done the work that they have done to be a teacher.  That is fair isn't it?  I sensed that this was important to Dr. Anderson during the course of our conversation.  Humility is a good thing. 

The task in front of me is to finish my exegetical work for seminary in order to make me qualified as a teacher among teachers or a map user among other map users.  People may already know the truth and that it is life that comes before teaching.  But that does not mean that teaching should not be paid attention to!  Rather it is a very imporant second step!  Remember Paul's words!

One of my friends, after my talk with Dr. Anderson, pointed out that many extremists or exlusivists within the Christian faith community put being "set apart" ahead of being "whole".  He is right about some potentially dangerous implications, if they are not reading the map correclty.  This is precisely where implications for life are built from how people read the map and how they see reality.  So my task is singular.  Solve the map (of the Bible) as fast as I can as well as I can! 

In Christ,

Jon