Colossians Remixed, Walsh and Keesmaat, Chapter 5 : Subversive Poetry and Contested Imagination

This chapter is a fictional dialogue between the authors and their imaginary reader.  The conversation looks at three areas:

1. Back at the context that they have set.
2. Examines the passage 2:15-20 with further targum
3. Thinks about the contrast between the dynamic community that the authors paint of the community addressed in the letter with the contemporary church.

Brian and Sylvia want us to understand that the echoes of Israel's story that they are drawing on in their contextual retelling of the story are ones that would have been heard by the original Colossian recipients of the letter. To emphasise their point they make some comparisons with our contemporary setting they comment:

It's like the folks who were saying, "He's the real thing," meaning Jesus, when Coca-Cola were running the "It's the real thing" ad campain. Christians picked up on the cultural discourse and set their faith directly in the midst of that discourse in a potentially subversive way. Page 80

Having clarified that the recipients of the letter would have heard the language of the empire re-interpreted in to the Christian context they go on to show how the poem in Colossians 1:15-20 would have been heard.

While rich in echo and allusion- image, firstborn, creation, and reconciliation all have clear echoes in the Torah, the Prophets and wisdom literature -this poem leaves little doubt as to who is sovereign in creation, who images the invisible God, who holds the cosmos together in peace and who brings about reconciliation of all things. And it isn't Caesar! Page 84.

They offer a targum on the poem that applies the concepts to the contemporary western culture. By engaging the reader in the culture and context of the Colossian letter Brian and Sylvia aim to inspire the reader to lift their eyes from the dominant imagery of their culture and apply the gospel by evoking an alternative imagination:

Our suggestion is simple. Follow Paul, who was following the prophets. Write and perform evocative and subversive poetry that provides and imagination alternative to the empire's. The point is to so immerse ourselves in the scriptures, so indwell their narrative, to be so permeted by their images, that ourimagination is tansformed according to the image of Christ. Page 84.

Brian and Sylvia are encouraging the reader to use imagery that connects with the people to whom it is aimed. Drawing on the vast scriptural resource they are attempting to help us see the connections that can be made with our communties and culture. They don't want us to leave their work and go an explain everything in simple terms but to go and evoke the imagination towards a reality from different perspective.

Reflections on Colossians remixed chapter 3

I was lying awake this morning pondering the fictional account by Nympha of her conversion.  Brian and Sylvia have done an excellent job of placing the letter into its original context. However in the account of her conversion, Nympha says:

One day in a conversation with these Christians I found I was using the word we. I had, almost without noticing it, thrown my lot in with Jesus and his followers. I had become a Christian. The Christian community in Laodicea now meets as an assembly in my house. Page 57

Which raises some questions for me. While I am happy that everyone has a different experience of coming to faith but there is no mention of Baptism. It is clear from the New Testament that Baptism is an important part of the induction or initiation to the Christian faith. When I read some of the Church Fathers account of life and faith I seem to remember that Baptism was an important part of final inclusion into the community of Jesus followers. The omission of it here could be:

• An oversight by the authors.
• A deliberate omission because the letter of Colossians omits mention of Baptism.
• An imposition of the authors own theological conviction that progressive conversion is the most likely form of conversion in the early church.
• An attempt by the authors to subvert the current dominant Evangelical emphasis on a conversion moment.

Given the authors stance on subversion throughout the book I prefer the latter!

Kester answers mine (and priory of zion’s questions)

Kester invited me to ask him questions about his book "The Complex Christ" when he knew I was blogging through it. I posted my questions in the comments on his blog and he answered with a post. http://thecomplexchrist.typepad.com/the_complex_christ/2006/01/graham_doel_ask.html

A Week of Story Telling

This week has involved lots talking and listening: On Monday I visited an experienced minister so that I could tell him my story of the last couple of weeks. He listened carefully to me and helped me reflect on my own journey through my personal and professional life. The same evening a group of 8 people 6 of whom had started coming to the church (on Stanley Road in Morecambe) in the last few months.  Each person shared their journey in faith which was fascinating.  Every person had a different story to tell and a different account of how their life and faith has grown and developed. The next day I met with three different groups of people.  With one group I talked about the life and story of Win Prior who's funeral I shall conduct later today.  I heard the story of her patient nature and unwavering faith through times in life when many of us may have given up on our own faith.  With another we talked about the Story of Jesus and the impact reading the Gospel of Mark has had on us.  With another we just talked about the stories of our own life and what it is like to live in Morecambe. I love hearing and sharing the stories of life and faith.  The things that have influenced us and helped us fascinate me.

Creativity And Imagination May Visit Morecambe’s Central Promenade Again.

The six finalists from the competition to re-imagine the central promenade in Morecambe stand in the tradition of creativity. I'm no fan of the Midland Hotel (or Art Deco in general) but it does show how Morecambe allowed creativity and innovation in the past. The six design proposals for the prom are innovative and creative. I found them quite exciting. As I walked round the exhibition I noticed that some local residents were reticent about the plans, particularly to putting residential accommodation on the sea side of the road. Here are my observations:

• Look at the central promenade:

• The leisure facilities are on their last legs.
• The area is tatty and neglected.

Look at the view:

• Morecambe Bay boasts one of the most impressive landscapes in the entire world.
• In the words of one of my friends "People would pay thousands for that view".

Think about the future of Morecambe:

• Morecambe needs investment.
• Morecambe needs redevelopment.
• Morecambe needs more leisure facilities.
• Morecambe needs a variety of housing styles that meets the diverse needs of society today.

The designs I saw yesterday were innovative and creative. There were some really interesting designs and structures providing the same kind of eye catching design that inspired The Midland Hotel. There was improved leisure facilities. There was creative housing. I went away from the exhibition excited about the future of Morecambe, encouraged by the brevity of the Architects and looking forward to seeing the whole thing develop.

National Fame for local girl

One of the girls at Alice's nursery made it into the local and national news this week.  All because she churcked a bottle into the bay and it made it all the way to Australia! Her message in a bottle made it to the other side of the world where a boy found it and wrote back. Alesha was full page in yesterdays Sun (not page 3).  You can read the BBC story on the subject here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/4627330.stm

Colossians Remixed, Walsh and Keesmaat, Chapter 4 : Contested fruitfulness in the shadow of empire

Brian and Sylvia are keen that their readers understand that "empire" forms the context in which Colossians should be set. Having introduced the Roman Empire to us and described the gospel story in the political terms of empire they set about to re-enforce the concept by rereading the whole of the Old Testament and the accounts of Jesus in the same light (no mean feat for one chapter).

• The exodus is seen as an escape from empire.
• The wilderness as a calling to a community built on opposite principles of empire.
• The entrance into the promised land and desire for monarchy as a battle with empire.
• The prophetic voice as a critique of empire.
• The exile as Gods judgement on Israel's empirical ways and a calling to the counter community.

In the face of empire, Jeremiah proclaims a subversive word of the Lord that completely counters Israel's imperial experience. Under the oppressive rule of Babylon and Assyria, the Israelites are still called to build a faithful community and to live subject to a a different kind of rule and kingship, one where imperial might and power is used for feeding the hunger of people and binding up their wounds. (Page 69)

Jesus life and ministry is also interpreted in the context of empire. They point out that:

• Luke's Gospel identifies its self in terms of the empire.
• Luke is concerned with setting the context of power.
• "Almost everything that Jesus did or said was an implicit challenge to the empire and its way of working in the world." (Page 70)

Choosing Luke as the gospel with which to look at the context of Jesus life and ministry is not just because it happens to fit with the understanding of "empire" which the authors wish us to grapple with but because "it is likely that his story was known to the Colossian church. At the end of the letter to them, Paul conveys greetings from "Luke, the beloved physician" (4:14)" (Page 71) Returning to the letter to the Colossians Brian and Sylvia reflect on the Old Testament overtones of the theme of fruitfulness in the first chapter. They point out: While the converts to Christianity are mainly pagan, the context of the faith was predominantly Jewish, it is likely the converts would have invested themselves in the story of their new found faith.

• Paul's writing would have come from this Jewish framework.
• In the Old Testament Fertility and Fruitfulness are linked with Peace and Security,
• Jesus teaches and envisions a community that is a manifestation of Yahweh's fruitfulness.

The theme of fruitfulness is then contrasted with the expectation that the Roman empire dominated its subjects with talk of peace, security and fruitfulness for its subjects. Brian and Sylvia contend that the images invoked in the first chapter would reverberate with the people of Colossae.

For those in the community who had learned the history of Israel vis-a-vis other empires, together with the counter-testimony of the law and the prophets, Paul's language of community would have evoked a whole other way of political and economic being in community, rooted in Torah and God's calls to justice and care for the disenfranchised. This path of covenant faithfulness leads to a fruitfulness for the whole earth that God alone can provide. For those who knew the story of Jesus, Paul's language suggested a call to an alternate ethic in the face of the empire, and ethic rooted in Jesus and his act of reconciliation on the cross. (Page 75-76)

Colossians Remixed, Walsh and Keesmaat, Chapter 3 : Placing Colossians

I think that painting the context for people is a very difficult thing to do. Brian and Sylvia tackle the subject by taking us on an imaginary journey into the character of Nympha who is mentioned in the letter (4:15). Using this method of engagement they point out that:

• Colossae was farmed for wool.
• Wealthy women held positions of power, but had chaperones.
• The way the story of the Jewish people was told within the empire cast them in a suspicious and failing light. Quite different to the way Jewish people and Christians told their story.
• The Roman empire dominated through the use of images. Wherever an individual went they would see the Emperor and things that reminded them of the way in which they subjugated people to their rule.
• The church met at great personal risk, not participating in the worship of the emperor was considered divisive behaviour.

A snippet from the fictional conversation:

"But that's the point," she said, "I don't believe Caesar is our saviour. I don't believe that he has brought peace or prosperity. And I don't worship him or any of the other Gods any more." I must have had a stunned look on my face because she continued more gently. "Look, Nympha," she said. "Look at the Roman peace. Yes, it is peaceful here, but at what price? Only if we promise subservience to the empire, only if we pay our taxes." (Page 52)

They step aside from the historical drama to make some final points about the context:

• The Colossian context was one of dominating empire.
• The empire dominated through centralising power.
• The empire dominated through military control.
• The empire dominated through the false myth of bringing peace the nations.
• The empire dominated through imperial images to capture imagination.

They close the chapter by reminding the reader that the Christian community told the story of Jesus through the Old Testament stories of God's interaction with the patriarchs:

As we saw, these stories gripped the imaginations of followers of Jesus such as Lydia and Nympha, who began to see that the stories of Israel and Jesus offered a compelling critique of the life of the empire. (Page 64)

I wonder if the case for critique of the empire is overstated in order to add weight to the reading of Colossians that is to come.

Colossians Remixed, Walsh and Keesmaat, Chapter 2 : Colossians and disquieted globalisation

Brian and Sylvia begin to take their readers on a journey. They want us to understand the text of Colossians hearing how it might have been written if it was for us today. We are introduced to the concept of "Targum". Colossians 1:1-14 is retold to us as a Rabbi might have read a scripture written in Hebrew to a community removed from their homes who no longer speak or read Hebrew. Having drawn us into the text they introduce us to another fictional character. Ourselves. They imagine the questions we might be asking and provide some answers to them. Using this method of explanation they tackle the following issues within the text. "Grace and Peace" (1:2), the greeting used by Paul is rich with overtones. "The word of truth has come to you" (1:5-6), makes truth sound human or at least personal. Remembering William and how he might find the notion of absolutes aggressively attacking him we are challenged to see truth conveyed in the letter not as an aggressive absolute but a gentle whole approach:

We want to encourage a reading of scripture that unabashedly abandons such objectivism for a more holistic understanding of knowing. (Page 44)

They take us on a tour of some Old Testament passages to help us see that "truth" is seen as a personal interaction and not a submission.

"Spiritual wisdom and understanding" (1:9), should be understood with the ears of the Old Testament.

Language of wisdom in the Hebrew Scriptures has nothing to do with otherworldly contemplation and everything to do with being attuned to the wise ways God engages creation. (Page 47)

With the question of hearing what Paul has written with Old Testament ears we required to ask the question "would Paul's readers have heard it like that". Brian and Sylvia pre-empt our question and direct us to the next chapter.

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Morecambe Bay in the News

January 18, 2006 by Graham Doel  
Filed under Cockle Picking Disaster

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Reporting of the so called "Morecambe Bay Cockling Deaths Trial" has been slim of late. Reports about the changes in the account Lin Liang Ren has given to police have been reported in the press this week. The News & Star say:

He initially gave officers a false name, saying he had entered the UK illegally with £700 in cash but had no idea what cockling was and had never even heard people discussing it. But in a second interview he changed his story, saying he had £7,000 with him when he entered the UK and admitted previously cockling in Scotland and Cumbria.

The BBC say:

He told officers on the night of the tragedy he had been helping the cocklers, dragging bags out of the sea and looking after their vehicles. When asked if he was ever in charge, he answered: "No."

The trial is continuing at Preston Crown Court.

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