Religion is a very scary thing, because a pastor is in a position of power. And if you use that power badly, you ruin people's lives, and you ruin your own life.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
Pastors need to know what's going on in the world and what has been going on for 4,000 years. We need a way to read Scripture which is imaginative, interpretive.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Pastors should be aware of historical and current events to effectively interpret Scripture.
Eugene H. Peterson emphasizes the importance for pastors to engage with both the historical context of the Bible and the contemporary world. A deep understanding of societal and historical trends enables a more imaginative and interpretative approach to Scripture, leading to a richer and more relevant application of spiritual teachings in today’s context.
Themes
PastorsScriptureInterpretationImaginationContextHistory
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon about understanding biblical texts, a pastor might reference this quote to highlight the need for contextual analysis.
More from Eugene H. Peterson
All quotes →When we sin and mess up our lives, we find that God doesn't go off and leave us- he enters into our trouble and saves us.
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If you don't take a Sabbath, something is wrong. You're doing too much, you're being too much in charge. You've got to quit, one day a week, and just watch what God is doing when you're not doing anything.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
Christians don't simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus' name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
Exile (being where we don't want to be with people we don't want to be with) forces a decision: Will I focus my attention on what is wrong with the world and feel sorry for myself? Or will I focus my energies on how I can live at my best in this place I find myself?...'I will do my best with what is here.'
Eugene H. PetersonRead
The Latin words humus, soil/earth, and homo, human being, have a common derivation, from which we also get our word 'humble.' This is the Genesis origin of who we are: dust - dust that the Lord God used to make us a human being. If we cultivate a lively sense of our origin and nurture a sense of continuity with it, who knows, we may also acquire humility.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
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