Narcissism

Everything we treasure must be dismantled in our minds. Even the phrase “Bible Study” has been exploited, contorted, twisted, and distorted into a micro-narrative of occidental religion and philosophy. When I say the word “Bible,” it is nothing but an idea formed in your narcissistic mind with Anglo-Saxon letters—a romanticized memory of a self-centered gathering with friends for self-serving discussion. Shocking as it may be in the West if everyone in the room is talking about themselves, everyone present is a narcissist. When I was a kid, Americans thought everyone was jealous of them. Some still do. Now, Americans think everyone is a narcissist. I’ll leave it to the psychologists to unpack that puzzle for you. With respect to the Bible, we do not study “it.” Nor do we study its “story” or, God forbid, its “narrative.” We deal with a text and the archeology of words—of biblical terminology and, especially in the case of Semitic languages (but also Greek), we deal with roots and their functionality. When you deal with scriptural terminology, your ability to form a picture in your mind is mitigated by the text. Moreover, whatever you are left with—because, as a human being, let’s face it, you are a natural narcissist/idolater, you are left with something—so whatever you are left with is formed with the letters of biblical languages, which mitigate your voice. In such a meeting, people do not gather to “study” the Bible. They gather in silence to be taught by one voice, who transmits—not its meaning—but its terminology to them.The French existentialists hated that, and so do you. Like the song says, “I feel fine.” Richard and I discuss Luke 5:15-16. (Episode 512)

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