"Le contraire des bruits qui courent des affaires ou des personnes est souvent la vérité." Jean de La Bruyère
"The opposite of rumours about business or about people is often the truth (of the matter)." Jean de la Bruyere.
Jean de La Bruyère, né à Paris le 17 août 1645 et mort à Versailles le 10 mai 1696, est un moraliste français.
La Bruyère est célèbre pour une œuvre unique, Les Caractères ou les Mœurs de ce siècle. Wikipédia
Several scandals are making the headlines in France at the moment: misuse of public funds, political party debts, who gets how much and for what - leading to strikes. Even in Christian circles there can be different interpretations of same issues. Truth, real truth, can be an elusive thing. It's our Christian duty to seek the truth of any matter, including in our understanding of the Word of God. Our first reflex should be to ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us and lead us in our ruminations.
At the Summer University Christian Counselling course (a 3-day conference at the end of June), we had some very interesting, thought-provoking teaching on the Word of God. François Vouga, a Swiss German theologian talked about what the parables of Jesus tell us about the development of our unique identity. (The Subject, in psych terms.)
Then Valérie Duval-Poujol did a masterful paper on how people's cultural vision influences their translation of the Bible and gave examples. Understanding the word 'flesh' (which leads to a rejection of our body) or words which describe our emotions (which can lead to suppressing valid emotions). Male/female relationships or understanding of skin colour which can lead to racist attitudes.
Conclusion: the Bible has to remain 'Good News' for all and not encourage us to inflict a certain legalism.
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