Approaching the Text

Taking a New Testament course focused on Acts through Revelation at Fuller Seminary will naturally lead anyone into a study of Paul. From the reading that I have been doing, my interest has peaked and I have been approaching some incredible questions that have been paramount for me in adding more depth to the written Word…
Why does Paul rarely talk about the Kingdom of God (Jesus' favorite topic...)? Why does Paul always use the title "Christ" (when Jesus never uses it...)? How do Paul's Pharisaical tendencies manifest themselves in his theology and then into his writing? How did Paul's Hellenistic (Greek) culture, ruled by the Roman Emperor, with huge Jewish influences impact his thoughts on Jesus? How is the "old perspective" and the "new perspective" on Paul to be approached as we share the Gospel? Why did Paul rarely quote Jesus? Why are the three Damascus road accounts in the book of Acts share such differing views? How are we to handle Paul's Damascus experience as written in Galatians compared to his Damascus experience in Acts 9? Which is the primary account of Paul's life, Acts or his letters? Why does he seem so different in Acts and in his letters? And the biggest questions for me surround what we are to do with Israel and God's promises to Israel in light of Paul’s conversion? Did Paul still embrace his Pharisaic Judaism? Did Paul want to start a new faith away from Judaism? Was he trying to reform Judaism?
The beautiful part behind this class is that answers are not valued. (At Fuller there is probably a 50/50 split between people who value answers and people who value questions.) The questions are especially beautiful in this class because there are so many wise approaches to answering these questions. If there was only one answer given to some of these questions, then wisdom from many voices of historical Christianity would be left out. The depth intertwined in the written Word and these historical voices continue to inspire me as I study different forms of criticism (form, redaction, historical, narrative) and get to know different players in new ways who have contributed to God's written Word. Their personalities shine. For so long I was instructed that the Holy Spirit was the force whom penned the text. Recognizing that God used not only the Holy Spirit, but also these men, and there personalities, and their character, and their Meyer Briggs polarities, and their passions, and their beliefs, to form this mysterious Word, compels me. It compels me that we too get to participate in this reality that we find ourselves in...What a gift that God includes us in the formation of history! What a gift that God loves the world! What a gift that we, the church, get to partner with God to share God's love for the world and for individuals who dwell in this world. For a long time now, it has been appropriate to completely remove and objectify oneself as one approaches the text. This was seen as the best way to “know” the text. What a gift it is that we live in a culture that values the subjective connection of our story into God's past, present and future story! Participation is no longer seen as sinful, while the opposite is. Thanks be to God.