Ministry of the Word
Mike Whitney Oct 20, 2023
I have what has been a nascent ministry of the word. This ministry involves insights into scripture that should be useful to the Christian community but possibly first to the scholarly world. The ministry is mature in the ideas but immature in the sharing of ideas, some of which are listed below. My goal then involves disseminating what I have discovered over the years. Much of the insight pertains to the context, purpose, and message of Galatians and Romans. We’ll take that as the focus for now. Basically I have come to understand details of the problems in both letters. This understanding differs from the general explanations of the troubling scenarios Paul was addressing. I’m never trying to have new ideas on scriptures; I’m just trying to understand the text or share the logical conclusions. (Often, the understanding of the text has come before the deep analysis. At other times, like in Gal 2:11-14, I have sought to make a simple argument, but this showed the weaknesses of previous theories.) My goal has usually been to get the ideas verified in the scholarly world and then shared with the people – this is that the ideas could be confirmed – and not just of my own reasoning. Though, I do not doubt the findings of my studies. And often, the ideas are new explanations of passages that have caused trouble even since the second and third centuries.
The discoveries are exciting, especially in figuring out details that have been unclear for 2000 years. What value is there for the church to finally understand this stuff? It seems that God is ready to do something great.
I have been developing ideas and writing on them since 2006. Some ideas have been shared via websites in the early days, but nothing has received sufficient attention. I was able to share a few papers at regional conferences, but those were with audiences of no more than twenty. This leaves me with roughly ten documents with the ideas laid out at various stages of development and differing quality levels.
A significant weakness has been my writing, but I am improving my skills. The weakness is joined with sort of a Ph.D. deficit but I think I can compensate for that. A Ph.D. program would help but, at the same time, hamper my writing and would commit me to a 4+ year prep toward a single dissertation topic. I still need some papers to go to the scholarly world. I’m fine with the ideas scrutinized. I also want feedback, debate, and discussion. I have always been in a catch-22 situation. If my life had been different, I probably would not have understood much of what I plan to share.
I have needs in prayer, administration, advising, editing, reviewing, book publishing, marketing, research, etc. It even helps just that people are informed that this ministry is my goal and my service to God. All is in His hands but I’m trying to do what I can, especially to have this material available long after my life is over.