In the Old Testament, King James uses the term "imagination" five times (Gen. 6:5; Dt. 29:19; Jer. 3:17; Prov. 6:18; Lam. 3:60). In ... SpiritualGrowthandChristianLivingResources ChristiansinIranNeedBiblesandYouCanHelp! BROWSETOPICSX JoinPlus PlusLogin Plus Devotionals Faith Family Church News&Culture More Subscribe Plus Imagination:BiblicallyHoly,orEvil? Share Tweet E-Mail Imagination:BiblicallyHoly,orEvil? MichaelCard Patheos.com 2012 23Jul Editor'sNote:Thisarticleispostedcourtesyof PatheosBookClub. "Comefollowme,"Jesussaid,"andIwillmakeyoufishersofmen."~Mark1:17 Ofallthemysteriousmoments,heseemsmostapproachableatthisparticularmoment,mostinviting,mostavailable,mosthuman.Weimaginethewould-bediscipleslookingupfromtheirnetsandfish,smilingathiscreativefigureofspeech.ItisawarmGalileespringday.Itissilent,noteventhesoundofabird.Thesandiswarmbetweentheirtoes.Itisaninvitingmoment,almostcozy.Wehaveimaginedthissceneduring100sermons.Theexcitementofthedisciples'heartsresonatesinours.Ifwehadbeenthereonthat29A.D.morning,wewouldhavelefteverythingtoo.If,likeme,thisishowyoufirstimaginedthatlong-agomoment,likeme...youwouldhavebeencompletelywrong. We"imagine..."Whatdoyoumeanwhenyousaythosewords?Moreimportantly,whatareyoureallydoingwhenyou"imagine"?Ascreatedbeings,oneofourgreatesttreasures,perhapsthedearestfingerprintofGodinus,isourabilitytoimagine.Butinevitably,wheneverIspeakaboutthe"biblicalimagination"someonewillobject,"Isn'ttheimaginationabadthing?Doesn'ttheBiblesayourimaginationsare"evil"? Itisapervasiveopinionandthereareunderstandablereasonsforit.IthinkitisfoundedinthefactthatwhenevertheKingJamesBibleusestheword"imagination"itdoessoinanegativesense(e.g."...everyimaginationwasevil..."Gen.6:5).Clearly,ifwearegoingtoseektouseourimaginationsandspeakofa"biblicalimagination,"weneedtoaddressthisvalidconcern. IntheOldTestament,KingJamesusestheterm"imagination"fivetimes(Gen.6:5;Dt.29:19;Jer.3:17;Prov.6:18;Lam.3:60).Infourofthefivereferences,theHebrewwordheart(lav)isused.Literally,theOldTestamentspeaksofthe"conceptions"oftheheart(Gen.6:5)orthestubbornnessoftheheart(Dt.29:19;Jer.3:17)ortheevilplotsoftheheart(Prov.6:8).InLamentations3,thoughthewordforheartdoesnotappear,inverse60thesamewordfor"plots"oftheheartthatisusedinProverbs6appears(mahashbet).Though"lav"or"heart"doesnotappearwecansafelysayitisimplied.IntheOldTestament"plotsandevilschemes"happenintheheart.Thereisnosingularwordfor"imagination"inHebrew. IntheNewTestament,theword"imagination"appearsthreetimesinKingJames(Lk.1:51;Rom.1:21;2Cor.10:5).Inthesereferences,twoofthethreealsospeakorrefertotheheart(kardia).Inthefirstreference,Maryissinging.Sherejoicesattheradicalreversalherbabyboywilleventuallybringtotheworld.Inverse51shesingsliterally: [By]hisstrongarmhehasthoroughlyscatteredthearrogantintelligenceoftheirhearts.(author'stranslation) InRomans1,Paul,speakingofthecomingjudgmentofGod,saysofthewicked,"theirreasoningswerefutileandtheunderstandingsoftheirheartsweredarkened"(author'stranslation). InthefinalNewTestamentreferenceinwhichKingJamesusestheword"imagination"(2Cor.10:5),anotherformoftheword"reasonings"(logismos)fromRomans1:21isused.Againthoughtheword"heart"(kardia)doesnotappear,itissafetosayitisimplied.IntheNewTestament,asintheOld,theplacewhere"darkreasonings"occurareprimarilyintheheart.Theproblemthen,isnotinthesimpleuseoftheword"imagination."Theproblemisoneoftheheart.TheWordofGodisseekingtorecaptureandredeemourheartsforGod'sglory.Istheheartwicked?Withoutadoubt,yes!ShouldourheartsbeinvolvedinunderstandingtheBible?Withoutadoubt,yes! Backtothefirstquestion...Whenwe"imagine,"whatisitwearedoing?Idon'tpretendtofullyunderstandthemysteryofthehumanheart,butIbelieveitissafetosaythatwhenwe"imagine,"somethingistakingplaceinourhearts;literallyourmindsareworkingwithourheartstocreateimages(henceimage-ination).Buttheheartandmindmustworkinconcert;theymustbeconnectedbyabridge.Inmythinking,thisiswhatIcalltheimagination.Itisabridgebetweentheheartandmind.Itseekstore-integrateandreconnectthem,sincetheywerefragmentedbytheFall.TheimaginationthathasbeensurrenderedtoGodforthisprocessoflisteningtothescriptures,Icallthe"biblicalimagination." (Beforewemoveontothenextpoint,youmightwanttostopandthinkaboutwhat'sbeensaidthusfar.Taketimetoturnitoverinyourownheart,togobacktothebiblicalreferencesabovetoconfirmthisnotionofthesurrenderedheartandthebiblicalimagination.) Finally,let'sdiscusswhatismeantbytheword"informed."Inthisserieswespeakof"engagingwithscriptureattheleveloftheinformedimagination."Thiswastheapproachofmyfriendandmentor,thelateWilliamLane.Itisanapproachthatshapedeverythinghedid,fromthewritingoftwomajorcommentariestothewayhelivedouthisdailyextraordinarylife. IopenedwithacozysceneofJesuscallinghisdisciplesfromMark1:17.Ibeganbypaintingthescene,thatis,byimaginingitasyouandIhaveprobablydonemanytimesbefore.Itisanattractivepicturebutnotnecessarilyabiblicalone.Yousee,itwasimaginedbyanuninformedimagination.Let'sretellthesamescenefromamorebiblicallyinformedperspective. Jesushasrecentlyreturnedfromhisordealinthewildernesswhere,asonlyMarktellsus,hewas"withthewildbeasts."Perhapsthereisstillsomereflectionofthisintenseperiodoftemptationonhisface.Secondly,hehasjustdiscoveredthathiscousin,John,hasbeenthrownintoprisonbythebloodthirstyHerod.Itdoesn'trequireJesus'propheticimaginationtoseethatJohn'slifewillnotlastmuchlonger.WewillseeinMarkanever-presentshadowoftheprospectofpersecution.Thatshadowloomslargeoverthisopeningscene.Itisnotcozy,itisominous. FinallythereisthebusinessofJesus'creativeappealtothetiredfishermanthathewillmakethem"fishersofmen."OnceyouspendsometimewiththeJesusoftheGospels,youwillquicklylearnthatalmosteverythinghesaidisrootedintheOldTestament.HebreathestheTorah.Thisopeningappealisnodifferent. ItisrootedinthebookofJeremiah,theweepingprophet.(IhavewonderedifthepeoplemistookJesusforJeremiahbecausehewassoopenwithhistears.See Matthew16:14.)ThepassageinJeremiah(16:16)isthepreludetoasongaboutthedayofdisaster:"butnowIwillsendformanyfishermen,"declarestheLord,"andtheywillcatchthem..." Thepassagehastodowithjudgmentanddestruction.ThisisthebackgroundtothepassageinthefirstchapterofMark.Itisnotacozyscenebutoneovershadowedwiththeseriousprospectofthemissiontowhichthediscipleswillsoonbecalled.Jesus'wordsareneitherwarmnorinviting.Theyareominousandpowerful.Thetaskoffishingformenandwomenisdeadlyseriousbusiness. Oncewehavedoneourhomeworkwereturntothepassagewithaninformedimagination.Onlythendoesitcometolife.(Eventheimageofthesandbetweenthedisciples'toeswaswrong.TheshoreofGalileeisextremelyrocky.Neitherwouldithavebeenasilentmoment,aswassaidearlier.GalileeisthemajorflywaybetweenAfricaandEurope.Thesoundofbirdsisalwayspresent!) Iagreewiththosewhowouldbecautiousofusingtheword"imagination,"forwithanuninformedimaginationJesusismerelyafigmentoftheimagination.Butwhentheimaginationissurrenderedalongwiththeheartandmind,itbecomesaunifyingbridgethatopensthescripturesinanewandmeaningfulway. ReturntothePatheosBookClubformoreconversationoncultivatingaholyimagination,aswellasadditionalresourcesonMichaelCard'snewbookLuke:TheGospelofAmazement. MichaelCardisanaward-winningmusician,writer,andperformingartistwhoisperhapsbestknownandmostappreciatedforthemeticulousbiblicalstudythatsupportsthethemesandlyricsofhiscreativecompositions.Hisnewestbook, Luke:TheGospelofAmazement, isthefirstinhisnewBiblicalImaginationSeries. Thisarticleispartofthe PatheosBookClubSeries atPatheos.com.Reprintedwithpermission. Share Tweet E-Mail Comments RecentlyOnSpiritualLife WhatDoestheBibleSayaboutListening? WhyIsitSoImportanttoKnowtheKingdom? 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