31 Oct '07 20:59>1 edit
Originally posted by SwissGambitNobody on here has a greater sense (or even perhaps as great a sense) of how the gospel messages of freedom and healing need to be articulated to the actual, concrete human condition in a non-abstract way, than Kirk. And I’m not sure that anyone does it as well—sometimes with (even salty) humor, sometimes (as with his reading of the parable of the elder son) with deep personal feeling that gets to the marrow of that human condition, and communicates it. He knows that you can’t touch someone else’s soul without laying bare your own—at least to yourself.
Too bad vistesd gave up biblical exegesis. I suspect most of the Christians on here like the verse just as it is and will not be motivated to find an alternate interpretation.
I exegete words, and find that salvation (soterias) actually means healing, making-well, making-whole. Kirk knew that a long time ago, without having to look up the Greek. I exegete words to discover alternatives, or even mistakes. Kirk mines the human condition—including his own—to offer meaning. My exegesis is mechanical; Kirk’s is artful. He has been one of my teachers. (Oh, the mechanics can lead to art; they don’t necessarily.)
Text is text; life is life. If Kirk decides to lay his mind on this text, he’ll undoubtedly give it life.