Why Normal Christianity Found In The Psalms Is Needed Today

By Mark Reed


Poetry had an important role in communication for ancient human societies, acting as a mnemonic device with meter and rhyme. History used to be oral or spoken, and it was vital for a mnemonic system to be in place, while beauty entered as a later standard. Fortunately, the techniques for poetry also allowed for beauty to come into the picture for expressing abstruse concepts.

From the ancients came the base hearth laws later adapted by Christians, and these were based on reason and universal orders. When studied in their original configurations, these would probably sound very like normal Christianity found in the Psalms. And along with the tenets of the Christian testament, they form the most evolved concepts that can be found in the Bible.

Iudea is probably the contemporary civilization being referenced here, the Roman territory run by a royal Jewish proxy. Those laws, then, conformed to the definitions of the contemporaneity. And beauty was in full use, the mind stretching towards a vision of how life could be heavenly when all the tenets are followed by an entire human civilization.

It took two millennia for these concepts to become normative or normal for the majority of people on earth. It took wars, generations of misfits, evil concepts that took root in empires and kingdoms, and many kinds of wrongheaded philosophy before people learned what was correct. It took rivers of blood, mountains of bones, and shattered landscapes to hardwire the concepts into racial memory.

Normal Christianity is the total celebration of life, love and laughter. These values are primary ones in Psalms and the Songs of Solomon, no matter how the times called for David to gird his loins and be prepared to do battle to preserve the human paradise that he first conceptualized. The final redaction of his words was probably done during the ministry of Jesus.

If the normal Christianity in Psalms has done nothing else but keep people of faith anchored to the original precepts for living in peace and harmony through the worst times, then its mission has been accomplished. However, there is still much to be accomplished in these terms. So the Psalms and its teachings must retain a paramount dynamic in the life of all Christians today.

The book can be studied with excellent scholarship and commentaries. The possible redaction has also made it worldly, and people will compare it as a wiser, more mature book when put beside other OT books and their histories, most of which are versified. To make a related point, modern poetics made a vital turn here, dividing works into poetry and verse, of which the old histories became, because they lacked the beautiful letters of Psalms.

Literature in sundry directions after this focal turning point, even as they were closely allied to active Christian movements. Those who want a deeper understanding of the passages in Psalms need to study continuously. It is something that the faithful can practice with great results.

The most useful Bibles to read are probably the NRSV or NASB, with some referencing to old King James passages. Nowadays, though, all kinds of Bibles available are often a certain standard preferred for historical or academic concerns. Free copies are distributed by many groups.




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