Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

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emerging congregations. Unlike them, however, it is difficult to find follow-up material and discipleship curriculum where the teaching, stories, figures, and prophecies of the OT are made the heart and soul of the material. In some ways, the OT is in some sort of exile in many evangelical church settings. It is rarely read, and often even more rarely preached. A story here, a proverb there, but rarely do you find even expositors spending weeks or months in OT literature in the instruction of Christians. Obviously, this neglect has produced a kind of illiteracy of the OT in many Christians, those who have never had ongoing, systematic teaching of the OT. What should we make of this neglect of the OT in our churches – is it a product of the times, something more fundamental, or something else altogether? A Gentilized Faith? If you were not aware of it, the casual observer would take Christianity as essentially a Euro-centric faith, one that essentially began as a result of the Protestant revolt against Catholic extremes during the period of the Reformation in 16th Century Europe. And no wonder that they would suppose this, especially in evangelical settings, which tend to rarely if ever refer to the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, giving it little or no time in a Christian experience that is informed by middle class American values and trends. Unfortunately, many minority groups are growing in hostility to Christianized forms of “religion,” seeing essentially the term “Christian” to be synonymous with holding deep affinity with white, middle-class, conservative perspectives and moral values. A growing movement of thinkers and scholars are referring to the need to de-Gentilize our faith, arguing that we have swung too far to interpreting Christian experience as merely an American value system with a religious twist. Obviously, many who do not find this attractive are rejecting Christian faith before even being exposed to the biblical claims about the person of Jesus of Nazareth as outlined in the Old and New Testament. How might a rediscovery of the OT (admittedly, a distinctively Hebrew book) help us mature beyond the Gentilization of much of the Christian faith and practice today? Too Hard and Not on Point A well-studied and beloved youth group leader in a growing church was recently struck by how few of the members of his youth group understood any of even the most basic stories and figures of the OT. We are not speaking of some of the lesser characters, but the main figures: Moses, Elijah, Elisha, etc. were not known, either. In an attempt to

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