This past weekend, Julianna and yours truly attended this year’s “Retreat Of Our Own: Drinking Deeply Of Scripture: An Expansion On The Book Pairings,” with Rev. Dr. Matt Anderson, at Camp Kuriakos, by Sylvan Lake. Matthew teaches Biblical studies at Concordia University and St. Francis Xavier University. In addition, he is part-time Director of Camino Nova Scotia, housed at the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax. He is the author of four books. A graduate of Lutheran Theological Seminary, Saskatoon, and ordained Evangelical Lutheran Church In Canada pastor, Matthew earned his Ph.D. in Biblical Studies at McGill University.

It was good to see Matthew after so many years. He and I, many years ago, were members of the same congregation.

Matthew led us in four sessions, based on his book Pairings: The Bible And Booze. 

The first session was: “The Garden of Eden (apply cider).” Matthew had a very creative way of presenting this session. He distributed a number of slips of paper with short sentences, based on Genesis 1 and 2, and asked all attendees to try and work together to piece these chapters into chronological order. Some of the sentences were actually not part of the biblical text. Rather, they were misunderstandings people have, over the centuries, read/misread into the biblical text.

For example, Eve did not actually tempt Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. The fruit has been depicted in Christian art as an apple—however nowhere in the biblical story are we told what kind of fruit was eaten. 

The title of session two was: “Joshua and “the Conquest” (tea).” Matthew emphasised how violent stories in the Bible are troublesome. When Indigenous people read biblical stories like this, they tend to side with the citizens of Jericho and the other non-Israelite peoples being conquered, rather than the “conquering” Israelites. It is necessary to “decolonize” these kind of biblical stories. Such stories raise questions about just who is an “underdog,” is God really a “war God,” and did God really want all of the non-Israelite peoples killed by the Israelites in order to occupy the land of the non-Israelite peoples? There are certainly some tragic parallels here in Canada involving Indigenous-settler history. 

Session three was titled: “Ruth and Belonging (wine).” Matthew pointed out how difficult life could be for women in the patriarchal society of biblical times. Without some male spouse, sibling, or other male family member, a woman was very vulnerable and desperate—having extremely limited options in order to survive and live a dignified life. Ruth is kind of a biblical version of a soap opera or Harlequin romance novel. It is a highly sexualized story. 

Session four was titled: “The Psalms and a Taste of Home (coffee).” Matthew highlighted the poetic beauty of Psalm 139. He stated that the phrase in verse 9: “the wings of the morning” reminded him of flying over places like Greenland, having a bird’s-eye view of God’s beautiful creation. 

He also noted the problematic shift of thought in verses 19-22. The references here are to a violent God, and the justification of hatred. How can it be holy, right and just to have a “perfect hatred?” Hatred brings destruction, not love and life.

In addition to the sessions, there were worship times, free time, and opportunities to visit with other retreat attendees.

All-in-all, I appreciated Matthew’s gifts of insight, wisdom and knowledge. He is indeed a gifted teacher, and noteworthy scholar. Many thanks to Joe and Barb Stolee and Dr. Pamela Giles for organizing this retreat.