May I just point out that Rob Bell has endorsed New Age practices which I personally have been saved from.

These practices I do not endorse and you can find more information about Rob Bell here and here and here.

As far as a good Bible College you can go to one called Midlands Bible College and they have correspondence available for people who don’t live near by. Jacob Prasch and Calvin Smith who I highly respect teach there.

Here is there website details.

http://www.midbible.ac.uk/

i think i start to get the point from your post.

with that said, i agree entirely with the need to look at Scripture in the way you talk about. however, i think its ok to do both. ie look historically at the facts and people, etc, to determine some truths. like JC lived, was crucified and resurrected. those are historialogically explained. but they also have midrashic allusions. because God walked the earth in eden and again in JC. the Shepherd had to lay down His life for the sheep and JC was the Good Shepherd. and without rising, there would be no power over death. etc

so i can see room for both. also, the humanists were into textual criticism, which isnt intended to explain the Bible but to analyze its authenticity. this also i think is important. because we shouldnt be following a text that isnt inspired. and we shouldnt follow wording that has been mistranslated or mistranscribed. the good news is that the Bible has been (all will continue to be) textually criticized and stands up under the heaviest of scrutiny with flying colors.

now back to the midrashic method of Scripture. i was an english major in college and think you might be misrepresenting the literary perspective. i agree that humanists didnt look at the Bible in a jewish way, but they could have. literature is most commonly interpreted in the same way you describe for the Scriptures. shakespeare may use the metaphor of a flower being crushed and at the same time allude to a girl losing her virginity and at the same time be foreshadowing about the ultimate death of the girl. so i think that a literary approach to Scripture is similar to a jewish approach.

anyway, thanks so much for your insight. i really appreciate it.

also, quick question, i am hoping to go to seminary, and i have tried to find a place that has a jewish perspective, but i havent found any good messianic jewish seminaries. do you know of any places that would be good to study at? would i be better off going to hebrew university or somethign like that?

may His face shine upon you
peter