Music By John Austin at www.austinecho.com
For further study click on the red links below:
The Secular Web’s article called The Formation of the New Testament Canon by Richard Carrier
Many Evangelicals interpret scripture is through the lens of Dispensationalism
The Social Gospel and Fundamentalism article on PBS’s “Scope’s Monkey Trial”
A technical article on the “Historical-Critical Method” of interpreting scripture
Father Matthew presents: Lectio Divina
A video on what Lectio Divina is not (could be any type of biblical reading)
Daily Biblical Devotions from the Presbyterian Church (You can even hear my seminary classmate David Gambrell read them out loud).
An interesting article on the Mishnah, skip down to the section on Rabbinical “Attitudes toward Scripture”
Questions for discussion in the Comments section:
Do you read the Bible on a regular basis?
Do you understand the Bible?
Does it matter what translation of the Bible that you read?
January 19, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Thoughtful first study. No, I don’t read the Bible on a regular basis. I have tried to do the year with the Bible and usually get to July before I break down. I try to do seasonal devotions for Lent or Advent and have better success with the short term. My life seems to be living in sound bytes now, 30 sec. here, 15 mintues there and I have not made reading the Bible a priority or being part of a Bible study to encourage further study.
I will never claim to understand the Bible. At times different passages give me wisdom, but as life experiences change me, so the Bible brings new insight.
I want to say that it doesn’t matter what translation you read, but I feel anxious when it is not the NRSV. I wonder why people chose the translation they did, do they have an agenda, do they not value scholarship and interpretation, etc. I do value though the comparing of translations for different voices to be heard, but after seminary it is difficult to let go of the “scholarly” interpretation.
January 19, 2010 at 7:10 pm
Thanks For the thoughtful comments Kathy.
January 22, 2010 at 1:29 am
Brian — nice first video. Could use a bit more volume overall, and especially in the first part (you). The music was really loud (darned kids and their loud music these days!).
I’ll echo Kathy in that it’s hard to have an objective perspective on the bible after seminary–or in my case during seminary. Also a bit harder to enjoy something you are about to have to write a 20 page paper on for a grade.
So, yes, I read the bible on a regular basis, although not exactly by choice. I miss those days, though…
And yes, I understand the bible completely. 100%. No problemo. Doesn’t everyone? I went to Oral Roberts University, and then Princeton Seminary, so…just sayin’
(actually I’m totally kidding. I don’t even have a glimpse of a clue).
Looking forward to the next installment. This is going to be a weekly thing, or monthly, or what?
January 22, 2010 at 9:05 am
I noticed the volume issue myself.
January 22, 2010 at 9:08 am
I’m gonna try the weekly. I have had some good technical comments. I just hope I have the technical skill to figure them out. Thanks for the great comments.
January 22, 2010 at 1:32 am
The still frame of this video is of Carol, but then when we watched it, Brian did most of the talking. Isn’t that deceptive advertising??? Although, little C. balanced it out nicely
January 22, 2010 at 9:07 am
That is Carol’s burden to bear
January 23, 2010 at 11:38 pm
I reference The Bible as world class literature while studying logic and the logic of ethics. Not for credit; only for personal gain and peace of mind. I see the scriptures as a source of arguments for the timeless human condition. A microcosm of an immense universe which denies authorship as an object, yet seems to only exist in the mind of a beholder. It’s ethical value remains as the strength of agreement in witness of fact. Understanding it is a matter of personal witness whether in agreement or not. “…the thoughts and intents of the heart.” as is claimed in the NT, are not specific to any translation, any more than it is better or worse to go shopping using a Ford, a Chevy, or a bicycle. Not all the ‘facts of life’ are set on a schedule of events, yet the possibility of any fact remains potential. And the possibility of many events are chronically predictable. If, in the OT, “In the beginning God…”, and in the NT “In the beginning was the word and the word was God”, one is witness to the human fact of the growth of literacy as a vehicle for understanding the human condition (ie. itself). The human condition from direct experience (and its consequences) to abstract reason is for the only purpose of saving fragile life from the destructive forces of direct experience. Humans have the gift of reason and choice to navigate the flux of experiential possibility. The Bible is TESTIMONY. That is; discernment of the ethical value of truth for reasonable existence.
January 23, 2010 at 11:48 pm
As supplement to the forment comment, I add this quote:
“I incline to Cain’s heresy,”
he used to say quaintly: “I let my brother go to the devil in his own
way.” In this character, it was frequently his fortune to be the last
reputable acquaintance and the last good influence in the lives of
downgoing men. And to such as these, so long as they came about his
chambers, he never marked a shade of change in his demeanour.
-THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, by Robert Louis Stevenson, STORY OF THE DOOR
January 25, 2010 at 10:25 am
Reading the Bible implies searching for something personal. All humans are individual persons. Even identical twins and Siamese twins joined in the flesh. If more than one individual searches for something personal, the quote returns; “God is no respecter of persons.” Yet if a group of humans as persons seek a common reply to a common question, (all agreed on the subject premise) they should expect a common reply affecting the premise as a valid conclusion. Why? Because the Bible is a set of arguments. Personal arguments that are common to any individual.
Job is the only non historical book in the Bible. It is believed to be a narrative of a dream. No real person named Job was ever recorded anywhere else. Yet we can read: Job 18:009:001 Then Job answered and said,
18:009:002 I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with
God?
Is this not a premise for an argument? Read on oh pilgrim.
Matthew
40:009:010 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house,
behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him
and his disciples.
40:009:011 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples,
Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
40:009:012 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be
whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
January 25, 2010 at 10:35 am
Let me quote another author:
“But complexity is no guarantee of accuracy–in clockwork or in anything else.
A clock can be as wrong as the human head; and a clock can stop, as suddenly as the human heart.”
-Chesterton, G.K., Utopia of Usurers and other Essays
January 25, 2010 at 10:46 am
One more: Number 5 above reads ‘As supplement to the forment comment,’ but needs “former”. r and t are adjacent on my keyboard and my fingers don’t know how to type. I have to look at them while typing.
February 10, 2010 at 9:17 pm
“Every parable tells a story”. Searching for recent documents on the current economic crisis, I found some interesting publications referenced. Some are for sale, some are listed as archived public documents. All refer to the economy. The public document:”The U.S Government’s War Against Fraud, Abuse, and Misconduct in Financial Institutions: Winning Some Battles but Losing the War: Twenty-Ninth Report, Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives. Committee on Government Operations, Committee Report 101-982, 1990.” was not found in an initial search. One book listed:Mayer, Martin. The Greatest-Ever Bank Robbery: The Collapse of the Savings and Loan Industry. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1990. 354 pages. is available used for under $2.00 from Amazon. Anyway, I turns to the Bible, and finds the parable of the talents. To quote Matthew 25:24-30 tells a similar kind of story in respect of the use of money and the consequences of its misuse. We can remember from the consequences of Jesus’ own life how He was betrayed by Judas (a zealot). Judas was the Treasurer and how the betrayal with subsequent trial and execution was also a consequence of malfeasance and abuse of power. Jesus had said always that His kingdom was not of this world but of a world to come. A world mixed with good and evil events, but survivable by negotiating the roots of sin and forgiving sin upon repentance so that subsequent conditions could establish trust for future generations. He was willing to allow His life to be a sacrifice in the tradition of the scapegoat but not without having preached the reason and logic of good old honest behavior. He then had to allow the “proof” by the evidence that good overcomes evil, suffering the due process of bad interpretation of law, but being raised from the grave as fair promise.
March 14, 2010 at 2:14 pm
I don’t want to roadhog this service, but I do have a lot of praise for the Word of God.
As an example of classical logical argument, consider the following verses:
24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money
came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?
bible(KJV) [Mt17:24]>
25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him,
saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take
custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?
bible(KJV) [Mt17:25]>
26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the
children free.
Thus. a student of logic could use this as an example of valid reasoning in the Bible.
Here are more logical statements…
Romans 8
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason
of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
bible(KJV) [Ro8:20]> He5:14
Hebrews 5
14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by
reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
bible(KJV) [He5:14]> 1Pe3:15
1 Peter 3
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with
meekness and fear:
bible(KJV) [1Pe3:15]> 2Pe2:2
2 Peter 2
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of
truth shall be evil spoken of.
Question 1: Are these deductive or inductive arguments?
Question 2: Do the premises agree with the conclusions in a WFF (well formed formula) structure? Or, does the reader have to find the statements and assemble them to make a valid argument based on the truth values of the WFF rule for statements? (Not contradictory and not absurd).
March 15, 2010 at 4:29 am
As an example of why the Bible is important (to me) in respect to truth, sin, and law.
In the Book of Esther begins a story of a very wealthy and powerful king. He is married to a beautiful queen. To increase the hold of the kingdom, the king throws a big feast with wine served. After seven days of partying, the king “justifies” it,
8 And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king
had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according
to every man’s pleasure.
A week of partying goes by and the king decides to show off the queen (his wife). She refuses.
13 Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so was the
king’s manner toward all that knew law and judgment:
15 What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath
not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?
Thus for fear of rebellion…
17 For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they
shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported,…
the king decrees a law to “justify” the power of men over women to save his face after she refused him.
22 For he sent letters into all the king’s provinces, into every province
according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language,
that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that it should be
published according to the language of every people.
That was just the beginning of the story of Esther.
So, combining the words; “justified” and “law” in a search, the following verses appeared…
Acts 13
39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye
could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Romans 2
13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the
law shall be justified.
Romans 3
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds
of the law.
Galatians 2
16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the
faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be
justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the
works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Galatians 3
11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is
evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we
might be justified by faith.
Galatians 5
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by
the law; ye are fallen from grace.