This Side of the Pulpit » Entries tagged with "Scripture"
A Rant which May not Impress You, if Read Correctly
“How many of us have actually ever read through the Bible? We get bits and pieces of it, but never read through chapter-by-chapter.” A layperson said this to me the other day. The more I think about it, the more upset I get. I get upset with myself for not reading Scripture devotionally as often as I should. But I get really upset with others if its true. Is it true? Are you all completely ignoring the Word of God to such an extent that your only exposure to it is the readings on Sundays and the bits and pieces and verses you might read in The Witness or the occasional Bible study you attend? Seriously? You call it the Word of God, the eternal Truth, the Revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Tough Work
It’s hard work, reading the Bible. And it gets harder the more you do it. Ever try reading it straight through? That may be the toughest of all. It takes more than the dedication, say, of reading through War and Peace, or The New York Times. It’s tough because it requires discipline, but more than discipline, more than setting the goal. It’s confrontational. The more you read, the more you are confronted with yourself. It’s not just … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Passages Visit and Review
Yesterday I went to Oklahoma City to see the Passages Exhibit at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Despite opening in this city not known for art and culture, it is a world-class exhibition containing many significant and noteworthy items in the history of biblical manuscripts, codices, books and even a few papyri. If that last sentence doesn’t mean much to you, then I’ll explain: the owner of Hobby Lobby has a private collection of biblical texts. This is the collection on display. He has a few fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls, a few other ancient pieces of papyri and scrolls, and many, many medieval copies of the Bible and religious illuminated manuscripts, commentaries and the like. There are some Jewish scrolls, most of which are dating from the last … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Boneheaded
This article highlights the “Conservative Bible Translation”–an incredibly stupid, irresponsible perversion of God’s Word. The argument of the project: scholars are liberal for the most part and translate the Bible too much like democrats. So they are going to translate it according to their conservative Republican values. Avoid this at all cost. Jesus is not a Republican. He’s not a Democrat either. Jesus is Lord. Jesus was not a “conservative” either, if by that you mean anything like modern American political conservatives. Nor is He a Progressive, Socialist, Communist, Liberal, Whig, radical, reactionary, fundamentalist or any other category we can put Him in. He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. His ways are not our ways. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Perspicuity and Mystery
Note: Here is the post I’m still working on. And I still would like your feedback. Does it make sense? Am I creating a straw man fundamentalist/perspicacious reader? What else am I missing/getting wrong? The great mystery of the incarnation remains a mysteryt eternally. Not only is what is not yet seen of it greater than what has been revealed–for it is revealed merely to the extent that those saved by it can grasp it–but also even what is revealed still remains entirely hidden and is by no means known as it really is. St. Maximos the Confessor, First Century of Various Texts I think this quotation encapsulates the greatest difference between Catholicism–meaning both Roman and Eastern Orthodox–and Protestantism. For Protestants, especially of the fundamentalist sort, the revelation is what it is: clear, perspicuous. Jesus … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Acronymn Soup: LXX, NETS, OSB
I’m thinking about getting A New English Translation of the Septuagint (The Septuagint (LXX) is the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT that was in use in the early Church–most of the quotations of the Old Testament that appear in the New Testament were from the LXX). It’s similiar to the Orthodox Study Bible in that they translate the LXX based upon an existing translation; in other words, it is not a fresh translation. They start with an existing version and change it only when the original text differs. It’s different than the OSB because, by many accounts, the OSB messes up the translation. How could that have happened? I don’t know, except to say that perhaps they weren’t as careful as they could have been, or there were editorial considerations. How do … Read entire article »
A Mistake in the Old Testament? In Translation?
I was reading 2 Kingdoms (2 Samuel) in the The Orthodox Study Bible, whose Old Testament is translated from the Septuagint. In Chapter 4 it recorded the story of the murder of a son of Jonathan named Mephibosheth. He was a five-year-old boy, crippled due to an accident with his nurse. Men supposedly loyal to David snuck in and killed the little boy as he napped. David was aghast and had the murderers executed. The next day I was reading a few chapters later (Ch. 9), when David asked if any of Saul’s house was left, that he could show mercy to them. He was told one son was still alive, a crippled man named…Mephibosheth. What the heck? The boy was beheaded five chapters earlier. Long story short, the Hebrew text shows a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Worship From That Side
There is certainly a different perspective I have worshiping God while sitting in the chancel than I do while sitting in a pew. It was demonstrated to me a few weeks ago on vacation. The service rushed past. We used Divine Service I so I didn’t need to look at the book much. Instead, I sang those words and looked at my daughters standing next to me, helping them, encouraging them, cajoling them into participating. We sang the hymns, and one was entirely unfamiliar. Hard to sing, hard to pay attention to the words. It was slow and felt like this would be going on for some time. The sermon was hard to listen to. Between listening on a clinical level, evaluating his delivery and so forth, and the distractions around … Read entire article »
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Briefly: Incense and Worship
I remember when I first realized that Roman Catholics burned incense in church. I had been in Catholic parishes before, but never during worship. I was impressed by how holy they looked and how good they smelled…but never knew why their churches smelled so much better than Lutheran churches. When I finally figured out why–in high school–I was shocked. All I could think of was passages such as “Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places (1 Kings 3:3);” or, “A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick (Isaiah 65:3 KJV). Burning incense was what the wicked do in Scripture…or what pot-heads and … Read entire article »
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"There ought to at least be hummus on that plate in the picture! ;) Blessed Fast…" - Jay Hobson on Law/Gospel Outlines?
"My thoughts are to do as the text does, and let the text govern the outline. Som…" - Christopher Hall on A Rant which May not Impress You, if Read Correctly
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The Resurrection and the Life
February 1st, 2011 | Add a Comment
Phillip raised an important question in his comment on the previous post: what is the relationship between bad–or no–teaching and rejection of teaching begin? First, church members need to make sure they are reading Scripture. Pastors can teach all they can till they are blue in the face, but if Christians are not reading the Word of God, actively attending to it, then all kinds of falsehood and wrong impressions can fester. Bible study is an important tool as well. Second, Pastors need to make sure they are speaking Scripturally when it comes to speaking about death and the resurrection. I try to avoid saying that we will “go to Heaven when we die” because Scripture does not speak like that much. It can be misunderstood as well. We need to make … Read entire article »
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