Resource Manager Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Exploring The Bible H.A. Whittaker Exploring The Bible First Published 1965 THE CHRISTADELPHIAN,404 Shaftmoor Lane, Birmingham, B28 8SZ, UK 2nd and 3rd Editions 1984, 1992 BIBLIA23 Thirlmere Avenue,Standish, Wigan, WN6 OAT, UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 CONTENTS FOREWORD PREFACE 1. A BUSINESS-LIKE APPROACH 2. MARKING YOUR BIBLE 3. FIRST THINGS FIRST 4. A CHAPTER OF ODDMENTS 5. READ WITH CARE 6. MARGINAL REFERENCES 7. ASKING QUESTIONS 8. PARALLEL NARRATIVES 9. “WHAT DOES THIS REMIND ME OF?” 10. THE CONCORDANCE 11. USE YOUR IMAGINATION 12. SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE 13. TRACE THE ARGUMENT 14. STUDY THE CONTEXT 15. MODERN VERSIONS 16. “TYPES OF US” 17. PARABLES AND MIRACLES 18. A SERIOUS KIND OF TOKEN 19. A BOOK AT A TIME 20. “LET THEM ALONE: THEY BE BLIND LEADERS OF THE BLIND” 21. IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR FRAME OF MIND 22. CHRIST IN ALL THE BIBLE 23. “LORD, IS IT I?” APPENDICES 1. QUESTIONS ON GENESIS 1 2. HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS ON EXODUS 2:11-15 3. WORTHWHILE BOOKS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 PREFACE The author of this book was invited by the Glasgow (South) Christadelphian Ecclesia to speak at a conference of young people on the topic: “How you can get more out of your Bible.” The conference over, its sponsors pressed for publication. The author has taken the opportunity to include more detail here and there, and to add an extra chapter or two, but the general pattern of the original talks has been followed. There is bound to be much that is unsatisfactory about so small a volume as this dealing with so vast and important a subject. So readers are asked to make allowances for the difficulties involved. The circumstances which brought this book into being are responsible for several of its characteristics—the personal touch, which came easily enough when the talks were originally given in Glasgow, and which may perhaps help to lighten the heavier chapters; the omission of many aspects of Bible study which some would consider to be top priorities; the heavy loading with the author’s personal enthusiasms (this is not an apology for them!); and the omission of “perhaps”, “peradventure” and “it may be”. On this last point it is not amiss to mention that high confidence over conclusions reached in Bible study, is less often warranted than is commonly assumed. So opportunity is taken here to remind the reader that though the tone of these chapters may at times seem to be dogmatic, the writer is not unaware of his own fallibility. All experienced teachers know that to hedge around with provisos and uncertainties the instruction given is to cancel out much of its value and to dull its impression on the mind. Hence the approach here. It would be churlish not to acknowledge how much the writing of this book has depended on the author’s invalid wife. Every chapter has received its share of her appreciation and/or ruthless, criticism. She also typed the manuscript. The advice given on page 8 is not flippant. One thing more. A strong appeal is made here to readers not to be content to be always spoon-fed in Bible instruction. If these chapters do not send readers back to the Book to explore and study and think for themselves, they have failed, utterly in their aim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION “No!” I said into the telephone very decisively, “I can assure you there are no copies of Exploring the Bible to be had. The supply was exhausted long ago.” But that insistent demand at the other end of the line was the last straw needed to break the camel’s back. Within a week or two this new edition was on the way. It is hoped that this little book is still readable, in spite of the crop of anachronisms which has sprung up in the space of twenty years - such things as mention of G.C.E. (O-levels, now), and Charles Laughton records (now collectors’ pieces), and the Two Version Bible (now gone beyond recall), and the almost Victorian exhortation to pencil-sharpening (today, a 0.5mm. propelling pencil). Some of the versions discussed have almost disappeared, and instead we have the N.I.V. and the Jerusalem Bible, both admirable but not faultless. The old Appendix 3 recommended books now scarcely obtainable. I am not sure that the in part re-written version is much of an improvement. It has been possible to correct a few misprints - unimportant oddments chiefly. And the added Index (thanks to my good friend E.B.) may possibly improve the book’s usefulness. How it is regretted that CMPA’s fine gesture in first publishing Exploring at the ridiculous price of four shillings and sixpence (22 pence!) cannot” be emulated. Alas, it is not in my powers to swim against the roaring tide of inflation, that crazy phenomenon of our highly intelligent civilisation. C.M.P.A. (404 Shaftmoor Lane, Birmingham 28) still publishes volume 2 ‘Enjoying the Bible’, and the Biblical material in it is, I hope, quite as stimulating as that which Exploring offers. PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION In view of Bro. Harry’s death in January 1992 before this reprint was undertaken, chapter 15 on Modern Versions has been brought up-to-date by using his recommendations from “Letters to George & Jenny” which he wrote in 1988. Otherwise, the book remains unchanged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 1. A BUSINESS-LIKE APPROACH “If the Bible is God’s voice to every man that has ears to hear (which it demonstrably is), it is for every man by himself, and for himself, to seek to understand it, and to extend the benefit he may have received.” ROBERT ROBERTS. It must be your first aim to get to know the Bible facts in really familiar fashion. A ready familiarity with the text itself is an absolute necessity. As a means to this end, no better device than the Bible Companion has been produced. There are those who are not specially fond of this daily grinding away at five or six chapters from three completely different parts of the Bible. Variations have been invented, such as reading three portions from the first Old Testament assignment, then next day three portions from the New Testament. Some prefer to read Amos or John or Romans through at a sitting”, so as to maintain connection. But all such “improvements” notwithstanding, you are strongly advised for at least your first five years in the Truth (and probably for a good deal longer) to stick rigidly to the Bible Companion pattern of daily readings. It will give you an over-all acquaintance with the facts of Scripture which is invaluable in itself and without which progress of a yet better sort will not come easily. And when you read, read always slowly and with attention to detail. It is surprising how little of what is read in any one chapter is retained clearly in the mind. In one of his books Burgon challenges his reader to go slowly through Genesis chapter 1 and then put the Bible aside and answer accurately twenty questions (Appendix 1 on page 138) about the facts that he has just read. The writer has still to find anyone who can score more than twelve correct answers! Once in an informal Bible discussion class the speaker had a sudden lapse of memory and appealed to the twenty Christadelphians present to help him with the name of the old man who succoured David on the occasion of his flight from Jerusalem at the time of Absalom’s rebellion. And although those present had been reading the Bible steadily for periods varying between five and forty years, none was able to supply the missing name. So read with attention. Get familiar with the smallest details. With this object in view, use any means which present themselves for widening your knowledge. It is far less of a Christadelphian custom than it ought to be that the Bible is discussed at the meal table. One forms the impression that there are today comparatively few Christadelphian homes where this is normal. Even at a Fraternal Gathering, where one might ordinarily assume that people are in a mind to discuss over their meal of fellowship the Truth which really binds them together, good Bible talk is a rare commodity. The trend in recent years has hardly been in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Yet “iron sharpeneth iron” especially when sparks of Bible knowledge and elucidation are being struck. One recalls with pleasure and gratitude the American home where each place at table was set with half a dozen small cards each bearing a somewhat out-of-the-ordinary Bible question. As the meal proceeded, each person in turn read out a question and then looked around for the readiest answer. The arguments, discussions and investigations which those questions provoked were good for all concerned. Bread of Life was served with the meals at that table. Another piece of advice which goes logically with what has just been emphasized is that you marry a wife (or husband) that you can talk to freely about the Bible and with reasonable expectation of an intelligent, helpful response. In the Truth married life should mean more than home-building, mutual enjoyment and family-rearing. The home where animated conversation about the Word of God is not a normal everyday thing is an emasculated affair. In most Christadelphian ecclesias there are one or two outstandingly knowledgeable brethren. Some ecclesias, but not many, are blessed with more than one or two. Use to the full the frequent openings which come your way to pick the brains of such people, or the time will come when you will look back on these neglected opportunities and reproach yourself bitterly. Accept every invitation which conies your way to visit their homes—and always go with a Bible in your hand. And if conversation does not readily turn in the direction of helpful Bible topics, blame yourself. The chances that fall to you to button-hole one of these walking encyclopaedias after a Bible Class or at the end of some other meeting should be taken full advantage of. That snatch of conversation before you go home may often be of more profit than the entire meeting which has preceded it. But – another warning – you would be well advised not to argue with these venerable patriarchs in the process of brain-picking. What they offer may not invariably sound convincing, but you should always think it over carefully before jettisoning it altogether. By all means give yourself the luxury of a further question with a view to eliminating some objection which your mind has lighted on, but be careful not to take this process too far or the fount of wisdom may dry up; the sweet waters may become bitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 2. MARKING YOUR BIBLE “Writing maketh an exact man.” FRANCIS BACON. EVERY time you learn some new thing—a piece of out-of-the-way information which throws light on an obscure passage of Scripture, a neat explanation of a long-standing difficulty, the name of a book which will supply useful knowledge on a particular subject, a simple association of two Bible passages which illuminate each other—whenever you encounter anything which might conceivably be of value one day, make a note of it somewhere. Of course, you have a blotting-paper memory and can carry these details easily, so the note is not necessary. But please accept an emphatic assurance that one day your memory will not be as good as it is now, so it would be well to start the note-taking habit right away. But you do not see your middle-aged brethren busy taking notes! Alas, no—and the more shame on them for not setting you a good example and doing what they know to be needful for themselves. Another warning against dependence on that keen memory of yours. It may not be really as retentive as you think it is. Your self-assurance in this matter may actually be an indirect excuse for your own laziness—an evasion of the effort, small though it be, which is called for in the use of pencil and paper when you would rather merely listen or talk. One recalls a Bible Campaign when a drenching downpour ruled out the afternoon’s normal activities. The oldest campaigner present seized the opportunity and turned the next two hours to greater profit. The pages of his Bible turned back and forward, and one valuable exposition followed another in quick succession—a rare experience. At the end of it he looked round with grey eyes full of reproach: “See, I’ve shown you this afternoon some of the finest ideas I know, and not one of you has made a note about a single thing!” Sure enough, some time later one of his hearers with a sponge-like memory had to ask him to repeat the explanation he had given of Paul’s puzzling words in 1 Cor. 15:39, R.V.: “There is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fishes”. This time the explanation went down on paper as soon as it was received, and since then has been useful many times over. As might be expected, the order significantly corresponds with Psalm 8:7, 8, R.V. The present writer’s own progression in note-taking may not be without interest. It began on odd scraps of paper which invariably got lost. Then followed a series of shabby little notebooks tucked inside the cover of the Bible to the serious detriment of its binding. One graduated next to an imposing array of student’s exercise books, with each item written up in its proper place (this was the phase when there was as much pride in the system as there was zeal for ideas—the machine was becoming master of the man). The acquisition of a wide-margin Bible stopped all that. Since then Bible and commentary-have lived inside the same Covers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 This matter of note-making in one’s Bible is so important to any who are intent on the acquisition of wide Bible knowledge as to merit a special section to itself. If you expect to do this sort of thing over a period of twenty or thirty years it is going to be worth while to develop a good technique from the start. There are those with experience who would not concur with all the recommendations listed here, but each of them has proved to be of value to somebody. You will need to find by experiment which methods suit your own-style best: (a) Mark your Bible in pencil, not in ink. Of course ink is more legible, especially too if your pen has an extra-fine nib. But alas, ink is also indelible, and—if you are going to be a Bible student of any quality—the day will come (often!) when you will want to replace some of your notes with something better. Blessed is the man that is prepared to believe that his first thoughts were not infallible! Then, too, you will find that in many Bibles a pen has an unpleasant habit of writing on both sides of the paper at once. So pencil every time. (b) But what sort of pencil? You will find that anything softer than HB tends to smudge as the years go by. There is a loss of legibility and a provoking defacement of the page opposite. On the other hand a 4.H or 6H point is too hard; it makes an impression on the thin paper, in effect writes on both sides at the same time and is difficult to erase. You will probably find a good-quality H or HB best for your purpose. (c.) Do not be content with any sort of point on your pencil. If you are to write small and clearly, it will need to be needle sharp. Bounce the point gently on the back of your hand. If it does not give a clear sensation of pricking, it is not sharp enough. A slim razor-blade sharpener is the ideal tool for producing such a point, costs only a few pence, and can be carried everywhere. (d) Always have a good eraser handy. Some are worse than useless, either leaving a nasty smudge behind (your fault possibly for letting it get dirty or greasy), or tearing the flimsy page, or rubbing up a rough surface or even a hole. You will soon find by experiment the best for your purpose. (e) A slim four or six inch ruler is a useful tool to tuck inside your Bible. Not only does it make a good book-mark when you are hunting up passages, but it provides the necessary straight-edge to help your underlining. Never—repeat never!—do your underscoring free hand. The steadiest set of nerves cannot guarantee always to do such a job neatly and efficiently. (f) To pick out a specially useful passage listed in your central column references, it is sufficient to underline it and put a pencilled ring round the tiny letter or figure in the text which steers you to it. Any other single reference which you discover for yourself can be written in the margin or in an available space in the middle column or in the tiny space which is often left to you at the end of the verse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 (g) Be very sparing of underlining. This has been so much overdone by some enthusiasts as to defeat its own object, which is presumably to enable something of special importance to catch the eye. The best way to find key passages quickly is to remember whereabouts they come on the page. If you are going to use the same Bible for twenty years at least (and this should be your aim) the development of this faculty can be invaluable. (h) The underlining or marking of different Bible themes at the side in different colours finds a good deal of favour in some quarters. The drawback here—and it is a big one—is the laboriousness of it all. One cannot be for ever carrying around the battery of coloured pencils or complete pharmacy of coloured bottles which this system calls for. Others avoid these snags by inventing a code of capital letters by which to pick out passages relevant to various themes. Thus D =The DevilM=Mortality of ManS=Sacrifice, and so on. A scheme such as this is better because it is capable of greater extension and less tedious operation. But—it has to be said—both schemes are really signs of immaturity in Bible study. By all means try one of them. After a year or two you will want to leave it behind and also that copy of the Bible which you have so gaily decorated. (i) Economy of space is all-important in Bible annotation. Therefore teach yourself to write small. This is one of the big advantages of a really fine point on your pencil—your writing can be shrunk to half the normal limit of legibility and still be read with ease. Another great economy of space and time can be made through the employment of your own system of abbreviations. Such space savers at Xt (Christ), S. of M. (Son of Man), Aton. (Atonement), Rtness (Righteousness), Kdom (Kingdom), Pr (promises). are immediately recognizable. (j) Notes which involve no more than three or four words can usually find room in the margin against the appropriate verse. For anything longer than that the strip of space at the top and bottom of the page is worth its weight in gold leaf. With care a quite surprising amount of useful information can be readily available there. If, then, you wish to add a longer note or a longer series of references against a given verse, put a capital A against it, and then at top or bottom of the page repeat this A and the note you wish to add. Against another verse B will appear similarly. This system employed over the years on a wide-margin Bible will turn it into a commentary also. Some like to use Greek letters instead of capitals. The only advantage is that of greater distinctiveness to the eye—and a certain intellectual snobbery! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 (k) When you strike an idea round which a widespread series of Bible passages clusters, you will find it advantageous to collect all of these together in the margin against one of them, and then put a cross-reference to that place against the others: e.g. it is useful to assemble against Num. 27:17 all the other passages where that luminous phrase “go in and out” occurs. But then how is one to make sure of finding that key passage? By including it in an Index to Notes at the beginning of your Bible. Many students’ Bibles are equipped with built-in indices of this kind. These are a great asset. (l) Most Bibles have a few blank pages at the beginning and end, and perhaps also between the Testaments. All such space is to be hoarded and used with the utmost care as open-boat survivors ration their food and water. These pages are, of course, to be used in emergency, when the lesser spaces are hopelessly inadequate to take something important. (m) When to make a note, and when not? The answer to this uncertainty is: When in doubt put it down. You never know what strange little bit of information is likely to prove valuable in the days to come. And, after all, you have already equipped yourself with an eraser, so it will easily rub out a year or two later. (n) A final warning in this section. Do not let your Bible marking become an end in itself. Bible marking is not Bible study—it is only an aid to study, a time-saver (ultimately) and a stimulus to later meditation. If you detect in yourself the slightest flicker of pride in a page well-plastered with annotations, then do not stop this practice, but do take precautions to see that others do not know about them. Let them remain your own private world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 3. FIRST THINGS FIRST “The heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole, (which is to give all glory to God,) the full discovery it makes of the only way of man’s salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the word of God.” Westminster Confession, 1647. “ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable.” 2Tim.3:16 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation. If the Bible were not The Unique Book, there would be no point in this present attempt, or any such, to recommend the careful study of it and ways by which its Truth may be better known. Yet another faithful saying—again with all acceptation, but how ruefully—is this: “The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”The stark miserable truth of this in its application to knowledge of the Scriptures may be seen by certain simple tests. The first consists of a number of representative questions taken at random from a recent G.C.E. examination paper in the subject of Bible Knowledge. As you read them through, ask yourself what would be the quality of your own written answers. If your memory of school examinations has not grown dim, you will recall how the writing of answers reveals the shabby inadequacy of reading and preparation not thoroughly done. 1. Explain what is meant by the “Servant Songs”. Give a description of one of them, and indicate what “servant” you consider it refers to. 2. Write notes on three of the following: (a.) The proclamation of Cyrus.(b.) Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel.(c.) Sanballat the Horonite.(d.) Priests and Levites.(e.) The image of jealousy. 3. Give three illustrations used by Ezekiel to enforce his teaching, and explain their meaning. 4. Show, with short quotations, what teaching is found in the Psalms on three of the following subjects: (a.) Disbelief in God. (b.) Sorrow for sin. . (b.) Patriotism.(c.) The fate of the wicked.(d.) The omniscience of God. 5. State the chief ways in which the Fourth Gospel differs from the three other Gospels in its presentation of the life of Christ. How do you account for the differences? 6. Write notes on three of the following: (a.) The good shepherd. (b.) The visit of the Greeks to Christ.(c.) The new commandment.(d.) The Antichrist. (e.) The elect lady. 7. Explain the parts played by Caiaphas and Pilate in the crucifixion of Christ, and give a brief estimate of the characters of both men. 8. Say what were the points in Paul’s teaching and conduct which aroused the antagonism of the Jews and led finally to his arrest. 9. Illustrate from the Acts of the Apostles the attitude of the Roman Empire to the Apostolic Church. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Now, how do you feel about it? Is there a slight feeling of uneasiness or maybe shame? But, remember, questions such as these are to be answered in examination after only one or two years’ preparation at the rate of three or four hours a week (and very often with little or no home background to help), whereas you as a faithful Christadelphian have been reading the Holy Scripture daily for years, you have listened to hundreds of Bible discourses and discussions, and maybe before that were soaking up Bible knowledge in Sunday School from a very early age. How do you compare with the children of this world who answer these questions in G.C.E. merely in order to have another subject listed on a document of academic achievement? Another test of a different kind: “All Scripture is profitable” which is certainly more than can be said about many of life’s occupations. Then how does the time you spend on novels magazines and newspapers compare with the time you give to the Bible and books about it? And how much of your time given to conversation is devoted to clothes, television, cars holidays, the peculiarities of other people, and similar unprofitable topics, by comparison with your time talking about the Bible and its worthwhile world? Or, put it another way, when you have some of your best friends in for an evening, what son of topics do you naturally gravitate to? Or—differently again— is it not true that you become more animated in conversation about some matters than others? Which are the topics which really waken you up? One suspects that there will be few readers of these words who, quietly honest with themselves in such tests as these, do not feel some qualm of conscience thereafter. William Law (1686-1761) wrote in his Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life that the root cause of spiritual mediocrity is lack of intention and deliberate purpose in the life of the believer: “It was this general intention, that made the primitive Christians such eminent instances of piety, and made the goodly fellowship of the saints, and all the glorious army of martyrs and confessors. And if you will here stop, and ask yourselves, why you are not as pious as the primitive Christians were, your own heart will tell you, that it is neither through ignorance not inability, but purely because you never thoroughly intended it.” Let it be granted that where certain aspects of a devout and holy life are concerned, William Law is over-stating his case or over-simplifying the issue. But what he has written here fits perfectly the problem of one’s attitude to the Bible in daily life. The rewards of Bible reading and study do not come in five minutes. If there is lack of serious and prolonged application to this Book then expectation of full knowledge and real profit is in vain. And, conversely, any Christadelphian who over a lengthy period of time gives more time and effort to the mastering of some other subject, to the passing of some examination, to the acquiring of some specialized qualification than he gives to the Word of God, stands self-condemned in that very thing. The words may read harshly, but no amount of excuse-making can evade their stark truth. If the Bible really is the only book in the world to have come to us from God, then it demands and deserves more, and better, attention than any other—than all other—books. Is such a view unrealistic? How can it be? Paul wrote “All Scripture is profitable...” In another place, he described it as “the Word of God, which effectually works in those who believe”. Did he mean what he said, or are these words just rhetorical flourishes? If Paul was right, there is a transforming and guiding power about this Book which you must harness to your life. You just cannot afford not to! Then by all means be business-like and thorough in the way you go about your Bible reading. It deserves something better than the easy-going haphazard attitude with which it is so often treated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 In 1962 a number of young Christadelphians and also a group of college students (S.C.M.) were asked to indicate the usual where and when of their Bible reading, and the results came out like this: Bible Reading Christadelphians SCM Students 1. Where? (a.) In an armchair 30 7(b.) In bed 2 16(c.) In bus or train 0 0(d.) During meals 0 0(e.) At a table 6 0 2. When？ (a.) Before breakfast 1 4(b.) Between breakfast and tea 4 0(c.) Between tea and bed 40 7(d.) After going to bed 1 15 Other answers included: On the bed 3 1Beside the fire 0 2“On my knees at bedside” 0 1 In spite of the odd and perhaps rather depressing picture presented by these figures, the fact has to be faced that according to general human experience the mind is freshest and most efficient early in the morning and also that a book is studied sitting at a table—else why are classrooms and reference libraries equipped with desks and not with armchairs and settees? The Christadelphian, then, who has equipped himself the devout “intention”, referred to by William Law, will choose as a general rule to read his Bible sitting at a table or desk, paper and pencil handy. The advantage of this is enormous. Not only is such a posture conducive to alertness, but the making of notes and the marking of details in the text are more readily done; and if occasion arises for consulting the concordance or reference book there is not the inertia to be overcome of climbing out of the bed or armchair. Let any reader follow this pattern for, say, six months, and thereafter there will always be uneasiness and distaste for any of the more easy-going methods which are so much more popular simply because they are easy-going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 And as to when Bible-reading is best done, hear William Law again: “I take it for granted, that every Christian that health, is up early in the morning; for it is much more reasonable to suppose a person up early because he is a Christian, than because he is a labourer, or a tradesman, or a servant, or has business that wants him.” “We naturally conceive some abhorrence of a man that is in bed when he should be at his labour or in his shop. We cannot tell how to think anything good of him, who is such a slave to drowsiness as to neglect his business for it.” “Let this therefore teach us to conceive how odious we must appear in the sight of Heaven, if we are in bed, shut up in sleep and darkness, when we should be praising God; and are such slaves to drowsiness, as to neglect our devotions for it... On the other hand, sleep is the poorest, dullest refreshment of the body, that is so far from being intended as an enjoyment, that we are forced to receive it either in a state of insensibility, or in the folly of dreams.” “Sleep is such a dull, stupid state of existence, that even amongst mere animals, we despise them most which are most drowsy.” “He, therefore, that chooses to enlarge the slothful indulgence of sleep rather than be early at his devotions to God, chooses the dullest refreshment of the body, before the highest, noblest employment of the soul; he chooses that state which is a reproach to mere animals, rather than that exercise which is the glory of Angels.” “Extreme opinions” you say? Perhaps they are, but you know yourself that this emphasis is in the right direction. Anthony Trollope who personally organized the system of postal deliveries in every county of the British Isles—this in itself an adequate memorial to a life’s work—left an even more massive memorial in the shape of several shelves-full of novels all of which were written between the hours of 5 and 7 a.m. A famous French scientist, who had the good sense to realize that the habit of rising late was likely to be the ruin of his career as a scholar, bribed his servant with the promise of money for every occasion when he was hauled out of bed before 6 in the morning. There were many desperate occasions and often volleys of curses, but the servant was resolved on having the money and he did his job resolutely, thus earning also the lasting gratitude of his master. Readers of this chapter probably have neither money nor servant, and will most likely have to fall back on the aid of a cheap alarm-clock, placed in a remote corner of the bed-room so that the needful bleary-eyed sprint round the furniture will add to its efficiency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 There are doubtless those for whom the foregoing recommendations are invalidated by temperament, personal disability or home circumstances, but for every one in such case there are probably ten who would profit from the effort to adopt a regimen of this kind. But whenever or wherever your regular Bible reading is done, let it be preceded by a prayer. It is hardly reasonable to expect to understand God’s Book without first asking the Author’s blessing on your attempt. Beware, however, of multiplying words in your prayer. One recalls how the communal Scripture reading at a Bible campaign was introduced by a prayer which at first was no more than a quite simple sentence but which snowballed within a couple of weeks to ten minutes of eloquence with phrase piled on phrase. Instead: “Lord, grant that the opening of Thy Word may give light and understanding to one who is simple.” Or again: “Consider, Lord, how I love Thy precepts. Quicken me by them, according to Thy loving kindness.” Or: “Father, this is Thy Book. How can I understand, except Thou guide me!” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 4. A CHAPTER OF ODDMENTS “Let a man attempt to repeat a parable, or relate one of our Lord’s miracles, in the words of Scripture,—and he will sufficiently perceive the importance of the practice here recommended. He will be amazed to find how small a portion of what he never got by heart, he is able to produce from memory; and how very inaccurately he renders what he thinks he can recall.” JOHN WILLIAM BURGON. EVERY young Christadelphian who has aspirations towards Bible knowledge should certainly contrive to get himself appointed as a Sunday School teacher—and for this purpose the older the class the better. Without any question the most admirable way to learn something thoroughly is to teach it to somebody else. The telling of a Bible story will fix the details in your own mind as nothing will, only take care that it does not fix details of your own invention! Going over a paragraph of Scripture verse by verse with your class will often bring to your notice something of value which you should have seen before but had not. The development of the knack of asking your class thought-provoking and often unexpected questions will mean also the sharpening of that same faculty for your own personal benefit in private study. And conversely if you do not teach yourself this immensely useful trick of asking, asking, asking questions, you will never be much good either as a teacher in Sunday School or as a student in the God’s class. In yet another way make use of your youth by setting yourself to learn by heart a stock of “desert-island” chapters. Set to work on Isaiah 40 and 53 and 55, on a dozen favourite Psalms, on the story of the blind man in John 9, on the entire Epistle of the Ephesians and the Letters to the Churches. This recommendation comes from the heart of one who neglected to do so in early life and, regretting it ever since, has desperately tried to make good the omission later on, only to fail dismally. Ridley, the Oxford martyr in the Reformation, learned by heart whilst a student almost all the epistles of Paul: “Mine own dear College” (wrote Ridley, shortly before his martyrdom,) “in thy orchard... I learned to recite without book almost all Paul’s Epistles; yea, and I memorised all the New Testament Epistles, save only the Apocalypse. Of which study, although in time a great part did depart from me... the profit thereof I think I have felt in all my life-time, ever after.” Today even learning the correct order of the epistles of Paul is deemed a burdensome task! Whose are the better standards? —the sixteenth or the twentieth century’s? Again, learn before it is too late the invaluable habit of unselfconsciously reading the Bible in bus or train or cafe or park, and you will add to your life many hundreds of hours of useful application which would otherwise go wasted. Do this often enough to think nothing extraordinary of it, so that you are neither proud of the act nor half-ashamed of it. After all, when proper standards of judgment are used, it is others who should be red in the face because they do not read the Bible in the bus. And on these occasions be sure to have your pencil always handy, if it is only to put a dot in the margin here and there to remind you of some new idea to be pursued or some difficulty to be investigated, when you get home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 For those who really mean business in their Bible study, the question is sure to arise sooner or later: Shall I learn Greek or Hebrew, and if so which? The answer to this cannot be the same for all who ask it. Some have no flair for languages at all. But many young people have the opportunity to do Greek as a G.C.E. subject at school. This choice should be made, even if it means a dismal exam, result in one subject. The gain will be greater than the loss, for the Greek of the gospels is easy Greek, and even G.C.E. Greek (failed) may still mean that you are equipped to learn more from your New Testament than you otherwise would. Those who have opportunity to read Greek as a subsidiary subject at the university and do not make use of it must reckon themselves blameworthy in this thing, inasmuch as they deem easier or greater academic success more important than facility in the Word of God. It should, of course, be remembered that serious differences exist, both in syntax and vocabulary, between classical Greek and the everyday Greek in which the New Testament was written. But any sort of Greek done at school or university gives a marked and lasting advantage in more exact Bible study. It is usually considered that a knowledge of Hebrew does not repay the painstaking student to the same extent as Greek, but no time spent on it is wasted. Could the effort to know at first hand the tongue of Abraham, Moses, David and Isaiah be written off as useless? But (and this is important) let there be no amateurish nibbling. Either learn the language—whichever it is—properly, sitting at the feet of an adequate teacher and giving all diligence to the study over a long period, or leave it alone altogether. The tyro trying to be erudite does not realize what an irritating or amusing spectacle he is to others. In any case, whether your learning in these departments is profound or defective, be careful to leave it out of your discourses, writing or conversation. The place for the original tongues is in the study. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 5. READ WITH CARE “The Bible should be studied at least as laboriously and exactly as any other book which has to be completely mastered. Every expression, every word, must be weighed; patiently, thoughtfully, systematically, reverentially.” JOHN WILLIAM BURGON. THE first and most necessary qualification if you would really make progress in your grasp of Bible teaching is that you learn to read concentrating on the details. Be attentive to note what the words say and not what you suppose that they say or would like them to say. The common assumption every Christmas-time, that because there were three gifts brought there must have been three wise men who brought them, is often made the ground for superior remarks about popular ignorance of the Bible. And in the same breath it is often pointed out that Matthew’s gospel says nothing about “kings” (except king Herod) but speaks only of “wise men”. That they were kings is an early Christian fancy, a kind of back inference from Isaiah 60:3, whilst their names— Melchior, Balthasar and Caspar—are an entertaining fabrication from the Hebrew and Septuagint text of Psa. 72:10. But how many who read these words and have had their share of merriment over popular ignorance about the wise men have themselves been caught out in a slovenly reading of the nativity record? The moving fantasy that these men journeyed on week after week guided every night through mountains, forests, and deserts by a star going before them is simply not in the text (have another look at Matt. 2:2, 9). Nor, for that matter, does the record say that they came ultimately to Bethlehem. Indeed, the common assumption that they arrived within a few hours or days of the birth of Jesus is hardly borne out by the text. Note Matt. 2:16, and use the analytical concordance and lexicon on the words for “young child, children, babe” in Matt. 2:11, 16 and Luke 2:12; and ask yourself whether the incident in the temple with the aged Simeon could have happened with safety after the visit of the wise men, and why if the munificent gifts had already been received, Mary brought the small offering (Luke 2:24) of the poorest of the people (Lev. 12:8). This need for care in getting your facts right cannot be too strongly emphasized, especially to those who hope one day, in the grace of God, to be teachers of others. How often, both in public discourse and private discussion on Bible prophecy has been heard declared concerning Jerusalem that in the last days “half the city will be taken”, yet see again Zech. 14:2. And how much more often has it been stressed that Noah could convert only his own family “even after a hundred and twenty years of preaching”? One is constrained to ask: Does Gen.6:3 warrant that interpretation? And the most optimistic answer can be: “Possibly, hardly probably, and decidedly not certainly.” On the other hand Gen. 6:18 is decisive against this “120 years preaching” inasmuch as Noah’s firstborn was born only 100 years before the Flood (Gen. 5:32 and 9:28, 29), and at the time of the first warning to Noah the three sons were all married men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Even a writer whose book has worthily nurtured several generations of Christadelphians in the study of detail in Scripture can be caught nodding. In his ‘Undesigned Coincidences’ Blunt makes much of the point that before the feeding of the multitude Jesus asked Philip: “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” (John 6:5). And why was the enquiry addressed to Philip? Because, says Blunt, they were near to Bethsaida (Luke 10) and Philip belonged to that place (John 1:44 and 12:21), so he should know; he was the obvious one to ask. Thus, Blunt adds, two gospels tell a story harmonious even in small “unimportant” details. But John 6:6 itself supplies the reason for the question being put to Philip. It was “to prove him” as one who needed proving (John 14:8, 9). Nor was Philip the only one to come from Bethsaida. Peter and Andrew hailed from the same town. And when Jesus said: “Whence shall we buy bread...?” his words were not bound to mean “From what place—?” but could signify: “Out of what resources...?” There is also a distinct possibility that the shores of Galilee had two Bethsaidas, miles apart. So in this instance the point is not as conclusively made as may seem at first sight (Lk. 9:10; Mk. 6:45). One can afford to be charitable to such as Blunt, for he has been a help to many, and his reverence for the Word of God was an example to follow. But it is not so easy to be tolerant of the superior attitude of modern criticism which quotes “the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel” (Gen. 36:31) as a decisive argument that Genesis was not written by Moses but must have been compiled after the time of David. The careful reader will have already observed that the preceding chapter (35:11) has this divine promise to Jacob: “A nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins.” One would think it evident to any of ordinary intellect that these passages were written with direct reference to each other. In a thousand places a careful attention to the facts and details of Scripture will bring a stimulating reward. By simply reading with your eyes open you will discover that these are two aspects of Peter’s walking on the water; first to failure and almost to death, then with ease and success—and you will note with gladness what it was that made all this difference (Matt. 14:29, 32). You may perhaps surmise whether there was another occasion when he walked on the water (John 21:7). You will observe that the Messianic King, of Isaiah 11, wears two girdles (verse 5) and is therefore a High Priest also (Lev. 8:7 - Or is this Isaiah passage another example of the familiar parallelism in Hebrew prophecy and poetry?). You will underline in Matt. 20:14 the words “go thy way” and thus pick out in the parable of the labourers the main point of it all, through oversight of which so many have ended in fantasy or perplexity. You will excitedly compile a list of passages like Gen. 28:10, 18, 29:10, 31:40, and 32:24, and then make a mental apology to the memory of Jacob for having written him off as a milksop. His mother’s favourite he certainly was, but what weakling would walk forty miles in one day (as the narrative seems to imply), would raise up a stone pillar single-handed, would roll away a stone normally shifted by several men, would endure years of hard toil exposure, would wrestle with an angel? Yet no special erudition is needed to learn these things, but only a certain reverent care in reading. This chapter could continue to the end of the volume, doing no more—and no less—than emphasize this simple truth, that there is far more in the Bible on the surface than most readers ever dream of. Yet how often does one scamper through four or five chapters in twenty minutes? The “daily readings” have been “done”. There is a more excellent way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 6. MARGINAL REFERENCES “Such quotations of places to be marginally set down as shall serve for the fit reference of one Scripture to another.” KING JAMES 1. One of King James’ personal instructions to the translators of the Authorized Version of 1611. “Search into the deep things of God, not from men’s theories, but from His own words.” CHARLES KINGSLEY. FOR the ordinary student of the Word of God there is no single tool available to match marginal references in general helpfulness. It is a token of the laziness of this generation and its disinclination to serious application to the Bible that editions with marginal references are going out of fashion. How many besides Christadelphians make serious use of them? For that matter, how many Christadelphians do so? Yet as a help to finding your way rapidly and easily about the Book there is nothing to compare with an intelligently-compiled set of marginal references. In a thousand ways they come to your assistance, saving you endless trouble and frequently handing to you, ready made, some of the most stirring ideas the Bible can provide. One tremendously important field is the ready identification of New Testament quotations from and allusions to the Old Testament. There is enough in this aspect of Bible study to keep any painstaking student occupied for a lifetime. This is the kind of thing that happens: The familiar and perhaps rather wordy prophecy of Jesus about “father divided against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother in law against her daughter in law, and daughter in law against her mother in law” (Luke 12:53) would not easily be recognized by most as a quotation from the prophet Micah except with the aid of marginal references. But there it is in Micah 7:6—and immediately the query is provoked: Does Jesus use this language of the prophet just because it happens to say what he wants to say? or is this the Lord’s own intimation that Micah 7 tended to be read as a prophecy of the preaching of the gospel and the work of Christ? By refusing to be fobbed off with the first of these explanations without proper investigation of all the possibilities one is led by this clue to the understanding of one of the most comprehensive and thrilling of all Old Testament Messianic prophecies. Though certainly not one of the easiest! Another example of this kind is in Luke 23:30, the sorrowful lament of Jesus for sinful Jerusalem, when the women of Jerusalem lamented for him: “Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.” This time the reader is directed to Hosea 10:8, where once again the question arises: Is this a handy prophetic phrase quoted as one might quote Shakespeare today: “To be or not to be, that is the question”? (Hamlet) or is it an actual citation of a prophecy of designed Messianic content? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 At first glance the reaction is almost sure to be: Certainly not the latter, there is nothing about Messiah there. But the eye wanders over the page and in a few quick minutes collects the wing “echoes” of the gospel story: (a.) “The days of visitation” (9:7).(b.) “They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah” (Gabbatha?) (9:9).(c.) “He will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins” (9:9)-(d.) “The firstripe in the figtree... their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit” (9:10, 16).(e.) “From the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception... Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them... A miscarrying womb, and dry breasts” (9:11, 12, 14).(f.) “All their wickedness is in Gilgal” (Golgotha? same root)(g.) “For the wickedness of their doings will I drive them out of mine house” (9:15).(h.) “All their princes are revolters” (9:15).(i.) “My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations” (9:17).(j.) “Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself” (10:1).(k.) “We have no king (but Caesar!) and the king, what can he do for us?” (10:3).(l.) Swearing falsely in making a covenant” (10:4).(m.) “For the glory... is departed from it” (10:5).(n.) “The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars” (10:8).(o.) “And they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us” (10:8).(p.) “At day-break (R.V.) shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off” (10:15).(q.) “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt” (11:1). Any one of these, standing by itself, might read rather unconvincingly as having anything whatever to do with Jesus and Israel’s rejection of him. But two out of the list are specifically given such an application in the New Testament, and as regards the rest even if the less obvious ones are discarded there still remain far too many with verbal relevance to the same theme for the whole thing to be dismissed as coincidence. Yet who, reading Hosea without John’s gospel to guide him, would ever have dreamed of seeing here a prophecy about Christ? Examples of this sort are far more numerous than is generally believed. The New Testament’s methods of interpreting the Old Testament are not such as a modern scholar would normally dream of employing. There is special need for humility here so that one may be instructed in these mysteries. “God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain.’’ All this started from a marginal reference against Luke 20:30. It would be too optimistic to assume that every marginal reference will lead to such unusual findings. A large proportion of them are of little value, and no wonder, for they are not part of the inspired text, but merely the work of fallible men. However the marginal references in the Interlinear Bible and the Two Version Bible reach a very high standard, especially the former. Those in the Schofield Bible are worthless. The New Testament with Fuller References (Oxford University Press) is almost too thorough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Again, without any question the great Promise made to David in 2 Samuel 7 finds its true fulfilment in Jesus the Messiah. Even if the language of the Promise were not sufficient in itself to establish this, the New Testament says so in unmistakeable fashion. Marginal references steer the reader to Hebrews 1:5, where the words “I will be his father, and he shall be my son”, are given their proper application to Jesus. Doubt, if there were any, is set at rest. But there remains the enigma of the words: “If he commit iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men” (2 Sam. 7:14). How can words: these have any kind of reference to one who was to be Son of God and sinless? Here, again, marginal references come to the rescue by indicating Psalm 89 as a commentary on this passage. A quick perusal of the Psalm picks out verses 3, 4, 19, 26 to 36 as making allusion to 2 Sam. 7, and in particular the equivalent to the words just quoted meets the eye in verses 30,: “If his children forsake my law... then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.” So it is clear from this that the words do not refer to Messiah but to those who are reckoned as seed of David because they belong to Messiah, the son of David (a parallel idea to Abraham’s seed” in Gal. 3:29). In 2 Cor. 6:18 Paul clinches this interpretation by similarly applying, “I will be his father, and he shall be my son”, not to Christ but to those who are in Christ. An inspired exposition such as this is much to be preferred to a dubious tinkering with an obscure Hebrew phrase to make it mean “in his suffering for iniquity I will chasten him...”, a translation about which there can be no certainty, (Psalm 91:3: “the pestilence which is a punishment for iniquity” is the nearest approach to such a use of the Heb. Word) even though it has the authority of Dr. Adam Clarke and of respected Christadelphian writers. A great many special lines of study can be pursued by means of good marginal references. This chapter concludes with three illustrations of the kind of thing that is meant. Prov. 25:6, 7: “Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: for better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.” Even if the ear does not readily catch the echo, marginal references immediately steer the reader to Luke 14:8-10. Jesus took this proverb and turned it into a parable (for certainly the place in Luke is not intended as a lesson in propriety when in high society). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Prov. 25:8: “Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.” Once again the marginal reference to Luke 12:58 is hardly necessary. And once again Jesus has turned a proverb into a parable. These two examples coming together set an enquiring mind roving ahead: Can it be that here Jesus is instructing how best to use the book of Proverbs—by turning them all into parables relevant to the problems of the gospel? What a wonderful field —utterly unexplored as yet—opens up here before the mind’s eye! Imagine a Mutual Improvement Class at which half a dozen speakers were each given a proverb to turn into a parable. This would be mutual improvement of the best sort! But more than this—there arises the further speculation: If Jesus quarried two of his parables out of the Book of Proverbs, how many more did he get from the same source? This is where marginal references really come into their own. Here is a fascinating line of research. The present writer has followed it through only spasmodically, and yet has been rewarded with a if approximately twenty! Others will doubtless be eager to follow it out more thoroughly. The Book of Proverbs, somewhat neglected in Christadelphian circles, begins to take on a new importance. And now a different kind of example. Daniel’s prayer (Dan. 9:3-19) for the restoration of Jerusalem followed on a careful study of “the books” (i.e. the Bible; Gk. biblia means books) and of Jeremiah specifically. His prayer contains further references to Jeremiah; for example; verse 15=Jer. 32:20, 21; verse 18=Jer. 25:29. But it also has recognizable allusions to other parts of the Old Testament as well. To trace them with marginal references and concordance can be a laborious task, but the result is satisfying, for it now appears that Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Isaiah and Ezekiel (a contemporary!) were all included in “the books” which made up Daniel’s Bible. The marginal references go further and establish that some years later, when Nehemiah prayed for the peace of Jerusalem, he closely modelled his prayer on that of Daniel, so presumably he already had a copy of the Book of Daniel included in his Bible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Lastly, marginal references can be a bulwark against modern critcism. It has come to be one of the “settled conclusions” of modern scholarship that Isaiah chapters 40-66 were not the work of Isaiah, the contemporary of Hezekiah, but of two unidentified writers at the end of the Babylonian captivity. In two ways marginal references supply first a big difficulty, and then an insuperable obstacle in the way of such a conclusion. Disregarding for the moment the four historical chapters, Isaiah 36-39, chapters 35 and 40 would normally be consecutive in the prophecy. Marginal references quickly reveal a connection between the two. When more personal combing of the phrases follows, it is found that chapter 35 has no less than seven direct contacts with chapter 40, one with chapter 41, one with chapter 42, and is quoted verbatim in chapter 51:11. The fairly likely explanation—some would say, the obvious explanation—is that it is the same Isaiah in the later chapters, writing about the same things and using his own characteristic phrases (compare the unconscious repetitions of phrase in different chapters of this book!). Any other explanation is by comparison unnatural and unconvincing. But now the hunt moves to Jeremiah who wrote a hundred years after Isaiah and at the beginning of the Babylonian captivity. Jer. 10:1-16, so the marginal references reveal, has at least six references to “Deutero-Isaiah” who is supposed to have flourished about 70 years after his time! No, it will not do to say that, vice versa, “Deutero-” is really the one who is quoting Jeremiah. A comparison of the parallel passages soon shows who is the quoter and who is the quoted. The modernists realize that that is not the way out. Instead, they claim that Jeremiah is all of one piece except for this section which, they say, has been interpolated from a later writer (this blithe assumption—and it is nothing else—would then allow time for this Deutero-Jeremiah to quote Deutero-Isaiah!). But even this desperate device is of no avail. Again marginal references make it evident that the entire prophecy of Jeremiah, and not just his chapter 10, is dotted with quotations from Isaiah, a large proportion of them being from “Deutero-” (e.g. chapter 11:19, an outstandingly clear example). There is no answer to this. Isaiah chapters 1-66 must have been in existence, all of it, in the time of Jeremiah, and included in his Bible. Of course it has to be recognized that belief in the unity of “Isaiah” is not without its problems, but this is not the chapter or the book for the discussion of such interesting matters. The subject is mentioned here only because the painstaking use of references can be the means of furnishing a forceful contribution to the pros and cons of a much controverted topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 7. ASKING QUESTIONS “Nothing but an untrammelled individual knowledge of the Bible will satisfy the earnest curiosity that would know what the truth is.” ROBERT ROBERTS. No one can expect to go far in Bible study except he have or develop a well-sharpened faculty for asking questions. The ability to answer questions, to find the solution to problems and difficulties, will come with experience. But if there be no lively curiosity in the first instance which reads every verse and every phrase with a large question-mark against it, progress will be: better than meagre. It matters little at the moment whether you can find the answers to the problems or not. Many of the answers will be supplied by others, because if your mind is full of questions they are bound to crop up frequently in your conversation. Many more solutions will arrive of their own accord with the passing of time and your growing over-all knowledge of the Bible. Quite a number will remain with you all your days without any convincing answer—suitable reminders of your own fallibility and limited powers, but not (it is sincerely hoped) as seeds of unfaith. Some questions leap instinctively to the minds of all Bible readers—such things as: What was it Jesus wrote on the ground? What were the questions the boy Jesus asked the venerable doctors of the law in the temple? Why does Psalm 14 come twice in the Psalter? Why are women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus? And why these four? Why are there four historical chapters sandwiched in the middle of Isaiah’s 62 chapters of prophecy? Why should Joseph, the only outstanding Old Testament character about whom nothing derogatory is recorded, and who is one of the most remarkable types of the Lord Jesus, marry an Egyptian wife, and she the daughter of a high priest of base idolatry? What sort of a woman was Bathsheba? How should her character be assessed? Why did Jesus say to the rich young ruler: “Sell all, give to the poor, and follow me” when he had other wealthy disciples to whom apparently he commanded no such thing? Why was Jonah found sleeping placidly through the terrifying storm when he was the cause of it, and apparently knew that he was? Was David right to feign madness as he did at the court of Achish? What was the reason for that strange opening of the graves and resurrection of saints when Jesus rose from the dead? When Jesus came to the disciples walking on the water, why should John record: “then they willingly received him into the ship”? Does a thing as obvious as that need to be recorded? What precisely does Paul mean by eating and drinking unworthily? Jesus says in Revelation: “Behold, I come quickly”; then why after another 1900 years has he not come yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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