Saturday, July 19, 2008

Every Christian a Bible scholar; every scholar a Bible-lover

Dave Black puts in a plug for Erasmus, which, as it turns out, is also a plug for reading the Bible (especially in Greek and Hebrew). Here's Erasmus:
“I am now eager, dear Colet, to approach sacred literature full sail, full gallop; I have an extreme distaste for anything that distracts me from it, or even delays me…. Hereafter I intend to address myself to the Scriptures and to spend the rest of my life upon them.”

BTW, I recently listened to a message by Mark Driscoll that really encouraged me in the same way. That is, to read the Bible for myself, to read it lots, and to read it to find Jesus. He disclosed the six practical questions he asks of a text. I'm already working on adopting them for myself:
  1. What does the Bible say in this passage?
  2. What does this passage mean?
  3. What is the hook in the passage?
  4. Where is the resistance to this passage? (the apologetical question)
  5. What is the significance of this passage (to me, to my family, to my church, to my city)?
  6. Where is Jesus in this passage?

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