Booksmoore » bible study

Warts and All

chadamoore — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:40:07 +0000

“Some of the most foolish misreading of biblical stories I have encountered have come from a misguided assumption that we are intended to approve of the behavior of biblical heroes in virtually every episode in which they figure. One of the distinctive features of the Bible is how deeply flawed its heroes and heroines are. The Bible portrays most of its protagonists as Cromwell wished to be painted—warts and all.” – Leland Ryken, How to Read the Bible as Literature, p. 77

Amen. Jacob’s having two wives is not biblical support for polygamy and Jephthah’s keeping of his vow by sacrificing his daughter is not commendable. Jacob was a deceiver who got deceived and Jephthah was a fool who did not know the things that God did not take delight in. Other examples abound, but alas, I must read on.

Stupid Is In The Bible

chadamoore — Fri, 22 May 2009 00:00:49 +0000

Stupid is a good word in the right context. Some folks don’t like it but I just realized that it is in the Bible! Yep, the translators for the ESV, my favorite English Bible translation, chose to use the word 12 times, and you can search it online and check it for yourself.

And here’s my favorite verse using the word: “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid” (Proverbs 12:1, ESV). Ouch!

No Other Foundation

chadamoore — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:00:44 +0000

Mark Johnson, pastor of the Journey, gives a very good word on the sufficiency of Scripture in “The Source of Safety” as well as a short take on the Emergent movement. I’ll include an excellent byte here:

The solution … is to run to the source of safety; to trust the Bible more than either its fans or its detractors; to ask God by His Spirit to illuminate its truths to us.

That means we’ll have to actually read it. A lot. And submit to it. Completely. I promise: you’ll become increasingly confused if you’re spending more time holding angst-filled conversations about truth than you are studying it in the Scriptures. Pick it up, dust it off, and commit to some serious time absorbing its contents prayerfully and meekly. When it comes to getting theology right, the Bible is the source of safety.

Well-said and amen. Go read the rest of it.