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Objection: Bible Study and Preliteracy

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When I discuss the importance of Bible study skills, an objection that occasionally arises has to do with illiterate or preliterate people groups. It appears that literacy was not widespread in the ancient world, and, for centuries, most Christians did not own copies of the Bible.

And yet they could follow Jesus and mature as disciples just fine. So why do we put so much emphasis on personal Bible study?

John Piper fields a question along these lines, and I appreciate his insights in responding. His argument seems to go like this:

  1. It is not necessary for people to be able to read in order for them to believe in Christ and have eternal life.
  2. Therefore, we can and should preach the gospel to preliterate or illiterate people, and do all we can to instruct them in the faith.
  3. Yet, for the good of the world, we cannot stop there. We cannot be content with this (preliterate discipleship) as a perpetual state of affairs.
  4. The Bible speaks of itself as a treasure more valuable than any other earthly treasure because it reveals Jesus to us (e.g. Ps 19:10, 119:72).
  5. The Bible itself commends the act of reading the Bible to know Christ (e.g. Eph 3:4).
  6. If Christian teachers and missionaries (who are able to read and study the Bible, and who therefore know the true Christ revealed therein) are the only people who can read the Bible for themselves, this creates a paternalism or imperialism that leaves the masses dependent on the élite few.
  7. Therefore, Christianity has always sought to build schools, to educate, and to teach people to read so they can mine these treasures for themselves. Then they can know Christ without requiring a human priestly mediator besides him.
  8. Therefore, the long-term, widespread good of the world and joy of all people demand that we labor to teach all people good Bible study skills (which may begin with taking time, whenever possible, to teach people to read, and eventually to get the Bible translated into their languages).

Now I’m adding a bit to what Piper said, in order to flesh out the argument I believe he’s making. I have tried not to misrepresent him. And I encourage you to consider his brief and valuable response in full.

Check it out!

What to Do When You Don’t Feel Like Reading Your Bible

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John Piper addresses the question of desire: What do we do when we don’t feel like reading the Bible? After reflecting on the prayer of Psalm 119:36 (“Incline my heart to your testimonies”), he writes:

Over the years in my pastoral ministry, many people have complained to me that they do not have motivation to read the Bible. They have a sense of duty that they should, but the desire is not there. It is remarkable how many of those people feel that the absence of the desire is the last nail in the coffin of joyful meditation on God’s word.

When I ask them to describe to me what they are doing about it, they look at me as if I had misunderstood the problem. What can you do about the absence of desire, they wonder. “It’s not a matter of doing. It’s a matter of feeling,” they protest. The problem with this response is that these folks have not just lost desire for God’s word, but they have lost sight of the sovereign power of God, who gives that desire. They are acting like practical atheists. They have adopted a kind of fatalism that ignores the way the psalmist prays.

Evidently, the psalmist too felt this terrible tendency to drift away from the word of God. Evidently, he too knew the cooling of desire and the tendency of his heart to incline more to other things — especially money. Otherwise why would he have cried out, “Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain”? He is pleading with God to give him desire for the word. He knows that ultimately God is sovereign over the desires of the heart. So, he calls on God to cause what he cannot make happen on his own. This is the answer to fatalism. This is the answer to acting like an atheist — as if there were no God who rules the heart, and can restore what we have lost.

Repent. Pray. Trust God to give what we cannot drum up ourselves. Then act as though we expect him to answer. This is great advice.

Check it out!

Is All of God’s Word for All of God’s People All of the Time?

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family

Jill Wellington (2008), public domain

While recently listening to Ezekiel 16, I was amazed at the language in the Bible. It’s scandalous! The words “whore,” “whoring,” and “prostitute” appear a combined 21 times in this one chapter.

I thought immediately of my inquisitive children. What would they ask if they were listening? Should I allow them to read or listen to Ezekiel?

Reading the Bible With Children

God has given parents the privilege of teaching their children the Bible. At times this will look like formal instruction, but much more often it will look like conversation. Around the table, in the car, while washing the dishes—God intends for us to talk about him with our children during the normal routines of life (see Deut 6:1–9).

In the Old Testament, the words of God were part of family and cultural life. Scripture was proclaimed at the three annual Jewish feasts (see Deuteronomy 16 and Leviticus 23) and it was expected that children would ask their parents about their religious practices and history (Exodus 12:24–27).

Yes, there are some topics in the Bible that may seem heady or unseemly. But parents can create a loving atmosphere in which families can discuss any matter. When children can ask their parents questions without shame or embarrassment, they are less likely to seek out immature, inaccurate, or ungodly answers from their peers.

All the Bible

Some portions of the Bible are more relevant for us at certain times. Whether we need encouragement, rebuke, instruction, or hope, we can always find what we need in God’s word.

But we are to give our attention to all of God’s word without censorship. Paul calls this the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). We can have confidence that God knows what he’s doing, and he’s set the same Scriptures before us whether we’re four or ninety-four.

So when you read the Bible with your family, don’t skip over any chapters. Read through books consecutively. Encourage your children to listen and ask questions. Plant those trees, give them water and sunlight, and prepare to see them grow.

Prepare Yourself

When talking to children about difficult parts of the Bible, we need to pay attention to the Bible’s tone. The authors of Scripture show great care and restraint when discussing delicate and private matters.

We should show this same restraint. Providing too many details or focusing too much on these topics can end up being provocative. We must handle sensitive material with wisdom and maturity.

In addition to communicating what is true, our goal is to shape our children’s hearts. We must make beautiful what the Bible says is beautiful, and we must show as ugly those things the Bible says are ugly.

An Example: Prostitution

To return to the beginning, how should we talk about prostitution with our children?

To discuss prostitution, we must discuss marriage. In particular, we must discuss the sexual relationship within marriage. The Bible describes this relationship within marriage as beautiful and glorious. Yet pursuing this relationship outside of marriage is dangerous and sinful.

So, how do we answer a child’s question about a prostitute? A prostitute is a person who will pretend to be married to you if you pay them money. Married people hug each other and kiss and touch each other in private places. This is wonderful and glorious when people do this with their wife or husband. But it is terrible and sinful when people do this outside of a marriage.

Many thanks to Peter Krol for his correspondence and help in putting this article together.

 

Reminder: 90-Day Bible Reading Giveaway Ending Soon

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For those of you working to finish reading the Bible by March 31, remember to contact me to enter the giveaway for a reader’s Bible. Here are the guidelines for entry.

Also, I’ve realized that requiring people to wait until January 1 to begin is unnecessarily limiting. For next year’s event, I’ll probably adjust the guidelines so that you have only to complete the reading between Jan 1 and March 31, as long as the full readthrough took place within a 90-day period. That will give much more flexibility to those who prefer different schedules, or who like to get started over the December holidays.

We’ve got 7 entries so far. If you sent me a message and didn’t hear back, you may want to try again.

I’ll look forward to hearing from you soon!

How to Help Your Children Read the Bible

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Professor David Murray has great passion and exceptional skill at helping people build lifelong Bible-reading discipline into their children. In an article at Desiring God, he gives 8 tips to help your children read the Bible.

  1. Give them a Bible they enjoy.
  2. Give them an example to follow.
  3. Give them a compelling motive.
  4. Give them a clear, manageable plan.
  5. Give them questions to ask.
  6. Give them answers when they have questions.
  7. Give them encouragement to keep reading.
  8. Give them grace in their failures.

All of this comes from a simple vision:

One of the best gifts you’ll ever give to your children is familiarity with the Bible and its message.

Amen! I commend Murray’s full article to you. Check it out!

When Sprinkling is Not Enough

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On his blog, Russell Moore wonders whether Bible quoters have replace Bible readers. By these terms, he refers to those who use the Bible as an encyclopedic reference book with wise sayings and quotable verses to support their perspective. Moore laments a generation of Christians that rarely read a Bible book from beginning to end and are unable to follow a narrative arc or train of thought.

I’m delighted to see this situation turn around in part through the readers of this blog. In fact, it gives me some ideas for what to write on this coming year.

If you’re currently blasting your way through the whole Bible, I hope you’re having a terrific time. Keep pressing on! Some days, it feels like you’ll never finish, but that’s not true. Stay the course for only 45 minutes a day, and you’ll finish in about 70 days.

As Moore writes in his post:

To engage with a narrative requires…not just a sprinkling but an immersion in the text.

Check it out!

How Reading the Bible Should be Something Ordinary

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Tommy Keene writes at The Christward Collective about reading the Bible in an ordinary way. What he means by that is that we should read the Bible as we’d read any other book. Not just a sentence or paragraph at a time, but consuming chapters and books and more in great gobbles.

First, he suggests we ought to read the book and not merely read around the book. Set aside all your commentaries and study notes so you can soak in the text itself. Reader’s Bibles help immensely by clearing out all the gunk that has accumulated over the generations.

Second, he encourages us to read entire books of the Bible in a single sitting. Don’t bother to stop every time you hit something you don’t understand. Don’t pause or rewind; just keep going. Let the big picture impact you first, and then go back to the difficult parts as needed.

As Keene says:

Over the years we have trained ourselves to read the Bible in an unnatural way, so we’re going to have to break some bad habits.

Keene’s sound advice is well worth considering. Check it out!

The Lost Skill of Listening to the Bible

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Last week, The Gospel Coalition published an article with the intriguing title “Don’t Just Read the Bible.” I was expecting the article to be about Bible study (Don’t just read the Bible but study it.) But in fact, the author went in a different direction: Don’t just read the Bible; listen to it being read.

I have valued Bible listening for quite some time, which is why I’m happy to allow for audio-Bible listening in our 90-day reading challenge. Listening to the Bible is a marvelous way to soak in the big picture, the main ideas, the overarching story line. And in his TGC article, Jonathan Bailey makes a good case for the practice:

So how do reading and listening shape us in different ways? When we read, our default tendency is to study, to pull apart the text and piece it back together, and to draw conclusions. We’re after comprehension: to grasp with the mind, to sharpen our thinking, to learn, and, above all, to understand. When we read, we want to get something out of it. 

When we listen, we have to leave all that behind. We lose our ability to be precise; there’s no underlining, cross-referencing, or consulting commentaries. Listening is more leisurely. When we listen we’re after apprehension: to lay hold of something, or better said, to have something lay hold of us.

Now of course, comprehension is not a bad thing. But I certainly appreciate the useful distinction between comprehension (getting something out of it) and apprehension (merely beholding the wonder). This sounds just right. And anyway, having our own Bibles to read is a rather recent development in the history of the world. Before the 16th century, most people would only get to listen.

So in the bio at the bottom, I noticed that Mr. Bailey just launched a Kickstarter project for a new Bible listening mobile app. An app designed to perfect not the reading experience but the listening experience. Different vocal tracks with a variety of English-speaking accents. Seamless synchronization. Original music scored to highlight the text. Listening plans and playlists.

I must say I am impressed. So impressed that I immediately backed the project to get a lifetime subscription to the app. Perhaps you might want to consider this project as well. It became fully funded within 3 days, but it’s still open to new backers. The more they raise, the more features they can add at launch. But regardless of how much they raise now, it sounds like many more features will come over time.

So I encourage you to check it out! Here is the Kickstarter campaign for the listening app. And here is the article at TGC about the unique value of listening to the Bible.

The Staggering Consequences of Neglecting Your Bible

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Erik Raymond looks at Psalm 1 to draw out “The Staggering Consequences of Neglecting Your Bible.” He observes the severe contrasts in the psalm to draw the following conclusions:

So often we minimize doctrinal differences, but we cannot forget, doctrinal error leads to eternal punishment. We must be sure above all that we have that essential doctrine clear and see the Bible as God’s holy Word, given to us as a treasure to for reading, meditation, prayer, preaching, and singing. Too often our doctrinal confessions that assert a belief in the inspiration and inerrancy of the Scriptures are betrayed by lives that ignore them. We must be sure that we are not succumbing to the false teaching that denies the supernatural nature of the Bible.

When we look at the result of a life lived drinking and delighting in the Word contrasted with one that rejects and belittles it, we have ample cause for evaluating our habits and our hearts.

Here in the dawning of a new year, it is certainly healthy to ask yourself what changes you should make with your life in order to give yourself more faithfully to this Word. For motivation, you need only to consider the staggering consequences of neglecting your Bible.

Check it out!

Bible Reading Plans

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If you’re still considering whether to take up the 2018 Bible Reading Challenge, you’re not too late! And if you’ve decided to do it, you might wish for a list of milestones to let you know you’re on schedule to finish in time.

So at the suggestion of Tyler Redden, a reader pursuing the challenge, I’ve created a few reading plans for you. Just pick which reading order you prefer and click the link to find a Google Doc with the daily readings mapped out for you. From the doc, click File > Make a copy in the top menu. Then you’ll have an editable version of the doc to make your very own.