Reading
5 Posts to Make You Wise [A Reading Primer]
Reading is the cheapest and easiest way to grow your brain.
Cheap because you can get most books at your local library–or at Google Books.
And easy because you can learn about the history of gravity…
The political career of George Washington…
Or Augustine’s view of free will from your favorite reading chair.
That’s why I put such a high premium on reading. And spend a smidgen of time here writing about reading.
With that in mind, here are five posts on how to get the most out of your reading routine.
How to Absorb a Book into Your Bloodstream
One of the most important rules when it comes to reading.
How to Abandon a Book
You probably didn’t know this, but there’s an instinct to abandoning a book. An instinct you can develop.
How Do You Read?
Narrow, wide or something completely different? Share your reading style with me.
How to Read a 291-Page Book in 2 Hours
Want to read more books in less time–and even catch up on the classics you’ve missed? Try chapter pacing.
Drop-Dead Easy Guide on How to Journal
Twenty cool and easy tricks on how to get started with your journal. [A guide for those who don't want to spoil the pages of their books with a pencil.]
Granted, reading alone won’t make you wise. But it’s a start. By the way, do you have any reading tips? Please share.
A Christ-Centered Approach to Bible Study–Part 3
**Guest article by Jonathan Woodward at Sorting Beans.**
Four weeks ago we launched a 5-part series on how to study the Bible.
This is a Christ-centered approach where we use the acronym T. H. I. N. C. as a study aid.
Part one was T for “Trust”—that’s where we begin—and part two was H for “Halting”—when Scripture causes us to put on the brakes.
What’s next?
Immediate Context. The I in “T.H.I.N.C.”
Immediate Context
Reading Scripture is not a solo activity. There are two things I mean when I say this.
1. You are physically not alone. When you trust the words of God and ask the Holy Spirit to help you read and understand, He will come and help you.
You are not alone.
2. The passages you are currently reading are not alone either. They are surrounded by other words…that are surrounded by other words…that are surrounded by other words.
And this matters. Don’t neglect it.
If you do, you risk uncharitable results. Scripture is meant to be read in the practice of exegesis, not eisegesis.
Exegesis is the embracing of a Scripture-derived theology. Eisegesis is man-centered theology.
Let’s take a look at the passage I mention in the previous entry of this study series.
“I have come to fulfill the law.” Matthew 5:17
What is the immediate context of this passage?
It is in the context of similes. Matthew 5 is full of illustrations to point to a significant truth.
For instance, just before this passage Jesus says that we are the light of the world. Does that mean we glow as a light bulb?
No. It means the Gospel in us causes us to radiate its message of hope to the world.
Therefore, we need to look at it with careful eyes.
Just after he says he came to fulfill the law, he says,
“Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:19
Remember, we must look carefully at what Jesus is saying.
Is he teaching that we must teach the law, insinuating a works-based salvation?
By no means! When Jesus says that, He is referring to Himself.
Jesus is going to be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven because He alone is the one who not only taught that the law must be fulfilled, but also fulfilled that very teaching in order that we might partake in His perfection and be His witnesses.
This is the only way this makes sense because the very next verse (v.20) Jesus says,
“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20
What shall we say about this?
That we must “perform” greater deeds of righteousness than the pharisees?
Of course not! Our righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees because the Pharisees had no real righteousness!
Therefore, we must trust in Jesus’ righteousness, and His alone. By this we inherit a righteousness that is beyond that of the Pharisees—one where Christ lives in us, which is one that pleases the Father.
Now that we’ve looked at this in the context of its immediate surroundings, we realize—contrary to what I used to believe—that Christ is not upping the annie on a works-based salvation.
Jesus Points to Himself
If we take this into context of the entire chapter of Matthew 5, we see how Jesus is pointing to Himself through it.
Even when He says, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48), He is speaking in a particular context, which is wrapped up in Himself.
And now that we understand that reading Scripture properly is reading in the “light” of other Scripture, we understand it’s immediate context is of utmost importance, followed by its immediate context, followed by its immediate context, and so on.
But what do we do with this knowledge?
Glad you asked. That will be covered in the next installment of this Bible study series when we get to the N in “T.H.I.N.C.”!
But for now, what are some passages that you have once interpreted without taking into consideration its immediate context? And how has that changed?
A Christ-Centered Approach to Bible Study-Part 2
**Guest article by Jonathan Woodward at Sorting Beans.**
Three weeks ago we launched a 5-part series on how to study the Bible.
This is a Christ-centered approach where we use the acronym T. H. I. N. C. as a study aid.
Part one was T for “Trust.” That’s where we began.
What’s next? Halting. Let me explain.
Halting
No doubt, when we read Scripture—all the while trusting in it—we are bound to be stopped in our tracks.
Sooner or later it will happen.
Why? Because that’s what Scripture does–impedes you, seizes your attention and beseeches your accordance.
That is the point of this post. When you read the Bible, you’re going to find something that is halting.
The question to ask yourself when reading Scripture is “What in this passage seems halting?”—that is, what causes you to stop and think?
Is it something powerful? Is it a difficult concept? Is it a charge? A mandate? Bizarre?
What is causing you to do the head tilt—those difficult passages of the Bible we just cannot live without?
When you begin reading the Bible this may not happen as frequent…mostly because it is something new to you…
But the more you grow in Christ and your understanding of Scripture increases the more you will find these halting moments.
Here’s an example of a halting passage. It comes from the Sermon on the Mount:
“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48
What in the world does Jesus mean by this? Can we be perfect just as God is perfect? I thought that was the whole reason Jesus came to this planet!
If this is not halting, then I don’t know what is.
It can either be personally halting, or objectively worthy of halting yourself to examine the text.
For instance, earlier in Matthew 5, Jesus says some other really good stuff (which happens a lot, mind you):
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17
When I first read this passage, I thought Jesus was talking about how the laws of the Old Testament was now going to be fully followed. But I think quite differently now.
In other words, I thought Jesus was bringing the smack down on puny mortals!
Is this really the case? I’m afraid that you will have to wait for the next post in this series before we go into what we do from here.
Until then, ask yourself these questions when you read Scripture:
What seems to be the topic, or point of this passage?
What is “jumping” out at you in this text?
What is shocking about this passage?
What is bold about this passage?
What is it that seems to be speaking directly to you?
What is making you “put on the brakes”?
The more we read, the more we learn, the more we find halting text. Your job is to not skip over it as though it has no immediate, or even future bearing in your life.
It does.
A Christ-Centered Approach to Bible Study-Part 1
**Guest article by Jonathan Woodward at Sorting Beans.**
Last week we launched a 5-part series on how to study the Bible.
The acronym we’re going to use as a study aid is T. H. I. N. C.
So, what’s the first step in studying the Bible?
Trust.
The “T” in T. H. I. N. C.
For us to be able to get from the Bible what is intended for us, we must first trust the ultimate author—God—behind it as well as trusting the very words written by men under the divine inspiration of God.
This is almost as important as the last point, but we must begin here.
I am not saying that if you are not a believer and you want to read the Bible that you cannot do it without trusting.
Rather, I am saying that in order for the believer to really get God’s message to them, he must trust IN the message he is reading.
I must make a charge, though, to the non-believer: if you decide to read the Bible for the sake of exercising your critical eye, you will not be able to understand its intended message (lest you end up as Lee Strobel!).
But I will not make an appeal for the reliability of Scripture; I’ll leave Demian to that task!
All Scripture Reading Starts Here
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand what you are about to read and Trust in His guidance (John 16:13).
Without the Spirit illuminating the meaning of Scripture for us, we have not the ability to fully understand God’s word (1 John 5:20).
Just as much as we need the Spirit to help us understand, we need Him to empower us with the word of God as we read.
We lack the ability to empower ourselves with the potential that the word of God can have on our lives.
The Spirit of God is necessary for understanding and empowerment. Without the empowerment of the Word of God, we experience no life transformation, and without transformation we remain unchanged.
The Bible ought to change us in some way, both progressively and evidentially.
Trusting Means Believing
How many times have you read over some passage of Scripture and left it thinking on of these thoughts:
“I wonder if that is true?”
“I wonder if that really happened?”
“I wonder if that can REALLY mean anything for me?”
“That worked back then, but it won’t work today”?
This list of doubts can go on and on. Reading Scripture, though, ought to eliminate our doubts.
And if we do have doubts, God can handle them. Take a moment to tell God your doubts, asking Him to help you through them.
There is one door we enter Scripture, and one door we exit: Jesus is the place we start at when reading Scripture, and Jesus is the place we leave our Scripture reading.
What this means is that when we come to the Bible, we are not simply approaching words on paper, we are approaching Jesus our Lord and Savior, and He can handle our doubts.
Lay them down, surrender them, ask Him to help you with them.
A father of a boy child once asked Jesus to heal his son. Before he asked Jesus, he apparently asked the disciples first, and apparently the disciples had some issues with healing the lad.
He brought his son to Jesus and basically said, “. . . if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us” (Mark 9:22b).
Jesus replied, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23).
The father responded with passion, “I believe; help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24).
The point here is that even though the man believed, he was humble in his approach to Jesus and asked for help in areas he is still lacking faith.
All of us have this dilemma. We all have a faith cavity where we lack belief in some way and in some aspect of our relationship with God. The point is to not despair, but trust with the the faith you do have.
You have to start somewhere, and if your faith is no larger than the size of a mustard seed, God can do amazing things in your sight (Matt. 17:20)!
Get Your Bias Out of the Way
Maybe you’re a Calvinist—to which I’ll say, you’re probably a geek. Get your intellectualism out of the way. Let God be your guide, not your extremely limited intellectualism capabilities. You’re not abandoning your brain, your just letting the Holy Spirit lead it. Don’t loose your availability to sense His presence amidst you.
Maybe you’re a Arminian—you are most likely inclined to have more of an emotional approach to Scripture.
It can be very much, “What’s God want to tell ME?”
Understand, it’s not all about you, and remember this: the wonderful love of God that gets you all mushy inside is the same love that drives His righteous judgment.
Let God speak to you and guide you.
Maybe you’re a Prosperity Faith person—well, you just need to repent.
In the end, approach your Bible study with faith, with trust, just like a child holding the hand of his or her parent. The child trusts where the parent will take it.
In the same manner, trust where God will take you. By this only can you be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Ben Affleck on Reading the Bible
Ben Affleck never read the Bible as a child.
So, as an adult he expected it to be loaded with fire and brimstone…
Ripe with weeping and gnashing teeth.
Naturally this notion was only reinforced as he encountered one angry, hateful person after another who claimed to represent all Christians.
This stereotype held until he actually read the Bible.
In fact, this is what he said about reading the Gospel According to Matthew in an August 2008 Oprah magazine:
“Reading the Bible disabused me of any sense that a hateful person could represent this faith. The book is beautiful and exquisitely written–but it is characterized by one quality that colors every page: love.”
He went on to say that reading the Bible made it harder for him to accept the “damaging and small minded beliefs” that people promote in the name of Christian values.
I wonder if he had Fred Phelps in mind when he said that.
Where I’m Going with This
Often on this blog I here non-believers write the Bible off as a collection of hallucinogenic babbling from the mental fringe.
Indeed in my own experience as a non-believer I made outlandish claims about the perversity of the Bible…without ever reading it…so I’m inclined to believe neither have they.
At least not carefully.
Yet honest people like Richard Dawkins read the OT and shake their head in disbelief at what they deem a volatile, childish tyrant.
What gives? The New Testament gives.
Sinclair Ferguson writes, “You cannot open the pages of the New Testament without realizing that one of the things that makes it so ‘new’, in every way, is that here men and women call God ‘Father.’”
This conviction of intimacy with the creator of the universe lies at the heart of our faith. And it suggest we humbly read the Bible in it’s entirety…
And we understand the OT through the lens of Christ.
Reading Matthew obviously had an impact on Ben Affleck. But I don’t know if Ben Affleck is a true believer.
To be sure, he anticipates the question in the article when he says he considers his religious beliefs private matters.
But he nonetheless is moved by it. Perhaps no more than a deep interest in social justice as indicated by his involvement in genocide recovery.
Your Turn
But what about you: What was your first encounter with the Bible like? With the New Testament? With a particular Gospel?
Did you view it as a majestic piece of literature that can stand on it’s own feet [as I once did during a "Bible as Literature" course]?
Or were you appalled by what you read?
Or did you tear your clothes in grief like Josiah who said, “For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us”?
I look forward to your thoughts.
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