Fresh Bibles? Really?

This image was in my inbox under the heading of “Fresh Bibles”.  Note the suggestion of getting a new Bible for Spring or Lent or oh, I dunno, Arbor Day.

OK, this is not a big deal, but really, a book is MORE than its cover.

Learning from some pastors

Our area pastor’s group met.  We were just talking about what things were happening in our congregations. One pastor said that they have had a very positive response to a simple bible reading program they put in place this year.  The sermons, youth groups and small groups are all following this reading plan so it adds a sense of unity to a fairly large congregation.  Another spoke up and said that in most Evangelical churches about 50% of its members read the bible on a regular basis.

So, let Fresh Read state for the record, there is nothing better for you than a regular (and fresh) reading of the Scriptures.  There are many plans out there, but the one my friend mentioned is here:  http://www.blackhawkchurch.org/resources/eat-this-book/

a list of popular plans is here: http://www.esv.org/resources/reading-plans-devotions/

The back of your bible might have a plan also – the picture above is from my ESV Literary Study Bible.

Picking a Bible – update on ESV and NIV

I wrote an article at the start of the blog about picking a bible translation.  I need to add some comments about the English Standard Version (ESV).  The ESV strives to be as literal as possible while being readable.  It has become very popular in Evangelical church circles, and for many through the ESV Study Bible.

Positives:  Unlike some “literal” translations, the ESV does recognize paragraphs and poetic structure.  I never liked the NASB’s format of puling every verse to the side, as if the bible came divided that way.  It is usually readable, and they do try to retain continuity in translating the same words the same way.  For example it uses “keep, keeps and keeper” in Psalm 121 for all the uses of the same hebrew root.  the NIV is more free and you can miss the repetition.

I also like the ESV Literary Study Bible – it gives a minimum of literary form and outline information and lets you read the text yourself.  I did scan the ESV Study Bible at the book store and found it heavy and overly laden with comments, so that the page I was reading was about 25% bible and 75% comment.  I prefer a leaner bible and a couple of good reference works on the side – like a  Bible dictionary and a commentary.

Negatives:  The language is frequently rather poor English style, and somewhat dated sounding.  This reflects the desire to be more literal, but also an older slightly dated English that the one I hear in daily life.  I find that the editors have worked too hard to keep the male gender intact – often the male in Greek or Hebrew are generic, and translating male pronoun for male pronouns from original to English add s the English gender baggage to the text.  Men may not notice, but women will.  (Confession, I like the NRSV for this reason.)

Conclusion: I use the ESV as a good manuscript study text – it is a good source for seeing connections and sensing the structure of the original language.  It is only OK for general reading, and I do not preach from it very often, unless my default NIV (old version) is inadequate.  That is partly because our “Pew Bibles” are NIV.

The NEW NIV:  The NIV was updated in 2011, so if you want to read the one you are familiar with that is called the NIV 84.  I have not yet read a lot of the new NIV, but it does attempt to be more gender generic – that is to translate into
English as neutral when the original may have been formally masculine but was understood as generic.  English worked that way until maybe 1968 and thereafter we have moved on.  So I do not have a problem with the approach. There are a number of other updates and I have not read enough to draw any conclusions.

Watercolor and the Bible

So, Fresh Read has been taking an art class.  It is first of all a lot of fun.  Second it offers the discipline of seeing.  Often we glance and assume.  I was working on this picture,

 which I thought turned out pretty well.  What is interesting was that the instructor, who has a well-developed eye, noticed that the two background trees on the left and right seemed somewhat indistinct.  In particular the one on the right.

She is right, that area was actually a mix of brushy leafy stuff when I started the scene, but several weeks later when I got back to it, the leaves have fallen.  So I just put in an imaginary tree.  Hence the blobby look.

the Point?  When we read a text, we sometimes notice the overall outline, or perhaps a bit that interests us, and then we quit looking, and start to mentally fill in the rest.  just as nature is more varied than our natural mental ability to fill in, so the text is more varied and interesting than what we project into it.

For me an art class is good practice int he discipline of seeing.  Even if you are all thumbs, I’d suggest taking a sketch pad out to your favorite places and working on recording what you see.  Who cares if it looks any good, it is for you, to develop your sight.

The bridge picture, by the way, is about 300 feet from where I live in Madison.  I plan to fix the trees, after a little observing.

Public Reading

“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, to preaching and to teaching.”  I Timothy 4:13

In the 1st Century books were expensive.  The bible was owned by the community of believers.  Worship typically included regular reading of the scriptures, often according to a “lectionary” or reading plan.

This continues in churches who incorporate the lectionary in the worship service – usually these are more formal congregations.

Many of us have come to think of the bible as a personally owned book to be read privately.  That is good. However it is also good to be where the book is read to the community.

First, because much of the Bible is written in a fashion that communicates well by clear reading out loud.  (Much like how we were entertained around the camp fire recently with an out loud reading of Pride and Prejudice.)  Books such as Psalms, which were sung, and Job which is poetic, as well as the histories which are narrative, all are served with a good reading well done.

Second, because we learn in community.  When we all hear the text, we can all talk about it.  Just as when everyone sees the latest episode of a TV show, we can talk about what has happened.  Consider the great public reading of the book in Nehemiah 8.

Third, because this may be the only exposure to the word for those who can not, do not, or will not read on their own.

Fourth, it gives the text of scripture primacy against the star in the pulpit, at the podium, with the mike or on the screen.

Fifth, it gives an important work to “lay readers”, who more than the rest will concentrate on what they will read in order to read it well.

 

Anti-Immediacy – aka Patience

SOME THINGS TAKE TIME.

Seeds, bread, art, transmission rebuilds, presidential campaigns, raising kids, getting to know your spouse, family dinner, sermon preparation, becoming mature, becoming a friend, grief, recovery from addiction, reading a book, memorizing a passage, helping a friend, effectively serving the poor, making beautiful music and pitching a shut out.

Some things don’t: tweeting, net surfing (unless you do a lot of it), McDonald’s, starting a fight, losing a baseball game, jumping to conclusions, judging, first impressions, saying something you’d regret, tweeting, blogging, emailing something you will regret, forgetting what you just watched on TV and deciding to stay home this Sunday.

Consider those two lists, which items are more important?  (If you don’t like our non-scientific list, make your own.)

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, PATIENCE….”   Galatians 5:22-23

New Thinking on Genesis 1

So I have been reading John Walton’s book “The Lost Word of Genesis 1.”  His essential claim is that Genesis 1, properly understood as it was intended to be understood is not about the material origin of the universe, but about its proper function.  (That is a very short summary – the book is more detailed and well written.)  Following that I have been reading “The Language of Science and Faith” by Karl W. Giberson  and Francis S. Collins.  Francis Collins is well known as the director of the project to map the human genome (DNA).    These two men are part of a group called BioLogos who wish to support both Biblical truth and biological evolution (the process, not the various world views that are often attached.)

To say the least this makes for interesting reading.  I am for now keeping the proverb: Be quick to hear and slow to speak.

Among evangelicals the views range from Young Earth, Old Earth, Intelligent Design (non-committal on the Bible itself), Progressive Creation, Theistic Evolution.  There are shapes and variations all between.

John Walton on Genesis – part 2

The main theme of Walton’s treatment is that Genesis 1 is not about the material origins of the universe. (He holds to the idea that God created all things, but not from this text.)  Instead, Genesis one is about assigning functions.  Those things, such as the sea and the desert (in ancient thought) that were wild and uncontrolled were non-existant in a sense. So God gave functions.  So then light is created as day and night, which has the function to divide time and seasons. 

this is a short and dirty summary.  However, what I find intriguing is that this is how I have come to teach Genesis 1.  First of all there are a wide variety of opinions from young earth to theistic evolution among peole who love the scriptures.  Second, it does not seem that Genesis 1 was written to settle the debate about origins (or it might be settled by now.)  However it is clear that Genesis 1 talks about material things (they are good), the role of humanity (to rule, to tend, to multiply), if we include Genesis 2, the role of gender (towards marriage and multiplication), the sun, moon and stars (objects not god, to mark time not to be worshipped) and so forth.

It makes sense that Genesis 1 is about ”how should we live” rather than “how does the universe work”.  And one of the functions of humanity is to discover and develop the capacities of the world – what for a long time has been called the cultural mandate.  Art, technology, human organization, agriculture, zoology, and many other fields of knowledge show that humanity was created with this function in mind.

Lent, Lectionary and an EFCA Pastor

We in the Evangelical Free Church do not usually follow the Lectionary or Lent.  I am certainly against any such rule being imposed as a mandate from above.  Our real mandate from above are the Scriptures.  However, as a voluntary spiritual discipline, these can be useful.  I am preaching this season leading up to Easter (i.e. Lent) from a thematic collection of Scriptures (i.e. Revised Common Lectionary) and making use of a preaching resource (Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol. 2).

If you would like to read along, I have this guide and explanation from my adult class.

Click - WhyTheCross?

I find that the Church Year, which is focused on the life of Christ, has much to comment itself – and is to be preferred that following the commercial/florist holidays of popular culture.  I’m just sayin’.

“But the answer must be Jesus!”

Sunday School Teacher:  what is grey, climbs in trees, eats nuts and has a big tail?

Sunday School Kid: Well it sounds like a squirrel, but the answer has to be Jesus.

  I have been wondering about the frequent claim that all sermons should be tied to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  It is said that we need to tie whatever text we read to the main story line, which is the history of redemption, or the story of salvation.  We fall into the danger of becoming moralists, bible information dispensers, self-help gurus, it is said, if we don’t make the link.

Here is the issue, are we thereby imposing on a text the need to say, “But the answer is Jesus.”  One can present the book of Ruth as the story of God’s providential care in the lives of ordinary people, of the importance of keeping the laws regarding the poor and needy and of the value of faithful living.  Or one can focus on the Jesus connection: Boaz and Ruth are in the line of David, which is the line of the Messiah and of Christ.  It is even possible to turn the book into an extended parable of the Gospel.  I would cover all those points, but make the “Jesus connection” at the end, where the book does.

I prefer to think that the connection should be made when it is evident in the text itself.  We are in a church which is all about the history of redemption, but sometimes the text is practical advice (A gentle answer turns away wrath – Prov 15:1) or a reminder of God’s mercy to the weak and the alien (the servant Girl and Naaman in II Kings 5).

A friend was surprised in a message from Proverbs 1-9 that I did not tie the text to Christ – but the passage was about the value of wisdom.  Now in the series the theme of Wisdom was tied to Christ – “in who all wisdom dwells”, but that sermon allowed the passage to speak to one aspect of the life of wisdom.

In other words, sometimes you can talk about a squirrel.