The Canney Family: Books

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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Eleven Tips for Reading the Bible

Here is a great list of eleven things to remember when reading the Bible, again taken from George Grant, but this time from his blog Eleventary...

1. Remember the one, central story: the whole Bible is about just one thing. The pattern of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration runs throughout the Old and New Testaments.

2. Remember that the Bible is its own best commentary. The Word interprets itself; Scripture explains Scripture.

3. Remember to read individual passages in their context—textual, literary, symbolic, historical, cultural, grammatical, and theological.

4. Remember that all Biblical revelation is intended to reveal. Always look for the most obvious literary sense of a text.

5. Remember that all Scripture is inspired and superintended by the Holy Spirit. So, every little detail matters.

6. Remember that Scripture has only one meaning but multiple applications—so, it is important to distinguish between indicatives and imperatives.

7. Remember that we read translations of the Bible. All languages have strengths, weaknesses, and peculiarities—and moving from Greek and Hebrew to one of our modern languages (such as 21st century American English) will always require some additional scrutiny and study.

8. Remember that we must always interpret experience in light of Scripture and history in light of revelation; not the other way around.

9. Remember that the New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New.

10. Remember that “there is nothing new under the sun.” So, beware of innovative or novel interpretations of Scripture. Steer clear of new “discoveries” in Biblical revelation. We have a rich legacy of wisdom passed down to us from throughout church history so we should consult good commentaries whenever possible--and look to the “old paths” more often than not.

11. Remember that we should always read Scripture prayerfully, submitting to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Consequence of Evolution

"Up to the age of 30 or beyond it, poetry of many kinds . . . gave me great pleasure, and even as a schoolboy I took intense delight in Shakespeare.... formerly pictures gave me considerable, and music very great, delight. But now for many years I cannot endure to read a line of poetry: I have tried to read Shakespeare, and found it so intolerably dull that it nauseated me. I have also almost lost any taste for pictures or music.... I retain some taste for fine scenery, but it does not cause me the exquisite delight which it formerly did . . My mind seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts, but why this should have caused the atrophy of that part of the brain alone, on which the higher tastes depend, I cannot conceive.... The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness, and may possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our nature." Charles Darwin