Round the Sphere Again: Understanding The Bible

This week there were a whole lot of posts on the Bible in my clippings file, too many for one Round the Sphere post. I’ve set aside some to link from Theological Term posts and some for possible future Round the Sphere posts. These are a few links that have to do with understanding and interpreting the Bible.

An Overview
Fred Zaspel answers the question “What is the Bible all about?” (Credo Magazine).

How to Interpret It
Kim Shay posts on how to study the gospels . The summary:

I think the best approach to studying the gospels is to read, read, read, and take notes.  Furthermore, we must read “horizontally,” i.e., keeping in mind that there are four gospels, and “vertically,” i.e., paying attention to the context of a given pericope.  Getting into the context of the time Christ lived helps, too.

(The Upward Call)

D. A. Carson comments on this apparent contradiction between Paul and James:

“FOR WE MAINTAIN THAT A MAN is justified by faith apart from observing the law” (Rom. 3:28). So writes the apostle Paul. “You foolish man,” argues James, “do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? … You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone…. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” (James 2:14-26, especially vv. 20, 24, 26).

He gives three points to help reconcile the two passages (For the Love of God).

Steve Hays helps us understand the rhetorical techniques of biblical narrative (Triablogue). 

How Not to Interpret It
Don’t approach the Bible in any of these five ways (Jen Wilkin at The Gospel Coalition Blog).

Thorvald the Far-Traveled Viking from Iceland

During medieval times, it was widely believed and taught that a pilgrimage to Jerusalem was the only way to atone for serious sins—and by serious, I mean murder and rape and such like. There was lots of sinning, so there were lots of pilgrims. 

By the tenth century, many Norse pilgrims were coming [to Jerusalem] even though most of their countrymen were still pagans. “Most Scandinavian pilgrims liked to make a round tour, coming by sea through the Straits of Gibraltar and returning overland through Russia.” Like the Franks, the Norse converts were “very devoted to Christ if not to his commandments.” Among them was Thorvald the Far-Traveled, who came all the way from Iceland. Thorvald was a renowned Viking who had converted to Christianity and then “tried to preach the new faith to his countrymen in 981.” He undertook a pilgrimage in 990 seeking to atone for having killed two poets who had mocked his faith and another man who had criticized his preaching. Following his pilgrimage he devoted his missionary activities to Russia and died there, presumably without murdering any Russian pagans. 

Just one of the intriguing tidbits from history in God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful God doesn’t need us; I am thankful he doesn’t need anything. I am thankful that God who needs nothing provides everything for us. I am thankful he is independent, so we can depend on him. I am thankful he has life in himself, so he can give life to us, both physical and spiritual. I am thankful for God’s aseity.

I am thankful for

• strawberries in season.
• blue hydrangeas.
• fresh farm eggs.
• the son who raked and mowed the front yard.
• good gifts in the mail.
• long daylight hours.
• work done and work to do.
• babies in general and a few babies in particular.
• time to read.