Book Review: 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible

Click image to buy at Monergism Books by Robert L. Plummer.

Last week I mentioned that I’d be adding one more book to the list of excellent books that I judge to be both accessible and valuable for every believer, and 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible is it. I don’t know of any other introductory book on interpreting scripture that would be as useful for any Christian who desires to better understand the Bible.

Robert Plummer wrote this book with a college or seminary Bible course in mind. “Ideally,” he writes, “it would serve as a textbook…” but would also “be beneficial to any curious Christian.” His goal

was to be accessible without being simplistic and scholarly without being pedantic, while always keeping an eye to practical questions and real-life application by the Christian reader.

It sounds almost as if he had my list in mind when he wrote the book, doesn’t it?

40 Questions has 326 pages, which might sound long, but it’s made up of 40 short stand-alone chapters. It’d be perfectly fine for you to look at the list of questions and jump right in to those that interest you most and skip (but hopefully not forever) those you’re less interested in. And there are plenty of charts and lists to keep things uncomplicated and enough humour and stories to keep things unstuffy. (I started reading this book while traveling and the format  makes it perfect for that.)

Click to read more ...

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life.

—Hen­ry J. van Dyke

Other hymns, worship songs, sermons etc. posted today:

• Holy, Holy, Holy at threegirldad
• God Is Love, His Mercy Brightens at Wordwise Hymns
• O Thou Who Makest Souls to Shine at The Happy Wonderer
• O God, According to Thy Grace at Rosemary at Home
• O God, Most Holy Are Thy Ways at Field Stone Cottage
• Hark, The Savior’s Voice at Hiraeth
• Lord’s Day 42, 2010 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Holy, Holy, Holy at Daily on My Way to Heaven
• Update: Your Weekly Dose of Spurgeon: Another Word About Doubt at Pyromaniacs

Have you posted a hymn (or sermon, sermon notes, prayer, etc.) today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by contacting me using the contact form linked above, and I’ll add your post to the list.

Round the Sphere Again: Biblical Interpretation

Arcing Again
Did you know that Bible Arc has blogs so that you can follow along as someone who knows what they’re doing arcs a book of the Bible? Here’s a post, for instance, which arcs and then explains 1 Timothy 2:12-15 containing Paul’s instruction to women. (Click on Key in the left sidebar to help you understand the labels on the arc.)

Still Stuck on Romans 1
A list from the verses 18-32 of what every athiest knows about God (Head Heart Hand). This is one of my favorite passages of scripture because it explains so much.

Reminding Me
that Frank Turk is a genius.

Imagine, if you will, the ability to actual capture all the notes you will ever take on every passage of Scripture in your Bible, and never losing those notes. I’m going to show you how to do that….

Here’s his top-secret system (Pyromaniacs).

Parts of my current Bible, which is not all that old, are almost illegible because I’ve written so much in the margins and any other white spaces. I needed this idea and I’m going to do exactly what Frank recommends.

Over and Over
throughout history, heresies give novel interpretations to the words of scripture in order to support unsound ideas.

This is why the conflict between truth and error will primarily focus on the exegesis and interpretation of Scripture, dealing with the individual words of Scripture and their location within the units of thought where they are found, the books that they are a part of, the type of literature that they belong to, wider matters of their canonical place, and finally of their harmony with the whole counsel of God.

Read the whole post (Against Heresies).