Comments on: Biblical Illiteracy

By: J.W. Steinmeyer

J.W. Steinmeyer — Mon, 09 May 2011 16:17:57 +0000

Why We Have the Bible:
It is unfortunate (and almost paradoxical) that in the most literate human era, that the Bible is becoming less and less read, and the results of this are only too evident:
‘…every trendy heterodox teaching that comes along is being lapped up by believers. They have no or little biblical knowledge by which to assess any new teaching that comes their way. Thus they are easy prey not just for the cults and heretical groups, but for even evangelical teachers who have been going off the theological rails.’ (Muehlenberg 09/05/11:n.p.)
Karl Barth (1886 – 1968) says that the Bible ‘…constitutes the working instructions or marching orders by which not just the Church’s proclamation but the very Church itself stands or falls…’ (Barth 2010:101), this is partially because the Bible ‘…is not the Church’s dialogue with itself but an address to the Church…’ (Barth 2010:106). Barth argues that the Church does not stand on itself, nor does it look to itself for doctrine, but rather she looks to Jesus: ‘…if the Church in its proclamation does not find its basis secretly in itself but in the Other who is its Lord without the Church ever becoming His Lord, then the concrete form of vicariate [how one communes with the Godhead] must be succession’ (Barth 2010:102). This succession he explains is: ‘…the succession of the prophets and apostles in their office of proclamation… this can only happen if his proclamation has been fixed in writing and if it is acknowledged that he still has life and free power over the Church to-day in this written word of his’ (Barth 2010:104).
So we can see here that Church is intended to keep the Bible, and to not rely on its own intuition (as many seek to do), as relying on itself breaks itself from the succession and hence ultimately from the vicarage of Christ and communion with the Godhead.
Heterodoxy appears in Churches that don’t practice good Bible reading habits; this is the natural result of the Church relying on itself as the source of teaching and having dialogue solely with itself. But this is also not to say that any Church that bases all its teaching on the Bible will become perfect, as it will still be populated with imperfect men, but at least they would still be part of the Body of Christ.
Jai W. Steinmeyer

By: Bill Muehlenberg

Bill Muehlenberg — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:33:46 +0000

Thanks Forbes

Chapters or books? Eleven chapters can be read in an hour. Mind you, that is about 11 chapters more than most Christians manage to read in a day.

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

By: Forbes Morrison

Forbes Morrison — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:28:17 +0000

Ours is a far cry from the passionate love that old John Sung (1901-1944) experienced, for when he was converted, his modernist lecturer at Union Theological Seminary had him locked up for 193 days in an insane asylum – such is the joy of the LORD. Keep in mind, he hadn’t slept a whole week, nor returned to his dorm – he’d been out witnessing and fasting all week! But there in that sanitary asylum he read his Bible through about 40 times. After his time in the asylum (which he called ‘God’s Appointed Seminary’) he developed a habit of reading 11 chapters of the Bible a day.
Forbes Morrison

By: Liisa Keily

Liisa Keily — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 05:41:39 +0000

Greetings Bill,

Amen and amen – the gate is indeed narrow as so few seem to have His word living in them – and the Lord’s word is true – His people perish for lack of knowledge.

After more than 40 years loving the Lord and His word with my mind, the Lord was merciful and enabled me to love Him with all my heart (note: heart does not mean emotions). As I travelled this journey I stumbled across “Hebrew Roots” and it has enhanced my biblical literacy.

I have been reading your posts for some months now and have not seen mention of this perspective. In particular the seven eternal feasts established by the Lord which are shadows of His plan – of which the first four feasts were fulfilled in Messiah’s first coming – that can open up the scriptures – old and new testaments.

If you have not explored this before, the links below may be an introduction (as always, it is necessary to be a Berean and exercise discernment with everything).

www.clarion-call.org/yeshua/feasts/chart.htm
heartofwisdom.com/biblicalholidays/
www.egrc.net/
Part 1: The 7000 year plan of redemption for mankind
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzkSCiSqbRs

Shalom from Liisa Keily

By: Joel Hawting

Joel Hawting — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 03:59:35 +0000

It is a sad state of affairs indeed when so many Christians today religiously follow the teachings of prominent Christian leaders, purchasing and devouring their resources, giving freely to their ministries and putting so much weight on everything they say and do, without checking the credibility of their teachings against the ultimate authority of the Holy Bible. It seems to me that God’s word can so often become a secondary resource for many Christians caught up in the ‘celebrity’ church environment, where entertainment is the focus and passionate, captivating speakers rule the stage, preaching sermons that are often devoid of biblical content let alone sound biblical teaching. I agree completely with Barry Koh, today church growth appears to take precedent over making true disciples with many new converts having little or no biblical understanding and follow up support. Now I’m sure there must be a couple of warnings about such times and problems somewhere in the Bible… hmmm… ummm… well… oh, I know! How about I tell you what Rob Bell believes about the topic instead?
Joel Hawting

By: Bill Muehlenberg

Bill Muehlenberg — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:50:57 +0000

Me too Dorian.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

By: D. Ballard

D. Ballard — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 23:54:47 +0000

Great article Bill, I only pray those called ‘leaders’ in the Body of Christ will ‘do’ something about it.
Dorian Ballard

By: Bill Muehlenberg

Bill Muehlenberg — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 12:01:30 +0000

Quite right Kameel.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

By: Kameel Majdali

Kameel Majdali — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 10:27:43 +0000

Bill, you have hit this one on the head. Yes, the twin culprits of the current Biblical illiteracy are the secularists and (some in) the western church. A pastor friend of mine was criticised for using ‘too much Scripture.’ In my many years of Bible teaching, I have also observed a shocking lack of Scripture knowledge. Biblical illiteracy is unhealthy and dangerous: it means we can become ‘relevant’ to the world while becoming increasingly ‘irrelevant’ to God.
Kameel Majdali

By: Duane Proud

Duane Proud — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 09:11:50 +0000

That many would retain a remnant of knowledge of biblical history, yet remember them as mere “stories”, is also quite disappointing.
Duane Proud