How do we have a conversation with the Bible? Many of us have picked up the Bible and read a ways. Then we run across something we don’t understand, or that seems really odd, or simply doesn’t make sense to us. And then we are stuck. How do we have a conversation with an very […]
Tag: Biblical interpretation
Bible conversations
Yesterday I suggested we think about the Bible as an invitation to conversation. There are several conversations going on at the same time. One of this is that the Bible is in conversation with itself. Remember that the Bible, especially the Old Testament was written over a very long time and multiple sources contributed to […]
Bible Reading Thoughts
One topic I never tire of writing about is the Bible- in part because there is a lot we can talk about. One thing we often don’t spend much time thinking about is why we have the Bible and why we have the particular stories and texts that we have. Often our default way of […]
Who is wrong and who is right?
You only have to be in a Bible study group for a short time or read a few books about the Bible before you realize that many passages of scripture have more than one possible interpretation. Perhaps you have had the experience of being in a small group and having someone say “I always thought […]
Reading Proverbs 31
If you read books or articles about how to read the Bible, one thing that is always mentioned is “the plain reading of the text”. A plain reading is just what you think it is- the text means what it says.We take the text at face value. For example, “Jesus wept” means Jesus wept. On […]
Reading Ruth
I had the opportunity to lead an group of folks in a discussion of the Book of Ruth. It’s not very long, Just 85 verses. It has a well known passage: “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, […]
Book Review: Reading the Historical Books: A Student’s Guide to Engaging the Biblical Text
Reading the Historical Books: A Student’s Guide to Engaging the Biblical Text: The title tells you what the book is about and the book, itself, is equally clear. Author Patricia Dutcher- Walls is a professor of Hebrew Studies at the Vancouver School of Theology and she blends her academic knowledge with an ability to write clearly and in an engaging […]
