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Book Plunge: 7 Things I Wish Christians Knew About The Bible

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  • Book Plunge: 7 Things I Wish Christians Knew About The Bible

    A fun and informative read.

    --------------

    What do I think of Michael Bird’s book published by Zondervan? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

    I have to say that every time I read something about Michael Bird, I get a treat. Michael Bird is an author with keen insights and a pastoral heart as well, but he also has a great touch of humor and will say so many statements that make you laugh all throughout the book. I would be thrilled to see him team up with Andy Bannister to write a book.

    This is a book written for Christians, though I think it can be helpful for non-Christians as well. In it, he gives seven different statements that many of us might think are old hat, but in reality, there are people who treat the Bible this way even if they know it’s not literally so. For instance, the first one is that the Bible didn’t fall out of the sky.

    Really, even if we don’t know how the Bible came about, somehow, we all know that it didn’t. In reality though, we do often treat it that way. The Bible is a divine book to be sure, but it is also a very human book. That’s actually the second, This gives us more of how the Bible was written by people and has their own personality styles in the text.

    Third is that the Bible is normative and not negotiable. In this, he wants us to realize that Scripture is the place of authority. We don’t just pick and choose. Too many “churches” today have the idea that the Bible is authoritative when it speaks properly, which by the way, happens to be the times that it agrees with them. Amazing!

    Next is that the Bible is for our time, but it’s not about our time. This is especially the case with modern prophecy experts who think everything going on is talked about in Scripture, they are shown to be wrong, but then a year or two later, the exact things happen again. I am not just talking about so-called prophecy experts. I am also talking about laypeople who read the Bible this way. (Sometimes, they sadly commit the unpardonable sin of calling the final book “Revelations.”)

    The fifth is that the Bible should always be taken seriously, but not literally. Somehow, we live in a time that thinks that literal interpretation is the best way to read the Bible every time. The early church really enjoyed allegory, for example. Too many atheists also make a big deal about literal interpretation.

    The sixth is that the purpose of the book is to give us faith, hope, and love. Now here, I would have liked to have seen Bird say something about the fake view of faith as belief without evidence or something similar. Still, Bird’s point is entirely valid. As much as an academic like myself wants to gain a lot of knowledge and as much as some people might go to the Bible wanting to get personal advice on how to live, and neither of those are bad in themselves, the main goal is to produce the character of faith, hope, and love.

    Finally, Christ is the center of it all. However, saying that, he wants us to be careful to not forget the Father or the Spirit. He also wants us to make sure we don’t just read Christ into everything without first understanding what the text says in itself. Also, he thinks we should be able to teach Jesus as Messiah from the Old Testament, which I agree with.

    Bird’s given us a great gift in this one. I highly encourage you to go and read this one. You’ll laugh a few times and you’ll learn something.

    In Christ,
    Nick Peters
    (And I affirm the virgin birth)
    What do I think of Michael Bird’s book published by Zondervan? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out. I have to say that every time I read something about Michael Bird, I get a treat. Michael Bird is an author with keen insights and a pastoral heart as well, but he also has … Continue reading Book Plunge: 7 Things I Wish Christians Knew About The Bible

  • #2
    Originally posted by Apologiaphoenix View Post
    A fun and informative read.

    --------------

    What do I think of Michael Bird’s book published by Zondervan? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

    I have to say that every time I read something about Michael Bird, I get a treat. Michael Bird is an author with keen insights and a pastoral heart as well, but he also has a great touch of humor and will say so many statements that make you laugh all throughout the book. I would be thrilled to see him team up with Andy Bannister to write a book.

    This is a book written for Christians, though I think it can be helpful for non-Christians as well.
    The first four are entirely appropriate for secularists, and echo a number of Christian and non-Christian authors as well running from Ehrman to Enns — whose Inspiration and Incarnation made a huge difference in how I read the Bible. It's a real shame that book that cost him his job. His removal did serious damage to WTS, IMO. I know you have experience in your extended family with a similar result.

    The last three are problematical.

    The fifth is that the Bible should always be taken seriously, but not literally. Somehow, we live in a time that thinks that literal interpretation is the best way to read the Bible every time. The early church really enjoyed allegory, for example. Too many atheists also make a big deal about literal interpretation.
    I'll add a caveat here. While the thought is reasonable, this seems overtly political. The phrasing echoes Peter Thiel's defense of the former president.

    But this is still acceptable in ways the last two are not.

    The sixth is that the purpose of the book is to give us faith, hope, and love. Now here, I would have liked to have seen Bird say something about the fake view of faith as belief without evidence or something similar. Still, Bird’s point is entirely valid. As much as an academic like myself wants to gain a lot of knowledge and as much as some people might go to the Bible wanting to get personal advice on how to live, and neither of those are bad in themselves, the main goal is to produce the character of faith, hope, and love.

    Finally, Christ is the center of it all. However, saying that, he wants us to be careful to not forget the Father or the Spirit. He also wants us to make sure we don’t just read Christ into everything without first understanding what the text says in itself. Also, he thinks we should be able to teach Jesus as Messiah from the Old Testament, which I agree with.
    These are clearly, in my view, antagonistic to any non-Christian reading. The last, in particular, is antagonistic not merely to non-Christians in general, but to Jews specifically, from whom it bears repeating these texts have been appropriated. I firmly defend the view that these texts belong to all of humanity, but only while acknowledging at the same time that these are Jewish works.

    Rewriting them as Christian in direct contradiction to the intent of their original authors and Jewish tradents is an unnecessary provocation.

    Bird’s given us a great gift in this one. I highly encourage you to go and read this one. You’ll laugh a few times and you’ll learn something.

    In Christ,
    Nick Peters
    (And I affirm the virgin birth)
    Thanks for the review. It was well written.

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