Two books that I read recently were hitting hard on the same subject: Reading Scripture. I must confess up front that I read both of these books as a book reviewer and not as a practitioner of the contents. By that, I mean that both books call for hitting the brakes and not the accelerator. These are not “hurry up and find out how the story ends” reads, but rather books that need to be carefully applied with exact measurements of the measuring spoons. Otherwise, the recipe doesn’t work.
I hope that somewhere along the way, I will circle back around and slowly wade across both of these books and not be in a rush to finish. But there were benefits to my own imperfect style.
Andrew Abernethy is Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. He has written several books prior to this one, with a focus on the book of Isaiah. I have previously read and reviewed two of his books: HERE.
This book, Savoring Scripture, is a short, straight to the point, study on how to seriously read the Bible. I know that there are dozens, yea, even hundreds of books on how to read the Bible. I had one that I used–as assigned–for a Bible class last year. I was not satisfied with it, and I think that this book would have been a better option. (It was not even published at the time, so I am not complaining–for once.)
Abernethy begins with the topic of posture. We could use terms such as “state of mind” or “attitude” as synonyms. This may be the most important step. It involves being ready, willing, hungry, and teachable. We really struggle with posture. Sometimes, if like me you have been a Bible reading, church going believer for a long time, you struggle because you already think you know what the Bible is saying. As a classroom teacher, I continually deal with a different posture: the person who doesn’t want to know. Cross reference a thousand Puritan sermons and treatises on the heart at this point. But nothing works with Bible reading without the right posture when approaching the Scripture.
The second concept is Flow. This takes the reader up close to the passage. And by the way, Abernethy’s focus is not on trying to get an overview of the whole of either Testament or of the whole Bible. The focus here is on passages. For most of us, our reading each day–whether a chapter, a few chapters, or some select verses–is on a passage. This chapter takes us smack dab right back into the middle of that English class years ago where someone was trying to invade your brain with the intricate details, the structure, the composition of a piece of literature. (Future Bible study is one–of many–reasons why literature is such an important subject.)
Two concepts that Abernethy focuses on are subunits and genre. For better or worse, our Bibles are prearranged in subunits. These are the chapter and verse numbers. Whoever inserted all of those into our Bible world did a great service, but also a slight disservice. Abernethy is not merely calling attention to the sometimes misleading verse or chapter numbers. His focus is on finding the smaller portion of the text. He suggests using a short passage around ten verses. Oh yeah, his method calls for writing and marking in the Bible. For those like me who don’t do that, there are plenty of resources or means of printing Bible portions out on paper or on your dee-vice (which is how I pronounce that word).
Genre is also connected to the Flow. Once again, literature teachers take heart! This concept is crucial to identifying the type of literature one is reading–in the Bible or off of the bookshelf. Language simply doesn’t make sense unless one is interpreting it according to genres.
The next two portions deal with that tricky issue of context and then the whole Bible. Everyone who has wandered through the Bible with untrained eyes has been stumped or confused or mislead by not understanding context. Satan has a number of Bible verses he loves to share with believers with his sleight of hand methods of ignoring context.
And obviously, or what should be obvious, is the need to grasp the Bible as a whole. “Okay, so he is saying to work through a passage of 10 verses and yet grasp the Bible as a whole?” This is a short book. A readable book. A simple book. It’s not an easy book.
Abernethy finishes with a chapter titled “Faithful Response.” Nothing new and original here, but it is a message that needs to be heard and heard and heard again. The whole emphasis on Bible reading and study is found in the response.
I would recommend this book to Bible study groups and Sunday school classes. High school kids can read it, and well-trained Bible scholars (of whom the author of the book is a qualifier) can learn from it as well.
Hans Boersma’s Pierced by Love is a different sort of book from the one above. For that reason, the two books complement each other, and the two authors would make a fine tag team in wrestling if there were a league for Bible scholars to enter the squared ring.
This book reminded me quite a bit of Gavin Ortlund’s Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals, which I read with great pleasure earlier this year.
Boersma’s book gleans heavily from the writings of early and Medieval Christians regarding how to read, meditate, chew on, and digest Scripture. In the early portions of the reading, I begin to feel that the book was too much focused on the “spiritual” or “mystical” side of the spectrum. I had read Herman Hoeksema’s book I Believe: Sermons on the Apostles’ Creed, published by Reformed Free Publishing Association some weeks earlier. I liked the straight-forward, doctrinally tight, unwavering Reformed emphasis of that book. (Consider that as a plug to get Hoeksema’s book, which was edited by my friend Marco Barone!)
The monastic-feeling, Medieval rooted, Lectio Divina of Boersma didn’t fit my personality quite as well. So, let’s be honest: We need those books whose grooves match our personalities. But we also need those that force us to act right in other theological and spiritual social settings.
Just look at the table of contents of this book. Admit it: How many other books on Bible reading have you read that devote a chapter to “chewing and belching”? And it’s a marvelous chapter.
To save time, I am going to do some more “cutting and pasting.” Here are the 8 guidelines that Boersma has for applying the Lectio Divina method. This gives you a Cliff’s Notes version of the book, but you miss all of the rich discussion and quotes from a host of sources buttressing each point.
In short, Boersma’s book is more of the contemplative, think, take time, and enjoy Scripture kind of book, while Abernethy’s in the category of self-help and application of Bible study tools.
Both books help the reader to see, feel, grasp, and enjoy the Bible. Both would make great Christmas presents.
The Heavy Laden Bookshelf 