At a recent meeting I was privileged to re-acquaint myself with a wonderful DVD that I had not seen for some twenty years – a presentation by Dr. Jack Rogers – Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith and Presbyterian Creeds: a Historical Tour. As part of his presentation Dr. Rogers speaks of a book that he wrote – Presbyterian Creeds: A Guide to the Book of Confessions* – as Cliffs Notes to The Book of Confessions which, in turn, is Cliffs Notes to the Bible.
Painfully, it reminded me of an earlier time in my life when I could see no reason why reading Cliffs Notes (and yes I am old enough to remember it as Cliff’s Notes) would not be as useful as reading the entire book that had been assigned for a particular class and later being absolutely amazed that one or more of the questions that my professor asked on the exam concerned something that was not included in the summary version of the story that I had read – or at least skimmed. Happily, over time I began to appreciate that reading the entire book is not really all that different from learning a complete musical composition rather than just the main themes.
In my sixty plus years of living I have often experienced people making reference to a limited portion of the Bible as if as little as a single verse told the complete story of God’s Word. Recently I have started speaking about that practice as “cherry picking the apple tree” – a practice of taking a verse or a section and using it completely or partially out of context to prove a particular point or practice.
I do not make any claims about my thorough knowledge of the Bible, but I do appreciate the need to always give my best effort to read in context – always reading a larger section than just the selection of verses that I am considering for a particular presentation, sermon, or article. I also try to always remember to follow the advice offered during a class at seminary to read as if I am reading for the first time – avoiding the likely pitfalls that will follow a statement like “I already know what that says!”
Again I am grateful for the teaching that I received at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary as summarized in President Wardlaw’s recent lead article in the current edition of Insights**.
“The approach to scripture at the heart of Austin Seminary’s curriculum and mission stands humbly under the authority of scripture. It (1) recognizes that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer, the center of scripture; (2) depends on the guidance of the Holy Spirit in interpreting and applying scriptrue; (3) is guided by the doctrinal consensus of the church; (4) places all interpretations of scripture under the rule of love – to love God and neighbor; (5) assumes earnest study of the historical and cultural context influencing the text; and (6) seeks to interpret a particular passage in light of the whole Bible.” (9)
Just my thought for the day – grace and peace – and let us all try to live under the rule of love!!
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