Last updated on November 28, 2020
A few years ago, I thought about starting an online commentary on books of the Bible. The idea got side-tracked in the midst of publishing a book and searching for academic jobs, but hopefully now I can commit to it more seriously.
A word of introduction and autobiography is in order lest I lead anyone astray.
First, I am merely an educated lay person. I have no formal theological training, I am not ordained, and cannot read Greek or Hebrew. I am a scholar in the humanities and in the history of Western political thought, but this commentary should not be taken as the work of an “expert” in any sense. I offer no credentials other than my love for Jesus, His Word, and for the Holy Spirit who I pray will guide you and I to read every letter of Scripture as God intends.
Like other Protestants I have faith that the Bible is inerrant in its original languages and miraculously inspired and protected by the Holy Spirit. I do not, however, believe that I, as the reader, am inerrant or infallible. Like every generation before me that has read the Bible, I and many others get it wrong. We misinterpret or misrepresent the Scripture, sometimes out of ignorance and sometimes out of malice or out of a desire for influence. I pray I do not fall into these temptations. But these “abuses” of Scripture are not, in my view, the fault of the Scriptures themselves.
This leads to the second point, or question: why am I doing this? The simplest answer is that I genuinely love reading, learning, and talking about the Bible.
When I was about 13 or 14 years-old my enthusiasm for the Bible was enough to provoke many of my friends, teachers, and others to refer to me first as “Chaplain” and later as the “Bible Boy.” As is typical, the latter term was meant as ridicule but quickly became a nickname of encouragement as well as a kind of responsibility. I was known for nearly always having a Bible on me and reading it in “down time,” which I had plenty of. For a few years, I even had a website where I periodically offered thoughts on Bible Verses that stuck out to me. It was called “Bowman’s Bible Verse,” and would, to my surprise, reach over 300 people in several states and even became the subject of some Bible studies for missionaries in…I wanna say, Honduras (?). It has been awhile, and I’m sure I’d be embarrassed by the superficial readings I once offered. Still, God used these blogs in spite of my youth and ignorance. I really can’t take credit for their impact.
While I certainly hope my writing and thinking has developed in the last (gulp) 20 years, two things seem to have changed quite dramatically, leading to my third point of introduction. I am writing this because, as many a minister will tell you, Christians just do not read their Bibles. But doing so has never been more important.
In America, Bible stories and a kind of “residual Christianity” was a part of the United States’ culture and language to a point that it was simply taken for granted. Even those who had long since abandoned Christianity or faith of any kind knew the basic stories. They may know the stories of Christmas and Easter, or parables like that of the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan, for example; but no more. Biblical illiteracy is an epidemic within and beyond the Church. While confronting this reality outside the Church would require an extraordinary cultural and spiritual shift, those within the Church have no excuse. From the perspective of every Christian tradition of which I have been a part – Lutheran (LCMS), Pentecostal/Church of God, non-denominational, Presbyterian (PCA), and Anglican (ACNA) – reading the Bible is nonnegotiable.
In separate posts for a different series, I’ll offer more thoughts on the importance of Scripture for the Christian life. But for now, I invite you to join me in reading words inspired by the Holy Spirit and the Creator of the Universe. We have to start somewhere!
Tomorrow (12/2/20), I’ll begin with the first few verses of the Gospel of Luke.
If you wish, prepare your heart using this Collect (prayer) for the reading of Scripture from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer (ACNA, 2019)
Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and the comfort of your Holy Word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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