‘Sounding the Scriptures’
Managing editor Ross W. Muir was introduced to biblical storytelling when John Epp, a member of the Network of Biblical Storytellers Canada and Toronto United Mennonite Church, visited First Mennonite Church in Kitchener, Ont., last spring. Following that encounter, the two chatted in person and online over the summer and into the fall. Ross W. Muir:…
The professionalization factor
I addressed the “priority problem” of Bible reading in the lives of many Christians in my last article. Here, I want to address the “professionalization factor,” which is what happens when Canadian Christians, and there are many of them, look to experts—pastors, priests, scholars—to read, study and unpack the Bible for them. This is not…
The priority problem
Fewer Christians are reading their Bibles today. Not exactly a news flash. The real question is, why are so many of us no longer reading our Bibles? I think there are three primary reasons:
Scripture in the postmodern shift
There are numerous schemas that map out differing views of Scripture. One of the most straightforward suggests everyone believes the Bible is either: fully divine, or
Divinely Inspired
I grew up in a church where 2 Timothy 3:16 was almost as important as John 3:16. It declares, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” This verse was quoted regularly to defend the divine authority of every word in our Bible. The obvious problem here is the author was not referring to the…
Is the Bible Reliable?
When I was eighteen I participated in a “street evangelism” campaign at the Boston University campus as part of a Bible course I was enrolled in. A few of the BU grad students decided to have a little fun and interrogate us with some questions of their own. We were steamrolled by their merciless intellectual…
Shedding Sola Scriptura
I grew up in a church where everything was painted “Sola Scriptura.” I’m not referring to some chic Greco-Roman inspired hue from Benjamin Moore, but a Latin phrase meaning “Scripture Alone” which coloured the way we saw everything under the sun. “Sola Scriptura” was the primary pillar and doctrinal gatekeeper of Protestant faith. Scripture alone,…
A Bible meant to be read with your ears
Have you heard the Bible recently? Not read it, but listened to it—heard the words of Scripture, not just seen them on the page. We don’t hear the Word of God much anymore. The public reading of multiple texts and longer passages of Scripture is not a key part of many worship services these days.…
