Be Holy by Warren Wiersbe

"What health is to the body, holiness is to the soul."

I always appreciate Warren Wiersbe for putting theology into layman’s terms without dumbing it down. Of the almost twenty “Be” studies that I have done, Be Holy may be one of the most helpful so far.

Leviticus is a daunting book to modern readers, but Wiersbe does a wonderful job of showing its relevance to our faith.

Almost everything in Leviticus anticipates the life and death of Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The sacrifices, festivals, rituals, and laws foreshadow God’s redemptive plan. Jesus becomes the means to remove the guilt and penalty for sin through his substitutionary death on the cross. His death provides the final atonement for all sin. (p. 8)

Wiersbe is quick to point out that this is not just positional holiness (what God does for us) but practical as well (what God does in us): “For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.” (1 Thess 4:7, p. 9) He laments that the chief pursuit of most people today (including Christians) is happiness, not holiness. They want Jesus to solve their problems and carry their burdens, but they don’t want Him to control their lives and change their character.

Much confusion surrounds the idea of “law-keeping” for the redeemed Christian and Wiersbe responds: While obedience to the the law isn’t God’s way of salvation (see Romans 3:19-20, Galatians 3:21-29), a love for holiness and a desire to obey and please God are certainly evidences that we are the children of God. After we are saved, our obedience to the will of God, as revealed in the Word of God, is the basis for fellowshipping with God and enjoying the abundant life He wants us to have. (p. 15)

He concludes the book with the reminder that “Eight times in Scripture, God said, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.'  Since God’s commandments are God’s enablements, this commandment assures us that it is possible to live a holy life.

I highly recommend this accessible, insightful commentary on a frequently avoided book of the Bible.

Blessings, 

What I Read in June

This may have been the best reading month I've had so far this year: two good murder mysteries, a children's classic, a lovely Bible commentary and a modern novel that I actually liked!

The murder mysteries were from the Golden Age of Detective fiction. The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers was a bit difficult because a key component of the crime had to do with the art of change-ringing (which I knew nothing about), but I'm glad I persevered to the (surprising) end. The other mystery was The Nursing Home Murder by Ngaio Marsh, another fun entry in the Roderick Alleyn series.

It was a joy to re-read Wind in the Willows with the Literary Life podcast group. I listened to the Librivox version by Adrian Praetzellis. Warren Wiersbe's commentary on Leviticus, Be Holy, was a wonderfully helpful tool for understanding a difficult book of the Bible.

Finally, I read A Gentleman in Moscow. I came to the story with a lot of misgivings, but was pleasantly surprised at the great storytelling. The author masterfully describes the lives a small group of people who live and work in a Russian hotel during Stalin's regime. It made me want to learn more about that time in Russian history.

I will be posting more detailed reviews on some of these books soon. Unfortunately, the links to these books are pricey. I got all of them for free from my library or when they were on sale for Kindle. 

Have you read any of these? Any thoughts?

Blessings,

Thoughts on The Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon is one of those books that caused me great embarrassment as a young Christian for its glorification of physical attraction and its awkward expressions of admiration such as the bride's hair being "like a flock of goats and her teeth like a flock of shorn ewes."

As I matured in my faith I learned to appreciate the book's place in the biblical canon because it debunks the myth that God is a cosmic killjoy and that physical intimacy is sinful. (Of course, it has to be read in the context of the rest of Scripture!)  

In Matthew Henry's commentary, he prefers to treat the entire book as a spiritual analogy, reflecting Christ's love for His bride. While I agreed with all of his conclusions, I did not see how he reached them from certain verses (the ones in my first paragraph, for example.) Some applications seemed incredibly forced. The other resource I used for this study was Kay Arthur's Walking With God in Every Season, which took the Song of Solomon more at face value (a love poem with potential spiritual applications). I found it interesting that one of the assignments in Kay's book was to make lists of the compliments the couple give to each other, noting which ones had to do with their characters and which had to do with their appearance. Only by really stretching my imagination, could I come up with one non-physical accolade for the bride and the groom, which amazed me. 

Although I loved Matthew Henry's eloquence and fervent love for God, I was occasionally miffed at his heavy-handed applications. Kay Arthur's probing questions left more room for prayerful reflection. As I meditated on repeated themes and phrases, I found myself longing to think of Christ as "the one whom my soul loves." I'm happy I took some time to go through this book more carefully.  

Blessings,

Walking Faithfully with God by Kay Arthur

Do the kings and kingdoms of the Old Testament run together in your mind? If so, you are not alone. Sure, everybody know about David and Solomon, but after the kingdom was divided, forty more (mostly villainous) rulers reigned in Judah and Israel. How in the world do we keep them straight? The book Walking Faithfully with God is a great place to start.

The beauty of the inductive Bible study method is that it forces you to slow down and pay attention. This book requires you to patiently note down character traits of the major kings. It requires highlighting, reading, and re-reading. After studying a chapter in I or II Kings, you jump over to the corresponding chapter in II Chronicles to get a more complete picture of that king's life. It is VERY thorough.

Even though this was my fourth time through this book, I was still constantly amazed at the wickedness of the various kings. Though they are persistently sinful, God is persistently merciful in sending prophets to warn them to repent. After a series of discouragingly evil kings, suddenly there is a man who loves God with all his heart to remind you that God can raise up men of God under the most adverse circumstances.

The book is full of helpful maps and charts and at the end of each week there are insightful life lessons as well as discussion questions to help you dig deeper. I have been doing inductive Bible study for fifteen years, and this is far and away my favorite study. I'm always a little sad when I finish any inductive study because of the rich, fruitful hours I've spent in God's word. I hated to see this book come to an end.

Blessings,

Be Free by Warren Wiersbe (Commentary on Galatians)

Since we don't have to "do" anything to earn salvation, how do we avoid erring on the side of complacency or mediocrity in our Christian walk? What exactly are we free to do and how can we be sure our freedom doesn't lead to licentiousness? Warren Wiersbe sets out to answer these questions in Be Free, his user-friendly commentary on the book of Galatians.

I've read a dozen of Wiersbe's commentaries on the Bible and while they were all excellent, this one stands out above the others. This may be because I spent many years of my Christian life trusting in outward actions to measure my spiritual maturity. I was a legalist with a capital "L."

Wiersbe writes, What is it about legalism that can so fascinate the Christian the he will turn from Grace to the law? For one thing, legalism appeals to the flesh. The flesh loves to boast about its religious achievements. The person who depends on religiosity can measure himself and compare himself with others.

I loved it when he cited F.D.R.'s four freedoms (of speech, of religion, from want and from fear) and added a fifth freedom: freedom from sin and self. Only those who deliberately misread Bible verses about grace will use them to validate sinful choices. Liberty does not mean license, says Wiersbe. Rather it means the freedom in Christ to enjoy Him and to become what He has determined for us to become. It is not only freedom to do, but also freedom not to do. We are no longer in bondage to sin. But can Christians take this whole freedom thing too far?? Not according to Wiersbe: No man could become a rebel who depends on God's grace, yields to God's Spirit, lives for others, and seeks to glorify God.
 
As I read through the book of Galatians, using the comments in Be Free, I said many a "hallelujah" for the Lord's kindness in bringing me from a works-based faith to a faith that is dependent on His mercy. I still slip up sometimes, but the Lord gently calls me back to Himself.

In closing: The unsaved person wears a yoke of sin; the religious legalist wears a yoke of bondage; but the Christian who depends on the grace of God wears the liberating yoke of Christ. (Matthew 11:30)

Blessings,

The One Year Chronological Bible

If your yearly reading of the Bible has become too predictable, I would highly recommend the One Year Chronological Bible to shake things up a bit. Instead of the traditional sequence of the 66 books, the Chronological Bible places them in the order they were written. The book of Job appears right in the middle of the book of Genesis.

Seeing the familiar books "out of order" definitely kept me on my toes. And it was very helpful to read passages close together that explained each other. (For example: Amaziah's foolish behavior is not spelled out in the II Kings passage, but the corresponding passage in II Chronicles makes it very clear.)

Interspersed in the stories of the wicked kings of Israel and Judah are the prophetic warnings of God's judgment from Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. I loved having I and II Samuel, I and II Chronicles, and the Davidic psalms together. (It was unsettling to have the book of Psalms all chopped up, though.) Some psalms come after the Exile.

The Song of Solomon and Proverbs are inserted during the Bible passages on Solomon's reign. Later the Epistles are woven into the book of Acts. So you can see how this Bible can be disconcerting and wonderful at the same time. It made me sit up and pay attention.

I'm very much looking forward to returning to a slower, more careful reading of the Scriptures in 2019, but I appreciated this bird's-eye view of the Bible in chronological form.

Blessings,

100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Learn by Heart by Robert J. Morgan

I have seen 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Learn offered on Amazon and have wondered if it was worth getting. I was glad to finally find a copy to help me decide.

I would highly recommend this book to those who are new to Scripture memory. Morgan has preached his way through each passage and does a wonderful job of explaining the importance of each carefully selected verse. The intro includes inspirational stories of many whose lives had been transformed by hiding God's Word in their hearts. I especially enjoyed the story of Vietnam P.O.W. Howard Rutledge as shared in his bio, In the Presence of Mine Enemies: Bible verses literally kept him from losing his mind. The memorized snippets of Scripture in his brain were potent. They faced down death, rallied his spirits, steeled his nerves, and tapped into the deepest strength known in the universe. They beat back the torture, stifled the despair, and subdued the terrors he felt. Those verses were the reason he came home alive. (p. 20)

After forty-seven pages of introduction, Morgan devotes 200 pages to the verses themselves. The book is more than just a list of important verses. In the main section, Morgan carefully shows how each suggested verse builds on the previous, giving a thorough explanation of the implications of each passage This is essential to Morgan's emphasis that memorization is not just about words remembered, but about truths absorbed. If "Wisdom is seeing life from God’s point of view,” then Scripture memory is a good way to saturate our thinking with God’s way of thinking.

First you have the verse and then the verse has you. (p. 44)

Although Morgan includes a few tips on memorization techniques, the best book I've found on the subject has been An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture by Andrew M. Davis. I have used his simple method (slightly modified) for the last two years with great success.

Blessings,

Seek and Hide by Amanda G. Stevens

One of my New Year's resolutions was "no more substandard fiction," so I've been ignoring all the free Christian e-books that have come across my path. But when I saw the premise of Seek and Hide, I couldn't resist:

Six years ago, the government took control of the church. Only re-translated Bibles are legal, and a specialized agency called the Constabulary enforces this and other regulations. Marcus Brenner, a new Christian, will do anything to protect his church family from imprisonment--including risk his own freedom to gain the trust of a government agent. (The story is a lot more complicated than that, but that gives you the main themes.)

Brenner is doing his best to save people before they can be arrested for hate crimes (i.e. owning a Bible) and in the process he meets an intriguing mix of good guys, bad guys and folks in between. I was especially intrigued by the number of people who were not Christians in the book, but who were sympathetic to believers because they felt that their loss of religious freedom was unjust. The book takes place in the not-so-distant future when evangelism is equated with terrorism and Christians are "re-educated" to give up their antiquated, hateful ideas of sin.

I liked this book for so many reasons. Beside the fact that it is darn good storytelling, I appreciated that Christians are portrayed in a realistic manner and that the book offers no easy answers to life's problems. In addition, Stevens manages to write about gritty situations without sordidness. The conversations are believable. And, unlike most Christian novels, the characters are complex and interesting.

If you like your novels squeaky clean, you may be uncomfortable with a few brief episodes of women ogling a bare-chested man. There are also references to rape and alcoholism. These were handled discreetly and added to the multi-layered story.

A fascinating read!

P.S. The sequel, Found and Lost, is very, very good. Unfortunately it contains some mildly steamy love scenes, which I thought were unnecessary. (This is a risk some Christian writers are willing to take so as not to replicate the saccharine-sweet tripe that is peddled as Christian fiction, but it's a hard line to toe.) If you watch American TV, it won't faze you at all.

My thoughts on Book Three, and Book Four.

Blessings,

Warren Wiersbe's Commentaries on Genesis

Although Warren W. Wiersbe has worked with Youth for Christ, pastored Moody Church in Chicago, written for Christianity Today, and broadcast his own radio show, he is probably most known today for his "BE" series, an explanation of every book of the Bible for laymen. I recently worked my way through his Genesis series and would like to share a few thoughts.

Be Basic deals with the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis. If you are wondering why there's so much confusion and destruction in today’s world, one reason is because people are ignoring or rejecting the basics. But that’s like going on a voyage without a compass or radar, or trying to perform brain surgery without lights. Wiersbe goes on to say that to know the book of Genesis is to know the fundamental truths about God, the world, yourself and other people, law, sin, salvation, marriage, faith, and spiritual fulfillment. In addition to these are themes of God-ordained work and rest, male and femaleness, scripture as our authority, and God as covenant keeper. As always, Wiersbe combines his insights with biblical cross-references and memorable one-liners such as, We live by promises, not by explanations, and Faith is living without scheming. 


Be Obedient focuses on Abraham. At first I was miffed at having to buy three separate commentaries, but I see now that the life of Abraham demanded its own separate volume. Wiersbe does a great job of explaining Old Testament practices and of teaching the truths of the book being studied within the context of the whole Bible. (From page 62, Take time to read Galatians 3, Romans 4, and James 2, and you will see how Abraham illustrates salvation by faith.). A very helpful commentary and probably my favorite of the three.

Be Authentic covers the lives of the patriarchs that came after Abraham. They were "authentic" in that the Bible does not try to cover up their faults. Yet they trusted God and proved that He can use imperfect people who choose to follow Him. There was a little too much supposition about possible motives for why people did what they did, but for the most part, I appreciated his insights. Again, Wiersbe had me scurrying to read many other Bible verses to put the ones being studied into the context of all of Scripture. One of his NT cross-references which shed light on the Genesis stories was Hebrews 6:12 - It is through faith and patience that we inherit the promises.

All three of these Bible study guides were excellent. By the way, Wiersbe's commentaries cost about $10 each, but I never pay full price for them. By subscribing to e-book bargain sites such as Gospel E-books, I often get them for 99 cents or for free. At the time of this writing, books one and three are priced quite low.

Blessings,

An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture by Andrew M. Davis

Who knew that this 30 page booklet would cause a quiet revolution in my life? For years I've been wanting to memorize poems and larger chunks of scripture, but the busyness of life kept me from taking steps to actually do so. Some books I read on memorization (featuring mnemonics where each word is an outlandish mind picture) didn't appeal to me because that system robbed the literary pieces of their beauty. Enter Andrew M. Davis. In his book An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture, he gives tips for perseverance rather than mind tricks. With his system you choose a passage and decide how many days it will take to memorize it. (I chose Psalm 103 and scheduled in five minutes a day for 30 days.) You begin the first day reciting the first verse 20 times. The second day you recite it ten times and then add the next verse. So simple! I admit I hit a wall by verse 16 (of 22) so I spent an extra week on those initial verses before going on to the final ones. I'm still a bit shaky with the last six verses but I'm in phase two of the passage, which is to say the whole thing out loud for the next 20 days. I'm confident I will have it well in hand by the end of the month. Like a good meal, a good workout, or a good book, Bible memorization leaves you feeling fortified, energized and satisfied. I knew it would be work, but I didn't realize how rewarding it would be.  By the way, I've tried memorization before by placing a poem on my Kindle cover or in my purse to look at in off moments, but making the piece to be memorized a five-minute part of my daily devotions has made all the difference in going from haphazardness to consistency. Footnote #1 (added in 2021) - Davis recommends not trying to review old passages but I found this video on YouTube that helped me to retain all the projects if I'm willing to pace myself. It has worked very well. Footnote #2: For my own personal records I'm listing my completed projects. (about 3 new pieces per year)  2016: God's Grandeur, Ps 103, Salmo 23 2017: Land of Storybooks by RLS, Phil 3:7-21, "string passage" from Jane Eyre, Daffodils, Luke 2:1-12 2018: Intro to Tuck Everlasting, When I Was One-and-Twenty, JW's prayer for New Year, At the Seaside by RLS, Psalm 1, Jabberwocky, Luke 2:13-20, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (first half) 2019: João 15:1-8, 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (2nd half) 2020: Review of all the above, Colossians 1:9-20 2022: Psalm 121, "Minha Terra Tem Palmeiras," From a Railway Carriage by RLS 2023: On His Blindness, "The Lord's My Shepherd" (hymn), Psalm 91 2024: Sea Fever by Masefield,  Psalm 4, Prefatory Sonnet by Wordsworth, The Tyger by Blake 2025: Easter Hymn by Vaughn, Psalm 127:1-2, The Eagle by Tennyson, Wentworth's letter (part one) 2026 (plans): Wentworth's letter (part two), Psalm 37:1-13, The Moon's the North Wind's Cookie

Be Satisfied by Warren Wiersbe

Whenever the book of Ecclesiastes comes up in my Bible reading cycle, I take a deep breath and prepare myself for a dismal few days at the hands of an embittered king. Now, thanks to Warren Wiersbe's commentary, Be Satisfied, I love Ecclesiastes.

Baptist Pastor Wiersbe has been pastoring, speaking and writing for sixty-five years and is best known for his "BE" series on every book of the Bible; he has the gift of being literate and theologically sound while at the same time being clear and accessible.

I appreciated how he treated the book in the context of the whole Bible. He combines Solomon's perspective from the book of Proverbs with his "changed" perspective in Ecclesiastes, along with a rich dose of New Testament passages to help readers grapple with how to find satisfaction in a world of troubles and discontentment.

The famous phrase, "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die" is nowhere in Ecclesiastes unless you interpret the book (as I used to) as a diatribe against life. Wiersbe points out that the "Eat, drink, and be merry" phrase is actually, "Eat, drink and be merry, for every good thing comes from God's hand." (Some form of that phrase appears six times in the book.) He asserts that Solomon found no lasting pleasure in his power, riches and wives, but learned that true enjoyment came from accepting life's simple joys as gifts of a loving Father. Wiersbe concludes, We will be satisfied to the extent that we see everything we have as a gift from God.

It is not enough to possess things; we must also possess the kind of character that enables us to use things wisely and to enjoy them properly. (p 46)

In addition to biblical insights, I loved all the literary allusions and the explanations of certain Hebrew words (including puns that are not evident in the English.) Sometimes I felt that he forced an applications onto the text, but I have been guilty of that myself on occasion.

With world news the way it's been lately, it was interesting to read these Bible passages about a man who found that life "under the sun" didn't seem worth living. It's too easy for me to become discouraged with disastrous events, the loss of freedoms that American Christians are facing, etc. How can we find hope and joy in the midst of it all? Not only was I encouraged by the book of Ecclesiastes, but I also appreciated this post by Joy Clarkson called "Sensible and Human Things."

Whenever Wiersbe's books are free, I post a link on my Worthwhile Books Facebook page, so be sure to check there for upcoming deals.

Bible Reading Plan for the New Year

I have always scorned those lists where you check off three chapters a day to get through the Bible in a year. It seemed too speedy to leave time for reflection and application.

Well, I'm here to eat humble pie. My husband actually read TEN chapters a day last year (yes, that's almost three times through) and his knowledge and love of the Scriptures has grown exponentially. Tim Challies posted a link to a list from Church of the Cross (from Grapevine, Texas) that I've been using since Dec 1st. (The link is at the bottom of the above web page.)

This plan covers the Old Testament in two years, the Psalms twice a year, and the New Testament three times. I REALLY love this plan.

First, It follows the church calendar with appropriate passages for Easter, Christmas, etc. Secondly, the New Testament passages are read three days running. For example, Mark 1-3 is the reading for December 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. This gives me the time to soak in the words of a passage (which I felt was lacking in most read-the-Bible-in-a-year plans.) Third, I love it that I'm reading this with hundreds of other Christians I'll never meet or see, a picture of the unity of the invisible body of Christ. Fourth and last, I love waking up each morning to see what my new reading assignment will be. I haven't missed a day because I'm relishing this Scripture-reading guide.

If you don't start on December 1st, I'm not sure if you can jump in later, but it would be worth checking out. If you don't use this plan, there are MANY others available for free online. Ligonier Ministries always publishes a nice variety of options.

Happy Reading!

Bonhoeffer Quotes from Life Together

I read a couple of books this week and was underwhelmed with both of them. So in lieu of a book review I'll post these two fine quotes on Bible reading by Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

Since meditation on the scriptures, prayer, and intercession are a service we owe and because the grace of God is found in their service, we should train ourselves to set apart a regular hour for it, as we do for every other service we perform. This is not legalism; it is orderliness and fidelity. (p. 87 in Life Together.)

It is not necessary that we should discover new ideas in our meditation. Often this only diverts us and feeds our vanity. (p. 83)

Free Kindle Titles - Christian Classics

I'm a voracious reader, but I have to remind myself to balance fiction with non-fiction. So I've intentionally scheduled six devotional books into my next 10 months of reading. Here's what I'm hoping to read: A Life of Obedience by Murray, Pilgrim's Progress by Bunyan, Wisdom & Wonder by Kuyper, The Scarcity of Praying Men by Opoku, Simply Christian by N.T. Wright, and Death by Living by Wilson. Almost all of these were free at the time I downloaded them, but are now back to their original prices. Many Christian books, however, are always free for Kindle and I thought I'd highlight those this week:

Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton
The Pursuit of God by Tozer
Lord, Teach Us To Pray  by Andrew Murray (ANYTHING by Murray is good.)
When the Holy Ghost is Come by Samuel Logan Brengle (founder of The Salvation Army)
Pilgrim's Progress by Bunyan
The Confessions of St. Augustine
The Practice of the Presence by Brother Lawrence

Free titles by D.L. Moody, and R.C. Sproul are also available.

Since the newest NIV is not a reliable translation, I'm pleased that these two good Bibles are free - HCSB and the ESV.

Do you know of any titles I missed?
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Resources for Scripture Saturation

I wrote earlier that one of my goals for the New Year was to read the Bible from cover to cover. Since then I've seen many resources that would be helpful for those who are wanting to get more Scripture into their hearts and minds this year. My sister wrote of a plan for reading the Bible in 90 days. (15 chapters a day). An article at Gospel Coalition talked about how reading the Bible intensely changes your thinking. (Mr. Carter recommends reading a Bible book 20 times before going on to the next book.) A whole lot of Bible reading plans are listed at Ligonier Ministries.

Finally, ChristianAudio.com is offering the ESV Bible as its free audiobook this month.

The basic way to read the Bible in one year is three chapters a day and five on Sunday. Since I sometimes miss a day, I'm shooting for five chapters every day. And because of the articles mentioned above (and especially the one I wrote of in a previous post), I'm trying to do ten chapters a couple of times per week. This way I hope to read the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice. AND with the audio Bible, I may even "read" the whole thing one more time. I'm not doing this because I'm "super spiritual".  On the contrary, I'm doing this in the hopes of growing in my faith and in my understanding of God's matchless word.

You didn't start on January 1st? Not a problem. It's never too late to start reading Scripture.

The Western Canon by Harold Bloom

In this 560-page tome Bloom highlights twenty-six writers whose writings set the standard for all literature  that followed them. (Shakespeare, Dickens, Milton, Tolstoy, etc.)

I admit it.  I’ve been in awe of Harold Bloom as the “guardian” of classic literature ever since I first heard about him.  I have struggled through several of his books, but The Western Canon was the last one I’ll ever have to read because it knocked him off his pedestal.  I still appreciate, but no longer idolize, him. It's partly because I’ve become more sure of my own reading tastes and am no longer inclined to swallow someone else’s opinions about what I “should” be reading. It's also due to his disturbing view of the Bible. Although he has tremendous respect for it, he believes the Old Testament was written by a woman and that it has been revised beyond recognition from its original texts. Listen to this gobbledygook:

After Shakespeare, the greatest representative of the given is the first author of the Hebrew Bible, the figure named Yahwist or J by nineteenth-century biblical scholarship.  J, like Homer, a person or persons lost in the dark recess of time, appears to have lived in or near Jerusalem some three thousand years ago, well before Homer either lived or was invented.  Just who the primary J was, we are never likely to know.  I speculate, on purely internal and subjective literary grounds, that J may very well have been a woman at King Solomon’s court… [Probably] Bathsheba, mother of Solomon… The J writer was the original author of what we now call Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers, But what she wrote was censored, revised, and frequently abrogated or distorted by a series of redactors across five centuries, culminates with Ezra, or one of o his followers, in the era of the return for Babylonian exile….J’s Yahweh is human – all too human; he eats and drinks, , frequently loses his temper, delights in his own mischief, is jealous and vindictive, proclaims his justness while constantly playing favorites, and develops a considerable case of neurotic anxiety … By the time he leads that crazed and suffering rabblement through the Sinai wilderness, he has become so insane and dangerous, to himself and to others, that the J writer deserves to be called the most blasphemous of all authors ever. (p.4, 5)

Really? When you read drivel like that about a book Bloom considers to be one of the absolute greatest in the Western Canon, how can you continue to hope that his other thoughts will be enlightening?

But Bloom isn’t considered the Protector of Great Literature for nothing.  He believes (and rightly so) that great literature will continue to exist, not because it’s “good for you”, but because true readers actually enjoy the stuff.  Sadly, however, (and he’s right again here) colleges and universities will have less and less lit majors.  What are now called “Departments of English” will be renamed departments of “Cultural Studies” where Batman comics, Mormon theme parks, television, movies, and rock will replace Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, and Wallace Stevens. (p. 484)

Dismal but true. This book is worth skimming through to find out why the Great Books are worthy of the name.

R.I.P. NIV

In recent years controversy has been brewing over the New International Version of the Bible. The 1984 version has been one of the most-loved and most-used of all Bible versions, but a few years ago the editorial staff made some decisions that produced a newer version that many find unacceptable. The original version is no longer in print, nor is it available online as it used to be (at biblegateway.com). Cripplegate has a good article about it called "Farewell, NIV" if you want to read more.

My NIV (1984) is still in pretty good shape so I won't be switching to another version just yet. What about you? Have you switched? Do you have a recommendation for a good, solid translation?

Mourning the Death of Beautiful Language

        I felt a pang when I read this sentence in my new recipe book: No one disputes the healthful properties of fish.  All those great omega thingies protecting our arteries and keeping strokes and heart attacks at bay.  But fish is also the hurried cook's BFF. (emphases mine)

        Last night I was leafing through a Scholastic Book catalog that arrived at our house.  I remembered how I used to read it as a child, carefully savoring each title and circling the many books I wanted.  But what a sad surprise to see a plethora of titles such as, Underpants Thunderpants!, Cinderalla's Bum, and Me Want Pet! (These may be wonderful books, but the titles would seem to belie that.) Further perusing led me to the book, Wind in the Wallows, a knockoff title from the great children's classic, which is, sad to say, a book about flatulent pigs. What a horrible literary legacy we are giving our young!

        I believe the Bible should be accessible to all people in all places and have no quarrel with recommending translations that are more understandable than the King James Version. At the same time, I deeply regret that many newer versions eradicate all the beauty and majesty of biblical language.

        Psalm 18:18-19 in the New American Standard version reads: They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay.  He brought me forth into a broad place; He rescued me, because he delighted in me.  A more modern version reads: They hit me when I was down, but God stuck by me.  He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved - surprised to be loved!  Am I the only one who thinks that this is distressing? It makes God sound like my BFF, which is certainly belittling to His greatness, power and love.

        I know I will be accused of curmudgeonliness, but I can't help but think that when we translate phrases to their lowest possible difficulty of meaning that we are robbing our children (and ourselves) of one of life's exquisite beauties - words that take us beyond our daily reality and lift us to a higher plain.

        On a more positive note, a second grader was reading to me recently from a book called Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. Most of the book is in simple, childlike language, but occasionally Henkes throws in a word to savor like: "Pish!" or "winsome" or "jaundiced." I loved it that he respected kids enough to trust them with big words.

Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer

The subtitle of this book is “The Science of Remembering Everything” and I was hoping it would give me tips on how to memorize poetry and scripture.  It turned out to be the story of a journalist who spent a year training to participate in the U. S. Memory Championship, an Olympics-style event for mental athletes. The book is more memoir than training manual. 

So why am I recommending Moonwalking with Einstein? Because if you are mildly interested in the history of language or of education, you’ll find this book fascinating.  Have you ever wondered why the Bible was originally written down without punctuation?  Foer explains that early manuscripts were transcribed by men who had memorized their contents.  The words were not separated by spaces or punctuation because they were not meant to be read for understanding.  They were to be skimmed to remind the reader of what he already knew.

Since sight-reading scriptio continua was difficult, reciting a text aloud with fluency required a reader to have a degree of familiarity with it. . . . He had to prepare with it, punctuate it in his mind, memorize it - in part, if not in full – because turning a string of sounds into meaning was not something you could do easily on the fly.  The text had to be learned before it could be performed. (p. 224)

Interestingly, when the Bible was later published with chapter divisions and punctuation (and soon after with concordances), it assumed that the reader would be able to access certain passages WITHOUT having memorized them previously. We gained accessibility at the loss of total absorption.

As books became easier and easier to consult, the imperative to hold their contents in memory became less and less relevant, and the very notion of what it meant to be erudite began to evolve from possessing information internally to knowing where to find information in the labyrinthine world of external memory. (p. 231)

Now we put a premium on reading quickly and widely, and that breeds a kind of superficiality in our reading, and in what we seek to get out of books. . . .[Yet] if something is going to be made memorable, it has to be dwelled upon, repeated. (p. 233)

People used to read intensively.  They had only a few books – the Bible, an almanac, a devotional work or two – and they read they over and over again, usually aloud and in groups, so that a narrow range of traditional literature became deeply impressed on their consciousness.  (p. 234) But now with the profusion of printed material, they read extensively, and with very little retention.

Although, Moonwalking with Einstein did not meet my need for memorization tips, it did encourage me to pursue my goal of more focused concentration on poetic and biblical passages.

Christians as Book-Focused (quote by Alan Jacobs)

Redeemedreader.com has an interesting interview with Alan Jacobs who teaches at Wheaton.  His book The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction has been reviewed by several of my favorite bloggers.  This question intrigued me:

Christians are known as “people of the book.”  Do you see a great obligation for Christians to be close readers, as opposed to unbelievers?

His response:  I don’t think of it in terms of “obligation” but rather as a natural consequence of being Book-focused.  If you take all American colleges and universities, about 3% of students major in English.  Here at Wheaton College it’s closer to 10%, and that’s in part because my students come from Bible-centered families who give their children the message that what they read, and how they read it, can be vitally important for their lives.  This makes them inclined to be receptive to words on the page… It’s just natural that people who revere Scripture would be more attentive to the written word than most other folks.

Not all non-believers are oblivious to the power of words, nor do all Christians revere and study the Bible, but I do like the idea that when we are "Book-focused," it makes us receptive to words in other contexts.