This is the third in the “Text(s) of Scripture” series between Dave and me.

Our present text is Psalm 18:30:

As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.

Thom:

This God—his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

“Prove It!”

That’s what a nine year old says to another nine year old when a boast has been made or a bluff is waiting to be called.  Even if something is proven, the person who is right still might need to take refuge from the more powerful or the bully.  Spun out into a cosmic game of good versus evil, where spears are being thrown at harp players and prophetic words seem weak when confronted with the sword, proving right over might seems impossible. ... more

The PC(USA) provides a weekly podcast of the lectionary readings read aloud in their Devotions & Readings area.

Subscribe with iTunes here, and with a any other device/tool here.

Each podcast includes four lectionary readings for one of the Sundays or festivals of the church year:  an Old Testament reading, a Psalm, an Epistle and a Gospel reading. Following each set of readings is a prayer for the day from the Book of Common Worship. May these scriptures be a source of challenge and hope as you prepare your heart and mind for Sunday worship, and may the Word of God guide and nourish you in the service of daily living.  (From the PC(USA) website) ... more

David Opderbeck of Through A Glass Darkly and I have run out of steam on the “postmodern apologetics” series, so we’re starting a new one on “Reading the Text(s) of Scripture.” David and I both were educated in (me: Philadelphia Biblical University; he: Gordon College), and worship and fellowship in, the evangelical world, so we’re both aware of the hornet’s nest any discussion of the doctrine of scripture can stir up. We’re hoping, though, that this will not be taken as another set of broadsides in the “battle for the Bible,” or as picking fights, but rather that it will represent the reflections of two textual scholars from outside the theological guild (he: literature and literary theory; me: case law, statutes and constitutions), with a missional sensibility, on the nature of the Biblical texts.

We’ll approach this as follows: we’ll first offer a quote from a systematic theology text / book / article on the doctrine of scripture and/or Biblical hermeneutics, or a passage directly from scripture about scripture, and then we’ll offer our personal reflections on the quote.

David has come up with a mediating tone for our series: we are both very imperfect, but serious, Christians, and so we both take the Bible to be “scripture.” Whatever precise statements, definitions, qualifications, and such we each might feel comfortable with concerning the doctrine of scripture and hermeneutics, at the end of the day we both seek to submit to and be transformed by God as He speaks through scripture. If there are any elements of “deconstruction” of any of the definitions we discuss — and we're not prejudging that there necessarily will be — that is only for the purpose, we hope, of understanding more fully, expressing more articulately, and representing more faithfully and truthfully the power and majesty of the scriptures. ... more