The whole and the sum of its parts

Creative Commons Jigsaw 1 by annnie is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Envision the front cover of a magazine with a picture of a cheerful woman striking a pose with her dog – the headline reads “Rachel Ray finds inspiration in cooking her family and her dog”. As it is, the headline comes across as rather sinister; but a punctuated version – “Rachel Ray finds inspiration in cooking, her family, and her dog” clears the air. Phew!

No gainsaying, syntax and punctuations do matter.

In attempting to read just about any material, there are both internal and external factors that inform how a reader engages the art of reading. Continue reading “The whole and the sum of its parts”

Spoilt for choice?

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One of the allegations often levelled against the Bible is that because it has gone through the process of translation from its original languages, its textual integrity is in question. However, because the inspiration of the Bible isn’t tied so much to the words, rather to the message it bears, translation is actually necessary. Not as though the words don’t matter; they do, because they constitute a message.

Also, the fact that the Bible has been, and continues to be translated into many different languages affirms it as a book for all. If it could never be translated, then it remains a book for a select few. Continue reading “Spoilt for choice?”

Probing the text

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A man sat down on a park bench to eat his lunch. Shortly after, a lady joined him with her dog in tow. The dog began to show some interest in the man’s lunch, wagging its tail at his every move of hand to mouth. Feeling slightly uncomfortable with the dog’s reaction, the man turned to the lady and asked ‘do you mind if I throw your dog a bit?’ to which she replied ‘oh, not at all’. He picked the dog and threw it some good distance along the path… Continue reading “Probing the text”

(Wo)men of The Word

One of my tasks in writing this book recommendation was to come up with a title that wouldn’t leave men out. In a moment, I got just the right title to do the job, or so I thought – ‘(Wo)men of the Word’… turned out it wasn’t as novel as I thought. Andrew Wilson, over at Think Theology, beat me to it! And not only in the title, but also in the fitting review he did. It was refreshing and encouraging to read a man’s perspective on a book aimed at women.  I may well just put off the entire idea of recommending the book, or maybe not?

Continue reading “(Wo)men of The Word”

The Big Picture 2

It is quite fascinating that whilst the Bible is essentially the story of God’s redemptive history, believers are able to locate themselves in the unfolding drama. In the last post, we saw how the Bible really is a purposeful narrative: a clear beginning in Genesis, a perfect ending in Revelation, and with everything in the middle building up towards that end.

At the heart of the Bible is an underlying framework or storyline of Creation -> Fall -> Redemption -> Restoration (CFRR).

Continue reading “The Big Picture 2”

The Big Picture

I once received a Jigsaw Puzzle as a present. I remember how quickly the excitement of opening up the gift wrapper fizzled out, as I lifted the box lid and saw a dizzying pack of tiny puzzle pieces! ‘How am I expected to put that together?’ I wondered. I would later find out there are tips and tricks for assembling 1000-piece puzzles, and even more complex ones.

Continue reading “The Big Picture”

Getting through the maze

Every book has a purpose, so in order to get the most out of it, it’s important to ask the right questions, such as who wrote it?, to whom was it written?, what’s the author’s purpose? These same questions and more are to be asked of The Bible, if we’re to make sense of it.

The task before the reader is therefore to employ the right framework and tools in understanding, interpreting and applying biblical truths respectively. Well of course, opening it up to read would be a good starting point!

Understanding – Check that you actually understand what the text says, starting with the basic level question ‘what does it say?’ You may need to paraphrase or summarise to further test for comprehension. As much as possible don’t overlook details, not even the seemingly insignificant ones. Continue reading “Getting through the maze”

A book like no other

welcome
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“All animals are equal”

One of the Seven Commandments of Animalism in George Orwell’s allegorical Animal Farm. It wasn’t long before the entire system of thought distilled into much fewer maxims that excused the pigs, as they tended more towards humanness. “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”, later retorted the pigs.

Perhaps one could project the latter retort into the world of books by saying ‘All books are equal, but some are more equal than others’. In other words, all books are simply not equal! Continue reading “A book like no other”

Big God – Orlando Saer

“When you’ve enjoyed reading something, recommend it to your friends.”

That’s a quote I picked up from a bookmark handed out to promote reading at a local library some months ago. That piece of advice is just what I hope to heed now and in subsequent book reviews.

A quick confession though; I picked up Big God, looking for a quick win to kick-start my reading for the year. I’ve not always been an avid reader, but in the last couple of years, I have gradually prodded myself into a habit of reading as a spiritual discipline.

So as I thought of what I could possibly read to get me started for the year, this book readily came to mind. Written with the ordinary person in mind, evident in its accessible language, tone and length (6 chapters in 141 pages, excluding Introduction and Conclusion), Big God is not lacking at all in pastoral insight; no surprises there, as it was written by a pastor! Continue reading “Big God – Orlando Saer”

Rethinking the important

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“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.” – Bill Shankly.

Well, for some, football is that big a deal; for others, there are certainly more important things than the adventures of football or even any other sport.

Our last post touched briefly on some reasons why we bother about the Bible; today, we’ll follow that up with a similar thought.

To assert that, for a Christian, reading the Bible is a matter of life and death, is not far-fetched at all, well at least, not in comparison with a game. For according to The Bible – we live by faith, and that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by The Word of God. It is the means by which we feed our faith. Continue reading “Rethinking the important”