The Bible Beyond Theology

The problem today

1. Biblically illiterate people

Gallup Poll results

½ can name only one gospel

Less than ½ evangelical teens can identify passage from Sermon on Mt

2. Reasons non-Christians give for not reading the Bible

Boring

Too hard

The Christian’s response

Value of the Bible (beyond theology)

1. Good reading—stories, poetry, parables, history, letters, tragedies, comedies

2. Worldly wisdom—Proverbs (relationships, money, time, parental advice)

8:12 (prudence, discret.), 9:8 (value of rebuke), 11:12 (hold tongue), 12:1 (take correction), 12:11 (no fantasies), 13:20 (good companions)

3. Source of literary inspirations—“Call me Ishmael,” The Sun Also Rises, [Old Man and the Sea], Steinbeck, Dante, Shakespeare [1300 allusions to Bible], Milton, Dostoevsky, C.S. Lewis, Flannery O’Connor, Hawthorne, Tolstoy, T.S. Eliot, Emily Dickinson

4. Our language—phrases and words from the Bible

5. Most important—cornerstone of Western civilization

1. emphasis on the individual
2. elevation of women
3. freedoms we enjoy
4. development of science
5. influence on laws, politics, morality, economics [reform movements]

Recent research—41 outstanding teachers said knowledge of Bible is crucial for good education and provides an “educational advantage.” Chairs at secular schools said Bible is the key book for h. s. students to know.

Conclusion: “The Bible is the learned man’s masterpiece, the ignorant man’s dictionary, the wise man’s directory.”

William James (psychologist): “The Bible contains more exquisite beauty, more morality, more important history, and finer strains of poetry and eloquence than can be collected from all other books.”

Reid Buckley (trains professional speakers) says if someone doesn’t read the Bible he/she is “irreparably ignorant and culturally deprived.”

Resources:

What If The Bible Had Never Been Written? by D. James Kennedy