Never Stop

One of the fun things to do in Bible study is interesting research. My personal library is fairly decent, but the computer and internet age makes it really fascinating and practically unlimited. The only limit is time, there are thousands, millions of things available and one can’t possibly read all of it. Furthermore, when there is one topic and seven scholars you end up with at least eight opinions or more, because nobody agrees with anybody on anything, much less everything.

Preparing for Sunday School and for Tuesday morning Bible study is enjoyably demanding. Lots of research needs to be done, both for my own enlightenment and pleasure and also because the people who come are no dummies, they question and challenge. 

Among my current favorites, very basic, useful and helpful, are the writings of Bart Ehrman, professor of religious studies at Chapel Hill, and the lectures of Dale Martin, professor of religious studies at Yale. Both are New Testament scholars. When studying Old Testament, other writers and scholars are needed of course, and there are plenty of those too, including favorites.

In my seminary days, and later including in EfM studies, my loves were the Hebrew Bible, the Gospels including Thomas, and Revelation. The epistles, especially Paul, including the letters themselves, lectures about them, and textbooks about them were for me unendurably boring to screaming tears. But this past spring and summer methinks well it’s a new life that I never expected to have. Let’s do something new and different. Let’s tackle Paul and his writings and the other NT epistles, and maybe offer a related Fall 2011 Bible study to share with friends and neighbors. It has been and is totally engaging and compelling. Especially the continued searching and reading, and the meetings with interested, enthusiastic and questioning folks in classes.

On our last day of class at Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, our theology professor told us never to stop reading and studying. That advice has been singularly helpful to me lifelong.

TW+