Bible Discussion Thread

Introduction to primary and secondary scripture interpretation.

Oral traditions (continued).

A primary consideration on this topic is the whole concept of oral presentations of scripture and how it is a method that may be underappreciated today. It is commendable; as an example of this; that our church has the "Awana" program where there is a decent level of scriptures memorized by children. This concept; of course comes from scripture. (see Deut. 32:46). Teaching our children should be helpful for the adults involved; nonetheless hypocrisy is something that renders much of what is taught as ineffective. We do well to "preach to ourselves" in meditating on the Word; and naturally this aids us in taking the Gospel to the highways and byways in fulfilling the Great Commission if we have a fair amount of scripture in our hearts and basic Gospel truths memorized.

Taking this to a deeper level we are able to address the culture as to how it had in the past more or less adhered to these truths and how it has now largely departed from it.

Part One: Primary meanings of the Bible

Perhaps the easiest statement that can be made is that the Bible is basically the story of man's history; God's redemptive plan through His Son as atonement for our sins; and the eternal future. If we truly believe we are at least able to see the forest through the trees. What comes with maturity is starting to view the trees as significant signposts that lead to and connect with this overarching theme in seemingly disparate ways at times. It is much like running a marathon as opposed to a sprint; if we were to expect to make sense of running between trees on a slope and curved paths a marathon would be the proper approach rather than a sprint. The varied terrain would; of course make precision timing of the tape at the finish line be all fouled up in a race of say 400 yards. The marathon runner; in contrast prepares his mind and body for different terrain ahead of time.