Ever wonder what it would be like to be part of a Bible translation committee? Or, what the discussions look like as teams of scholars wrestle with difficult texts and issues?

Justin Taylor has posted this 4-minute video of the ESV translation committee wrestling with the issue of how to translate Hebrew and Greek words that could be rendered “slave” or “servant” or “bondservant.”

You can see how essentially literal translation gets complicated by cultural and historical settings and considerations. “Slave” in one ear meant something different in another era. Meaning and connotations are not static, and understanding the Bible properly requires at least two things:

1. Knowing how the original author used the word and what they intended; and
2. Being aware of how the contemporary audience hears the word and what meanings they freight it with.

So, reading the Bible well becomes a task not just in reading the words, but also of reading the contexts. Reading the bible well requires not that we read culture (singular) but cultures (plural). Moreover, reading the Bible well means allowing the Bible to read the reader, exposing our assumptions and the predispositions we bring to the text. Makes me want to read the Bible and to be read by the Bible!

Great conversation here:

Biblical Authority in an Age of Uncertainty from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

Corrected and Constrained by the Text from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

Psalm 78:5-8

5He established a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
6 that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their fathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.

The Lord God of Heaven graciously provided His word (His “testimony” and “law”) as the foundational strategy and content for our parenting (v. 5). “He commanded our fathers to teach [it] to their children.” We see the same purpose in Deuteronomy 6.

Why does God command His people teaching His word instead of some other methodology or subject for instructing the godly offspring He desires (Mal. 2:15)? Why not video games? Why not public or private school? Why not applying the latest findings from psychology, sociology, education theory, or self-help? Why shouldn’t parents simply delegate this to the better prepared, better educated, better dressed, and better cultured?

It seems God designs His word, and specifically parenting by His word, to accomplish several objectives:

1. So that generations of families–not just individuals–might know His testimony and law (v. 6). God has a vision for our families to know and walk in his word from generation to generation. He has designed the family as the one institution for carrying that multi-generational ambition. The one consistent set of relationships that span the generations are the grandparent-parent-child-great grandchild kinships. We have Timothy as our example. “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 1:5; 3:14).

2. So that our children should set their hope in God (v. 7a). As Christian parents, “we have put our hope in the living God who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe” (1 Tim. 4:10). We “have no greater joy than to hear that our children are walking in the truth” (3 John 4). It is God’s word that is able to make our children wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. The Scriptures testify of Christ, and in them is eternal life. If the goal of our parenting conforms to God’s goal for our parenting, then we should use the word of God steadily and faithfully to encourage our children to set their hope in God. Schools teach our children to hope in education. Music and entertainment teach our children to hope in popularity and being “cool.” Self-help gurus teach them to hope in themselves. But we proclaim: Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God! That’s the mantra of biblical parenting and hope of every believing mother and father. So, we should teach the word of God in and as our parenting.

3. So that our children would not forget the works of God (v. 7b). In Psalm 78:9-10, immediately following the great statement of God’s desire in verses 5-8, the word of God tells us that the Ephraimites “turned back” and “did not keep God’s covenant, but refused to walk according to his law. They forgot His works and the wonders that He had shown them.” Forgetting God is the most dangerous thing about disobedience. What glorious works God has performed in creation and deliverance! It’s a stupendous thing that such a Reality could ever be forgotten! But we do forget. Our children forget. We retain trivial things (favorite jokes, shopping lists, etc.) while having foggy thoughts of God. Our forgetting is our sinful reverting to beastliness. But our remembering is our active toiling toward godliness. Remembering is work enabled and prompted by God’s grace through His word. If our children would remember God, which God commands and desires, then they must have the annals of His work and life engravened on their minds. Thus, we should parent by teaching them Holy Scripture so that they do not forget.

4. So that our children would keep God’s commandments (v. 7c). The Bible maintains a strong connection between remembering and obeying (see, for example, Deut. 8:11-20). We cannot obey what we habitually forget. It’s a truism in organizational psychology that “what gets measured is what gets done.” Measuring aids remembrance which prompts performance. Evangelicals get nervous whenever obedience enters spiritual discussion. But we shouldn’t. As naturally as we expect our children to obey us, we should expect and exhort them to obey God–not for righteousness sake, but for love’s sake. Three times the Lord tells His disciples, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15, 21, 23). Obedience is the blooming fruit of a loving root. Having taught our children to set their hope in God through faith in Christ, we dare not leave them little antinomians, disavowing any place for command, law, or obedience in following the Savior. We want them sanctified in the truth–His word is truth. We want them conformed by God’s grace through faith to the likeness of the Savior. Precisely because the Lord Jesus Christ is our holiness (Heb. 10:14), we want them to pursue holiness through faith- and grace-motivated obedience (Heb. 12:14).

5. So that our children would not be stubborn and rebellious, but steadfast and faithful (v8). Oh to see our children walk in the truth and never turn to the left or right, never grow cold in heart, never be tempted by the siren songs of the world, or fall into the devil’s snare! We pray so. But we must also teach God’s word with this hope and vision of steadfastness and faithfulness. The exhortation of Heb. 3:12-14 applies quite well to parenting. “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as longs as it is called ‘Today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” Substitute “brothers” with “parents” or “one another” with “children” and we get marching orders for encouraging our children daily in the word of God.

May the Lord make us faithful in teaching His word to the children He has entrusted to our care. His word does not return void. Let us trust it and use it with our children!

The latest 9Marks leadership interview features a conversation between Mark Dever, Jonathan Leeman, and shai linne on Jonathan’s new book, Reverberation: How God’s Word Brings Light, Life and Action to His People (Moody).

I had the privilege of reading Reverberation and offering an endorsement along with a host others. In short, this may be the “go-to book” for helping average Christians and leaders get a vision for what it means for the church to be “built upon the word of God.”

Here’s a brief promo video and Jonathan discussing the book:

Justin Taylor has a great catalog of options, ranging from plans for slackers to plans for the ambitious.

Not really.  But he offers some helpful reflections on how the New Testament uses the Old Testament, particularly messianic prophecy.  Here’s how he opens:

It’s Christmas season and that means renewed attention on Messianic prophecy. Ah, the familiar sounds of “a virgin shall give birth,” “the government shall be upon his shoulders,” and good ole “Bethlehem Ephrathah.” It makes a churchgoer feel all warm and cuddly inside.

And frankly, a bit confused.

If we’re honest, the way the New Testament uses the Old Testament seems a little far-fetched. I mean, we can see, just like the scribes did, that Micah 5:2 is a foretelling of the Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1-6), but was Hosea really making a prediction about the Christ just because he happened to mention “Egypt” (Hos. 11:1) and Jesus’ family fled to Egypt (Matt. 2:15)? If we interpreted Scripture like Matthew does, we’d be chased out of our pulpits and small groups, right?

Check out the entire post.

The good folks at Bible Study Magazine provided me an opportunity to talk about studying the book of Galatians in their upcoming Sept/Oct issue.  If you’ve not seen Bible Study Magazine, I would encourage you to check out the publication.  It’s produced by the folks who developed Logos Bible Software.  They’re attempting to be serious, joyful, and rigorous about the study of God’s word and equipping Christians to do the same.

Below is an excerpt from the interview:

Bible Study Magazine: What would you want readers to take away from the book of Galatians?

Anyabwile: First … the priority and centrality of the gospel. We should accept no other gospel other than the one the Lord and the apostles taught that is set down for us in the Scripture (Gal 1:6–10). We must not add anything to the gospel; nor take anything away. All of the benefits of Christ come to us by grace through faith alone apart from any works. And we continue in those benefits of Christ by faith (Gal 3:1-5).

Second, this life we now have through faith in Christ involves Christ living in us (Gal 2:20), freedom in Christ (Gal 5:1), fruitfulness in the Spirit (Gal 5:16–26), and loving concern for our brethren in the church (Gal 6:1–2). These are staggering things we ought to meditate on again and again.

Bible Study Magazine: How should we understand Paul’s intensity in this letter? Is it righteous anger? Is it justified?

Anyabwile: I think Paul’s intensity grows out of [three things]: First, is fervent desire to see people saved from God’s wrath and saved for God’s love. Second, the personal attacks he apparently suffered at the hands of these false teachers in Galatia. And third, Paul’s total and life-long commitment to giving all, for the glory of Christ. When you’re dealing with an issue that imperils souls, a mission you’re totally dedicated to, and a situation wherein you’re being personally attacked, you tend to respond with intensity. And that intensity is righteous when it’s in defense of the gospel.

Bible Study Magazine: Paul warns the Galatians against being seduced by other gospels (Gal 1:6–10). Why was Paul so adamant that they be careful about where they place their faith and which teacher they follow? What struggles have you faced in encountering other gospels that lead people astray, and how have you encouraged your congregation?

Anyabwile: If the Galatians were to misplace their faith, Christ would be of no value to them. If they were to fall from grace, they would perish and prove never to have genuinely known Christ. The main protection for a congregation against false gospels is constant preaching of the gospel. … As a congregation regularly hears the good news, they are inoculated against imposters and helped to defend the faith. So, we want all of our teaching to either explore the beauty of the gospel or extend the application of the gospel from all of Scripture. That way, when we encounter false “prosperity gospels” or “social gospels,” … we’re not easily swayed. Galatians is an excellent book for getting the gospel correct and warding off falsehoods

“When individuals disagree on the proper interpretation of a passage of Scripture, the problem does not lie with the Scriptures, for God guided its composition so that it could be understood.  Rather, the problem lies with us.”

“When we don’t find the specific answer to a question in the Bible, we are not free to add to the commands of Scripture what we have found to be pragmatically correct.”

Wayne Grudem, Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know,  pp. 17, 19.

Yesterday, I offered a few words about reading the Scripture while avoiding to common problem of “what it means to me”.  Today, Parchment and Pen offers seven fallacies commonly encountered in interpreting Scripture.  Here’s his list:

1. Preunderstanding fallacy: Believing you can interpret with complete objectivity, not recognizing that you have preunderstandings that influence your interpretation.

2. Incidental fallacy: Reading incidental historical texts as prescriptive rather than descriptive.

3. Obscurity fallacy: Building theology from obscure material.

4. Etymological root fallacy: Looking to the root etymology of a word to discover its meaning.

5. Illegitimate totality transfer: Bringing the full meaning of a word with all its nuances to the present usage.

6. Selective use of meaning: Selecting the meaning you like best.

7. Maverick fallacy: Believing that you don’t need anyone but the Holy Spirit to interpret the text.

Read the entire post for more explanation and examples.

I’m greatly enjoying mornings with my daughters.  We’ve started a new routine this year.  I spend 15 minutes with each of them discussing the Bible and praying for one another.  With my oldest daughter, I’m studying Hebrews.  With my youngest daughter, I’m reading 1 John.  They chose the books, and God has been meeting with us in powerful ways.

I’m a bit of a dim-wit, because it just dawned on me this morning that these times are rich with opportunity for teaching them not just the discipline of reading (set a time, choose a book, do it regularly, etc.)  but also how to read the Scripture.  I find myself drawing their attention to the basics: subjects, verbs, similes, metaphors, repetition, and so on.  As we do that, we fight taking things for granted in the text and incredibly rich things “pop out” at us.  And we also learn to avoid the frequent mistake of simply jumping to “this is what it means to me.”

That little sentence has been the death of many well-meaning attempts to understand the Bible.  “What it means to me” ruins our understanding because it decapitates the intent of the original author.  What matters first and primarily is “what did it mean to John or Paul or Luke or whoever wrote Hebrews.”  What did the author intend to communicate.  That’s first base in biblical interpretation and its the guard rail that keeps us from driving off into the wilderness of subjectivity and a million swamps of private interpretation.

And, ultimately, we’re concerned to know what the Author–God Himself–intends to communicate with us.  If we’re hasty to rewrite the Bible with our own thoughts, we’ll ultimately write God right out of it.  A premature “what it means to me” takes the pen out of God’s hand and dips it in the ink of our puny intellectual, emotional, social, psychological and usually idolatrous wells.

Writing on a larger subject, but commenting very helpfully where this issue is concerned, Carl Trueman offers the following:

“if the intent of the divine author does not inform and ultimately determine the meaning of scripture, then three things follow: scripture has no normative set or range of meanings; theology becomes merely reflection upon human religious psychology; and God remains an unknown, and unknowable, quantity.” (Wages of Spin, p. 55).

Now that’s a train wreck!  And it explains so well why some people “don’t get anything out of the Bible.”  In fact, they may not be reading the Bible in such a way as to “get something out,” but to always put something in–self.  Can it be any wonder that wherever we put self where God belongs we get nothing out of it?

In it’s proper place–well after we’ve done the careful work of understanding the author’s intent–”this is what it means to me” can be helpful.  It’s then  just another way of bringing home the application.  But if this sentiment forgets its place, it’ll undermine the deeper, richer blessings of Bible study that we’re meant to enjoy when we sit and let the Father speak to us.