Sola Scriptura, “the Scripture alone.”
December 31, 2005
Another Year
It’s time once again to take a look at how I have invested (or squandered) God’s gift to me of my hours on Earth. This analysis of my days may or may not mean much to the reader, but one conceit of growing older is thinking that my experience may be of some interest, and perhaps even of value, to others.
In looking back, I find that I still spend a lot of time reading, a habit that I have indulged since childhood. Books have always been an important part of my life, and for over a half-century the Bible has been my “Book of books.” This is a good thing, for my intellect isn’t up to doing much original thinking about the life and death issues dealt with in the Bible. I must be content with studying the conclusions of those who have gone on before and decide whether they resonate with my own soul. Dr. R.C. Sproul says, in his introduction to The Reformation Study bible,
God calls every Christian to pursue righteousness. Our trust is to be childlike, but our understanding must be mature. Such trust and understanding require study of God’s word. The authentic disciple meditates on it day and night, continuing and remaining in it. Our goal is more than mere knowledge; it is wisdom and the fruit of inward and outward obedience.
This seems right to me. I like to think that my study of Scripture over the years has moved me toward both childlike trust and a maturing understanding.
My Bible’s family tree
My default position these days for Bible study is The Reformation Study Bible, which is based on the new English Standard Version. This translation is one of the last in a chain of translations extending back many centuries.
In England, Wycliff and then William Tyndale translated the Bible into English, which placed it in the hands of the people for the first time. Tyndale was burned at the stake for his efforts in 1536. Then came the reign of Mary Tudor and suppression of the reformation. The Roman Catholic mass had to be conducted in Latin. Two hundred eighty-eight persons were burned, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. Persecution of the English Bible translators drove them into exile from Britain to Europe. Scholars in Geneva, Switzerland, began the task of preparing a new translation of the Bible in English, which became known as the Geneva Bible, published in 1560.
This great work dominated the English-speaking world for a hundred years. It was the Bible used by Shakespeare. The Pilgrims and Puritans carried the Geneva Bible to the New World. American colonists were reared on the Geneva Bible. They read it, studied it, and sought to live by its light. The King James Bible supplanted the Geneva Bible by 1660.
The preface to the English Standard Version says this about its translation legacy;
The English Standard Version (ESV) stands in the classic mainstream of English Bible translations over the past half-millennium. The fountainhead of that stream was William Tyndale’s New Testament of 1526; marking its course were the King James Version of 1611 (KJV), the English Revised Version (RV) of 1885, the American Standard Version of 1901 (ASV), and the Revised Standard Version of 1952 and 1971 (RSV). In that stream, faithfulness to the text and vigorous pursuit of accuracy were combined with simplicity, beauty, and dignity of expression. Our goal has been to carry forward this legacy for a new century.
The ESV is my default study Bible these days. The study notes were written from a Reformed perspective, and over the years I have come to believe that Reformed theology is the highest expression of the orthodox Christian faith.
The NET Bible project
I own and regularly read several translations of the Bible. A translation of current interest (at least to this computer geek) was started a few years ago by twenty Bible scholars working directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. They have produced an electronic version of a modern translation that is distributed without charge over the Internet. It’s the first translation in history that has been open to outsiders to investigate and criticize while it is in process. In other words, it is the first translation ever to be beta-tested!
My life’s work
It sounds pretentious, but study of the Bible is in a sense my life’s work. As I read and let the holy words inform my mind, I’m merely standing on the shoulders of the giants of the Christian faith, and I am greatly in their debt for sharing their deepest thoughts and insights with me. So as I begin another year on this planet, I look forward to being continually and freshly blessed by reading and meditating on God’s word. Soli Deo gloria
Dave
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