Praise for From Inspiration to Understanding
Those who have recently browsed in bookstores looking for a book that would give them a handle on the Bible most likely left the store frustrated, or bought a book that either put out propaganda or propagated diluted sentimentalism. In marked contrast, Edward W. H. Vick’s book gives us a most welcome, rigorous, measured, illuminating tour of the concepts that must be considered if one is to understand what the Bible is. Here the Bible is not an abstraction floating in a vacuum. It is the church’s book on the basis of two basic principles. It is the mediator of the reality of God, and functions in the church as the provider of meaning for the present. In From Inspiration to Understanding the reader finds engaging discussions of concepts like inspiration, revelation, authenticity, authority and others with both feet on the ground. In this process a long list of fallacies are shown to be what they are. Vick’s presentation takes its clues from what the Bible actually contains, and builds its arguments according to the demands of serious theological reflection. I highly recommend this book to anyone who desires a better way of reading the Bible, no matter whether one is a believer, a non-believer, a lay person or a member of the clergy.
Herold Weiss, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of New Testament,
St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN
Seldom does one read so thoughtful, so disciplined and so scholarly an account of the need to rethink the basis for the authority of Scripture in the Christian church. Vick meets head-on most (if not all) of the difficult issues surrounding the traditional concept of “inspiration” as the foundation of Biblical supremacy for the community. While some may be discomfited by Vick’s argument that the traditional understandings are inadequate for the modern church, every reader will greatly profit from taking seriously his urging that we ground biblical authority in the believing community itself. This work should be read by every lay and professional theologian.
James J. Londis, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Humanities,
Kettering College
Professor Vick’s approach to the Bible is informed, clear, and immensely helpful. If we view the Scriptures as the means by which God is revealed to the community of faith, he argues, we can account for the Bible’s authority, without trying to “prove” it. And on this basis, we can appreciate the complex history and varied contents of the Bible, while avoiding the pitfalls that surround mistaken views of “biblical inspiration.”
Richard Rice, Professor of Religion, Loma Linda University
Dr. Vick provides a thorough look at the inspiration of the Bible, giving the reader a better grasp at the way scripture should be interpreted. Most importantly, he rediscovers the scriptures to be fundamentally the Church’s book, a book that is important only because of God’s self-revelation to a people called Israel and Church. From Inspiration to Understanding is a helpful resource to any pastor or Bible study teacher interested in knowing what it means for the Bible to be the Word of God.
Rev. Geoffrey Lentz, First United Methodist Church,
Pensacola, Florida
From Inspiration to Understanding
Reading the Bible Seriously and Faithfully
Edward W. H. Vick
Energion Publications
Gonzalez, FL
2011
Copyright © 2011 Edward W. H. Vick All Rights Reserved
Unless otherwise marked, scripture quotations are from the New English Bible, Copyright © the Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press 1961, 1970.
Scripture quotations marked RSV are from the Revised Standard Version, Copyright © by Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Chist in the United States of America, 1946, 1952, 1971.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version.
Cover Design: Nick May
Electronic ISBN
ISBN13: 978-1-63199-557-6
Print ISBNs:
ISBN10: 1-893729-10-9
ISBN13: 978-1-893729-10-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011943673
Energion Publications
O. Box 841 Gonzalez, FL 32560
850-525-3916
www.energionpubs.com
Foreword
For the Christian the Bible has always held pride of place. But it has not always been easy to say just what feature or features constitute that position. Not least in our own time there have been many attempts to explain just what is the crucial function of the Bible in the experience of believer and of church. Often that place has been taken for granted, as if it needed no explanation. For many Christians whose devotional use of the Bible has become a part of their life no explanation is needed. But for other Christians in view of our developing understanding of history and of science and serious examination of the documents and their history, it has not always been clear how the uniqueness of the Bible is to be understood and presented. What is to be said about this complex book which will be acceptable both to the simple believer and worshipper and critical scholar? Can we achieve a consensus?
This book is an attempt to clarify the issues, by examining the proposals offered to explain that uniqueness. It is important to understand the notion of authority in a way appropriate to these unique documents that make up the Christian Scripture. The book also attempts to make clear that discussion of how the Bible is interpreted can be a very fruitful exercise.
Edward W. H. Vick
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER I: APPROACHING THE BIBLE
Since there are different ways of approaching the Bible there are correspondingly different ways of understanding its significance. Only when we look at the ways the church actually uses the Bible can we understand from that practice what to say about its significance. It is a case of putting practice into theory, in this case into theology.
I. WAYS OF APPROACHING THE BIBLE
1 DIFFERENT WAYS: DEVOTIONAL, DOCTRINAL, ANALYTICAL, EXEGETICAL
There are many different ways of approaching the Bible. The Christian reader has his own particular interests in reading and in studying it.
There is, first, the devotional use of Scripture. We read it to nurture our faith, to gain ‘daily help’ from it in the living of life. We relate what the helpful words say to our past memories and to our present experience. In doing this, we find that there are particular sections or passages of the book which make a particular impression and to which we constantly refer. We find that, approached as a book with a message from God to us in our particular situation, we can draw upon its varied resources and get a word of comfort or of courage, of reproof or of warning or whatever sort of word is appropriate for us in our particular circumstances. The words have direct relationship to the living of our life as they bear for us the appropriate word of God. We are not now concerned about a detailed analysis of the writings we read. We do not have to be. Read in this way, the Bible is a treasury of good things, waiting to be opened, explored and appropriated for the living of the life of faith.
What is here true for the individual is also true for the group. As the community comes together for worship, it looks for and gets encouragement as passages from the Bible are read, explained and applied to the experiences of the worshippers. Again, the words of Scripture become the occasion for the worshippers as a group to get comfort, correction, guidance and challenge –– in short to hear the word of God, what God has to ‘say’ to them here and now. The words of Scripture live again in the midst of the church, and the believers are encouraged and strengthened in their faith and their activity. That such things happen is the experience and confession of multitudes of Christians.
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