How long do you read your bible each day?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Yes, I would rather have a trained pastor than my own bible. Try not to be such a product of your time and place in history. Did you totally skip over my quote from Ephesians 4? Teachers are given to train us. I am not an ordained bible teacher. "Just me and my bible" is not my way of going about growth.

I realize that this argument has been more or less resolved since it was first posted, but the initial sentence caught my eye, and I thought it might be wise to make comment. It should be recognized that this statement is not far removed from Popery, and in fact, one of the main reasons that Rome kept bibles from the laity was that they felt that only a priest under the interpretive instruction of the Magisterium could accurately teach the Scriptures. Let's not begin edging towards that position unawares. Just because a pastor may have academic training does not mean that the Spirit is absent in assisting believers in reading and understanding the Word of God. I still wonder what you do with the Jews of Berea? Paul was not only a well trained teacher, he was inspired! Yet, they are commended by Luke for searching the Scriptures of their own accord in order to judge whether or not what he was teaching was true. We should never feel as if we are somehow inadequate to interpret the Scriptures on our own for personal edification (which is different from public teaching), and if we do then we should reevaluate the emphasis that we may have placed in an unbalanced manner upon the ministry. Pastors are important for the church, and they are gifts, but that does not negate the responsibility (and joy, might I add!) of a believer to study the Word and to grow on their own.

Also, the arguments that have been pressed trying to make it sound as if early Christians had no access to Scripture of their own is a distortion of the facts. There was a significant percentage of the population that was literate, and along with that, codices were quite common at the time of the early church. It is not unlikely that numerous Christians had a codex in which they kept portions of Scripture that they had copied. Most likely they did not have the entire bible, but a chapter of an epistle could be copied upon a single page of parchment. I think that these Christians loved the Word, and that many of them would have had portions copied for themselves to study, if not entire copies made by the more wealthy among them. You can find this information in various modern works on early Christianity or letter writing in the time of the NT. :2cents:
 
Also, the arguments that have been pressed trying to make it sound as if early Christians had no access to Scripture of their own is a distortion of the facts. There was a significant percentage of the population that was literate, and along with that, codices were quite common at the time of the early church. It is not unlikely that numerous Christians had a codex in which they kept portions of Scripture that they had copied. Most likely they did not have the entire bible, but a chapter of an epistle could be copied upon a single page of parchment. I think that these Christians loved the Word, and that many of them would have had portions copied for themselves to study, if not entire copies made by the more wealthy among them. You can find this information in various modern works on early Christianity or letter writing in the time of the NT.

Thanks for clearing that up, Adam. :up:

Just out of curiosity, do you have any sources to which you could refer me?
 
I just want to find Scourby! My folks used to have it and it puts Max MacLean in the shade! I can still hear passages of Revelation in his voice in my mind. (My folks were Dispensationalists, they loved Revelation.)
 
Although I wish I studied more, I believe that the scripture implies atleast daily reading/meditation (the amount of time seems to be personal conviction)

Joshua 1:8 - "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it."

Psalm 1:2 - "on his law he meditates day and night."

Psalm 119:97 - "Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day."
 
Mark, the expense of Scourby is definitely worth it. Koorong marks up 100%, so that is why it's so expensive here, and probably also because they set their prices when the Aussie dollar wasn't doing as well against the greenback. With an improvement in the exchange rate it may be profitable to order from overseas, but then there's the risk of not knowing who you are dealing with.
Koorong marks up 100%?!?!

I had a hunch, but that is just disgusting.
 
For me it depends on what is being read. Psalm 119 vs. Psalm 117 ;) . Or a passage of OT narrative can be read faster than say Ephesians chapter one. And meditation, as I understand the word is likened to a cow chewing the cud. It should be "without ceasing", throughout the day. You can keep bringing up the same passage in your thinking and chew on it for awhile (like when you're stuck in traffic, etc.). Of course, I'm only a toddler, nay, perhaps an infant in this practice compared to what I would like to be doing. There are so many distractions in life. May the Lord help us all!
 
:up: verse by verse with Calvin, Gill and Young :book2:

And I'd like to add most emphatically (for those of you with the dough and the know) that Alec Motyer's independent IVP commentary on Isaiah is an indispensably excellent fruition of 30 years of study on that book. I've found it both evangelically edifying and scholarly. For a condensed version, which would also be easier to read (although I don't know what they cut out...) you can find it in the Tyndale OT commentary series.
 
Scourby's AV on CD. I continue to be amazed by the insights which are to be found by "listening to the text." There are verbal structures which are not so evident in the reading. You learn pure English pronunciation at the same time.

I agree, Matthew, that Scourby's reading of the Bible is still the best you can get. What I find amusing is that, in some of the advertising for it that I've seen, it tries to push the "fact" of Scourby's sterling British accent.

I find that amusing because Alexander Scourby was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His "British accent" is entirely a product of his talent and his actor's training.
 
I just want to find Scourby! My folks used to have it and it puts Max MacLean in the shade! I can still hear passages of Revelation in his voice in my mind. (My folks were Dispensationalists, they loved Revelation.)

Scourby (1913-1985) made his recording in around 1970 or so. In repeated listenings, I've not yet found a flaw in his reading. His is the best!
 
I agree, Matthew, that Scourby's reading of the Bible is still the best you can get. What I find amusing is that, in some of the advertising for it that I've seen, it tries to push the "fact" of Scourby's sterling British accent.

I find that amusing because Alexander Scourby was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His "British accent" is entirely a product of his talent and his actor's training.


You mean it's not really sterling, it's just silver plated?!?

;)
 
And I'd like to add most emphatically (for those of you with the dough and the know) that Alec Motyer's independent IVP commentary on Isaiah is an indispensably excellent fruition of 30 years of study on that book. I've found it both evangelically edifying and scholarly. For a condensed version, which would also be easier to read (although I don't know what they cut out...) you can find it in the Tyndale OT commentary series.

Happy birthday, you old geezer! (I'm 54.)

The Tyndale version of Motyer's Isaiah commentary is not a condensed version of his big book. He says in his preface (if I remember rightly) that he wrote the second, smaller commentary from scratch. His conclusions regarding the text are the same, but it's a completely different book. So, nothing was cut out.
 
I once heard Al Martin recommend a method, which I've found very profitable and flexible: Consecutively read 1 Psalm, 1 OT chapter, 1 NT chapter and a Proverb set. If your time is crunched, you can read part, but you keep moving through the Bible.

Also, sometimes it's good to read a whole book to see the forest and not just the trees. I've even tried this with the Proverbs with great profit.
 
I agree, Matthew, that Scourby's reading of the Bible is still the best you can get. What I find amusing is that, in some of the advertising for it that I've seen, it tries to push the "fact" of Scourby's sterling British accent.

I find that amusing because Alexander Scourby was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His "British accent" is entirely a product of his talent and his actor's training.

Hi Richard. I'm not sure about the blurbs, but three cheers to the US for reproducing something British without corrupting it. :cheers2: Now that we've made a start on diction we'll see what we can do with spelling. :)
 
Hi Richard. I'm not sure about the blurbs, but three cheers to the US for reproducing something British without corrupting it. :cheers2: Now that we've made a start on diction we'll see what we can do with spelling. :)
And your comedy. I can't believe what the Yanks did with Red Dwarf and The Office.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top