How a not-neat Bible maps onto our not-neat lives.
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"A text without a context is a pretext for whatever you want it to mean. When you do the chicken nugget thing and excerpt a verse, or a half a verse, or two verses, or three verses from its original context and don’t bother to try to find out what it meant in its original context - guess what, you are bound to twist that text.”
What happens when you read the Bible wrong? What happens when you read it right?
In the second part of this conversation about the best-selling book of all time, Bible scholars Darrell Bock and Ben Witherington III talk about some of the challenges of reading this text - and a few epic interpretative fails - and how it has helped them navigate the highs and lows of life, including the birth and death of a daughter.
“You look at life at the back side of a tapestry, and normally what we see is loose threads and knots. But occasionally the light shines through the tapestry and we see God’s larger design weaving together the darks and the lights of life.”
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Books mentioned in this episode:
Ben Witherington and Ann Witherington, When a Daughter Dies: Walking the way of grace in the midst of our grief
Ben Witherington III, Reading and Understanding the Bible
Darrell Bock, Can I Trust the Bible?