Comments on: Reserve Reading #1 – Preaching & Teaching From the Old Testament

By: Molly Eimer

Molly Eimer — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:38:25 +0000

If we already have the Bible, what does Kaiser mean on page 18 by saying “Continual neglect of the Word can lead to God Himself making the Word scarce so that few can find it and thus profit from applying its message.”

By: Jon Clayton

Jon Clayton — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:31:28 +0000

Does the text mean it is incorrect to read the bible backwards, or does he mean it is inadvisable?

By: Peter Zijlstra

Peter Zijlstra — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:28:47 +0000

On pg. 16, Kaiser Jr. says that the Scripture is God-breathed. How can we tell that someone really did have the influence of the Holy Spirit when writing Scripture and didnt just say they did? They could’ve, for all we know, written a few things that sound righteous and a few false conversations with God (“thus the LORD says”) in.

By: Blake Kelpin

Blake Kelpin — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 10:25:03 +0000

Why is the Word of God so scarce in Samuels’s days then it later becomes powerful, but today it’s scarce again?

By: Jeremy Gallagher

Jeremy Gallagher — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 04:45:08 +0000

On page 10 Bright says “The text has but one meaning, the meaning intended by its author.” When do we know if we have attained the original meaning? Can we always/ever be absolutely certain of the author’s intentions?

By: Kim Bodecker

Kim Bodecker — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 04:23:49 +0000

Kaiser says on page 23 that the ceremonial laws were to teach us to draw a line in the sand, demarcating the sacred and the secular and setting apart that which is holy from the common. Now that we no longer have to abide by the ceremonial laws, how do we know what holy things to separate? Should we even set things apart as being holy in fear that we may start to unknowingly idolize it?

By: Sloane Paris

Sloane Paris — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 03:51:01 +0000

Most people have a hard time reading throught the Old Testament because of whats written and the way it was written. Did the authors realize how difficult it would be to understand it, and how is knowing what kind of writing it is help us to understand it better?

By: Kaitlyn Eimer

Kaitlyn Eimer — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 03:21:32 +0000

Kaiser says on page 12 that in order to help understand the meaning of the O.T. texts, we must observe the genre of that text to interpret, then to preach on it. How can knowing that the Psalms are poetry, for example, help us to understand and preach better on the Psalms? It doesn’t seem to make a huge difference or help, but Kaiser seems to think so, and I don’t understand why.

By: Kristen Guthrie

Kristen Guthrie — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 03:17:10 +0000

If Kaiser is basically saying that we need to start in the Old Testament, then what about new believers? Would it be best for them to start with one or the other? Would it be more beneficial for them to kinda jump back and forth between the two and read both at the same time so that they can maybe see the connections more easily, or what would be the best approach?

By: Matt Souers

Matt Souers — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 03:12:15 +0000

Kaiser quotes Amos 8:11-12, which talks about a “famine of the words of the Lord,” and says that there will be a time when people will search all over for the Word of God. Those verses make me think about the current situations in America. Things like taking “In God We Trust” off of coins, or being sworn into office with your hand on a book other than the Bible. Could this just be the beginning of what is mentioned in Amos? It really makes me wonder how long it will take for these changes to escalate until finally the Bible is scarce.