Читать книгу Reflections on Biblical Themes by an Octogenarian - Reuben J. Swanson - Страница 4

¶ This series of essays represents my personal reflections upon a few Biblical themes that are relevant for my own faith and life. They do not, of course, exhaust my own thoughts and reflections upon these and other Biblical themes, but are indicators of the direction I take in my understanding and interpretation of Scripture. My insights and understanding of these themes have grown out of a lifetime in the ministry, in the classroom, and from my research into the text of the Greek New Testament. My analysis and viewpoint may not be acceptable to all readers, but how can we grow and expand our minds and spirits unless we consider points of view that seem at first to be inimical to our own faith and life?

My personal observations have led to the conclusion that there is much Biblical illiteracy manifested among people who have been life-long members of the church. I do not mean this to be ignorance of detail and general information of the Bible, but rather a lack of understanding of the deeper meaning of Scripture and its implications for our daily life. This lack of spiritual insight and understanding was well characterized by Bishop Hans Lilje in a speech delivered as long ago as 1948, who said, “The American people are hollow inside.” He was speaking out of his own personal experiences as an anti-Nazi who was delivered fortuitously from death at the hands of Adolf Hitler. His observation, as a matter of fact, appropriately describes the universal condition of most Christians. What is even more dreadful to me is that we are not really very disturbed about our lack of spiritual depth. We most often avoid or are upset by difficult spiritual problems and questions. We are satisfied with a rather naive and childlike faith and understanding.

I am reminded of a Charles Schultz “Peanuts” cartoon of the ’60s. Charlie Brown said to Linus, “You don’t mean to tell me you bring that blanket to school with you? Don’t all the kids laugh at you?” Linus replied, “Nobody laughs at a straight A average.” Many of us look upon the Bible and our understanding of it as a security blanket. The possession of a Bible and our knowledge of it is our salvation. We have emptied the cross of Christ of its meaning and purpose. Knowledge has become our salvation, rather than a dying and rising experience with Christ as the Apostle Paul sets forth so succinctly in Galatians 2.19-20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

It is my hope and prayer that these “Reflections” will stimulate thought and discussion, so that we together may attain to the full stature of the man or the woman in Christ. If this be the end result of my thoughts and reflections, I will give thanks to God who has created me and all that exists, to God who has redeemed me and made me to be a partaker of his gracious gift of life in heaven on earth.