Conservative Book Talk

Having discussed the need to read the Bible, period, lets move on to some ways this book has influenced our society in America. Part of what many people decry as “Westernization” is really the outward signs of a Biblical society. The influence of a book is often considered a sign of its inherent value, and most classics claim their status under said auspices. So, a brief overview…

* The “American way”, is based on a Biblical worldview that includes the Ten Commandments, at least in the most fundamental of senses. Cannibalism, acceptable on most Pacific islands, is wrong. Killing one’s wife (legal in Saudi Arabia) is wrong. Stealing (the way of life for the millions of Chinese who produce most of the world’s pirated goods) is wrong. Even the right to private property is implied in the forbidding of covetousness (one’s neighbor’s donkey being included in the list).
* Our holidays are based on Christian precepts and events. If not directly from the Bible, they all trace back to someone or something that is Biblically based (some more obscured than others). Valentines Day, for instance, is in honor of a Christian pastor, Valentine, of Rome. The emperor Claudius had ordered a moratorium on marriages in hopes of bulking up his army; Valentine continued to marry couples and went to jail (and later beheaded). For protecting the sacredness of the marriage union as something God designed (and, through Paul’s letters, commands lustful men to do!), Valentine was later deemed a Saint, and his day still celebrates love and marriage.
* The concept of consumer rights has its roots in the Bible. The Old Testament exposits severe penalties on builders whose work did not stand up; replacing the house, payment of money, even the death penalty…all invoked depending on the circumstance and level of shoddy workmanship.
* Most culture wars are over social norms that originate in the Bible. Interestingly, the party fighting the war is usually in the minority. To take a very small example, pornography; its illegal, and the few people fight for its legalization. But who decided that viewing images which cause lust is wrong? Pornography was illegal long before the internet made it so easy to access, or before we had studies showing how influential it is in starting a criminal career. God, who can see into men’s minds and hearts, obviously knew what He was talking about when lust was called out as wrong in the Bible. Actually, if anyone knows of a culture war that ISN’T related to the Bible, I’d like to hear about it.
* The present election process is, in a way, related to the question of the Bible’s influence in society. Is it normal to elect someone who believes in the Bible (along with a good 40% of the electorate)? Obama and Clinton both claim to be church-going Christians; on the Republican side, Huckabee was a Baptist preacher. Just an interesting thought as you watch the parties this year; we’ve never had a president who didn’t at least claim to be a follower of the Bible and its teachings.

America isn’t a Christian nation, but our most basic social structures were founded on Biblical principles and precepts (not, as is popularly taught in universities today, Grecian ideals), and understanding the Bible is crucial to understanding the culture of our world today. On the front of social influence, the Bible outpaces all other classics. There are many more points on the cultural influence of the Bible than listed in this review, so if I missed anyone’s favorite example, please bring it up in the commentary section (lets see how many we can come up with).

Tags: Holy Bible, Sincerelyornot

I know, there are technically 66 books in the Bible, but it is also one complete book by itself. For almost a thousand years, only the rich or well-educated could read the Bible, because the only translations available were in Latin. You’d think every Christian would have read the whole Bible at least once. Take a poll at your next Bible Study or Youth Group meeting; I’d be obliged to hear the result in the commentary section.

It’s a family tradition for us to go through the whole Bible in a year; four chapters a day, six days a week, gets you done two weeks before New Year’s Eve. You can get done on New Year’s Eve with three chapters of the Old Testament a day and five on New Testament chapters on Sunday. There are many published “daily reading” plans that you can go by as well; most Bibles have at least one in the back somewhere. Doing this every year has been really influential in my spiritual growth; I’m much more familiar with scripture now than I was five years ago. While one should certainly take time to deeply study the individual books, a general familiarity with the Bible is within the grasp of every Christian. Everyone, eventually, comes across someone who is in error about Biblical teachings; being familiar with the Bible can help you recognize, if only subconsciously, that they are wrong. You may not know why, but you can know where to go for answers.
Some fun Bible facts:

* The first legally owned English Bible was in England, and belonged to Anne Boleyn. While legend has it that William Tyndale sent it to her, more likely one of his business associates named Robert Pyle gave the Bible to her as a thank-you for intervening on his behalf with the English merchants (who acted a lot like a union, and would have refused him entry into the markets had he not established a lack of royal disfavor).
* Many people I know carry one of those pocket New-Testament-and-Psalms editions of the Bible. While I have every respect for them, it is worth noting that at the time most of the New Testament was written, “the scriptures” meant the only extant written portion of God’s word, the Old Testament. The first compiled list of the books we now call the “New Testament” came out after 300 AD.
* Most Bibles are a particular “version” or translation; this is merely a designation to differentiate between various editions, and is usually in acronym form. NKJ, KJ, ESV, RG, etc.
* By 400 A.D., the Bible (or portions of it as we know today) had been translated into 500 languages. By 500 A.D., in Europe, it was available only in one language; Latin. A thousand years later, Erasmus couldn’t even buy a Greek translation; he had to borrow Greek texts from all his scholar friends.
* The first ‘legal’ translation of the Bible into the local language after 500 A.D. was by Martin Luther, who did so under the protection of his local prince, Duke Fredrick the Wise, and the intense disapproval of both his emperor Charles V and the Pope (who technically was over both Duke and Emperor).

There are several benefits to reading the entirety of God’s word “from in to amen” on a regular basis. If you haven’t made this a New Year’s Resolution yet, I encourage you to do so. Even if you do not believe it is the inspired word of God, read the Bible anyway; it’s not a collection of myths, but real history that actually happened.

Tags: Holy Bible, Sincerelyornot

October 31, 1517; Martin Luther nails the 95 theses to the wooden door of the church in Wittenburg. I would like to take this opportunity to make a plug for Reformation Day. Halloween has demonic origins, and our society as a whole is really going for the roots of the holiday with all its grusomeness. “Harvest Parties” are just fine, but what if, instead of just neutralizing the holiday, we as Christians actually sought to reform it? Make it about learning the roots of the Protestant Reformation (which, for any Catholic readers, was also the start of the Catholic Reformation and led to a revival of the Catholic church in many areas of Europe. So pick someone like Erasmus, but its still the same idea). Encourage people to dress up as Biblical/ Christian heroes of the faith; give handouts with a short biography of a Reformer (available online; I wrote ours in one hour after reading this book); have booth attendants dress up in medieval costume; or even ask the pastor to prepare a short talk on the Reformation and its significance. This year, our church is theme-ing our (first ever) Reformation Day party on Martin Luther.

Plot: Martin Luther is famous for starting the Protestant Reformation. A monk of the Augustian Order, he was a diligent scholar whose dedication to the church (and history as a law student with a degree in theology) made him a prime candidate for a professorship at the university of Wittenberg, where he had time to study the scriptures and write. His travails with (and eventual separation from) the Catholic church were published all over Europe, (not always with his consent; the famous 95 theses were written in Latin because they were intended as points for scholarly debate, not public consumption). The former monk eventually married a nun, and they had six children. Far more fascinating than his life, though, were his writings of theology, and the context in which he said them.

Good: Lots of period details, literally and figuratively: there are fun 16th century prints on almost every page, including both famous woodcuts (Luther accused of heresy, the debate at Worms, etc.) and rarer etchings (fancy Reformation-themed capitals kick off each chapter). I confess, I love pictures like these; especially since the Latin names look similar to English, so I could translate who was who for myself! Also, the author takes time to point out the historical setting, including that which made Luther a 16th century celebrity. The printing press was the YouTube of that era: new, exciting, and made “instant” notoriety available to more people than ever before. And Luther utilized it (by the grace of God) while the Pope didn’t. This is only a small example out of a multitude.

Bad: This isn’t really bad, but worth considering if your child is reading this. I should note that the author explains many various doctrines of the era, and while good to know, the author is not shy about his opinion. Infant baptism is good, transubstantiation is wrong, etc. I am old enough to understand that what a book says doesn’t necessarily reflect my personal beliefs; not all teenagers, even, may have gone over these points of doctrine for themselves. Personally, I loved it, because Bainton’s view dovetails with most people in the 1500s, and he explained a lot of things I hadn’t quite understood, “how can anyone think that?” Younger minds might simply absorb the opinions, though, and not catch the disclaimers that bracket the ideas the author disagrees with (the existence of elves, for example, was a common belief among German peasants like Luther’s parents).

Overall: I loved this book. It made Luther seem more human than others I have read. His faults are mentioned, but so are his graces. Roland Bainton incorporates the rich tapestry of Renaissance life into his narrative of Luther’s life. Highly recommended for all ages.

My apologies for not posting this last week when it was more timely. Matt

Tags: , biography, book, History, Martin Luther, Reformation, review, Roland Bainton, Sincerelyornot