This post is my contribution to The Ecumenicals for the topic, “Inspiration” Please check out what the other contributors wrote as well. What does it mean that Scripture is “inspired” and what are the implications? One of the messy, beautiful truths about Scripture is that, in a sense, it is both human and divine. It would be much easier to deal with if it were just one or the other. We could ignore it if it was human and worship it if it was divine. But as it’s both, we’ve got to understand and interpret it differently. Often, theologians speak of the Bible as being, “God breathed” (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16). But what does that even mean? The simplest (hah!) understanding is that God used human authors to communicate His words to His people. But even this provokes a whole host of questions. Possession and CorruptionSo, did God possess Jeremiah and Moses and Luke? Did He just need some human host to scratch quill across parchment for Him? These are hard questions because, of course, an omnipotent being does not need anyone to do anything for Him. But at the same time, He did choose people to play a part in the composition of Scripture. Why? Coming from a Reformed perspective, I can sometimes shrug this off because, after all, God can do whatever He wants with whoever He wants at whatever time and whatever place in whatever way He wants. Even so, it is curious that He would allow His fallen creation to have a hand in writing the Bible. This brings in a new tension about the authority of Scripture. What if those authors had their own agendas and corrupted God’s message? Can we trust the Bible? This exposes distrust in God. There’s no way that even someone as clever as Paul or conflicting as Qohelet could pull one over on an omniscient being. But it still doesn’t answer that pesky ‘Why?’ Compassion and ControlTo answer my own question: I don’t know. I don’t know why God gave us His Word in the form of a book which can get defaced or destroyed. I don’t know why He didn’t just write it in the stars or broadcast it from a mountain top (wait a minute…). But inspiration does tell us a couple things about God Himself. God is in control. He doesn’t need people, but He uses us. He did not invade Amos’ brain. Rather, He used Amos’ background and experiences to communicate to His people. In His loving care over the writers’ lives, He orchestrated events to prepare them for the point when they would need to communicate God’s words to an audience. Also, God is compassionate. He allowed feeble, sinful writers to experience and share their place in the tableau that has its true center in the revelation of Jesus Christ. In a way, the human-divine dichotomy in the composition of Scripture is a foreshadowing of the God-man Christ that walked the earth and even the union of that selfsame Christ and His church when all is restored. For me, inspiration means that God is the author of Scripture. Because of that, I need to obey what Scripture says. And because God is who He is, I can trust the Bible’s authority in my life. For more information, read this article by Tim Challies.

This post is my contribution to The Ecumenicals for the topic, “Inspiration” Please check out what the other contributors wrote as well.

What does it mean that Scripture is “inspired” and what are the implications?

One of the messy, beautiful truths about Scripture is that, in a sense, it is both human and divine. It would be much easier to deal with if it were just one or the other. We could ignore it if it was human and worship it if it was divine. But as it’s both, we’ve got to understand and interpret it differently.

Often, theologians speak of the Bible as being, “God breathed” (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16). But what does that even mean? The simplest (hah!) understanding is that God used human authors to communicate His words to His people. But even this provokes a whole host of questions.

Possession and Corruption
So, did God possess Jeremiah and Moses and Luke? Did He just need some human host to scratch quill across parchment for Him? These are hard questions because, of course, an omnipotent being does not need anyone to do anything for Him. But at the same time, He did choose people to play a part in the composition of Scripture. Why?

Coming from a Reformed perspective, I can sometimes shrug this off because, after all, God can do whatever He wants with whoever He wants at whatever time and whatever place in whatever way He wants. Even so, it is curious that He would allow His fallen creation to have a hand in writing the Bible.

This brings in a new tension about the authority of Scripture. What if those authors had their own agendas and corrupted God’s message? Can we trust the Bible? This exposes distrust in God. There’s no way that even someone as clever as Paul or conflicting as Qohelet could pull one over on an omniscient being. But it still doesn’t answer that pesky ‘Why?’

Compassion and Control
To answer my own question: I don’t know. I don’t know why God gave us His Word in the form of a book which can get defaced or destroyed. I don’t know why He didn’t just write it in the stars or broadcast it from a mountain top (wait a minute…). But inspiration does tell us a couple things about God Himself.

God is in control. He doesn’t need people, but He uses us. He did not invade Amos’ brain. Rather, He used Amos’ background and experiences to communicate to His people. In His loving care over the writers’ lives, He orchestrated events to prepare them for the point when they would need to communicate God’s words to an audience.

Also, God is compassionate. He allowed feeble, sinful writers to experience and share their place in the tableau that has its true center in the revelation of Jesus Christ. In a way, the human-divine dichotomy in the composition of Scripture is a foreshadowing of the God-man Christ that walked the earth and even the union of that selfsame Christ and His church when all is restored.

For me, inspiration means that God is the author of Scripture. Because of that, I need to obey what Scripture says. And because God is who He is, I can trust the Bible’s authority in my life. For more information, read this article by Tim Challies.

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Who is the most important person in your life? What would it be like to be separated from him or her for a really long time? How do you think you would cope? Would you be afraid? These are questions that I had to not only ask but answer for myself over the past three and a half months. My boyfriend left to study in Israel while I remained in the States to student teach. Initially, I was very scared. We were both facing very transformative semesters. Would we even know each other when it was all over? But we adjusted. More or less. We emailed. We wrote. Sometimes we Skyped. At times I withdrew, apprehensive of the person that Ben was becoming. It’s not that I didn’t want him to change… but I didn’t want him to change without me. Over time, I had to realize that it’s God’s job to sanctify and that He’s under no obligation whatsoever to involve me in the process. He wasn’t going to pause His work in Ben’s life until I could be there to witness it firsthand. And, as I learned in student teaching, He surely wasn’t going to pause my life, either. This may sound strange, but I’m really happy that this semester has played out as it has—especially from a relationship standpoint. Sure, there were days when I feverishly paced my dormroom after reading one of his emails because I desperately wished that I could be there to hug him. And I’m sure it didn’t help Ben to know that there were days when I felt isolated and alone and he couldn’t be there even to offer a shoulder for me to cry on. But God is ever, always good. For one, we were able to talk about things that by virtue of our situation, probably never would have come up otherwise. We were able to grow and face our own trials and to see that God is just as present on two sides of a very big ocean. I honestly think that we’re even closer now than we were before he left. This doesn’t mean that there won’t be any problems when he gets back—but it does mean that we have a lot to praise God for in the meantime. Right now, I’m facing the joy of eager anticipation. The long, hard wait is one thing. But it’s really beginning to hit me that the end is truly in sight. In less than 36 hours, God-willing, I’ll be in an airport, waiting for a tired traveler to take his first steps back onto American soil. Yet, as happy as I’ll be to see Ben, I know that this aspect of my life is just a shadow of the real thing I’m waiting for. Ben may be my favorite person on the planet, but I expect an even better reunion some day. One day, Jesus will come and be reunited with His church. I’ve imagined Ben’s first hug in the airport hundreds of times. But how much better will be the restoration of all things? Now, that’s something to wait for.

Who is the most important person in your life? What would it be like to be separated from him or her for a really long time? How do you think you would cope? Would you be afraid?

These are questions that I had to not only ask but answer for myself over the past three and a half months. My boyfriend left to study in Israel while I remained in the States to student teach. Initially, I was very scared. We were both facing very transformative semesters. Would we even know each other when it was all over?

But we adjusted. More or less. We emailed. We wrote. Sometimes we Skyped.

At times I withdrew, apprehensive of the person that Ben was becoming. It’s not that I didn’t want him to change… but I didn’t want him to change without me. Over time, I had to realize that it’s God’s job to sanctify and that He’s under no obligation whatsoever to involve me in the process. He wasn’t going to pause His work in Ben’s life until I could be there to witness it firsthand. And, as I learned in student teaching, He surely wasn’t going to pause my life, either.

This may sound strange, but I’m really happy that this semester has played out as it has—especially from a relationship standpoint. Sure, there were days when I feverishly paced my dormroom after reading one of his emails because I desperately wished that I could be there to hug him. And I’m sure it didn’t help Ben to know that there were days when I felt isolated and alone and he couldn’t be there even to offer a shoulder for me to cry on. But God is ever, always good.

For one, we were able to talk about things that by virtue of our situation, probably never would have come up otherwise. We were able to grow and face our own trials and to see that God is just as present on two sides of a very big ocean. I honestly think that we’re even closer now than we were before he left. This doesn’t mean that there won’t be any problems when he gets back—but it does mean that we have a lot to praise God for in the meantime.

Right now, I’m facing the joy of eager anticipation. The long, hard wait is one thing. But it’s really beginning to hit me that the end is truly in sight. In less than 36 hours, God-willing, I’ll be in an airport, waiting for a tired traveler to take his first steps back onto American soil.

Yet, as happy as I’ll be to see Ben, I know that this aspect of my life is just a shadow of the real thing I’m waiting for. Ben may be my favorite person on the planet, but I expect an even better reunion some day. One day, Jesus will come and be reunited with His church. I’ve imagined Ben’s first hug in the airport hundreds of times. But how much better will be the restoration of all things?

Now, that’s something to wait for.

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This post can pretty much be summed up in one word: Everything. There are two main reasons why I think that the books Christians read should be varied. The first is that God created all people in the Image of God, so all sorts of writing reflects His creativity and intentionality in creation. We can see His approbation for different types of books in the variety of genres and styles present in Scripture. Scripture contains legal codes, history accounts, poetry, parables, songs, and sermons. Why not read those things in other books as well? The second reason is that, as Augustine so aptly put, “All truth is God’s truth.” God is the source and arbiter of all truth. So, even books written by non-Christians can reflect some truth about the world. In that sense, all types of books are worth reading. Even so, we do have to be careful. While people are made in the Image of God, we are also fallen and sinful. Because of that, our depraved nature will affect the things we write. Depending on your background and experience, certain types of books may not be helpful for you. Books which applaud human baseness or are written to elicit sexual arousal are not helpful and do not help the Christian reader seek to love and glorify God through what he reads. So, as you read, practice discernment. The following is a list of the types of books that Christians might enjoy, along with a few personal suggestions from each category. Christian BooksWhile only the Bible is inspired by God, other Christians throughout the years have written helpful and insightful things. Reading the words of people who have walked with God can serve to encourage you and heighten your desire for Christ. I’d recommend reading books from different eras and theological camps to get a broader idea of how Christianity has been perceived. Confessions by Augustine  Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller  The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne  A Mind for God by James Emery White  Serve God, Save the Planet by J. Matthew Sleeth  Children’s BooksJust because you’ve grown up doesn’t mean that you’re too old for children’s books. I love reading children’s and young adult books even now because they often address deep questions within the comfort of a relatable story. I particularly enjoy books that have one the Newberry Award because they are usually deep and well-written. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery  Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card  The Giver by Lois Lowry  The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones  When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead  Classic LiteratureContrary to popular opinion, classic literature is not a genre composed solely of books that English teachers select in order to give you the most torture during high school literature classes. In the truest sense, books that become ‘classics’ are classics in the same sense that the 1965 Ford Mustang is a classic car and The Eagles are considered classic rock. They’re respected enough that they last the test of time. But there are plenty of old books that are also plenty boring. The beauty of classic literature is found more in its timelessness. I once heard it described as, “A classic is a book that you can take down from your grandmother’s shelf and read it with just as much enjoyment as she did when she was your age.” Maybe you don’t think your grandmother has the best taste in books, but the principle still stands. Classics are often very powerful in both story and scope. I’ve included a bit more of these because they’re so important. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain  Anthem by Ayn Rand  Brave New World by Aldous Huxley  Frankenstein by Mary Shelly  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë  Little Women by Louisa May Alcott  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen  The Scarlet Letter by Thomas Hardy  Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee  Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe  These are mostly Western Lit, but there’s a lot of good World Literature out there as well. Contemporary LiteratureThere are also a lot of good contemporary books. These books include things that are vaguely recent like The Lord of the Rings as well as books that were published last week. The Help by Kathryn Stockett  The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien  Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie  Night by Elie Wiesel  A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini  Non-Fiction(Silly non-fiction, breaking up my alliterative section headings.) I’ve come to love non-fiction in the past few years. There are some writers who are making an especial effort to apply storycrafting to their subjects so that their books are not only informative but well-written. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver  Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott  Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot  Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer  PoetryPoetry is not everyone’s cup of tea. Part of that is because it’s so often butchered in high school English. But if you’re patient and are willing to relax a little, poetry can be quite enjoyable. Anything by Billy Collins  The Complete Poems by Emily Dickinson  The Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson  Love that Dog and Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning  Other ListsThose recommended books are culled from my experience as a Reader. If you want to check out other things that I have read, click here. If you want a more personalized recommendation, feel free to ask. But there’s all sorts of other lists out there. Reading the Classics from A to Z  Annual Summer Reading List by James Emery White  Top 100 Works in World Literature  Top 100 Religious Books (not just Christian)  Top 100 Science Fiction, Fantasy Books Series Index Why Christians Don’t Read Why Christians Should Read What Christians Should Read

This post can pretty much be summed up in one word: Everything.

There are two main reasons why I think that the books Christians read should be varied. The first is that God created all people in the Image of God, so all sorts of writing reflects His creativity and intentionality in creation. We can see His approbation for different types of books in the variety of genres and styles present in Scripture. Scripture contains legal codes, history accounts, poetry, parables, songs, and sermons. Why not read those things in other books as well?

The second reason is that, as Augustine so aptly put, “All truth is God’s truth.” God is the source and arbiter of all truth. So, even books written by non-Christians can reflect some truth about the world. In that sense, all types of books are worth reading.

Even so, we do have to be careful. While people are made in the Image of God, we are also fallen and sinful. Because of that, our depraved nature will affect the things we write. Depending on your background and experience, certain types of books may not be helpful for you. Books which applaud human baseness or are written to elicit sexual arousal are not helpful and do not help the Christian reader seek to love and glorify God through what he reads. So, as you read, practice discernment.

The following is a list of the types of books that Christians might enjoy, along with a few personal suggestions from each category.

Christian Books
While only the Bible is inspired by God, other Christians throughout the years have written helpful and insightful things. Reading the words of people who have walked with God can serve to encourage you and heighten your desire for Christ. I’d recommend reading books from different eras and theological camps to get a broader idea of how Christianity has been perceived.

Children’s Books
Just because you’ve grown up doesn’t mean that you’re too old for children’s books. I love reading children’s and young adult books even now because they often address deep questions within the comfort of a relatable story. I particularly enjoy books that have one the Newberry Award because they are usually deep and well-written.

Classic Literature
Contrary to popular opinion, classic literature is not a genre composed solely of books that English teachers select in order to give you the most torture during high school literature classes. In the truest sense, books that become ‘classics’ are classics in the same sense that the 1965 Ford Mustang is a classic car and The Eagles are considered classic rock. They’re respected enough that they last the test of time.

But there are plenty of old books that are also plenty boring. The beauty of classic literature is found more in its timelessness. I once heard it described as, “A classic is a book that you can take down from your grandmother’s shelf and read it with just as much enjoyment as she did when she was your age.” Maybe you don’t think your grandmother has the best taste in books, but the principle still stands. Classics are often very powerful in both story and scope. I’ve included a bit more of these because they’re so important.

These are mostly Western Lit, but there’s a lot of good World Literature out there as well.

Contemporary Literature
There are also a lot of good contemporary books. These books include things that are vaguely recent like The Lord of the Rings as well as books that were published last week.

Non-Fiction
(Silly non-fiction, breaking up my alliterative section headings.)

I’ve come to love non-fiction in the past few years. There are some writers who are making an especial effort to apply storycrafting to their subjects so that their books are not only informative but well-written.

Poetry
Poetry is not everyone’s cup of tea. Part of that is because it’s so often butchered in high school English. But if you’re patient and are willing to relax a little, poetry can be quite enjoyable.

Other Lists
Those recommended books are culled from my experience as a Reader. If you want to check out other things that I have read, click here. If you want a more personalized recommendation, feel free to ask. But there’s all sorts of other lists out there.

Series Index

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