Uncovering Hidden Treasures

Part one - Chapters 1 through 5:

All Christian churches encourage their members to read the Bible, but not all churches provide proper programs of instruction in how to study it. Howard and William Hendricks, Rick Warren, and others have written excellent books on how to study the Bible, but many Sunday school students and even some teachers do not have the patience to study principles and methods. Even if they do, there is still a gap between the principles and their application.

Many prefer to rely on good sermons and commentaries to learn how (or what) to think about the Bible. This is at best no more than an unconscious attempt to learn how preachers study the Bible. As a result, these students forfeit the joy of finding truths and new insights in the Scripture for themselves.

The unique contribution of this book is to fill that gap by answering questions frequently brought up by believers, seekers, and skeptics on several passages in the Bible. In the process the author both defines and demonstrates the principles of several Bible study methods, in a sense complementing those books which teach the methods of studying Bible.
This author believes that many truths in the Bible have long been ignored or misinterpreted by some commentators. The selection of the first five passages for study in this book is based on three criteria:

• Passages that often generate questions by adult Sunday school teachers, students, and bloggers who discuss the Christian faith online.

• Passages which are already familiar to new believers and so familiar to mature Christians that they think no new insight remains there to be uncovered.

• Passages in which the author believes that he has found hidden treasures to enhance the readers’ faith.


Part Two - Chapters 6 through 9:

This author also believes that people cannot know God’s will unless He reveals it to them, and He reveals only as much as they can absorb. As civilization progresses, the Holy Spirit will give additional insight and clarity from the same passages of the Scripture. Thus the author has employed discoveries in science and engineering to support several hard-to-explain theological topics in these four chapters. For example, in the narrative of the first two days of the Creation, the Scripture has clearly told us that light has finite speed and the universe is finite and expanding. These facts have never been mentioned in books written by believer-scientists, to the author’s knowledge.

The Last Special Chapter:

Recently, the faith of many Christians and seekers has been shaken by statements of the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking in a new book and in the interview by “World News” anchorwoman Diane Sawyer. Hawking stated that God is not needed in the creation of the universe. In this chapter, the author has made comments opposing this view and advises readers not to worship science or the scientists and keep hold of their faith in God. The author further illustrates that many problems cannot be solved or explained by quantitative analysis of physics or math and that their solution must rely on metaphysics. When metaphysics is involved, the distinction between science and religion fades, and they converge on questions that are resolved by faith in God.

Conclusion:

The author shares his believe about how a student is able to know his or her discoveries of new insights and interpretations are truths intended by God.