The Secret of the Bible

Foreword

 My love for the Bible began at a very early age. Well before pre-school days, I remember sitting in Sunday school with other children of my age each week and singing: “Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so!” That message resounded true and deep within me.

Upon departing from those wonderful Sunday school classes during primary years as I was learning to read, we were given a leaflet describing the Biblical lesson of the day complete with drawings of the Biblical persons involved, which I greatly cherished.

When my grandmother died, my mother gave me the first copy of scripture in honor of her own mother, who was a Sunday school teacher in Dresden, Ohio, and according to my father was the best teacher he ever had. What was handed to me at that time was a pocket-sized “King James Version” of the New Testament with the Psalms added, which I loved.

Years later, I learned from the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer that the Psalms became Jesus’ prayer book. That made a combination of the New Testament with Psalms, to which I was riveted as a child, even more meaningful.

Upon my high school graduation, my brother and sister presented to me a recently published copy of the “Revised Standard Version” of the whole Bible, which I deeply appreciated over many decades, until the “New Revised Standard Version” became a reality, which I have used to the present day.

In a required Introductory Course to the Bible at Ohio Wesleyan University during the 1950s, I encountered a critical approach to the Bible for the first time. I struggled immensely with that course, because the material was foreign to me. I had extreme difficultly discerning the manner of the teacher.

One thing would be expressed in class, and then something totally different would be on the test. Then I learned that the fashionable neo-orthodox approach to the scriptures of that time undergirded the whole course, a stance which I did not appreciate in the least.

As a result, the grade from my first test was near zero, but I did not give up. I struggled back until I finally reached a higher level in the course than ever expected. An interesting sequel to that story surprisingly evolved afterward. Not only I was commended for my effort among other persons, but more importantly, that professor ended up turning somewhat away from the Christian faith to embrace eastern religions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism.

My second encounter with the scriptures on the collegiate level was more palatable. It involved the well-known, controversial Dr. Goldie McCue. Even though she stripped away people’s preconceived notions about the Bible, which caused harm to many an uncritical mind, she clearly was understandable, and I fared much better under her tutelage.

Biblical scholarship in seminary was another matter entirely. It was awesome to say the least, especially under the leadership of Old Testament Professor, Dr. Harrell Beck. He brought the scriptures alive from a historical perspective. Beginning each session with devotions, he opened eyes daily to an encounter with the true, ever-living God from the Patriarchs though the Judges, Kings, Psalms and Prophets. It was joy beyond compare to be in his presence, which was consummated by a fabulous trip to the Holy Land with nineteen seminary students and their spouses upon graduation from seminary in 1960, and just prior to heading into forty years of appointive ministry with the church.

During the forty years of active Ordained Ministry, I attended Biblical Seminars, studied the scriptures incessantly, preached from Biblical texts without end and attempted to apply the text to people’s needs and life in general. Even in retirement, I continue in that same vein.

The most rewarding aspect of this endeavor surprisingly transpired in southwest Florida beginning in the year of 2002 AD. During the spring of that year, Jerry and Mary Hooper friends of ours for well over forty years, asked me to lead a Bible Study during the Lenten Season. I said that I had no materials on hand to accomplish anything of this nature, but perhaps in the fall, it might be possible, if they so desired at that time.