...Rooted
and Nourished
in the Living
Word of God
“We wish to
be men
and women who
are formed
in all things
by the word of
God”
.
.
prepared by
Don Schwager
Passages
for reflection / meditation:
- Colossians
3: 16 Let the Word of
Christ dwell in you richly John
1:14,16: The Word became
flesh and dwelt among us,
full and grace and truth..
And from his fullness we
have all received grace upon
grace.
- Romans
15:4: For whatever was
written in former days was
written for our instruction,
that by steadfastness and by
the encouragement of the
scriptures we might have
hope.
- Luke
24:32: They said to each
other, "Did not our hearts
burn within us while he
talked to us on the road,
while he opened to us the
scriptures?"
- Luke
24:44-45: 44 Then he said
to them, "These are my words
which I spoke to you, while
I was still with you, that
everything written about me
in the law of Moses and the
prophets and the psalms must
be fulfilled."45 Then he
opened their minds to
understand the scriptures.
Reading
Scripture with the Reformers,
by Timothy George
The
reformers of the sixteenth
century shared with ancient
Christian writers and the
medieval scholastics who came
before them a high regard for
the inspiration and authority of
the Bible. Already in the New
Testament the writings of the
Hebrew Bible, which Christians
would later come to know as the
Old Testament, are regarded as
divinely inspired, God-breathed
(2 Tim 3:16). On more than one
occasion, Paul identified the
Scripture with God's own
speaking (see Gal 3:8; Rom 9:17;
10:11). It is God who speaks in
the Scripture, and for this
reason it has an unassailable
validity for the people of God.
What J. N. D. Kelly wrote about
the early church is equally true
for biblical exegetes in the
medieval and Reformation eras:
"It goes without saying that the
fathers envisaged the whole of
the Bible as inspired."'
There were many debates about
the Bible in the sixteenth
century: Should it be translated
and, if so, by whom and into
which languages? What is the
extent of the canon? How can one
gauge the true sense and right
interpretation of Scripture? How
was the Bible to be used in the
preaching and worship of the
church? What is the relative
authority of Scripture and
church tradition? These and
other questions about the Bible
were debated not only between
Catholics and Protestants but
also among scholars and
theologians within these two
traditions. Such disputes should
not be minimized, for some of
them proved to be
church-dividing. But it is also
important to recognize that the
exegetical debates of the
sixteenth century were carried
out within a common recognition
of the Scriptures as divinely
given. Referring to the books of
the Old and New Testaments as
"sacred and canonical," the
First Vatican Council
(1869-1870), looking perhaps
backward more than forward,
summarized the Catholic view of
the Bible in words that would
have been warmly embraced by
both Protestant and Catholic
reformers in the sixteenth
century:
These books
are held by the Church as sacred
and canonical, not as having
been composed by merely human
labour and afterwards approved
by her authority, nor merely
because they contain revelation
without error, but because,
written under the inspiration of
the Holy Ghost, they have God
for their author.'
“It was a core
conviction of the Reformation
that the careful study and
meditative listening to the
Scriptures, what the monks
called lectio divina, could
yield a life-changing result.
For the reformers the Bible was
a treasure trove of divine
wisdom to be heard, read,
marked, learned and inwardly
digested, as the Book of Common
Prayer's collect for the second
Sunday in Advent puts it, to the
end that "we may embrace, and
ever holdfast, the blessed hope
of everlasting life, which thou
has given us in our Savior Jesus
Christ."
In his commentary on Hebrews
4:12, "The Word of God is living
and active, and sharper than any
two-edged sword," Calvin
declared, "Whenever the Lord
accosts us by his Word, he is
dealing seriously with us to
affect all our inner senses.
There is, therefore, no part of
our soul which should not be
influenced."' The study of the
Bible was meant to be
transformative at the most basic
level of the human person, coram
deo. It was meant to lead
to communion with God.”
Quotes from Martin
Luther on The Word of God
“In
the end, only the Holy Spirit
from heaven above can create
listeners and pupils who accept
this doctrine and believe that
the Word is God, that God’s Son
is the Word, and that the Word
became flesh” (22.8). The Word
of God that forms the content of
faith comes to the individual
from outside, proclaimed by
another or read in Scripture;
but conviction of the truth of
this “external Word” comes from
the inward working of the Holy
Spirit” (23.94; 38.87;
40.146).¹⁸
“What means does [the Holy
Spirit] use and what skill does
he employ thus to change the
heart and make it new? He
employs the proclamation and
preaching of the Lord Jesus
Christ. . . . But in addition to
what is thus preached, something
else is needed; for even though
I hear the preaching, I do not
at once believe. Therefore, God
adds the Holy Spirit, who
impresses this preaching upon
the heart, so that it abides
there and lives.” (CS 2.1.278-
79)
“The Word comes first, and with
the Word the Spirit breathes
upon my heart so that I believe.
Then I feel that I have become a
different person and I recognize
that the Holy Spirit is there.”
(54.63)
“The Word I receive through the
intellect, but to assent to that
Word is the work of the Holy
Spirit.” (17.230)
“I believe that I cannot
by my own understanding or
effort believe in Jesus Christ
my Lord, or come to him. But the
Holy Spirit has called me
through the Gospel, enlightened
me with his gifts, and
sanctified and kept me in true
faith.”
John Wesley’s
Guidelines for Reading Scripture
Our
gracious and loving God, we
thank you that you have been
touching our lives: illuminating
us; opening us at deep levels of
our being; stretching us at
points of our narrowness;
confronting us where we are
distorted; challenging us to
become the word you speak us
forth to be; but in every way
working in it all for your good
purposes in our lives. As we
begin to consider ways of coming
to scripture that will enable it
to become your living Word in
our lives, help us, God, to
remain open to the guidance of
your Holy Spirit. Amen.
This is the way to understand
the things of God: “Meditate
thereon day and night;” so shall
you attain the best knowledge,
even to “know the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom He hath
sent”. And this knowledge will
lead you “to love Him, because
He hath first loved us;” yea,
“to love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your
mind, and with all your
strength”... .And in consequence
of this, while you joyfully
experience all the holy tempers
described in this book [being] ,
you will likewise be outwardly
“holy as He that hath called you
is holy, in all manner of
conversation” [doing that flows
from being].28
Some
questions for reflection /
meditation:
- Am I
faithful and disciplined in
the daily practice of
Scripture meditation and the
regular study of Scripture?
Review how it has worked for
you and where you might need
to improve or find help and
encouragement.
- Do I ask the
Lord to “open the
Scriptures” for me so that I
might hear and understand
what the Lord wishes to show
me through his word?
- Do I listen
/ read attentively and free
myself of idle thoughts and
distractions?
- Do I stir up
the gift of the Spirit so
that I might grow in my love
for God’s word and find time
to return to his word
throughout the day and
evening?
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