BIBLE STUDY
One of the good things about a good, well managed, well-led Bible study
is that it allows the students (and for that matter, the teacher) to
explore what the Bible teaches and to change his views as further study
develops. My goal is that the Bible studies in the Mineral Springs
church do just that.
A wise man many years ago asked the question: Are you attending a Bible
Study or a Creed Rehearsal? A creed rehearsal is where we start
with our conclusions and then sure enough, we can find them in whatever
passage we are reading. Our preconceived ideas are confirmed, no surprise, and everyone goes home with a satisfied
feeling. A fellow Christian years ago told me of visiting a
Jehovah's Witness assembly and attending their Bible class. He was a
bit surprised by their study methodology. The teacher would read
a question from the lesson book and then call on someone to read the
answer out of the same book. Word for word, question and pre-written
answer, and the entire "study" (not the right word for it) was
simply a rote recitation of the doctrines written for them by the book
publisher. No one was expected or allowed to discuss or to give an answer
that wasn't the one written in the book. I studied at home with some
Witnesses years ago who tried to lead me into a "study" like
that. Not knowing they were dealing with an old debate coach, they
were a bit surprised I did not buy in to it.
It isn't required that every time I read the Bible I change my opinion
about everything. Surely I'm right about at least some of the things I
believe and don't need to change them. I don't have everything wrong...
but I can't possibly know for sure that I have everything right. The only
way I can approach greater assurance of getting closer to 100% right is
to be open to question what I believe when new information comes
along.
One of the challenges I face as a debate coach and competitive policy
debater is dealing with a situation where I or my students face an
opponent who has evidence and arguments to which I can't find any good
responses. We muddle through by just doing the best we can, and we
may or may not win the debate. But the real world doesn't (shouldn't)
work that way. If I discover an analysis of a Bible passage that is
different from my existing beliefs, but I can find no flaws in its
reasoning and no contradiction to any other well-established Bible truths, I
have a moral obligation to change my beliefs. Even if I
was comfortable with my old beliefs.
If I fail at that
obligation, I may be guilty of what Stephen called resisting the Holy
Spirit (Acts 7:51), when he confronted the Jewish leaders who angrily
rejected or willfully ignored the words of the prophets and the inspired
teaching of the early saints. The inspired word is not there to
confirm my beliefs. It is there to tell me what my beliefs should
be. Ac 7:51 "You stiffnecked
and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as
your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers
not persecute?" But I don't think you have to kill a prophet to resist the
Holy Spirit. You can do it simply by ignoring the inspired message.
A good Bible study will challenge us, teach us, and possibly make us think
about things we had not thought of before. The Holy Spirit, in his
inspired Word, may have many things to say to us that we had not heard, or had
not been listening to before. Let's open our hearts and listen. Vance Trefethen q
