“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Peter confesses to Jesus, and the church echoes this confession. The Lord’s Word brings life and light and salvation. When we meditate on the Scriptures we hear the voice of our Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus.
God indeed is the author of this book, and He has produced it for the human race, as he wants always to speak personally with men through this book, to teach them about Himself, and to instruct them about their own eternal salvation.
He goes on to talk about the importance of having the whole picture of each book clearly in mind when reading. (p. 108)
These four things — the scope, arrangement, orientation, and outlined synopsis — ought to be orderly, correct, and valid. When they are laid out in such a way, they offer much help.
This is the idea of “Introducing the Books of the Bible,” a series of interviews on Issues, Etc. Each week Pastor Todd Wilken and I take up a book of the Bible, and talk through the occasion, purpose, theme, and major events and verses. You can find all the interviews cataloged here.
My hope is that these introductions would take down some of the barriers that the devil sets up to prevent us from reading the Bible, and that we could recover a “Bible Piety” in the Lutheran Church.
Bryan Wolfmueller, pastor of St Paul and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Churches in Austin, TX, author of "A Martyr's Faith for a Faithless World", "Has American Christianity Failed?", co-host of Table Talk Radio, teacher of Grappling with the Text, and theological adventure traveler. View all posts by Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller →
