Reading Holy Scripture
The Imitation of Christ
Chapter 5 Reading Holy Scripture
Thomas À Kempis
1 Praise the LORD, all nations; Laud Him, all peoples!
2 For His lovingkindness is great toward us, And the truth of the LORDis everlasting. Praise the LORD! Psalm 117:1-2 (NASB)
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas À Kempis
The Bible should not be read as though it were a novel telling a story. Stories are told in scripture to be sure but that is not the point of the book. The Bible is an educational text designed to help the student learn from the feet of the Master. The goal of the book is not to teach the student how to be more than other people. On the contrary. The book is here to teach the student how to be more as God intended the student to be.
Reading scripture to learn cannot happen unless first the student believes scripture has something to teach.
In today's society we often times find people who do not invest the Bible with any authority. What does that mean? Kempis points out that truth is what we should be seeking when we read scripture. In his words, we seek truth not eloquence. What does he mean by "eloquence?" He means we should not be studying scripture to sound like something. We should be reading the Bible to let the words turn inward on our soul and make us better people, not better sounding people.
What's the difference?
The difference is that we can read scripture to put words together in order to tell other people what they should be doing or we can read scripture to let the words tell us what we should be doing. There is a great deal of difference between the two. The most notable difference being humility verses pride.
Kempis writes in his reflection, "We read God's Word with humiliyt and simplicity, with faith and submission." If we do not believe or agree the words are true, we cannot by definition allow them any authority over our lives. However, if we do claim them as truth then we are rebellious, prideful, arrogant children if we don't conform our lives to what we find in scripture. If we agree that God is good, true, and unchanging then we are not imitating His Son if we do not change our lives to look more like what we discover in the words of His book.
1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. Hebrews 1:1-2 (NASB)
9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek,
10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
11 For there is no partiality with God. Romans 2:9-11 (NASB)