Shade Tree Wisdom 1/18/11

It was the kind of foggy morning when I picture Holmes shaking Watson awake with ”Hurry, Watson, the game’s afoot”, and going on the fog shrouded moor to untangle the mystery of the Hound of the Baskervilles. So with all thats going on out there and fog pretty dense early on, I did not go for my walk, opting instead for reading the paper in a cozy living room chair and waiting till the fog lifted.

But there is a correction I need to make on yesterday’s Shade Tree Wisdom. The translators Of the KJV worked from 1604 to 16ll. I make this lest my friend suggests again I need an editor.

Just goes to show I am as you are, fallible. And the Bible is not. I regard the Holy Bible as the Word of God, always and ever true and unchanging, infallible. “Thy Word is Truth”. John 17,17.

There may be wiggle room when we discuss angels or the way a local church is run, but when it comes to the Bible, there is no wiggle room at all. Can’t be. Take away that absolute and you open an unpluggable hole in the theological dike.

Any uncertainty always leads to a slippery slope in teaching. It usually begins with “After all, that was a different time”, or “Times do change and we need to change with them” or some such high-sounding phrase spoken in a sincere voice.

First, here is Webster’s definition of infallibility. “Incapable of error. . .not liable to mislead, deceive, or disappoint.”

But that is not true of people. No one is infallible. So how can we know what the truth is? The Early Fathers had a saying, “Let the Scriptures interpret the Scripture.” In other words, look to other instances that teach the same doctrine. It will always lead you to the truth.

Now, what is your favorite scripture? Everyone has them, verses or chapters one reads and studies again. The Psalmist would say we “mine” them to search for the gold. Psalm 119 is filled with such nuggets. Psalm 119,105 is a familiar word, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”.. And so needed because Psalm 119,19 tells me “I am a stranger in the earth, how I need a map”.

There are treasures. For example Psalm 23, or 1 Corinthians 13 or Ephesians 2, 8-10; Galatians 2,26-21; 3,11.27; 5,1-25; l John 2,1.2. The Gospel in a nutshell – John 3, 16.17. And the famous section on worry and fretting, Matthew 6, 19-36.

Finally, it is the Psalm that tells me my life has been planned from the very beginning by a loving, caring Father in heaven. Psalm 139,14-16. This tells me that the Father cares, and His eye is ever on my life, which he has planned carefully for me till the end if it. Bless His Holy Name.

GPD 1/18/11