Does God exist?

Introduction to the Blog

Welcome to G's Bible Blog!

Have you ever read the Bible without understanding it? Right, you know what I'm talking about! Cool, but wouldn't you want to know more about the Bible and better understand its meaning? Wouldn't it be great if we could find explanations for 'strange' or unclear Bible passages rather than just overlooking them? I think so too! And that's exactly why I've started this online Bible School - so that we can all read, study, discuss and hopefully learn something and grow in our knowledge of and obedience to God. Interested? Great! Then read on...

The Bible is God's Word and teaches us how to live a healthy life.

Psalm 119:105 (NASB)
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

God's Word shows us the right path in life, that is, God knows how we are to behave in our respective circumstances in order to live healthy, successful and right in His eyes. This is especially important in a society in which good values are being lost and in which people are being tormented by all kinds of deceptions and circumstances - even Christians! Yet Christians are called to be the "salt of the earth," that is, the very people who stop the decay of society (see Mt 5). But this can only take place when we understand the biblical message correctly and accurately, and learn to obey it! One problem here is that there is too much confusion over what the Bible actually teaches, for if we're confused over its meaning, how are we going to obey its message? Good Bible study will 'lift the fog'!

But not all Christians can attend Bible School, have sufficient teaching materials in their churches, access to a good library, or right instruction in reading helpful books. And for this reason my blog should help - you! We will explore the Bible, read and study it, answer questions and seek the meaning and its application for our lives today. The Bible is a book of highest relevance and wisdom, and we can live wise and relevant lives when we follow biblical instruction. Even if religion often appears irrelevant and boring, God and the Bible are never boring or irrelevant, but always provide answers for life, give power and hope in life, and give us comfort and encouragement during difficult circumstances.

We want to tackle a lot of things and answer relevant questions about life, yet first we should get an overview of the Bible. To see the "bigger picture," to get an overview, always helps before going deeper into details - do you agree? So, the first part here is an "Introduction to the Bible." The most important element here is the Bible itself. Without reading the Bible we can never understand it (even though we do sometimes read it without understanding it!). The following articles should help here. I will explain historical and cultural backgrounds, so that the setting of the Bible will become more familiar to the reader; I will elaborate on the main theological themes, but in a way that we can understand them (although some theologians may make the Bible more complicated than it is, this should not stop us from studying it); and I will give to the reader helpful advice on sound Bible interpretation and application. The Bible is both prophetic - in that it "speaks" to us - and pragmatic - in that it gives us instruction for our daily lives very practically.

When we read the Bible we have to hold two things in a sound balance: on the one hand, we seek the deeper relationship with God and read the Bible with that approach; this is the devotional or relational way to read the Bible. By it God speaks to us through His Word and we read the Bible prayerfully and humbly. On the other hand, we also need a theological, analytical Bible study so that we won't read our ideas into the Bible - something that happens faster than one may think or one is conscious of. But with this approach we also want to read and study prayerfully and humbly, yet we will need to study. Here we seek primarily the meaning of the Bible to the original readers (that is, what the text meant at the time it was written), before we deal with the meaning of the text for us today. To understand the biblical books in their historical setting is one of the most important principles of sound biblical interpretatiuon and application.

So, are you ready for "a journey through the Bible"? Then let us board the "time machine" and fasten our seat belts, for the "flight" is about to take off...

But let us first pray the following:

Psalm 119:18 (NRS)
Open my eyes, so that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

Shalom,
Gordon

PS: in case you want to sign up as a "follower," you are very welcome to do so!