zealfortruth: 2010

GREETINGS!

The purpose of this blog is to share my passion for the truth of God and the truth of His Word. Sound or healthy doctrine can only be known and understood if the sovereignty and holiness of God is passionately pursued in order to know Him as He reveals Himself and then to make Him known in the same fashion. Or, better yet, a right view of God results in a right knowledge of His holy Word.

One of my goals is to attempt to stir up Christian unity among my kinsmen of the Faith. When the phrase "church division" is mentioned, the first thing many think of is that of racism or classism. While these are imporatant issues and will be addressed by yours truly, the more important form of unity/disunity among saints is that which pertains to doctrine. If the church of Jesus the Christ were more unified in how we understand Him and Scripture, then all other forms of disunity and discord would be quite minimal or nonexistent. It is my prayer that many of my kinsmen (of all races) would develop a healthy fear of God (or increase the one they already possess) and then begin to tread carefully through the Word in understanding the truth as He means and not what we want to get out of it.

Hermeneutics is the art and science of interpretation, specifically Biblical. We must gather a proper way to interpret and understand scripture that destroys our opinions and allows us to submit to the Author and know "the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10). We must not continue to "piecemeal" the Scriptures by bouncing around the pages, skipping over important elements and drawing quick conclusions that only give us limited knowledge, or worse, false knowledge that can give birth to false doctrine. The church (Greek "ecclesia" or called out ones) is supposed to be "the pillar and buttress (support) of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15) How can we be that when we are so divided on our Lord's one-true Word? How can we be a light to the world for truth when many of us are in the dark on what we believe?

Theology is not just for the pulpit. It is not just for clergy. It is for anyone who has received the righteousness of the Lord Jesus the Christ. We are to grow in His grace and not just be the recipients of it (2 Peter 3:15-18). This blog is theology in layman's terms!

Please be sure to read the articles from the earliest posts to the most recent as some of them are written in the form of a series.

3.01.2010

I must confess: I'm a procrastinator!

Please forgive my sin of procrastination. As much as I love and fear my LORD and love His Word, I'm not consistent with reading like I should be or, most notably, posting new blog entries. This is really bad when I call myself doing a series. What's even crazier is that I really have soooo much I want to say/address as far a theology and the church goes. I will get back on this very soon. To anyone following this blog please accept my most humble apology. And please, stay tuned!!!

Peace!

Why I love the ESV

Like most Christians, I began my Bible reading with the age-old King James Version. Back then, with my limited knowledge I figured the KJV was the only translation out there. Through time, I became acquainted with a few other translations, such as the Revised Standard Version (RSV) and the New International Version (NIV). Then came the New KJV. It was around this time that I enjoyed reading the Word without feeling as if I was in medieval times! I know that there are a lot of people who love reading the KJV for its "poetic" qualities. Others read it with the perspective that it's the only true translation and all others are false. There have even been far too many movies where Christ, the disciples and other "supporting" characters speak in "ye olde English" and, if that's not enough, some have a British accent. Many of us have become conditioned to think that's how the Lord talked and that is far from the truth!
Anyway, one of the things that bugs me is that there are too many translations out there. While it helps to have different paraphrases to assist in understanding the Word in layman's terms, some of them are watered down way too much - even to the point of changing the meaning of some strong, doctrinal passages that are essential to the Faith. When I discovered the New American Standard Bible in 1995 and learned what it was, I knew I struck gold! For nearly ten years I cherished the idea of studying a translation that was so committed to being literal based on original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek (or at least as literal as the English language will allow).
Then came 2004. I was making one of my frequent visits to the bookstore of the church where I am employed. There were two young brothers who were working there at the time with whom I would have great theological conversations with. One day we were discussing the perils of so many translations when one of them asked me if I'd heard of the English Standard Version. They gave me a brief synopsis of the translation and showed me a catalog which contained pics of the then up and coming "trutone" covers. I quickly returned to my office and went to the ESV website to read all about the translation details for myself. After I finished reading the details and sample passages and viewing a video, I began "salivating in the spirit!" ;-) A few months later, I purchased a newly released ESV compact trutone (burgundy/teal vine design) and now I feel like I've struck platinum!!! To familiarize myself with the translation, I began a quest to read through the Word, starting with Genesis. Not a "read through the Bible in a year" thing - just read, meditate, and study for as long as it takes. I must say that it is quite an adventure, especially reading through the history books.
The ESV is the one I trust for accuracy (like the NASB) and for fluid readability (like the NIV) without losing the strength and integrity of textual accuracy! It's superb for teaching, studying, and memorization and stands as one of the "strictly literal" translations that was produced with a great deal of diligence, integrity, and reverence for the Author!
Thank you, Crossway, for the ESV - truth unchanged!!!

scs
6.15.07

GREETINGS!

3.01.2010

I must confess: I'm a procrastinator!

zealot for truth

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Why I love the ESV