WelI, I don’t know if I’m particularly passionate about writing. However, I have spent most of my life either being educated or educating others, and to do that, you need to write. Perhaps I could mention two things.
- For technical writing, I enjoy taking badly written, confusing instructions and fixing them up. If I’m trying to accomplish something, such as familiarizing myself with a new application, such as music production software, I get very frustrated with poorly written instructions. Of course, nowadays, you can find excellent tutorials on YouTube. But you’ll find bad ones too. I suspect that many of these excellent videos aren’t just someone speaking off the top of their heads. Much thought and planning goes into them. And that probably involves writing 😀.
- I’m not into creative writing, but I would have written various Christian tracts or website material over the years, and perhaps, I do enjoy that. In fact, that’s very much the purpose of this blog. I am finding that I enjoy answering the daily prompt questions. I haven’t really worked out why 😀. If feels as if I have friends all around the world. I don’t know if many people read my responses, but I do like to get “likes” nonetheless. It’s nice for us to encourage each other. The most I ask is that people have a peep at my writing now and then.
Just for fun, I always try to relate the daily prompt to music, which is one of my passions. And I usually try to close with a few Bible verses or hymns that are in some way related. Now finding something about “writing” is a bit of a challenge, but let’s see what I can do.
And when we get to the Bible, some parts of it were dictated directly by God, such as the Ten Commandments, but much of it was researched and written by humans. When we speak of God’s word being perfect, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s perfect by today’s writing standards. I don’t know Hebrew and Greek, but I’m told that some writers were more educated than others. And that was reflected in their writing. But it doesn’t need to be written in perfect Hebrew or Greek. For example, if someone gives a sermon on church, I sometimes might derive more benefit from lay preachers or amateurs than I do from professionals. And if the Holy Spirit is at work, He can take a sermon or book that’s poor quality in earthly terms and do wonderful things with it.
And we must remember that with Scripture, in the background, the Holy Spirit was at work, ensuring that writers wrote what He wanted them to say, albeit in their own styles. So, it is verbally inspired. Here are some verses that touch on human and divine aspects of writing Scripture:
Luke’s Gospel Chapter 1, verses 1-3
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
So here, Luke is acting as a historian. It isn’t a matter of Luke telling us about a dream he had or claiming that an angel appeared to him and gave him the gospel on golden tablets 😀. He researched it all.
John’s Gospel 20:30-31
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John needed to make decisions on what to include and what to exclude. When you read the gospels, some record the same incidents, but each has some unique features. Why wasn’t there just one rather than four? Why was there so much duplication of effort? We don’t know, but perhaps it’s related to having different witnesses rather than relying on one person.
Romans 16:22
I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.
Who is Tertius? Wasn’t Romans written by the Apostle Paul? Tertius was the scribe who wrote the letter that the Apostle Paul dictated to him. Sometimes modern sceptical scholars might argue that if an epistle doesn’t match Paul’s general style, it can’t have been written by him. But writing styles can change, and why shouldn’t Paul have asked others to tidy up his epistles. As long as Paul approved any tweaks, it’s still Paul’s word. And more importantly, it’s God’s word.
2 Thessalonians 3:17
“I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters.”
Here the Apostle Paul appears to write a greeting himself to authenticate the letter. As early Christianity flourished, many other groups, with different agendas, tried to jump on the bandwagon. Some might have even forged letters from Paul. A huge amount of work went into determining what constitutes Scripture. It would have been very odd if Jesus and the Holy Spirit had failed to leave a reliable record. Why didn’t Jesus just do it all? Well, the apostles and their helpers were given the tasks of writing it, and we are given the task of spreading God’s Word and applying it to our own lives.
Revelation 21:5
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
This is the last book of the Bible. John had an amazing experience, but we can all share in it because it’s recorded for us. And that was that. Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, ends with a warning not to tamper with God’s word by adding or taking from it. And it’s clear that the next event will be the return of the Lord Jesus.
Revelation 22:18-19
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Some might wonder why God used humans to write the Bible and why the precise methods are so diverse. Some parts are historical accounts that people researched, some are letters written to churches, some are accounts of visions, some are psalms, proverbs or prophecy. Why didn’t an angel appear and give someone the Scripture on golden plates? Well, firstly, you’d need to put all your trust in the person that claimed to receive the golden plates from an angel 😀. But the key thing for me is that Jesus regarded the Old Testament as authoritative and he frequently quoted it, even when he was alone with Satan in the wilderness (Matt 4). You might wonder why he used Scripture. Surely he himself is far above having to. I think he used it so that we would follow his example.
He didn’t write any Scripture himself, but he plainly left a reliable record of himself and the activities of the early church through his apostles, who were guided by the Holy Spirit. That’s why Peter, when making reference to early heretics who misused Paul’s teaching, placed Paul’s letters in the same category as other Scriptures:
2 Peter 3:16
He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
You do get some, even clergy, who would prefer you to trust in them rather than read the Bible for yourself. It is possible to misunderstand it. “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing” (Alexander Pope). But the answer to that isn’t to trust in clergy or whatever religious “experts” are dominant where you live. The answer is to deepen your knowledge and learn from others without placing all your trust in them.
The “little knowledge” quote that I just mentioned is just one, misquoted, line of a poem by Alexander Pope – A Little Learning. The poem was never meant to discourage thinking for yourself. You see this when you read the line in context:
A little learning is a dangerous thing ;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring :
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.
I can see the sense of the “shallow draughts intoxicate the brain” line. The reason that you get religious cults is that you get some “clever” person who has limited knowledge, who dismisses all other Christian opinion and who garners followers who put all their trust in their interpretation. This sort of thing can happen with more traditional Christian denominations too. For me, it’s much healthier if you engage with diverse opinions, but make up your own mind, and always be open to revising your opinion. And ultimately, the message of the gospel is quite simple. Love God, love others, recognize your need for a Saviour, repent and trust in Jesus. Millions of uneducated and illiterate people have done just that, so I don’t think that we need to worry if our knowledge is limited, but we should always have an appetite for God’s Word.
Wherever I go, I like to find a church that emphasizes God’s word, but that doesn’t insist that everyone must believe everything the “leader” believes 😀.
Hibernia Gospel 
Dear Hibernia
It’s a spell of your words.
Thanks a lot for liking my post, ‘Proust’ 🙏 😊
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