The Newsletter of IBTM
with Douglas Jacoby
Good morning from the massive state of Texas! I’m down here for the Teleios Conference, but also visiting friends in Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio. Today’s offerings include a Q&A, an excellent piece on the origin of Bible chapters, and more great quotes about truth. Hope you enjoy this week’s bulletin.
IS THEOLOGY BORING (OR OPTIONAL)?
Q. What is theology? Why should anyone study theology? (Isn't that boring?)
A. That's a fair question. Sometimes when I tell people my favorite area of study is theology, they have little or no idea what I mean. "Geology?", they ask, or "Geography?" Having been a Christian since the 1970s—and a student of theology nearly as long—it's easy for me to forget that "theology" isn't the sort of word the average person bandies about!
Yet it's not just non-believers who may be fuzzy on the meaning of theology. Many Christians are either unaware—or sometimes even negatively disposed. "All I need is the Bible—not those other books", they may object. Others insist that they want to know God, now know about him. But why is this? Why not both?
WHERE DO OUR BIBLE CHAPTERS COME FROM?
Article by Nelson Hsieh, Research Associate in New Testament Text and Language at Tyndale House
The original authors of Scripture probably used some punctuation and paragraph divisions, but they almost certainly did not use chapter divisions and numbers. Yet chapters permeate editions of the Bible today and they influence how we read Scripture, often unconsciously. Learn how the Bible came to have chapter divisions and how they influence our reading of the text.
KEY LINKS
Following are a handful of useful links at our website. If it’s been a while, why not click on a few and see what’s new?
TRUTH
- The free man is not he who thinks all opinions equally true or false; that is not freedom but feeble-mindedness. The free man is he who sees the errors as clearly as he sees the truth. – G. K. Chesterton
- The whole truth is generally the ally of virtue; a half-truth is always the ally of some vice. – G. K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News, June 11, 1910
- There is a case for telling the truth; there is a case for avoiding the scandal; but there is no possible defense for the man who tells the scandal, but does not tell the truth. – G. K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News, July 18, 1908
UNTIL NEXT WEEK…
Thanks for your interest and support!
Yours in Him,
Douglas
