Context, perception, and real understanding of the bible

This is the encouragement quote from yesterday's e-mail:

"There has probably never been a time in human history when the Word of God has been more accessible yet more unread." We're living in a time of superficial Christianity on the part of many people, and the postmodern culture has invited persons to be on a spiritual quest of their own devising rather than to follow the path of biblical Christianity. Millions and millions of people have only some vague concept about the Bible. They know it's about God, and some know it's about Christ, but beyond that, they have no real understanding of what the Bible is and how they are to obey it and know it."

- Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

The last part of the quote definitely resonates with me. I didn't really know ANYTHING about the Bible until this challenge. I knew there was the Old Testament and the New Testament. I knew they were made up of books, chapters, and verses. I knew there were some Psalms or something in there, too. I knew the very, very basics.

I always come back to the fact that I was not confirmed and maybe this magical Bible knowledge would have been imparted on me during confirmation classes, but I have a feeling there is more to it. There is not an emphasis on the Bible as a whole as much as there is an emphasis on the parts.

People quote individual verses or a few passages. Our weekly lessons are parts of chapters, but sometimes parts are edited out or edited together! We know the stories of the bible (David & Goliath comes to mind as well as Noah, Adam & Eve, and Joseph and his Technicolor Dreamcoat!), but we have no context for them. And no perception of their importance within the rest of the bible.

Context, perception, and real understanding of the bible are all things that I am gaining from this experience! It is glorious.