Welcome to my website. My goal is to help you & me grow in our ability to understand, love & live the Bible. On this site you can find training help, resources for your church, and inspiration for engaging the Scriptures. Enjoy!
In my last post I discussed briefly two wonky things we do with words: the root fallacy and the time-frame fallacy. In this post let’s discuss two other ways we throw Bible terms under the linguistic bus.
The words of the Bible are your friends. Some are extroverted, linking arms with the words around them they communicate fairly clearly and openly. Other words are complex introverts, shying away from speaking the obvious. Still others seem clear but reward the time spent getting to know them. Suddenly you see that they are not who you thought they were at first blush. But all of the Bible’s words are your friends. Be kind to them.
Do you know what you call a person who speaks 3 languages? Trilingual. Do you know what you call a person who speaks 2 languages? Bilingual. Do you know what you call a person who speaks 1 language? An American! (My European friends, most of whom are bi- or trilingual, love that joke).
One of the greatest comedy sequences in a contemporary movie has to be the kidnap and escape scene from The Princess Bride. Inigo, Fezzik, and Vizzini, a band of mostly-good bad guys, kidnap Princess Buttercup, taking her across the sea and up the cliffs of insanity.
I recently received an email from Carol Robinson of Davidson, North Carolina, who asked for help in understanding Heb. 5:8-9. She wrote in part,
Hi, Dr. Guthrie,
. . . I am currently studying Hebrews with a very dear friend of mine, and am so enjoying and valuing the commentary that you wrote for the NIV Application Commentary Series. . . .
