Tolle Lege

At the outset I want to be quite clear.  This blog post is not intended to be normative.  This is not a prescription  nor is it some sort of magical key to one's devotional life.  My intention is to relate my own experience in the hopes that those who have personality similar to mine might benefit.

 There are many excellent Bible reading plans available to the Christian.  If one were to read 3 chapters of the Bible each day, and 5 on Sundays, one could read through the entire Bible in a year.  Most Bible reading plans are meant to accomplish this goal.  Many are designed to allow the reader to read through the Psalms, Proverbs, and Gospel's twice, and the rest of the Scriptures once.  One of the better plans is the reading plan by Robert Murray McCheyne which has you read through various types and genres of Scripture simultaneously.

These sorts of reading plans work for many people, and many people derive great benefit from them.  I, however, am not one of them.  For me, these plans make the goal of reading through the Bible more important than reading the Bible.  When I follow one of these plans, I tend to read to finish the section, rather than for understanding.  I recognize that the problem is not with the plans themselves, but with me.  However, I also think that the way I read does not lend itself well to using these methods.  Put simply, it is too fast for me to dig into the text, and too slow for me to synthesize my reading.  Recently, I've found a method that works much better for me, and which has made Bible reading a joy.

Get the Big Picture:
I stumbled across this quite by accident.  For class here at Covenant Seminary (which has a fancy new website) we are required to read the Bible (a more obvious sentence may never have been written!).  Due to the pace of the schedule, this often requires reading large sections of the Bible in one sitting.  Recently, I read Genesis over the course of two days, and Matthew's Gospel in one.  Last semester, I read the majority of Paul's letters in a few days.  I learned two things from this:

1.  "Books" in the Bible are much shorter than we think them to be.  When I opened Genesis in the past I would see the "book" as containing 50 "chapters."  Just the terminology that we use caused me to think of Bible reading as a daunting task.  The 66 books of the Bible are described with terminology similar to a novel.  It gives the perception that they are longer than they really are.  Likewise, "chapter" sounds similar to what you would find inside of a book that you would pick up at Barnes and Noble (...or download on your eReader).   I recognize that this sounds obvious, but reading a "book" or three "chapters" sounds like a difficult task.  In reality, though, reading a whole book of the Bible is not unlike reading a chapter in a "normal" book.  Matthew was, I think, about 35 pages.  Not insurmountable in a single sitting by any means, and it is a fairly "long" book, especially by New Testament standards.

2.  When reading a whole book of the Bible in one or two sittings, you see things that you would have otherwise missed.  At the end of Matthew, the authority and magnificence of Christ are poignant having read the Gospel from start to finish.  One finishes the book and cannot help but to worship, such is the rhetorical force of the book read cover to cover.  This is something that I did not "get" when reading a few chapters a day.

I should mention that I do not read a book of the Bible every day or even every week.  I might do something like this every other week or so.  In the intervening time I think about the book that I read, and reflect on the major themes that it put forth.

Dig Deep:
This likely looks quite different for me than it might for other people.  This daily aspect of my devotional reading was also discovered by accident.  After I finished Greek in exegesis last year, I purchased a Reader's Bible and decided to try to read from it everyday.  Recently, having just finished Hebrew II, I read a Hebrew's reader Bible as well.  Basically, I choose a book (John in the NT and passages from Numbers in the OT), and I read anywhere from a few verses to paragraph (depending on how complicated the section or vocabulary is).  While my "big picture  reading helps me grasp the flow and argument of the book, this allows me to dig deeply into the text and notice minutia that I too easily skip when reading more quickly in English.

As an example, the other night I was reading in Numbers.  I was reading about Caleb encouraging Israel to enter the land despite the presence of mighty people occupying the land because God had promised it to them. The very next verse says that the Israelites picked up stones to stone him. Surely I read that wrong, I thought. But no, that's what it said. When I read that passage in English I read so quickly that I blow right by the enormity of the situation. "Yeah I know," I think, "they don't go into the land." But slowing down and reading the Hebrew, it struck me in a new way. The slavery, the plagues, the Red Sea, the promise to Abraham... The goal is right there, and when Caleb says as much, they pick up stones to stone him.  Wow.

Now, many of you who read this might not be able to read the original languages, but that does not mean you can't intentionally slow down and focus on a few verses.  A good book or two on hermeneutics (how to read) might not be a bad investment of your time.  Learning to read the Bible well is not a skill that we are born with, it is something that we learn.

As I said at the outset, there is no "right" way to read the Bible, but we must read it.  We must be a people of the Book who hear the voice of God and allow it shape, change, and mold us.  I have found a method which allows my Bible reading to be refreshing and exciting, but it might not work for you.  That is okay, but you must, as was famously said to Augustine, "Take up an read." Tolle lege.

"Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere."

How a Book Ends Up on My Shelf

While my sister was here at Christmas she mentioned that she told a friend of hers at work about how I catalog and manage my books.  Her friend, a librarian, thought it was a pretty cool.  I thought I'd write a pictorial blog about how I go about cataloging and arranging my books, as it could potentially be a help for those with moderate to large libraries (mine is about 900 volumes).  (n.b. I realize that the "screenshots" are pretty poor.  I took them with my cellphone instead of doing a real screenshot and re-sizing it, mostly due to ignorance).

Step 1:

Step 1, for me, is to use the immensely cool book seal that my good friend bought me as a groomsman's gift.  You may skip this step, but your books will be much less cool than mine are.


Step 2:

This is a wonderful app for managing one's library with a program called Zotero (zotero.org). it is a free program, and this app saves, quite literally, hours.  I didn't start cataloging my library until it was already pretty big, so the initial set up took awhile (it was a summer project), but this app made the process very easy.  Basically, for $1.99, you get a tool that scans the bar code on your book, searches Worldcat or Google books and fetches the information then sends it to your Zotero database.  Really a must have.


 Step 3:

This is a look at my Zotero home page.  The column on the left is your "libraries."  You can place books (as well as articles, websites, pictures, etc.) in different categories.  Items can be in more than one category as well.  The center column is sortable by title, author, type, call number, etc.  The column on the left will display information about the selected book.  You can add "notes" and "tags" to each book (more on that in a second).  One of the really neat features of Zotero is its bibliography creator.  Basically, select your book you want to cite, and it will export the info into the desired format (Turabian, MLA, APA, etc.)


Step 4:

Once a book is scanned and sent to Zotero, it goes in the "unfiled items" section.  Once it is there, I go to loc.gov (the Library of Congress website), copy the ISBN, and search for the book in the LOC catalog.  There are two pieces of information that I grab from LOC (or worldcat, if LOC doesn't have an entry).  The first is the call number, found on the "Brief Record" page seen above.  LOC call numbers are extremely handy because professional librarians have already thought through where to put a book on your shelf.  My shelves are well organized with similar books in close proximity to others because of the LOC call numbers.  Before deciding to do this, I had rearranged my shelves twice because I didn't like the order they were in.  Now, I don't even have to think about it.

Step 5:

The other tab that I look at on the LOC website is the "subjects" tab.  From here I add the LOC subjects as tags in Zotero.  Zotero has a good search feature, and the LOC tags let me quickly see books from similar categories (say, for instance,  "Theology, Doctrinal").  Selecting that tag will bring up all the books in that category.  Pretty nifty.  You can, of course,search for title, author, ISBN and other things as well.  Tags can be used for things other than LOC subjects.  I tag books that are gifts and add another tag with the name of the person who gave it to me.  You can tag books for certain classes or semesters, or books that are on your "to read" list.  I also use tags to keep track of the books which I lend out.  If I lend a book I add the tag "checked out."  Next, I add a "note" with the name of the person I lent it to.  A very handy thing for me.  Once I get the book back, I just delete the note and tag.


Step 6:

After all of the data is in Zotero, it's time to actually tag the book with its LOC call number.  I use mailing address labels cut into thirds.  For cloth bound books, packing tape may be necessary to keep the tag from falling of.  That was honestly a tough decision to come to, as I like to keep my books "clean."  But, books are to be read and used, and I have no qualms with outlining or note taking in a book, so why would I have a problem with making it easy to find?  This may be the single most time consuming part of the whole process at the outset.  As I was getting starting, I would put on a movie or podcast and get down to it.  Now, I just do it for each new book, and it takes very little time.


Step 7:

Once the call number is attached to the book, it's ready to go up on the shelf.  This book, which is for a class I'm taking in the Spring semester, is labeled BR.  B is the general category for religion and philosophy, BR is "Christianity," and 115 is "Christianity in relation to special subjects."  You don't have to know all of that, of course, and when you see the book on the shelves it makes good sense.

Step 8:

The only thing left to do is put the book up on the shelf.  Back in November, we moved across town.  Taking the time during the summer to label my books was a huge blessing.  I was able to pack them in order and know exactly where they went when we got to the new house.  My "office" is quite a bit smaller than our previous house (where I basically had the entire basement), so quite a few book stayed boxed up.  This system is great for that as well, though, because on the outside side of each box I wrote the call number range (say D805-E302.6).  Now, if I need a book from that section, I just look up the call number, head to the storage room, and I know just which box to look in.



So that's it.  It really has been a great system.  It takes seconds to find a book I'm looking for, and it helps me to stay organized.  I know exactly which books I have, I can easily keep track of books I've lent to others, I can create quick bibliographies, and it saved a lot of time unpacking from our move.  I'm sure other ways to set up a library, and I'd love to hear them in the comments below.

Top 10 for New Seminary Students

A new semester is upon us and I thought, in a gesture of good will, that it would be nice to write a "Top Ten" list for new seminary students.  These are things that I did which worked well, things I failed to do which I regret, and things that I wish I had known when I showed up in Saint Louis.  The list could be expanded (it is mostly focused on the classroom side of things), and if any other seminary students or pastors read this, feel free to add things in the comments.

My top 10 pieces of advise for new seminary students:

10.  Get organized - You will be busy.  You will be very busy.  If you have a job, you'll be busier.  If you have a wife, you'll be even busier.  If you have kids, you'll be busier still.  Believe me, if you have none of those things, there will be plenty of things to keep you busy.  I've yet to meet a student who has had too much time to work on a paper or project.  One of the most important things that you can do is to get organized.  As soon as you get your assignments, plan your semester.  Know when things are due and guess at how long they will take.  Organize files for papers and notes.  Organize the files on your computer into semeseters and classes.  Start organizing your library.  Organize your personal life as well (bills, calender and so forth).  The better organized that you are at the beginning, the easier life will be in crunch time.

9.  Find a church home - Here in St. Louis the number of PCA churches is staggering.  Add the other good churches in the greater St. Louis area, and you could be looking for a church home well into your third year. In my opinion, this isn't an ideal situation.  Visit some churches.  Ask your neighbors where they go and what their church is like.  Visit the ones where you think you can worship and minister.  Once you find one, stick with it. You will need the spiritual support of a good church.

8.  Go to chapel - Chapel here at Covenant is outstanding.  It is one of the best ways to keep all of the knowledge that you will gain in proper perspective.  We aren't here just to learn, we are here to become closer to Jesus.  In chapel you will hear the gospel in word and song.  You will hear from some of the best preachers around.  It is worth your time.  Don't be legalistic about it.  If you need to study for an exam, study for an exam, but try to get in the habit of going as often as you can.

7.  Serve - A professor here told me that one of the best ways to ensure that the knowledge that you gain here is not just academic is to serve.  Serve in anyway you can.  It may be ushering for your church, serving in nursery, participating in mercy ministries, helping with youth group, or any number of other things.  It does not really matter how you are serving, but your time here and all of the knowledge that you gain will be put to better use if you make service a priority.

6.  Get to know your classmates - During seminary you will likely form bonds with people that you will carry through your future ministry.  Spend some time and get to know people.  Study with them, help them if they are in need, pray together, eat together, have fun together.  Your classmates here are not your competition, they are your support.  The seminary does a wonderful job of facilitating this, so use the resources that they provide.  Not everybody here is wonderful.  There are some bad eggs.  There will be many people whom you will meet here that will be growing in grace just like you.  There are very few people (though there are some) who are the same now as when they got here, so get to know your classmates and grow with them.

5.  Do the reading -This may be the single most difficult aspect of seminary.  It was for me.  I don't read very quickly, so it was a real struggle to keep up, but try your hardest.  You will get more out of your classes if you do the reading.  You will understand the subject matter better if you do the reading.  The professors here are pretty smart.  They know what a good book is.  Trust them.  If they think you should read it in preparation for ministry, you probably should.

4.  Go to office hours - I did not do this during my first semester here and it is one of my greatest regrets.  Sign up for office hours.  Your professors are intelligent, experienced, graceful pastors.  Any time that you spend with them is time well spent.  Don't waste thier time.  Go into the office prepared with questions and items that you want to discuss.  Then, just see where the conversation goes.

3.  Ask for help - Do not be afraid to ask for help.  If you are stuck or struggling in class, use your professors, classmates, teacher's assistants, upper class-men, and pastors as a resource.  There is no shame in admitting that you aren't quite understanding.  It is okay to ask for an extension if something serious comes up (but do so knowing that the professor may say no).  Form some study groups.  Do research as part of a group.  Be willing to help others as well.  If you find something great, share it with your classmates.

2.  Be humble - This one is not easy.  If you get a good grade, it is easy to let it go to your head.  If you grasp a topic that one of your classmates is struggling with, it can make you feel superior.  When you go to church on Sunday, you'll have more knowledge and more resources at your disposal than most people in your church.  It can be tough to be humble.  Remember two things: 1. There are a lot of people at the seminary (classmates and professors) who are smarter and more talented than you.  2. Seminary is not a competition.  You are here to learn to serve and use your gifts.  If a classmate is struggling and you could help him but choose not to, then you have failed.  This is a time to strengthen and encourage each other in the Lord.  We are all hear to learn, and learning is difficult without humility.

1.  Be patient - You will not "get" everything.  There will be subjects and parts of subjects that will be difficult, or that you might not understand fully.  You will be confronted with a lot of new ideas and faced with new ways of thinking, and you will not understand them all the first (and sometimes second or third) time.  Be patient.  Seminary is the beginning of a journey, not the end of one.  You will not leave with all of the answers.  Seminary is a place where you learn how to seek the answers, how to read your Bible well.  Be patient with yourself as you are challenged and as you grow.

Finally, and this should be a part of all ten of the things mentioned above, don't forget to seek God.  Do not forget to pray.  Do not forget to read your Bible.  Remember that you are here to be trained as a minister and servant of God and His people.  Place your heart in God's hands and seek Him throughout your seminary experience.

Seminary can be a wonderful.  Covenant certainly is.  Enjoy the time you have been given to learn from your pastors, teachers, books, and friends.  But, above all else, seek the Lord.

"Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere."

The Internet and Books

On a recent broadcast, the White Horse Inn radio program facilitated a discussion of  Nicolas Carr's "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains."  While I've not read this book, the discussion did cause me to think about the internet, how we use it, and what that means for us.

If you were to ask my wife what my favorite webpage is there is little doubt that she would roll her eyes and respond "Wikipedia."  I am aware that there is a good bit of consternation about the rise in popularity of a non-peer reviewed encyclopedia written by non-experts.  I know that Wikipedia is not a worthy tool for real research (though it can point you to such resources), but I also know that if I want a quick and usually reliable answer to a question that pops into my brain, Wikipedia is the place to go.

It usally goes something like this: my wife and I are watching a movie and I think that I recognize an actor from another movie.  I go to Wikipedia, and find out if I'm right.  Recently, it has come up during the Olympics.  "How many people live in the Republic of the Seychelles?"  Wikipedia.  "Are there any rules in water polo?" Wikipedia.  "Where were the Olympics in 1964?" Wikipedia.  The internet is a powerful tool.

As wonderful as the internet is, though, I still love books.  I even still love books made out of paper.  In fact, one of my summer projects has been tagging and arranging my books with Library of Congress call numbers.  I'm a book geek.  I buy used books.  I look for books at yard sales.  Whenever a graduating student has books to give away, I'm there to take a look.  My parents in my childhood and teachers at my school cultivated a love of books that has remained strong.

Yet, and this may sound obvious, books and the internet are not the same.  They do not facilitate the same type of knowledge acquisition.  As I thought about my love of Wikipedia and how it easy it is to find answers to one's questions I was struck by the difference in the approach to "knowledge" that I take with the internet and with a book.

When I use the internet, it is almost always to find an answer to a question that I thought of.  I search and scour looking for an answer to that question.  When I find that answer, I'm satisified.  I tend to read the internet in a fleeting, skimming manner.  Anything more than a few paragraphs long can tend towards tedium and function as an impediment to my quest.  It is a distraction that must be thrust aside so that my inquisition ends in success.

A book is an entirely different experience.  Instead of just looking for answers to my questions, I read a book to really learn.  I read to be challenged.  I hope to find ways of thinking and looking at this world that are different from my own. Instead of quickly finding a fact, I read a book as a different kind of quest.  Instead of a quick-strike mission, reading a book is an epic journey which follows a path that I do not plan.  My destination is not my own, but it lies in the will of the author and my conversation with the author.  My duty as I read a book is to question and wrestle with the author.  In the end, at least at the end of good book, my horizons have been expanded.

You see, the internet, as vast as it is, is stifled by my own imagination.  I ask it what I want to know, and it promptly and usually accurately answers that question.  However, at least as I tend to use it, it does not expand my horizons.  The increase of my knowledge is limited by my own imagination.  It only answers questions that I come up with.  A book, on the other hand, is not so easily swayed to my agenda.  If I am to read a book and read it well I must read it on the author's terms and wrestle with the ideas that she wants me to wrestle with.

In Adler and VanDoran's "How to Read a Book" they say it like this:

There is the book; and here is your mind.  As you go through the pages, either you understand perfectly everything the author has to say or you do not.  If you do, you may have gained information, but you could not have increased your understanding.  If the book is completely intelligible to you from start to finish, then the author and you are as two minds in the same mold.  The symbols on the page merely express the common understanding you had before you met.

In some sense, this type of reading is perfectly acceptable.   It is fine to "gain information," but, as they say, it does not mean that you have "gained understanding."  This is, in fact, how most people read the internet.  Yet there is another alternative.  Truly reading well is reading in which "you gradually lift yourself from a state of understanding less to one of understanding more" (ibid.).  Here is the place at which my reading of the internet differs from my reading of a book.  Instead of just increasing the amount of information that I have, I seek to increase my understanding.  Surely there are some who can do the later using the internet.  However, by and large as a culture, this is no longer the way that we read anything (even books) due to the influence of the easy answers that the internet provides.

I consider myself fortunate that those who taught me how to read, my parents and teachers, did not grow up with computers.  It will be much more difficult for me to teach my children to read well.  It will be even more difficult for their children.  Technology is a wonderful thing.  Books, after all, were at one point a new technology.  But whenever a new technology that obviously and pervasively improves our lives comes about, we must still ask ourselves what we could lose in its adaptation and strive to prevent that from happening.  Technology is designed to make our lives easier, yet as our lives get easier our will to work decreases.  Reading a book well is hard work.  It is extremely enjoyable, but it is hard work.

Reading is a skill that all Christians must be willing to cultivate.  We come to know God through His Word, through a book.  Losing the ability to read is dangerous for Christians.  God communicates to us in a story, and if we are to know His will and His plan, we must read that story, and read it well.  So please, pull up your Bible on your iPhone, kindle, tablet, or, if quite convenient, a paper copy, and learn to read it.  It is a book worth reading well, for it aims to change you.

"Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere."