A fun little intro

” Many denominations, movements, and individual Christians hold to a certain position not because they have honestly examined all possible viewpoints and then arrived at their conclusion; they simply believe what they

believe because they have never heard anything else. Or, if they heard of an alternative, they immediately dismissed it without serious consideration – because they felt threatened in their beliefs and were perhaps frightened that their strong fortress would turn out to be a house of cards.”

Jacob Schriftman in his book; “the C.S. Lewis book on the bible”

Read my review of the book here.

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Jacob Schriftmans latest book the C.S Lewis book on the bible has been an insightful, thought provoking and truly enjoyable read. It’s one of those books I will return to, and enjoy again. Schriftman gives us a carefully-reasoned yet entertaining read. His writing style is superb and clear.

The book centers around two parts. The first part is a critique and a defense on how we know whether the Bible is from God (epistemology) and the second part centers around; the study of the general principles of biblical interpretation. (hermeneutics)

Both of these parts are then divided into two parts a critique and a defense. My favorite parts were the critique presented throughout the book. The arguments were clear and well presented. Only the critique parts are a must read for anyone interested in apologetics, or a student of religion and faith in general.

Schriftman critiques, and explores the arguments used in a big part of the evangelical (it would be good with a definition of what is meant by evangelical) part of Christianity. An evangelical Christian could say; the Bible must be inspired by God because of how the bible changes lives or fulfilled messianic prophesy to name a couple examples Schriftman critiques.

In each case the argument falls short to justify the bibles claim to be from God.

Schriftman tells the story of how C. S Lewis came to accept the Bibles inspiration not as a starting point but as the final conclusion. An important part of the book follows Lewis argument and Journey towards the acceptance of the Bible as inspired by God.
A part of that journey consisted of understanding the Bible differently from for example Francis Schaeffer. Schaeffer viewed the first eleven chapters of Genesis, the same way as the rest of Genesis. Lewis on the other hand read the first eleven chapters as myths.
Schriftmans is at his best in this part of the book, and shows a deep understanding of Lewis when he takes us on a journey of thought with Lewis.

The second part of the book is also a gem waiting to be uncovered, explored and thought through. I enjoyed the parts where Schriftman gives examples of how the Bible fails to live up to the perfection many Christians demand from it. Part of the conclusion in this part is as follows.

”The above should be sufficient to show in what sense the Bible cannot be from God. It cannot be a kind of divine encyclopedia, a catalogue of”thus-saith-the-lord” articles on various topics.” Then how can it be from God? Scriftman ends the book by answering that precise question.

The book is not only a dive into the mind of C. S Lewis and his student mister Schriftman. It is a critique against a Christianity that is afraid to lose its faith by asking difficult questions. Schriftman puts it like this.

” Many denominations, movements, and individual Christians hold to a certain position not because they have honestly examined all possible viewpoints and then arrived at their conclusion; they simply believe what they believe because they have never heard anything else. Or, if they heard of an alternative, they immediately dismissed it without serious consideration – because they felt threatened in their beliefs and were perhaps frightened that their strong fortress would turn out to be a house of cards.”

This book deserves a wide audience, and is certainly a starting point not only for C. S Lewis fans but also anyone wanting to explore faith, God and the bible from a different perspective than what is the norm in a big part of western Christianity. The 12 dollar price tag is a bargain considering you actually get two books in one. An engaging, liberating and highly recommended read.

You can buy your copy here.

Jacob Schriftman is the pen name of Jokim Schnoebbe. I first met Jokim a few years back in South Africa and we traveled together for a teaching tour in the far east. We also lived together here in Sweden for a few months where we both were involved in a course with YWAM. He is a talented speaker,artist,teacher,author,father,husband and fotball player (and a few other things).

I recently finished reading 3 books on biblical authority ( Bibelsyn och Bibelbruk by biskopsmötet 1964, Bibeltolkningens problematik by Sven Ingebrand and Texter och tolkningar by tryggve Kronholm, all in swedish).

I have since then been exploring the topic also in other spheres of our world like here on the web. I came over a fantastic article by N T Wright, called ; How Can the Bible be Authoritative? I found it through Rob Bells “Velvit Elvis” If you have 16 minutes today and you want to read a short and brilliant piece about the bible, about why and how it has Authority this is what you should read.

Rob Bell writes the following about it:

“The best thing I have ever read about the Bible is a transcript of a lecture given by the British Scholar N. T. Wright called….”( the above article)

Here is a sample;

Which of these 50 commands found in the Bible are permanent,timeless and apply today, and which ones are temporary and only applicable in the original historical setting? Let me know what you think and why?

1. Greet one another with a holy kiss.(Rm. 16:16)
2. Abstain from meat that has been sacrificed to idols.(acts 15:29)
3. Be baptized. (acts 2:38)
4. A woman ought to have a veil on her head.

(1 cor 11:10)
5. wash each other’s feet.(John 13:14)
6. Enroll no widow under 60 years old.(1 tim. 5:9)
7. Ordain by the laying on of hands. (Acts 13:3)
8. It is indecent for a woman to speak in an assembly (1cor 14:35)
9. have fixed hours of prayer.(acts 3:10)