<Previous Edition | Volume 19 Number 2 2002 | Next Edition>

A themed issue on the Use of the Bible

Stephen Wright Director of the College of Preachers
Guest editorial: The Bible as Sacrament


Articles,

Mark Earey Team Rector of Morley, Leeds, in the Diocese of Wakefield
This is the Word of the Lord: The Bible and Worship

Mark Earey argues that the public reading of scripture in its own right has become impoverished in our churches, ironically often in evangelical churches which want to affirm the centrality of the Bible. He calls for renewed attention to scripture as the spoken word for the gathered people of God, in preaching, in public reading and in spoken words and songs.


John Grayston Director of Bible Ministries for Scripture Union
The Bible and Spirituality: the Decline in Biblical Literacy among Evangelicals and the Future of the Quiet Time

The decline in familiarity with scripture in evangelical circles is a growing cause for concern. John Grayston analyses the reasons for this trend, places the evangelical 'quiet time' in its historical context, and suggests ways in which personal engagement with scripture might be recovered and encouraged.


James Dunn Lightfoot Professor of Divinity, University of Durham
The Bible and Scholarship: On Bridging the Gap between the Academy and the Church

Christian preachers and teachers, especially those in an evangelical tradition, sometimes feel unease about how far they should mediate the findings of biblical scholarship to congregations. James Dunn invites us to reflect on the positive contribution academic biblical scholarship can make to Christian formation, and how it can act as a safeguard against the dangers of eccentric popular theology, distortions in Christian tradition, and naïve fundamentalism.


David Spriggs
Head of Church Relations, Bible Society
The Bible: Cultural Treasure or Cultural Obstacle?

Why does the Bible seem so remote from the central concerns of our culture for so many people? David Spriggs analyses some of the difficulties we face in encouraging real engagement with the Bible, such as the low priority accorded to religious education, and the decline generally in the reading of texts which do more than merely entertain. However, he argues that there is hope, and gives several examples of recent initiatives to make the Bible more widely accessible.