Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Reading

A selection from a letter by A. W. Pink to John Culver:

One book read slowly, mediated upon and assimilated, is worth twenty skimmed through hurriedly.

The Life of Arthur W. Pink, Ian Murray, Banner of Truth, p. 137.

4 comments:

Steve Drake said...

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in a sermon I listened to recently, expressed the same sentiment in regard to the Scripture, discouraging the use of plans that read through the Bible in a year...

Dean Olive said...

Steven,

Thanks for your comment. I am surprised to hear that Lloyd-Jones made such a statement since Ian Murray says in The Fight of Faith, "For over fifty years he [MLJ] had followed M'Cheyne's calendar for daily Bible readings..." (p. 747). I like Bible reading guides and have found M'Cheyne's to be one of the best.

Steve Drake said...

The Doctor was discouraging folks from rushing through the Bible mechanically, and was encouraging them to spend time digesting what they read. I've already deleted the message off my iPod, but I sent a note the the MLJ Trust asking them which message it was so I can download it again. I'll get you a better quote.

Steve Drake said...

Here's the quote I was referring to:

“I’m always afraid to say a thing like this. But there is an awful danger in these mechanical schemes of Bible study. That you just rush though it; you’ve done your portion. My friend, does the Bible speak to you every day? If it doesn’t, I’m inclined to suggest you to drop your schemes for a moment. And just take a verse and begin to think about it and ask it, “What you’re saying to me?” We’re not just meant to rush through the Bible a given number of times, in a year, or however often you do it. The Bible is the Word of God. It’s the food of the soul. It’s the Spirit’s message to you. Make certain that it’s speaking to you.”

MLJ1009, “The Spirit in Christians", at approximately 33:50