Pages: 313-323
Now we did not receive the spirit of the world, but we received the Spirit that is from God so that we can know all that God has given us. And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom but with words taught us by the Spirit. And so we explain spiritual truths to spiritual people. 1 Corinthians 2:12-13
This afternoon, I continued with John Piper's Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture, continuing with Part 3 The Natural Act of Reading the Bible Supernaturally, chapter twenty-two: The Ordinary Aim of Reading: God's Intention through Man's Intention. Here, Piper seeks to reinforce what he started in the previous chapters here and here where he explores the ordinary aim of reading and states that we are to focus on what the Biblical authors intended at the time. In this chapter, he focuses on two questions. One, "[h]ow does the human author's intention related to God's intention as the one who inspired the text?" His answer is that God's intentions are communicated through human intention - scripture "comes in the language of particular human authors in particular times and places" and "God availed himself of the language, style, vocabulary, and peculiar usages of individual biblical writers." In other words, "to grasp what these human authors intended to communicate in their particular historical situation is also to grasp God's own intention for that situation." Piper also looks at a second question which is "[c]an an author mean more than his is conscious of?" Piper wants us to understand that God "can and does have more in mind to communicate...Yet no author, except God, sees all the necessary implications of what he writes...But that does not disconnect the intentions of God from the vocabulary and habits of writing used by the human authors. We have no other sure and certain access to the mind of God through the way authors use language to communicate their intentions."
Piper ends by stating that "we must not ignore the urgency of pursuing the human authors intention with all our might."
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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who has provided Your Word and the Holy Spirit so that I can see, savior and be transformed by Your glory - thank You Jesus! I am not deserving of how You provide these and all the gifts You provide - particularly salvation. My sin continues...daily. Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me. Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength. Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior. Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin. Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.
