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Learning to Read, Understand, and Love the Bible, With Tara-Leigh Cobble—The Alisa Childers Podcast #70

5/24/2020

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The Alisa Childers Podcast · #70 Learning to Read, Understand, and Love the Bible, With Tara-Leigh Cobble

I am SO thrilled to bring you this conversation with Tara-Leigh Cobble of the Bible Recap Podcast. Have you ever read a section from the Old Testament and wondered, "WHAT did I just read?" Don't worry...Tara-Leigh is here to help. We talk about everything from how to read the Bible, to how knowing the Scriptures helped Tara-Leigh through her sister's death and two open-heart surgeries. Enjoy this rich conversation about the treasure we have in God's Word.

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3 Comments

Paul

6/2/2020 12:57:25 pm

I am an evangelical Christian who is wrestling with what it means to say that the Bible is true, and whether this is different than saying that it is in all ways at all times 100% accurate in all its details.

The best way I know to try to explain what I mean is to use the example of a typical poster of the Solar System on the wall of a typical elementary school classroom. It depicts the Sun and all of the planets orbiting around it. Is it true? Is it in error? Or is it both? And how do we evaluate these questions?

I'd suggest that the vast majority of such posters are in error. The Sun is often scaled down and some of the smaller planets are scaled up so that they are easier to see or can more easily be labelled. The distances between the planets are scaled down so that they all fit on the poster. Orbits are often simplified as perfect circles on a single plane.

At the same time, there are things about the poster that clearly make it profitable for reproof, correction, and instruction. There may be much about the poster that is inaccurate, but there is also much about it that is true. To dismiss the poster as metaphorical would be a mistake. If the point is to instruct children in basic concepts like heliocentrism or the names and order of the planets, then the posters might not only be adequate to the task, they may well be very appropriate. If you were to insist on the accuracy of every minute detail (assuming that such were not completely impractical if not entirely impossible), you may have only avoided errors on the poster by making a pedagogical error regarding what your students can relate to and comprehend.

The poster, like many such models that are helpful in starting to develop an understanding of new and complex systems, exists somewhere between the purely metaphorical and actual reality. A model, by definition, is not exactly the thing that it represents.

I think it is here that I struggle with what the word "literal" means when considering something like the poster in question. Is it literally true? Is it literally false? The scales are literally false, but heliocentrism is literally true. Can I say anything definitive about the motives or qualifications of the person who designed the poster as a result?

At the end of the day, accuracy is a function of the intent of the one firing the arrow. I may make assumptions about the accuracy of an archer who does not hit the "bullseye" on a target, but it is just an assumption. The archer may well have hit the fly he was aiming at over near the edge of the target.

I believe that God always and consistently hits what He aims at in the Scriptures. I just don't know that our definition regarding what we think the "bullseye" must be is nearly as accurate as God's aim.

Does any of this make sense? I really am struggling with nailing down what I believe and why. Nor do I feel 100% comfortable having these conversations with my evangelical friends for fear that they may think I've gone off the rails. If anyone would like to have a completely open and transparent discussion of this topic, I would be very grateful.

--Paul

Seth Doran

6/2/2020 09:36:11 pm

Alisa,
I want to be another voice of encouragement to you and I genuinely look forward to the day in Glory when we will be able to talk together with Jesus about how He used you as one of the ways to keep me in the faith. I have an employee (I'm a small painting contractor) who is a progressive Christian and about 4 years ago, we really started having some great conversations and I was praying for him and really pleading with the Lord to open up the eyes of his heart to believe the Gospel. I thought I would start reading all the progressive authors so I could have a better understanding of where he was coming from and as I did so, I really started experiencing doubt and really went into a dark night of the soul, like you did. And, like you, I remember rocking my baby girl to sleep at night with tears rolling down my cheeks as I sung hymns to her thinking "do I really believe this now?" I didn't know what was up or what was down. I found you and your story and the Lord has so graciously used you as one of the ways he has helped me "reconstruct" back to historic Christian faith (the Hebrews 12 kind: sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see :) ) Anyways, thank you for your ministry and may our Lord continue to show us grace to keep us persevering in Him until we draw our final breath and enter into His presence where there will be fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore!

Bernell Miller

6/26/2020 08:50:21 pm

I'm a Born again believer from way back...
I'm KJV only...
God has revealed several things to me from personal study ... (2Timothy 2:15) that I never heard while involved in various churches...

I'm going to make a statement ... I believe that most of our differences in our churches today spring from all the different versions....

Are you familiar with the game Telephone game... Well that game is being played on us ..

Another question... Is God obligated to honor distorted words ?

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Learning to Read, Understand, and Love the Bible, With Tara-Leigh Cobble—The Alisa Childers Podcast #70

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