Top Verses of the Bible Challenge

Doug Chaplin has decided to start a meme. For background, check out the link. The question to answer is - I rephrase slightly:

What ten verses of the Bible sum up that book’s message more than the others? Personalized, the question might go something like this: what ten verses or passages of the Bible challenge and comfort you like no others?

I’m going to give two replies to the question. [Surprise.] The first is based on a seldom-observed fact: long before God gives any answers, God asks questions.

Furthermore, that same God - if the Bible is the word of God to those who have ears to hear, even and especially when it records human words addressed to God – honors questions posed to him.

Furthermore, that same God - if the Bible is the word of God to those who have ears to hear, even and especially when it records the words of one human being to another – honors all questions, even those not meant for him.

Here are ten paradigmatic questions in the Bible:

(1)  “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9) [God to Adam and Eve]

(2)   “Where is your brother?” (Genesis 4:9) [God to Cain]

(3)   “Where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”

       (Genesis 22:7)   [Isaac to his father]
     (4)   “How long, O Lord, will you forever ignore me?” (Psalm 13:2)

(5)   “Who may dwell, O Lord, on your holy mountain?” (Psalm 15:1)

(6)   “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” (Psalm 22:2)

(7)   “Would you impugn my justice?

         Do you condemn me that you may be in the right?”

        (Job 40:8) [God to Job]

(8)   “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46)

[Jesus to his disciples and the large crowd who accompanied him]

(9)   “Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29) [Jesus to his disciples]

(10)   “Sovereign Lord, holy and true,

how long will it be before you pass sentence

and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?”

(Revelation 6:10) [the martyrs to God]

The meaning of life consists in responding, asking, and bearing witness to these questions.

Doug also notes that some of the verses he lives by are not in the Bible at all. His examples are splendid. Many readers of this blog know I have a four year old daughter. Anna can be capricious at times, but I have one sure way to calm her down. “Can I read a story?” I ask. She always says yes. This excerpt is from last night’s reading:

“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.

“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real, you don’t mind being hurt.”

“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” the Rabbit asked, “or bit by bit?’

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “It takes a long time. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out, and you get very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are real, you can’t be ugly.”

From the The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams. Actually, I quote from the adapted version found in What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know: Preparing Your Child for a Lifetime of Learning (ed. E. D. Hirsch, Jr., and John Holden; The Core Knowledge Series - Resource Books for Kindergarten Through Grade Six; New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1997) 97. Yes, that is the E. D. Hirsch, of Validity in Interpretation. Yes, I do home-school my kids, though I also send them to public school. I think every parent should. I do it for my sake, first of all.

I tag Chris Heard and Lingamish.

Comments

[Doug Chaplin]

"What ten verses of the Bible sum up that book’s message more than the others?"
That's not quite your original question (at least as I understood it) nor my meme, and more I think than "slight rephrasing". I would choose a somewhat different selection to answer that question, but I await your second answer with interest!

[JohnFH]

Well Doug, you talked about the verses you live by. The above verses are the ones I live by.

[Bob MacDonald]

I like the meme and its evolution! I already tried a little ultraviolet light on my miscellaneous chemicals here.

[JohnFH]

Bob, that's an amazing constellation of texts you have within your system. Embodied spirituality.

[Jim]

That's a great insight about "questions" and a great list. I'm going to pay a lot more attention to the Bible's questions from now on! They sure force us to look for deeper answers...

[Lingamish]

Good questions. I'll have some of my own and a response post hopefully this week.

[David Reimer]

Hi John: Interesting post. Reminds of a chapel series I was involved with once. The Principal, who arranged and assigned the topics, decided on "Questions from the Bible" as the series, and the text assigned to me was your #10. Had some heart-searching prep on that one....

[JohnFH]

#10 is challenging. I comment on it briefly in the follow-up post to this one.

[Jenelle]

I would also add: "Should I not be concerned about that great city?" [God to Jonah] Jonah 4:11b

[JohnFH]

Thanks, Jenelle. I can think of more than one city like that.