Why the Contemporary Church Needs Expository Preaching
A companion to this essay focuses on expository preaching as something toward which the authority of the Bible naturally and logically inclines us. We might call this t…
The Bible as Literature and Expository Preaching
I am persuaded that without knowledge of literature pure theology cannot at all endure, just as heretofore, when letters [the old name for literature] have declined and…
Fallacies about Expository Preaching
The purpose of this article is to codify common misperceptions and criticisms of expository preaching. These misperceptions and criticisms are often adduced as reaso…
A Defense of Expository Preaching
I begin with the question of authority. All preaching bases itself on an implied answer to the question of what constitutes the right authority for belief and practice. Eve…
The English Bible as Cultural Influence [VIDEO] [AUDIO]
https://vimeo.com/52125168 http://cdn.sbts.edu/media/audio/Norton/20121024-norton-ryken-03.mp3 Download Audio These resources have been graciously provided by The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and can be found on Southern Equip – Southern Seminary’s resource library.
The Bible as Literature [VIDEO] [AUDIO]
https://vimeo.com/52084395 http://cdn.sbts.edu/media/audio/Norton/20121023-norton-ryken-01.mp3 Download Audio These resources have been graciously provided by The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and can be found on Southern Equip – Southern Seminary’s resource library.
Leisure as a Christian Calling [VIDEO] [AUDIO]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkFznDYy-fo http://cdn.sbts.edu/media/audio/commonweal/20160308-commonweal-project-leland-ryken.mp3 Download Audio These resources have been graciously provided by The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and can be found on Southern Equip – Southern Seminary’s resource library.
The Imagination as a Means of Grace [VIDEO] [AUDIO]
https://vimeo.com/52089638 http://cdn.sbts.edu/media/audio/Norton/20121023-norton-ryken-02.mp3 Download Audio These resources have been graciously provided by The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and can be found on Southern Equip – Southern Seminary’s resource library.
The Puritan Doctrine of Vocation [VIDEO] [AUDIO]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeXwo_2TN80 http://cdn.sbts.edu/media/audio/commonweal/20171103-04-commonweal-colloquium-03-leland-ryken.mp3 Download Audio These resources have been graciously provided by The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and can be found on Southern Equip – Southern Seminary’s resource …
Why and How to Read the Bible as Literature
There are many angles that can be pursued when thinking about the Bible as literature, but two bedrock questions underlie any discussion of the subject. Those two qu…
The Bible as Literature in the West
For twenty centuries, the Bible has been the preeminent book in Western culture. It still holds that position in English-speaking countries and cultures, though not to th…
The Role of the Reader
Every time we sit down to interact with a passage from the Bible, four ingredients converge. One is the written text. This, in turn, is the product of an author, so if we ar…
Understanding the Concept of the Bible as Literature
As an epigraph for my address I have chosen a comment about the Bible that the Russian novelist Dostoyevsky put into the mouth of one of his fictional characters: “W…
What Biblical Scholarship Needs to Learn from Literary Criticism of the Bible
My aim in this address is to make the case that literary criticism can make significant contributions to how biblical scholars handle the Bible. The context in which I make…
The Bible as Literature in the Seminary and Pulpit
I have been invited to make the case for a literary approach to the Bible, and I want to do so with an appropriate humility but also with an appropriate confidence that w…
Twelve Literary Traits of the Bible
The Bible is not a totally unique book. In general, its literary forms function in the same way that these forms function beyond the Bible. A story is a story, whether in the…
Ten Things You Need to Know about the Bible as Literature
The idea of the Bible as literature did not begin in the modern era. As I have plied my trade as a spokesman for the Bible as literature for half a century, I have adopted …
Five Fallacies about the Bible as Literature
Before we can embrace a literary approach to the Bible with enthusiasm, we of course need to be relieved of anxieties about viewing the Bible as literature. Resistance t…
Seven Ways to Misread the Bible
My aim in this address is to think with you about the nature of the Bible we believe and proclaim. To give my remarks an argumentative edge, I have entitled them…
Bridging the Gap from the World of the Biblical Text
Bridging the gap between the biblical world and our own world involves a two-way journey. The way to Hometown is through Jerusalem. A companion essay to this one…