"Words That Shape The Soul": Eugene Peterson on Scripture

Christian educatior and writer Christopher Benson maintains a blog that I sometimes disagree with (especially on politics) but which I always find thoughtful and nourishing.

Today's notable quotable comes via his blog, an excerpt from spiritual theologian Eugene Peterson on the authority of scripture and its misuses. Here's an excerpt:

" ... words of Scripture are not primarily words, however impressive, that label or define or prove, but words that mean, that reveal, that shape the soul, that generate saved lives, that form believing and obedient lives. Impersonal, opinionated, propagandizing, manipulating words, no matter how ardent and accurate, inflate upward. They loose rootage in hearts. They lose grounding in human dailiness. They are no longer at the service of listening and responding to the word, those words that reveal God’s will and presence, the language in which we are invited to likewise reveal ourselves in prayer and praise, in obedience and love. Having and defending and celebrating the Bible instead of receiving, submitting to, and praying the Bible, masks an enormous amount of nonreading."

Read the whole piece here.



http://bensonian.org/2012/02/09/how-the-bible-was-read-versus-how-the-bible-is-now-read/