Instead of interviewing a guest, TBM host Dru Johnson and editor Celina Durgin discussed an article they co-wrote for Christianity Today: "Is It Time to Quit 'Quiet Time'?"
Many people read their Bibles on their own, and some do so daily. When combined with communal study, some form of this practice is important for anyone wanting to become fluent in Scripture. However, private Bible-reading can go wrong. It can be fragmented, individualistic, uninformed, and essentially passive. It can be impotent or even deleterious for readers whose misunderstandings go uncorrected and who don't apply true biblical principles to life.
At its most distinctive, the "quiet time" ritual of private prayer, listening, and devotional Bible-reading is an artifact of Western culture from the last 150 years. Dru and Celina explored the history of this practice in an article in Christianity Today, published online and slated to appear in the April print edition.
They concluded that the form quiet time often takes is not conducive to Bible literacy and can actually compound misunderstanding over time. It can even be an empty ritual that Christians perform to feel pious while failing to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God.
If you're a regular listener, you can probably guess that Dru and Celina favor community-based solutions to this problem.
Dru hosts The Biblical Mind podcast, directs the Center for Hebraic Thought, and is an Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at The King’s College in New York City.
Celina is the Editor of The Biblical Mind magazine and podcast. She was previously an editorial fellow at a political magazine in New York, and then, after graduate school, worked in the editorial department of a marketing company in downtown Boston. Some of her written work can be found in Christianity Today.
Show notes by Celina Durgin
Rituals Teach: Why We Can’t Ignore Leviticus (Mark Scarlata)
Update: Now Accepting Questions for Upcoming Q&A Episodes!
What Can Non-Jewish Clergy Learn from Jewish Studies? (Jeff Jacoby)
The Sexual Reformation: What Does the Bible Actually Say about Gender? (Aimee Byrd)
A Look Back at Rethinking ’Quiet Time’ (Jen Wilkin)
Beyond Bible Study: From Consumers to Participants (Caroline Smiley and Kyle Worley)
What Do Rituals ’Do,’ and What Makes a Ritual Sacred? (Ben Noonan)
The True Causes and Purposes of Religious Doubt (Matthew LaPine)
Love Enemies Better through Knowing the Biblical Land (Danielle Parish)
Still Trying to Find Yourself? Try Losing It First (Alan Noble)
The Church Needs African Hermeneutics (Liz Mburu)
The Politics of Punishment in Evangelical America (Aaron Griffith)
Extreme Violence, Nahum, and Reconciliation in the Congo (Jacob Onyumbe Wenyi)
What Biblical Racial Reconciliation Actually Looks Like (Anthony Bradley)
The Torah Is Not a Law Book (Jerry Unterman)
No One Asks for Forgiveness in the Bible? (Joshua Berman)
African Americans Understood Paul‘s Words While Slave Owners Twisted Them (Lisa Bowens)
What Are Sermons for, and How Can They Be Improved? (Jonathan Pennington)
Three Grinches in a Pod: Complicating Christmas
Toward an Integrated Liturgy of Work and Worship (Matthew Kaemingk)
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